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: Two Lies and a Spy (Two Lies and a Spy #1) by Kat Carlton

Title: Two Lies and a Spy
Series: Two Lies and a Spy #1
Author: Kat Carlton
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: September 3rd 2013
Pages: Hardcover, 256 pages
Source: Won

Summary from Goodreads:
Kari plunges into the world of espionage on a mission to save her parents while trying to impress the guy she’s been in love with forever.

When sixteen-year-old Kari’s dad sends her an unexpected text, she and her brother immediately go into hiding. Because when your parents are superspies and your dad declares a Code Black, it can only mean something bad. Very bad.

Kari soon discovers that her parents have been disavowed and declared traitors, and she’s determined to clear their names. Breaking into the Agency seems like a reasonable plan, especially with the help of a team that includes her longtime crush, Luke, as well as her two best friends—an expert hacker with attitude and a master martial artist—and Luke’s popular, vindictive twin sister. Oh, and a new guy, who’s as cute as he is complicated...

So I recently read Spies and Prejudice and found it to be somewhat disappointing. I wanted Two Lies and a Spy to fill the fun-light-spy series that Gallagher Girls currently hold. (I can’t wait to finish the series :) ) I am happy to say that Two Lies and a Spy was a super fun, light spy read!

Two Lies and a Spy is not for everyone. If you are not someone who cannot look past the crazy situations that a teenage spy could get herself in than this is not for you. There is definitely some implausibility but that goes with many YA spy books.

Being a daughter of two spies, Kari and her younger brother have learned how to protect and survive in the crazy underground world of spies. Their skills are put to the test when they have to rescue their parents who are being held prisoner for being double agents. First, I will touch on the relationships and friendships in this book. I LOVED the brother and sister relationship, Kari would do anything to protect her super genius little brother, Charlie. There was no love triangle! I thought there was going to be but I was happily corrected. The relationship between Kati and her crush avoids insta-love as well.

The friendships were great, it was a witty, mis-matched group of high-schoolers some friends who came together to help Kari and her brother. Each secondary character had their own unique role in the mission and quirky personality. The banter and funny lines between the characters had me laughing at loud quite a few times.

The crazy spy scenes were a bit of a stretch but still enjoyable. Two Lies and a Spy is only 256 pages so the fun action packed story just flew by. The ending was AWESOME. I was not expecting it at all. The author leaves it open for the next book in the series! If you enjoy Gallagher Girls I would definitely recommend this one!

REVIEW #106: Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School #1) by Gail Carriger

Title: Etiquette & Espionage
Series: Finishing School #1
Author: Gail Carriger
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Release Date: February 5th 2013
Pages: Hardcover, 307 pages
Source: Audiobook from the Library

Summary from Goodreads:
It's one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to Finishing School.

Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is a great trial to her poor mother. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper manners—and the family can only hope that company never sees her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. So she enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

But Sophronia soon realizes the school is not quite what her mother might have hoped. At Mademoiselle Geraldine's, young ladies learn to finish...everything. Certainly, they learn the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but they also learn to deal out death, diversion, and espionage—in the politest possible ways, of course. Sophronia and her friends are in for a rousing first year's education.

Set in the same world as the Parasol Protectorate, this YA series debut is filled with all the saucy adventure and droll humor Gail Carriger's legions of fans have come to adore.

Etiquette & Espionage quickly transports you to a steam punk world with neat inventions, werewolves, flying carraiges, vampires, and crazy floating etiquette schools. The setting is well developed and quite unique. Sophronia is a cover recruit at the at Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality; a cover recruit is an individual that is unaware of the type of school they just agreed in attend, essentially someone who does not have a family legacy. She has no idea what she was getting into but as a 14 year old troublemaker she can definitely handle herself :) Sophronia is faced with drama from the moment she is picked up to leave for school. She must learn to be a proper lady while trying to figure out what her nemesis is hiding and why. 

FUN. Is literally the best way I have to describe this book. The plot is a bit slow at times but for the most part the story was pretty action filled.  Sophronia and her friends are always doing things that could get them into trouble. There are no real ‘heavy’ aspects to the book, so it is easy to just sit back and enjoy the witty lines and fascinating world. If you are looking for romance, this may not be the book for you. The story revolves around Sophronia and her classmates focusing on the development of their friendship and the mystery at hand (no romance, though there is some set up for some down the line). 

