The Conspiracy of Us

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Author(s)

Maggie Hall

Publisher

G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

Genre(s)

Age Range

12+

Release Date

January 13, 2015

ISBN

978-0399166501

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Sixteen-year-old Avery West’s newfound family can shut down Prada when they want to shop in peace, and can just as easily order a bombing when they want to start a war. Part of a powerful and dangerous secret society called the Circle, they believe Avery is the key to an ancient prophecy. Some want to use her as a pawn. Some want her dead. To unravel the mystery putting her life in danger, Avery must follow a trail of clues from the monuments of Paris to the back alleys of Istanbul with two boys who work for the Circle—beautiful, volatile Stellan and mysterious, magnetic Jack. But both boys are hiding secrets of their own, and when the clues expose stunning new information, Avery realizes the conspiracy could destroy her life–if it doesn’t destroy the world first.

Editor reviews

2 reviews

Not Espionage

July 26, 2015

Overall rating

3.0

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THE CONSPIRACY OF US is YA Thriller. It is a curious tale of a dark conspiracy hiding behind the workings of everyday workings. The mysterious, secret, controlling, sexist, power-hungry, and intriguing society of the Circle controls everything they ever want to control. Don't like Obama? Well, the Circle can remove him from office. Want to put halter tops back in season? Snap, boom, done. Anna Wintour would (probably) put it in the next edition.

Avery West has been moving around the nation. She never stays in one place for too long, because her mother's job forces her to move around. But on the night of her high school's prom, Avery has enough. She puts on her old dress and escapes. With a Russian boy named Stellan, she eagerly (and rather foolishly) goes to Paris to meet the her father's family. But after getting caught in a nasty situation, Avery becomes someone like Indiana Jones, searching through old artifacts to find the treasure everyone is looking for. With the help of sweet (and safe) Jack, she follows from clue to clue.

The story is an adventure. Jack and Avery goes around Paris and other cities to help Jack's captured mentor. The Order (which is also a secret society and is the enemy of the Circle) holds leverage on Avery, forcing her to hunt the "One," who is predicted to be invincible and unbeatable.

The concept of secret societies is fascinating, and the historical references to Alexander the Great are wonderful. However, the world building of this book is complex and befuddling. Is there magic involved? Is Stellan's ability magical or supernatural? Hopefully, Maggie Hall will expand on that notation, because it is leaving a huge question mark (and plot hole). Also, Maggie Hall describes Paris in a very notable way.

The ending of THE CONSPIRACY OF US is a huge "What in the world?" moment. There is an odd blank between the falling action and the cliffhanger. It will take many rereads to get it, but readers will get over the shock.

Overall, THE CONSPIRACY OF US is not the espionage and Ally Carter-like story I expected. It is different and has adventure, mystery, and clues. Avery is a decent character that I can understand. The romance between Jack and Avery is spellbinding, but the chemistry between Stellan and Avery has me confused. (Yes, it looks like there is going to be a love triangle. But think of this book as Jack's limelight.) This novel is best recommended for those who love NATIONAL TREASURE (the movie).

Rating: Three out of Five

Alison Hong, Staff Reviewer and Tumblr Manager Top 50 Reviewer 125 reviews

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User reviews

2 reviews

Overall rating

4.2

Plot

4.5(2)

Characters

4.5(2)

Writing Style

3.5(2)

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Good fun

June 16, 2015

Overall rating

3.7

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I found the Conspiracy of Us to be really fun. Some of the plot occurrences are a bit too convenient but if you go in prepared to just be entertained and to not nitpick the plot then I think most people will like this one. The pacing is good and I liked the characters. I had a bit of trouble with the author's writing style. I kept having to go back and reread things because it wasn't flowing for me, but I think that's just a matter of the reader. Others might not find that to be the case

Jane Gates Top 500 Reviewer 14 reviews

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Very interesting book

May 12, 2015

Overall rating

4.7

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Some things I really enjoyed about this book were:

-The writing style. Fun, but still kinda serious. That can be a hard thing to do, and I feel that Maggie Hall nailed it!

-Action scenes. One of the many things that kept me interested in this book was the action scenes. By action scenes, I don’t only mean that characters drew their guns and fought a war or something. The book was fast-paced, and I love how from the beginning of the book, while it was more slow compared the rest of the story, still got me immediately guessing. We got to try to figure out clues that not only we’re, but the characters too. We got to go along for a wild ride, from Minnesota, to Paris, to Istanbul, and while it would’ve been nice had the characters explored a bit, the action and the scenes in these places make up for it.

-Avery West. Some people migh find her annoying, but personally I’m okay with her. Avery was an interesting protagonist, and it was refreshing to see her aware of her own absurdity in some situations.

“It felt so trivial to be sad about a boy right now.”

Sure, she was naive at some times and made stupid choices, but being suddenly thrown into the middle of a longtime secret-society war can do that to people. She was strong, and what she does is a reminder that she’s not perfect. As for her appearance, she has dark brown hair, and purple eyes (which is part of what makes her special). Some people might find the ‘purple eyes means special’ annoying, however I was always fascinated by purple eyes, and the fact that it made her part of the prophecy and stuff was interesting.

-Romance

I know from the synopsis of the book that it seems like there’s a love triangle, but honestly, while Avery comments on the attractiveness of Stellan, the main romance of the story does not involve a love triangle. Rather, it’s a slow, burning type of romance that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy.

Jack, (Avery’s main love interest) is a Keeper (bodyguard) of one of the families in The Circle, in charge of Avery, and also forbidden from getting involved with her. Although forbidden romance seems overused, I really liked that aspect it gave to the story (however I don’t really understand how it’s wrong, for a Keeper to be in a relationship with a Circle member…it’s doesn’t really affect anyone else…). There were some very swoon-worthy scenes in the book between Jack and Avery which just put a silly grin on your face and makes you all mushy. Lignering looks, stolen touches, you know the deal.

-Love Triangle to-be

There will probably be a love triangle in the second book (planned to be called Map of Fates) which might annoy some readers, but personally I’m okay with it, and mostly indifferent to who she chooses. Not that I didn’t like the love interests, just that I’m not leaning toward one guy only. I honestly can just see Avery with both of them and it doesn’t really bother me of who she chooses. Of course, for now the love triangle part seems kind of forced, and obvious as to who she’s going to choose, but who knows? That might change, and I’ll be looking forward to it, whatever ‘it’ is.

-Rewriting history (kind of)/Plot

The plot, I have to say is kind of far-stretched, but I was able to ignore that in light of the exciting action and mystery in the book. For those readers out there who dislike changing history, this book might have a few issues with you. Some of the ideas may be slightly laughable if you know your history, but personally I didn’t really think about it much, because hey. It’s fiction, AKA made-up. So long the story’s going in an interesting direction, nothing’s wrong with changing up history. For me, anyway.

So, in short, there were little to no flaws in the book, and those small flaws didn’t ruin my reading experience. The Conspiracy of Us is a mystery thriller, and it didn’t disappoint! If you’re into stories with conspiracy plots. secret societies, mystery, and ancient prophecies, you’ll definitely find something to enjoy in this book and I definitely recommend it.

This review can be found on https://booksnacksblog.wordpress.com/

Good Points

-good mystery
-awesome plot twists
-strong characters