Going Rogue (Also Known As #2) by Robin Benway

Title: Going Rogue
Series: Also Known As #2
Author: Robin Benway
Publisher: Walker Childrens
Release Date: January 14, 2014
Pages: 320
Source: Library

Summary from Goodreads:
Being permanently based in a local New York City high school as an undercover operative has its moments, good and bad, for 16-year-old safecracker Maggie Silver. Pros: More quality time with her former mark-turned-boyfriend Jesse Oliver and insanely cool best friend, Roux. Getting to spend quality time with her semi-retired and international spy honorary uncle, Angelo. Cons: High school and the accompanying cliques, bad lunches, and frustratingly simple locker combinations. But when Maggie's parents are falsely accused of stealing priceless gold coins, Maggie uses her safecracking skills to try and clear their names. Too bad it only serves to put her and everyone she loves in danger. Maggie and her "new team" flee to Paris where they must come up with a plan to defeat their former allies.

Robin Benway can do no wrong in my book.

She creates lovable, honest characters that I just HAVE to root for.

"My eyes widened as I realized what they weren’t saying. 'Are we going rogue?' I whispered. I had heard rumors about spies going rogue, but they had always seemed unbelievable, unstable, completely stupid.
Not anymore.
'Are we going rogue?' I repeated. 'Because if so, I’m in.'
'No, you’re not,' my dad immediately said. 'This is our problem, not yours.'...
My mom wiped at her eyes before I could see the tears. 'We don’t want to put you in any danger.'...
'Okay, look, I’m just going to say it,' I announced. 'I am really good at danger. I sort of excel at escaping it. I don’t like to brag, but I think it’s important to state the facts here.'"

Adorable romance scenes.

"'Why do you keep dating me? I keep putting you in these terrible situations and you stick around.'
'Okay,' Jesse said, settling back next to me and putting his arm around my shoulders. 'Let's start with the A's!'
'You aren't seriously going to-'
'Ambitious!' he said. 'Beautiful. Caring. Determined. Eager to learn.'
'That's chating.' I said, but couldn't hide my smile.'
'Shh, I'm trying to romance you on a rooftop in Paris. Be quiet. Where was I? Oh, yes. Fearless. Generous. Happy.'"

She weaves humor into every page but still manages to keep it serious.

“'Who’s Jeeves?'
'Our fingerprint scanner. I decided to make friends with him.'
'Him? How do you know it’s a man?' my mom asked. 
'Because it’s cold and impersonal and never asks how I am?'
She grinned. 'That’s my girl.'"

And she just gets it. She never make me want to roll my eyes or pull my hair out.

"The problem with fighting dirty, though, is that it makes you feel dirty. I was arguing with the wrong people for the wrong reasons: I was fighting with my parents because they cared about me, I fought with Jesse because he was worried about me, and I was angry at Angelo because of bad intel. But the truth was that I wanted to fight myself. I wanted the two sides of me to clash and only one to win. Either I was a spy or I was a normal girl. I was lashing out at everyone else but in truth, the battle was happening inside me."

Basically, she wrote one kick-ass story. Come on, who doesn't love spies? Better yet, an adorable safe-cracking spy going rogue against some top secret spy organization. This book has everything to put a smile on your face and keep you turning pages. It's fast-paced, fun, charming, adventurous... I could go on and on with positive adjectives to describe this book. There is nothing I would change about it, I loved it that much. And if I am being direct, I think everyone should bump this to the top of their TBR list if you haven't already read it. It's that kind of book.

"'How many safecrackers do you know?'
She shrugged. 'Hundreds, for all I know. You spies are a sneaky bunch.'"

REVIEW #75: Also Known As by Robin Benway

Title: Also Known As

Author: Robin Benway

Publisher: Bloomsbury Juvenile US

Release Date: February 26, 2013

Pages: 320, Hardcover

Summary from Goodreads:

Being a 16-year-old safecracker and active-duty daughter of international spies has its moments, good and bad. Pros: Seeing the world one crime-solving adventure at a time. Having parents with super cool jobs. Cons: Never staying in one place long enough to have friends or a boyfriend. But for Maggie Silver, the biggest perk of all has been avoiding high school and the accompanying cliques, bad lunches, and frustratingly simple locker combinations.

Then Maggie and her parents are sent to New York for her first solo assignment, and all of that changes. She'll need to attend a private school, avoid the temptation to hack the school's security system, and befriend one aggravatingly cute Jesse Oliver to gain the essential information she needs to crack the case . . . all while trying not to blow her cover.

 

Maggie is a spy, her parents are spies. They travel around the world and fight crime. Maggie's first solo mission is to get close to Jesse Oliver, the cute son of an influential editor and chief who plans to release an article that could jeopardize the security of the entire organization. Once in Jesse's confidence, Maggie is supposed to locate his father's safe and the source documents, then break in and take them. Piece of cake right? Well Maggie never expected to actually like Jesse Oliver or find such a good friend in Roux. And she never realized how hard it would be to lie to people she started to care about. 

I absolutely loved the tone of this book. Maggie, Jesse, and Roux made quite the cast of characters and provided endless entertainment. They each had unique but warming personalities and strong presence in the story. And their interactions had me giggling on multiple occasions. 

Maggie is so open, honest, and good-humored. It amazed me how she could know so much and yet so little. When it came to international espionage, she was all confidence and grace. "'You could eat these kids for breakfast. You won't, though, because that would be cannibalistic and wrong.'" But when it came to high school, she was a lovely mess. "'Roux said that parties sort of just start. There's no time.' I left out the part where I asked Roux if I should RSVP to the party for both of us or just me, and she stared at me for a full minute before asking if I had been raised in a barn." She was such a refreshing lead and I adored her.

A lot of praise has to go to the secondary characters as well. Roux was just batshit crazy and I loved it. The things that came out of her mouth were hilarious and she added a great dose of unpredictability to the story. Jesse was the ying to Maggie's yang, he could easily match her whit and charm. Together they were just precious and emanated this easygoing, relaxed vibe. Their relationship reminded me a little of that of Hazel and Augustus in TFIOS. 

The story was just tons of fun. I mean, who doesn't love spies? Let alone a spunky and unusual 16 yo girl who has no idea how to be normal. When Maggie isn't trying to juggle high school drama and first kisses she's breaking and entering and chasing down bad guys. It was awesome.

There is nothing not to love about this book. It was an light, fun read that brought a smile to my face. I can't say anything bad about it. I'd definitely recommend it!