SYNOPSIS: Seventeen-year-old Riley Collins has grown up in some of the world’s most dangerous cities, learning political strategies from her ambassador dad and defensive skills from his security chief. The only thing they didn’t prepare her for: life as an American teenager. After an incident forces her to leave her Pakistani home, Riley is recruited by the State Department to attend Harrington Academy, one of the most elite boarding schools in Connecticut. The catch: she must use her tactical skills to covertly keep an eye on Hayden Frasier, the daughter of a tech billionaire whose new code-breaking spyware has the international intelligence community in an uproar. Disturbing signs begin to appear that Riley’s assignment wasn’t the walk in the park she’d been promised. Now, Riley must fight for her life and Hayden’s, as those around her reveal themselves to be true friends or the ultimate betrayers. Rating: 4/5
[ I was given a digital copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review! ] Alright, this is a tricky one. I will start by saying what I disliked about this, so I can finish on a positive note. There was really only one thing I didn't like, and I was tempted to give this less stars because of this one thing because I hated it so much. We meet Riley as this badass character who advocates for girls' rights to do whatever they want, literally fighting grown men to protect a girl's right to go to school. Amazing. I was in love with Riley from the start. But then!! She goes to Harrington, where they have an MMA club. She is excited to go. I am excited to read about her kicking butt. But then the moment she walks into this club the leader tries to kick her out before even giving her a chance, just because she is a girl. And I'm getting ready, thinking "oooh, she's about to tell him what's up", but then... she doesn't?! She falls in love with him!! We meet her as this badass, feminist character, but then she falls in love with a gross, misogynist teenage boy? This was so, so disappointing. She spars with him and he runs his hand over her leg and she's cool with that, even though it was inappropriate and definitely uncalled for. I feel like the entire Sam storyline really made this story much less enjoyable for me as I hated every second Riley spent near him. While reading this book I took notes, and the one on Sam just said "nahh :(". OKAY. Onto the positive parts. I did give this 4 stars after all! Riley is respectful and loving of Pakistani culture, and she has learned Arabic so she can communicate with the people around her (even though her Urdu isn't too good). She likes to chat to the wives of politicians during meetings. She is involved and interested, loving the culture but also being able to be critical of it by condemning the groups who think girls shouldn't go to school. I think this is excellent and I loved the first chapter where she, as I mentioned before, took out a bunch of grown men to defend a girl. Riley is a little fighter, without giving up her femininity. She still likes dresses, and goes to the MMA club in a bright pink sports bra. She engages in friendships with girls without speaking about their interests in a degrading manner. I really liked her friendship with Hayden, and I liked the wide variety of girls in the book. Also I loved Von, and I think he's a way better love interest for Riley than Sam. He's respectful and interested in Riley's hobbies. He's willing to help, but he also knows that she can stand up for herself. He is great. Benson, pretty much Riley's surrogate mother, is adorable and hilarious and I loved the little family dynamic between Riley, her dad and Benson. Benson was allowed to be badass, but also caring and loving, which is very nice to see in any character. The story overall was fun too. The plot was enjoyable and I am a sucker for a good teenage spy story, so that was all good with me. The suspense and the ending were both well written and nice to read. Overall this book was quite an enjoyable read, but the whole Sam thing really put me off. When the next book in this series comes out I will definitely read that too, as the writing, plot and most characters are great, but if Sam stays a relevant love interest I don't know if I'll be able to keep reading. Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/book/show/30143031-a-dangerous-year?from_search=true Amazon: www.amazon.com/Dangerous-Year-Riley-Collins/dp/1620079070
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AuthorHi! I'm Marcella. As you might have guessed, I quite like YA books.. Archives
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