Also Known As by Robin Benway

Also Known As by Robin Benway

Release Date: February 26, 2013
Publisher: Bloomsbury Juvenile US
Rated: YA 14+
Format: eGalley
Source: NetGalley (from Publisher)
Buy: Amazon ● The Book Depository
Goodreads ● Website

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.

After reading Benway’s Audrey, Wait! and The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, & June, there was no arguing the fact that I HAD to read this one. I mean: spies, undercover at a school, trying to seduce a cute guy? This was a recipe for my happiness (and I’m sure yours as well), and I was so into it. I couldn’t stop reading– the humor, the cuteness of it, and plus the cool spy background... just so much that couldn’t hold me back for too long!

Seriously, IN LOVE with Maggie. She’s flipping’ hilarious! I love her sarcasm, her sometimes over-the-top excuses and just... EVERYTHING. She really reminds me of Audrey from Benway’s other novel, and both these characters make me want to BE them. Not because they have super cute boyfriends, or their lives are more exciting than mine (okay, slightly because of that), but mainly because of their personalities. I’d kill for a sense of humor like that, because they both definitely have it!
And of course, with all Benway and generally contemporary YA books there has to be a boy. Jesse made me swoon, made me giggly, and made me smile when reading this book. Honestly, I know I say this about the trillion other boys in YA, but seriously– if you hate spy novels or if you end up not really liking the main character (which I would find kind of impossible to...), then read this book for HIM.

The supporting characters were also absolutely fabulous to read about: Roux’s character (as in Kanga, but just don’t say that... if you want to live) was so funny. I mean, seriously: over-the-top, drama-queen, total-rebel HILARIOUS. Loved her. Maggie's parents were also great minor characters. I love how they were such great spies, but went it came to parenting, they were a little clueless. And of course, there's Anthony who was a wonderful addition as well. I thought in terms of characters, all of them worked very well together. There was that sense of imperfect characteristics becoming "perfect" ones, and that contributed to an amazing plot line.

I loved the climax of the story– I really couldn't guess who it was until that point, and by then I'd tried blaming it on others, but then found my predictions completely off! It was a person I really didn't suspect, so I guess it was quite a good mystery as well. Nothing that will completely blow your minds, but still a good peak to the story.

Originality within the world of contemporary YA is difficult to achieve, without reaching towards many clichés or slightly overdone qualities that many of them do possess, but with each novel, this brilliant author manages to surpass my expectations every time. I know that with every Robin Benway book, I’ll come away feeling happy, wholesome, and that was a good couple of hours spent. This one is definitely not to miss!

▪ ▪ ▪ Thank you so much to Bridget Hartzler at Bloomsbury for providing me with an eGalley for review! ▪ ▪ ▪

If you like this, try...

• I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter ● Goodreads
• Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway ● Goodreads
• The Girl in the Wall by Daphne Benedis-Grab ● Goodreads