Book Review: Spy Society by Robin Benway

Title: Spy Society

Author: Robin Benway
Series:  Also Known As, #1
Pages:  320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Books
Date of Publication: 18th July 2013
Source: Publisher*
Synopsis from Goodreads: Being a 16-year-old safecracker and active-duty daughter of international spies has its moments, good and bad. Pros: Seeing the world one crime-solving adventure at a time. Having parents with super cool jobs. Cons: Never staying in one place long enough to have friends or a boyfriend. But for Maggie Silver, the biggest perk of all has been avoiding high school and the accompanying cliques, bad lunches, and frustratingly simple locker combinations.

Then Maggie and her parents are sent to New York for her first solo assignment, and all of that changes. She'll need to attend a private school, avoid the temptation to hack the school's security system, and befriend one aggravatingly cute Jesse Oliver to gain the essential information she needs to crack the case . . . all while trying not to blow her cover.

My Thoughts:
This book was brilliant. I read it in two sittings (which would have been one if I hadn't been dragged out by my friends in the evening) and loved every minute of it. It's really easy to read and one of those books that is just great fun. Loved it!

I haven't really read any spy books before (that I can remember, anyway!) and therefore the whole book was kind of new to me. Maggie Silver is a safecracker in a family of spies and she's been breaking into safes to help solve cases all her life, but in Spy Society she's sent on her first solo mission to infiltrate the local high school. This means actually attending school, doing all the work, and pretending to be your average, normal non-spy student.

I really loved this idea. Going undercover and pretending to be normal just seems so cool! Haha maybe it's just because I can't imagine someone doing it, yet I'm now wondering if anyone in my school is actually a spy (I doubt it, but this book just proves that it could happen I guess) and yes I am aware that this book is a work of fiction, but anyway! Also, I really loved the set up of The Collective and the mystery surrounding it, and how it sent through the files and cases but still was so secretive to even its employees, and it makes me wonder what kind of secret services there are now and what they're doing...

Maggie, the main character, is written so perfectly and authentically and her voice was just right for me to imagine her as a real teenager despite her unusual circumstances. Her narrative is so easy to read and I quickly got hooked into the story - both the spying and secrecy side of things as well as the normal teenage aspects such as falling for Jesse, making friends, and going to her first party. I felt sorry for her having to move around a lot and never being able to make any friends, and also I kind of fell in love with Jesse right along with her... ;) It's just written so well that it could just be the story of Maggie's life even if she weren't a spy and I'd still enjoy it, if that makes sense. Robin would still make it interesting even if she was just a normal high school student!

Roux was great and she made me laugh and proved to be a valuable friend for Maggie to have. I've said it many times now on this blog, but strong friendships in books make me so happy, so Roux and Maggie's relationship definitely won some points with me! Also, I really loved Angelo and his three piece suits, and his complete support for Maggie and her family was really great. He was pretty funny at times, too!

Overall I really enjoyed Spy Society and I cannot wait to read more of Robin's books. Fans of fun and witty contemporaries need look no further!


*Huge thanks to Simon and Schuster for sending me this in exchange for an honest review! In no way has this affected my opinion of the book. 

I hope that made you want to read the book! I'm also on the blog tour for this book, so if my review didn't quite convince you (or even if it did and you want to read some), you can go here to read the first chapter!