Believe it or not, there are some drawbacks to being a 16-year old safecracker, daughter of spies, and member of a Robin Hood-esque organization that fights corruption. On the list: never getting to stay in one place long enough to have friends or a boyfriend, being the only spy ever to have a 10 p.m. curfew, and being sent on assignment to Russia. In the winter. For Maggie Silver, the major perk thus far has been the avoidance of high school, and the accompanying cliques, bad lunches, and frustratingly simple Masterlocks on the lockers (If it’s three digits or less, why even bother?). But when Maggie and her parents are sent to New York on a major assignment, though, 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 information she needs to crack the case, all while trying not to blow her cover.
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Young Adult Fiction
Also Known As
Also Known As http://www.yabookscentral.com/media/reviews/photos/thumbnail/200x285s/17/f8/40/14322_also-known-as-1362153732.jpg Featured
Author(s)
Publisher
Genre(s)
Age Range
12+
Release Date
February 26, 2013
ISBN
0802733905
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Editor reviews
Maggie has traveled the globe with her parents, spies who work for the Collective, an shadowy organization that works hard at making sure that things... go right. Not much more is said. Maggie is a fantastic safe cracker, so has helped out wherever they are, most recently Iceland, but the family gets a new assignment which involves Maggie in a much bigger role than safe cracking. The family moves to Manhattan, and Maggie is enrolled in high school for the first time. Her job? To get to know Jesse Oliver, the son of publishers Armand Oliver, who may be working on an article that will blow the lid off the collective... and also Maggie's life. High school is harder than safe cracking, but with the help of her new friend, Roux, as well as long time family friend and forger Angelo, Maggie manages to survive high school, get Jesse interested in her, and keep her family's cover from being completely blown.
Reviewed by
Karen Yingling, Editor
February 28, 2013
Last updated: February 28, 2013
Top 10 Reviewer - View all my reviews (242)
| Overall rating | 4.7 | |
| Plot | 4.0 | |
| Characters | 5.0 | |
| Writing Style | 5.0 |
Reviewed by
Karen Yingling, Editor
February 28, 2013
Last updated: February 28, 2013
Top 10 Reviewer - View all my reviews (242)
I Want to Be A Spy!
Maggie has traveled the globe with her parents, spies who work for the Collective, an shadowy organization that works hard at making sure that things... go right. Not much more is said. Maggie is a fantastic safe cracker, so has helped out wherever they are, most recently Iceland, but the family gets a new assignment which involves Maggie in a much bigger role than safe cracking. The family moves to Manhattan, and Maggie is enrolled in high school for the first time. Her job? To get to know Jesse Oliver, the son of publishers Armand Oliver, who may be working on an article that will blow the lid off the collective... and also Maggie's life. High school is harder than safe cracking, but with the help of her new friend, Roux, as well as long time family friend and forger Angelo, Maggie manages to survive high school, get Jesse interested in her, and keep her family's cover from being completely blown.
Good Points
Just the thing for readers who are anxiously awaiting the next Gallagher Girls book. Like Annabel Monaghan's A Girl Named Digit, there's a great mix of New York City setting, romance, and spy action and adventure. Such, such fun! Glad to see there will be a sequel to this one. I loved that it began in Iceland, I loved Maggie, and the romance in this one was great.
Do You Recommend?
Yes
Was this review helpful to you?
User reviews
Average user rating from: 3 user(s)
I picked up Also Known As simply because I thought the blurb sounded like it would be all kinds of fun! I wasn't wrong. Also Known As was an extremely fast and enjoyable read. I thoroughly enjoyed the quick pace, fantastic characters, and engaging plot.
Maggie was an awesome lead character. She really popped off the pages. Maggie is extremely smart. She has been groomed to be a spy from birth. Very different from your average teen, but also the same in a lot of ways. With this new assignment making her assimilate into high school for the first time, we get to experience a lot of firsts with Maggie. we get to go with her as she goes to her first party, makes friends, her first kiss and more. The difference from other books is, she is doing all of this while being a spy.
I love how involved Maggie's family is. They're not off on some mission of their own, conveniently written out of the story. They are right there, having morning meetings with her, freaking out when she comes home late. It was great seeing such involved and caring parents. Also ADORED Angelo, the family friend who is Maggie's mentor. He's suave, and quirky, and just a great addition to the family dynamic.
