Chasing Truth (Eleanor Ames, #1)

In "Chasing Truth," Eleanor (Ellie) Ames is running from a past she can't escape. After turning FBI informant on her con-artist family, she now lives with her older sister Harper and her sister's secret service boyfriend, Aidan. Despite not having any papers (no birth certificates, SSN, or any other documentation), Ellie is trying to make a life for herself. She currently attends Holden, an elite private school, that she was somehow able to get into despite lack of documents and with a scholarship (thanks in no small part to Aidan).

Although she wishes it wasn't, her con-artist upbringing is a big part of who Ellie is, and she must use those skills (to get what she wants) if she is going to investigate her best and only friend's supposed suicide. Ellie was the last person to see him alive when he dropped her off at home after the school dance- and he seemed fine then. So what happened to Simon between those crucial hours?

Add to this that there's a really hot new teen, Miles, moving into the apartment complex who is also attending her school- and apparently investigating the same thing. Together, they just might be able to unravel the events of that night and what actually happened to Simon.

Ellie was an easily likable character, and I loved seeing everything from her perspective. The book has a relatively slow start, and the mysteries were often a little easy to figure out, but that didn't mean that getting there wasn't an interesting and, at times, wild ride! I really enjoyed the book and felt completely invested in Ellie as a person. Not to mention that there are some really steamy make-outs scattered here and there that really keep the romance alive! This book was hard to put down and a really great YA mystery with a heavy dose of romance.

I would recommend to older teens for content- sexual situations, drug abuse, suicide/character death/violence. Although we get closure on most of the main events in the book, I am definitely looking forward to continuing this series- Ellie is a fantastic main character, and I would love to hear how her story evolves. While I see the Veronica Mars comparisons, Ellie is definitely her own person and her techniques are her own. I think fans of YA mystery/romance will easily devour this story, and I'd love to see Ellie get her own TV series!

Please note that I received an ecopy from the publisher through netgalley. All opinions are my own.

This review can also be found at http://fortheloveofbooksreviews.blogspot.ca/2016/08/chasing-truth-by-julie-cross.html



I received a free copy of this book through Netgalley.

Eleanor is dealing with a lot in her life, including her family's past as con artists and the suicide of her best friend. She believes that Simon didn't actually kill himself, and she meets Miles, the new guy at school, who believes the same thing.

As she struggles to keep her past a secret, and to use her secret skills acquired from past ventures to get to the bottom of things, she begins to investigate people whom she never would have suspected as potential killers. But Miles might be suspecting her as well, and tensions rise. Will she be able to keep her past a secret? Will she ever find out who killed Simon?

This was definitely an impressive read. While it started out a bit slow and was occasionally hard to follow, it picked up pace very quickly and things were explained in detail later on in the book. I think my favourite part about this novel was the ending when all is revealed. I appreciate that everything ended up having a fairly believable explanation and I don't feel let down by the ending in any way.

As I've noticed with many other thrillers and mysteries, the guessing game the characters were playing during the whole book was incredibly well executed. However, this one stood out to me because it didn't feel overshadowed by romance or shrouded by paranormal events. Often I find that thrillers with paranormal happenings can get old very fast and that it can be super easy to guess what's going to happen. So finding a thriller that kept me hooked without any paranormal elements was a very welcome change. As for the romance, there was lots of romantic tension but it didn't take over the plot or seem forced.

I really liked the main character, Eleanor. I like that she wasn't squeaky-clean, that she wasn't some pure heroine or damsel in distress. While she seemed grateful to have escaped from living her life carrying out con after con, she still participated in morally questionable activities and she lied a lot, which I found added even more thrills to the story because I was always wondering if she might get caught.

Miles was a good love interest for Eleanor, in my opinion, because of how different they both were. While I can't say much without possibly spoiling some parts of the book, I will say that their families are very, very different. With Eleanor hiding her secrets from Miles and his family, this brought about some serious dilemmas for Eleanor which were interesting to read about. I thought it was great that I found myself hooked on the overall plot along with Eleanor's personal issues.

However, I find that Miles was a bit stereotypical at times. He displayed the whole 'arrogant, cocky, overconfident YA male' trope which I found annoying, especially since besides these qualities, he was actually a fairly complex character, considering his past and all. I like when characters have flaws, but these flaws didn't add to the novel or Miles's characterization at all.

I think that it's important to note that there are a few steamy scenes. I have no problem with them, including the fact that they are in a YA book, but some people might so I thought that I should mention this just in case.

Overall, this was an awesome read and I can't wait for the sequel! I'm so glad that I downloaded this book off of NetGalley. If you like YA thrillers or mysteries this is a must read!