Review: The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Fixer (The Fixer #1)by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Published July 7th 2015

by Bloomsbury USA Childrens

This thriller YA is Scandal meets Veronica Mars. Sixteen-year-old Tess Kendrick has spent her entire life on her grandfather's ranch. But when her estranged sister Ivy uproots her to D.C., Tess is thrown into a world that revolves around politics and power. She also starts at Hardwicke Academy, the D.C. school for the children of the rich and powerful, where she unwittingly becomes a fixer for the high school set, fixing teens’ problems the way her sister fixes their parents’ problems. And when a conspiracy surfaces that involves the family member of one of Tess's classmates, love triangles and unbelievable family secrets come to light and life gets even more interesting—and complicated—for Tess. Perfect for fans of Pretty Little Liars and Heist Society, readers will be clamoring for this compelling teen drama with a political twist.

My Thoughts 

The fixer is an intense political who done it or a thriller. While this is a far cry from my usual fantasy troupe, I still enjoyed the book immensely, a bit to my surprise actually, I tried to watch House of Cards and it was just so boring and the people were so incredibly awful I couldn't stomach it. Anyhow, The Fixer found a pretty decent medium of dirty Washington politics and high school drama to keep it interesting. Tess is forced to more in with her sister, Ivy after her grandfather starts losing his long time battle with Alzheimer's. She knows nothing about what her sister does except the fact that she works in Washington. It very quickly becomes apparent thru Tess's interactions with other students at her new private school that they all know more about her sister's reputation than she does, and what a reputation it is. Ivy Kendrick is what is commonly know as a "fixer", you have a problem she makes it disappear. So when Tess unwittingly starts to solve a few problems "accidentally" among her class mates, things get deep real fast and Tess becomes a fixer in her own way. Tess quickly realizes she doesn't even know the game she has been playing.

The thing that was most impressive about The Fixer is that moral dilemmas of politics woven through peoples very real lives. Sadly morality isn't' as prominent in our government as it should be and this book has no problem shining a spotlight on those dirty little secrets. I am not familiar with Mrs. Barnes' writing but I found this to be smooth and extremely well paced book. Tess was a great character since even though she went against her family sometimes, she had enough sense to do what she felt in her heart was the right thing and knew when to ask for help. She proved this very early on when she quickly saved a you girl from having her "personal" photos plastered across the Internet. I immediately loved her from this point on. I love characters that have a good head on their shoulders. She emulates a kind of quiet ferocity which speaks volumes about her character. You know what they say about the quiet ones. No not that! That they are the most dangerous. Asher, one of Tess's classmates happened to be my favorite of all. His snarky dialogue had me beaming everytime he made an appearance.

"What are we doing?" Asher helped himself to a seat at my table. "We aren't doing anything," I told him bluntly. "My mistake. I thought we were brooding in Henry's general direction. Like so." He adopted my stormy countenance, then gestured to me. "Yours is better." "Go away Asher." "You say go away, I hear be my bosom buddy." He gave an elaborate shrug. "Seriously, though; friendship bracelets - yea or nay?"     -Asher & Tess arc Loc 743

I would also like to add the fact that while I pride myself on seeing the plot twist coming a mile away, I couldn't grasp this one for the life of me. Too many slippery eels to choose from. Then, on top of that, there was ever more OMG moments!! I think this will be a great read for anyone who likes suspenseful, mystery type books.

 4 Snowflakes