Mundie Moms

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Book Review: Also Known As by Robin Benway

Written by: Robin Benway
Publisher: Walker and Company
Release Date: February 26, 2013
Source: ARC
Puchase: Barnes and Noble | IndieBound | amazon
Also Known As

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars -- I loved it!

Synopsis: 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.

You guys know that I have a weakness for well told spy plots and an absolute love of smart characters. Robin writes both incredibly well. I adored Maggie from the very first page. Here's a sample of how she thinks (page 4):

The first rule of being a spy: Listen. Our family friend Angelo always says that a good spy never asks questions, that people will always tell you what you need to know.

I've know Angelo my entire life. He was friends with my parents back when they were all in Berlin together, and they've stayed in contact every since. Angelo works for the Collecive, too, but I think he's semiretired now, or at least that's what he says. For all I know, he's getting ready by be knighted by the queen or about to go splunking somewhere in the Galapagos. He always gives good advice, too, especially about safecracking and lock picking. It's like if Tim Gunn and James Bond had a baby, and that baby was Yoda. Angelo's response? "Who's Yoda?"

I sent him the Star Wars DVDs for Christmas. And a DVD player.
See what I mean? Maggie is a smart safecracker/lock picker and this talent develops into her first job with The Collective (a crime-solving firm and her parents' employer). But, it's also the very first time she's enrolled in a school and well, it's the very first time she makes friends her own age. Only Robin can write a friend like Roux. She's the former mean girl of the school who's now fallen out of every single social circle because of an unforgivable incident. How I love Roux. She helps Maggie negotiate the waters of high school society and protocol, and the two of them form a tight, believable bond.

Then there's the matter of Jesse Oliver. Robin did this in Audrey, Wait! as well (link to my 5-star review). She writes these types of boys brilliantly. No, I'm not going to tell you what type; you'll have to read the story to find out. But, Jesse's THAT boy. And the sweet chemistry of their first kissy scene makes me smile.

Unfortunately, Maggie has a mission that distracts her (and me) from all the potential kissage. And the mission is full of solid plot turns and lies. Lies that eventually catch up with Maggie. Will Jesse find out who she is? Will Maggie's mission be successful? Will her parents ever understand that living in New Yourk City requires a longer curfew? Much like Maggie's lock picking skills, the tumblers turn just so and then, click, click, click the plot unlocks with precise timing.

If my oldest daughter were just a few years older (she's ten), I would pick this for a mother-daughter read. Currently, it sits on my shelf of books I plan to share with her. If you enjoy quick-paced stories about  a girl trying to find her place within the family business while still being a teenager, pick up Also Known As. And just wait until you meet Maggie, Roux and Jesse.

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