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