Holy crazy names. I struggled attempting to pronounce at least half the names in this book. Here are some examples: Sopronia, Dimity, Frowbritcher, Sidheag, Lefoux, Braithwope! While it didn’t change my feelings towards to book, it did make it a bit more challenging to keep the terms and people straight.  This is how I felt trying to say them :)

Etiquette and Espionage was a fun light-hearted read; I do wish there were more espionage aspects in the story but it was a solid four stars. I would say Etiquette and Espionage would be the product of mixing Gallagher Girls’ fun spy school setting with a well executed steampunk setting. I definitely recommend if you want a easy read and enjoy steampunk.

SERIES REVIEW #79: Gallagher Girls by Ally Carter

Overall, I really enjoyed this series; I went on an audio book binge. I highly recommend the series if you are looking for something very FUN and LIGHT HEARTED.  It reminded me a lot of a TV show, each book for the most part is stand alone with some underlying plot lines and character development through the whole series. It was an awesome blend of spies, friendship, teenage drama, and prep schools. Cammie has a fantastic set of friends that each play an important role in her life and as a spy.

The first three books were less intense than the last two.  I would give the first 3 books three stars and books 4 and 5, four stars.   The 3 stars are not to say I found anything wrong with the book, it was fun but nothing was  that magical, it is not a book I would say you need to read right this minute.  I would definitely recommend this as a beach read.

I'd tell you I Love you But Then I'd have to Kill you-Book 1 is about Cammie’s first boyfriend and the problems that ensue when dating a non-spy.

Cross my Heart Hope to Spy-Book 2 is when we are introduced to Zach, a boy from the male equivalent to the Gallagher Academy. Zach and Cammie have some chemistry :) The boys from Black Thorn are guests at the Gallagher Academy for the semester.

Don't Judge a Girl by her Cover-Book 3 Cammie is with Macey over the summer and they almost get kidnapped by a secret organization seeking revenge on the Gallagher family. (This was probably my least favorite out of the series).

Only the Good Spy Young -Book 4 The storyline really picks up. There is more development and backstory about Zach. I really love the dynamic between Zach and Cammie but want more!  We also learn more about Cammie's father and the secret organization. The story ends with Cammie taking off on a mission of her own to find answers

Out of Sight, Out of Mind - Book 5 is by far the most intense book in the series.   Cammie is found months later with no recollection of what happened in the past months.  The spy aspects of her life really take a toll on her in this book.  Her disappearance effects her relationships with her friends and Zach.

Since I could easily see this series as a TV show, I decided to create a dream cast for The Gallagher Girls. I just couldn't decide on Zach. 

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Title: Code Name Verity
Author: Elizabeth Wein
Publisher: Egmont Press
Release Date: February 6th 2012
Pages: Paperback, 452 pages
Format: Audiobook

Summary from Goodreads:
I have two weeks. You’ll shoot me at the end no matter what I do.

That’s what you do to enemy agents. It’s what we do to enemy agents. But I look at all the dark and twisted roads ahead and cooperation is the easy way out. Possibly the only way out for a girl caught red-handed doing dirty work like mine — and I will do anything, anything, to avoid SS-Hauptsturmführer von Linden interrogating me again.

He has said that I can have as much paper as I need. All I have to do is cough up everything I can remember about the British War Effort. And I’m going to. But the story of how I came to be here starts with my friend Maddie. She is the pilot who flew me into France — an Allied Invasion of Two.

We are a sensational team.

Before I have things thrown at me for my 3 star rating, I am in no way saying this was a bad book. It just was not for me. I knew going into it that Code Name Verity was going to be out of my comfort zone but I heard such great things about it that I felt like I had to give it a try.

Why it was not for me: Historical fictions in general are not usually my thing; I have a tendency to lean more towards paranormal/dystopian books. Code Name Verity started off quite slow and at points I felt like I had to really focus on the story or else my mind would wander. While it did pick up later, I wish there was a bit more action in the beginning. Not that is was a big deal because sometimes it is refreshing, but there was no romance in the story, no love story.

What I did enjoy: The strong sense of friendship between Maddie and Queenie. When the narration switched, the story quickly improved and picked up in pace. Even though the narrators did not alternate, I did enjoy the fact that there were two narrators. I also LOVED that the story was about strong females and their duties during the war; it is not a perspective we usually get. The ending hurt my heart yet it was full of love and tough decisions in a time of war.

Overall, it was a 3 star read; I thought the story was written beautifully but started off too slow for my liking. Code Name Verity is a blend of friendship, survival, war told from the perspectives of two best friends. I would recommend this book if you are looking for a more serious read or if you are interested in a historical fiction story with strong female characters.