Review Detail

What I liked:
Maggie’s a spy born and raised. She’s an expert safe cracker and travels the world with her spy parents being a spy. At 16, she finally has her first solo mission and she is excited. Of course, her mission involves enrolling in high school and befriending the cute boy with a criminal record. Her goal: to befriend Jesse Oliver, gain access to his father’s house, and obtain the article that the dad was going to run about the spy organization Maggie belongs to.

The characters are great, and definitely where Robin Benway shines as an author. Everyone’s got a whole lot of personality, especially Roux, who might have been my personal favorite. Jesse Oliver is great too. While I do like Maggie, I think I would like her slightly more if she had truly loved Roux more than she seems to do. Also, Maggie’s parents are loving and involved in her life, so three cheers for that.

As mentioned, Jesse Oliver is a great love interest. His rep as a bad boy has been seriously overplayed, and he’s actually one of the sweetest YA boys I’ve read about and not remotely a badass. He treats Maggie right, and, if anything, he’s too kind and forgiving of her. Anyway, I’m just glad to have a romance with a nice boy.

What Left Me Wanting More:
I had some suspension of disbelief issues with the young girl being a spy thing, but I’m willing to set those aside for fun times. Robin Benway does a pretty good job narrating. She’s not the best narrator ever by any means, but I still think it’s cool that she read her own book. Plus, her true affection for the characters really does shine through. She’s not brilliant at voices, but it was still clear who was speaking.

The Final Verdict:
Robin Benway's Also Known As is a little bit silly but a lot fun. This is a perfect choice if you're in the mood for something light, fluffy, and totally adorable. I will definitely be reading the next book in the series.