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

Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway

When her ex writes a break-up song about her that rockets up the charts, Audrey is suddenly famous--she can't go out without being mobbed by fans and paparazzi. Readers can take a wild ride with Audrey as she makes headlines, confronts her ex on MTV, and shows the world who she really is.This irresistible, fast-paced novel has a totally hot new paperback cover! It's the song everyones singing. And its about her! But for Audrey, becoming famous overnight equals total, life-changing disaster. . .

I swear, Meg Cabot (LUV HER!) was right when she wrote a this about the book:

"Irresistible - like a catch song you can't get out of your head... I loved, loved, loved this book."

"Audrey, wait! Audrey, wait! You walked out the door and I want you to see me slam it shut! Audrey, wait! Audrey, wait! You can say all you want but I want you to know that this is the cruellest cut!"


~Audrey, Wait! by the Do-Gooders.


Audrey, Wait! is the amazing story of a girl who becomes famous when her ex writes a song about her. Life is fun at first but then as the paparazzi and people get crazy, then things get a little out of control. I swear, it feels like a mix of Secrets of My Hollywood Life and The Princess Diaries. I just loved it!


Audrey just breaks up with her boyfriend Evan, lead singer of the D0-Gooders as we enter the story. BOOM! we know what's going to happen.


He writes a song about her.


And the bad part for Audrey is that THE SONG is actually...good. It rockets to the top of the Billboard charts and then suddenly, everyone wants to be her best friend, when in reality, Audrey just wants to have a normal life, ask the guy who works with her at the Scooper Dooper to ask her out and you know, just be a teen. Uh oh, Audrey had a LOT come her way. Paparazzi starts following her every where, the most popular girl at school wants to become her friend, articles are being published about her everywhere, and major companies are giving her free stuff. Her parents think that she's getting a little out of hand (when in truth, the media stretches things), Bands are asking her to go out with them for inspiration (I felt bad for her with that one night thing with that band guy...Simon was it?) and she gets cut of normal school life and has to end up doing her school work in the school office.


Audrey was an amazing character. I admire her for her spunkiness, her love of music, her "normalness" when things get out of hand, and her humor. I really love how she doesn't want the attention. She doesn't care about being famous. I don't think too many people could do that. Usually, if you've been famous for a while, sure I could understand, it gets a little overwhelming. But new stars? Puh-lease, even I would go crazy with excitement...well, maybe. I don't know. But yeah, love her for standing up for what's right, thinking morally (although the swearing could be done without) and learning from her mistakes.


Evan had it coming. Sure, I think he's cute. A teeny bit. But yeah, he's hilariously self-absorbed and he deserved to be dumped (ouch, did that really come from me?) but still, I think he's still sweet somewhere deep inside. JAMES RULES! Luv him :)


Victoria, Audrey's best friend, is HILARIOUS. Like some of the stuff that she says is like, laugh-out-loud worthy material.  She's like that spunky, sassy best friend that every girl wishes that she had, someone who stands up for her and supports her. I think all characters in this book were hilarious though (even Audrey's parents!). But not as funny as Victoria...Go her! and that's what I really find like-able about this book, cause everything was hilariously "realistic". By "realistic" not meaning the song and the paparazzi chasing Audrey thing, but the emotions, setting and the real bits of the plot were just fantastic.


Overall, Audrey, Wait! is that catchy song that you don't ever want to forget. A hilarious read by the amazing Robin Benway, you're unlikely to hate the ever-so-original and laugh-out-loud Audrey. With emotions raging from Pee-in-my-pants hilarious to OMG-what-just-happened? sad, do yourself a favor and DON'T press the skip button over there. Read this book and you'll be singing praises about Audrey, Wait!

WWW Wednesdays - Week 4

"WWW Wednesdays" is a weekly meme by Should Be Reading. Just do the following:


• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

My Answers:

What are you currently reading?

I'm currently reading Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen. Just started it and it's amazing!

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished reading Prom Night: All the Way by Megan Stine. Look out for a review soon!

What do you think you’ll read next?

I think I'll read Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway next! It sounds really good :D

Leave a comment with a link to your answers, or just post your answer (if you don't have a blog) in the comments!