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A review by dherzey
Also Known As by Robin Benway
4.0
This book is the reason why I will get a bad grade this quarter. The only worse thing is: I don't regret any of it. I mean, life is short and all and we should at least have all the fun we can get and all the books we can read, right?
Yeah that's what I thought too because damn, this book is fun.
This book wasn't anywhere as exciting as I expected in terms of spy-ness (actually this book shows a good backdrop of how it is with real spies -- less of the explosion and car chase from all those big buck Hollywood films) but with all this book's hilarity, witty characters, cute romance and spy-trying-to-be-normal circumstance, I can't ask for more. It gave me a good time and a great laugh.
The plot is simple enough: we got our protagonist, Maggie, and her spy parents tasked to to a job with Maggie pretending to get close to the subject while enduring the horrors of high school. It wasn't the most original story but who cares? We got a bunch of hilarious characters and this....
Plus we got to see Maggie and her parents act as a normal family...I mean, try to be as normal as possible.
I especially got a love for Maggie's newly-found bestfriend, Roux. The ray of toxic sunlight that had been missing in her life. There's also Jesse Oliver, who actually made my boyfriend list, and he's probably one of the sweetest fiction guys around.
Seriously, I could kiss this guy.
There's also Angelo, who's like the 'yoda' in Maggie's life. He's somewhat that usual character who appears and disappears in a story when he needs to be. He's pretty cool though and come on, who wouldn't like a spy who got his initials embroidered in almost all his things?
The only problem I got with this book is that it doesn't have enough "espionage feel" to it. I get about the romance, the friendship and family issues and all that but I also wished that there was more spy stuff, more rogue action. Also, the ending seemed a bit too smooth and fast. It was resolved easily, almost unrealistically. But you know what? Despite this book's inconsistencies, it was still great. I had fun and met memorable characters. And, I think, that is enough...a fun and cute book for a tedious week. Life is short, right? ;)
Yeah that's what I thought too because damn, this book is fun.
This book wasn't anywhere as exciting as I expected in terms of spy-ness (actually this book shows a good backdrop of how it is with real spies -- less of the explosion and car chase from all those big buck Hollywood films) but with all this book's hilarity, witty characters, cute romance and spy-trying-to-be-normal circumstance, I can't ask for more. It gave me a good time and a great laugh.
The plot is simple enough: we got our protagonist, Maggie, and her spy parents tasked to to a job with Maggie pretending to get close to the subject while enduring the horrors of high school. It wasn't the most original story but who cares? We got a bunch of hilarious characters and this....
"What time is the party?"
"Roux said that parties sort of start. There's no time." I left out the part where I asked Roux if I should RSVP to the party for both of us or for just me, and she stared at me for a full minute before asking if I had been raised in a barn.
Plus we got to see Maggie and her parents act as a normal family...I mean, try to be as normal as possible.
He had a suit on and kept tugging at the collar, but his shoes were polished and his hair looked newly cut. They seemed to be the perfect Upper East Side parents I had never had.
"...you look uptown and we live downtown."
"Downtown is the new uptown," my dad said. "Look, my socks match my tie!"
"He read that in the Times Style section." My mom rolled her eyes.
I especially got a love for Maggie's newly-found bestfriend, Roux. The ray of toxic sunlight that had been missing in her life. There's also Jesse Oliver, who actually made my boyfriend list, and he's probably one of the sweetest fiction guys around.
"Are you kidding me? I'm going to show you how's it done. I'm going to date you like you've never been dated before."
"Oh yeah?" I said, not able to stop a smile from escaping. "You think you got what it takes?"
"We're talking fireworks, okay? Literal fireworks. None of this 'let's eat ice cream in the freezing cold while we sit on a dirty stoop' shit. I'm pulling out all the stops. Call me LL Cool Jess."
Seriously, I could kiss this guy.
There's also Angelo, who's like the 'yoda' in Maggie's life. He's somewhat that usual character who appears and disappears in a story when he needs to be. He's pretty cool though and come on, who wouldn't like a spy who got his initials embroidered in almost all his things?
The only problem I got with this book is that it doesn't have enough "espionage feel" to it. I get about the romance, the friendship and family issues and all that but I also wished that there was more spy stuff, more rogue action. Also, the ending seemed a bit too smooth and fast. It was resolved easily, almost unrealistically. But you know what? Despite this book's inconsistencies, it was still great. I had fun and met memorable characters. And, I think, that is enough...a fun and cute book for a tedious week. Life is short, right? ;)