Blog Tour: Also Known As by Robin Benway

Today is our second stop on the Triple Threat Blog Tour and we have a review of Also Known As by Robin Benway for you.

Also Known As by Robin Benway
Release Date: February 26, 2013
Publisher: Bloomsbury Juvenile US
Purchase: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / The Book Depository

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.

My Thoughts
 Maggie hasn't had the typical teenage life. She's from a family of spies that work for The Collective. They right wrongs of others. Never living in one place for too long, Maggie finally gets her very own assignment. As a spy, there's plenty of research involved, but what Maggie didn't know was that being a teen in a school system in the city isn't exactly what she thought it would be nor is the boy who she must be-friend in order to get the information needed. This was such a cute story really. I liked Maggie and the stories she told of other jobs they have worked on and places they have been.

Maggie meets Roux (Roo) and end up being friends. Maggie has never had any girlfriends or boyfriends. She tries to convince herself that it was just an assignment, but Maggie eventually realizes that her and Rouxs friendship is real and so are the feelings she has developed for Jesse Oliver. She assumed he was a snotty little rich boy from the city, but what she discovers is that that's not how Jesse or Roux were at all. They all are flawed and what they had in common was that they were all loners.

As the story unfolds, Maggie puts trust in her new friends and essentially they help Maggie to uncover an awful truth.  There were twists, humor, adventure, friendship, and romance.

I really enjoyed Also Known As. I was completely surprised how the story unfolded.  I assumed this would stick to Maggie's assignment, but there was a deeper story underneath. I am a fan of books with humor and I give the author props for adding some great banter and commentary from the characters. Maggie was a fun protagonist. She was a firecracker and I enjoyed learning about all her insight to the inner workings of being a spy and what they go through on a daily basis. I couldn't imagine never living in a place for very long or always having a new identity, but it sounds fun, right!?  I absolutely loved Roux! She totally cracked me up. She was fun and feisty and proved to be a perfect friend for Maggie.

There was such a sweet developing connection between Maggie and Oliver. It was so cute following her first experience with a kiss and the feelings and emotions that come with that. As much as she told herself he was just an assignment, I just couldn't help but cheer for those two to be together. There certainly were many sweet swoony moments and I just fell for Jesse. He was just a sweetheart.

"Jesse Oliver's not gonna know what hit him. And if he messes with you, then he's really not gonna know what hit him. I'll make sure of it." (Maggie's dad's words of wisdom)

Overall this was a fun read.

3.5 Snowflakes