My favorite character had to be Roux. She was hilarious, talked a mile a minute, had a swear jar with her doorman, was sorta sad but also awesome. She knew that she had screwed up big time in the past and was completely willing to admit that. She was willing to admit her mistakes and do things differently. I wish I could pull her out of the pages and make her my BFF.
As for the love story, it was almost sickeningly cute. Both Maggie and Jesse were innocent and adorable. Their dates were too cute for words. Their banter was hilarious. I loved them despite myself.
Also Known As was fast, fun, and pure entertainment. Robin Benway's humor shines through the pages loud and clear. I know that I am going to be bumping Audrey Wait up my TBR. If you like witty and entertaining writing, I recommended Also Known As to you!
Maggie was an awesome lead character. She really popped off the pages. Maggie is extremely smart. She has been groomed to be a spy from birth. Very different from your average teen, but also the same in a lot of ways. With this new assignment making her assimilate into high school for the first time, we get to experience a lot of firsts with Maggie. we get to go with her as she goes to her first party, makes friends, her first kiss and more. The difference from other books is, she is doing all of this while being a spy.
I love how involved Maggie's family is. They're not off on some mission of their own, conveniently written out of the story. They are right there, having morning meetings with her, freaking out when she comes home late. It was great seeing such involved and caring parents. Also ADORED Angelo, the family friend who is Maggie's mentor. He's suave, and quirky, and just a great addition to the family dynamic.
My favorite character had to be Roux. She was hilarious, talked a mile a minute, had a swear jar with her doorman, was sorta sad but also awesome. She knew that she had screwed up big time in the past and was completely willing to admit that. She was willing to admit her mistakes and do things differently. I wish I could pull her out of the pages and make her my BFF.
As for the love story, it was almost sickeningly cute. Both Maggie and Jesse were innocent and adorable. Their dates were too cute for words. Their banter was hilarious. I loved them despite myself.
Also Known As was fast, fun, and pure entertainment. Robin Benway's humor shines through the pages loud and clear. I know that I am going to be bumping Audrey Wait up my TBR. If you like witty and entertaining writing, I recommended Also Known As to you!
| Overall rating | 4.7 | |
| Plot | 4.0 | |
| Characters | 5.0 | |
| Writing Style | 5.0 |
Entertaining and hilarious!
I picked up Also Known As simply because I thought the blurb sounded like it would be all kinds of fun! I wasn't wrong. Also Known As was an extremely fast and enjoyable read. I thoroughly enjoyed the quick pace, fantastic characters, and engaging plot.
Maggie was an awesome lead character. She really popped off the pages. Maggie is extremely smart. She has been groomed to be a spy from birth. Very different from your average teen, but also the same in a lot of ways. With this new assignment making her assimilate into high school for the first time, we get to experience a lot of firsts with Maggie. we get to go with her as she goes to her first party, makes friends, her first kiss and more. The difference from other books is, she is doing all of this while being a spy.
I love how involved Maggie's family is. They're not off on some mission of their own, conveniently written out of the story. They are right there, having morning meetings with her, freaking out when she comes home late. It was great seeing such involved and caring parents. Also ADORED Angelo, the family friend who is Maggie's mentor. He's suave, and quirky, and just a great addition to the family dynamic.
My favorite character had to be Roux. She was hilarious, talked a mile a minute, had a swear jar with her doorman, was sorta sad but also awesome. She knew that she had screwed up big time in the past and was completely willing to admit that. She was willing to admit her mistakes and do things differently. I wish I could pull her out of the pages and make her my BFF.
As for the love story, it was almost sickeningly cute. Both Maggie and Jesse were innocent and adorable. Their dates were too cute for words. Their banter was hilarious. I loved them despite myself.
Also Known As was fast, fun, and pure entertainment. Robin Benway's humor shines through the pages loud and clear. I know that I am going to be bumping Audrey Wait up my TBR. If you like witty and entertaining writing, I recommended Also Known As to you!
Good Points
Dynamic characters and great humor.
Do You Recommend?
Yes
Was this review helpful to you?
Also Known As is a super cute read. (Has anyone else noticed that I tend to start off my reviews with weird sentences?)
The spy aspect of the story was neat. It didn't feel too over the top and I love that Maggie was all about just picking locks and didn't use a bunch of gadgets and whatnot. It felt way more believable than the the movies that involve lots of rappelling and acrobatics to avoid lasers. More believable = easier to stay in the story.
The romance is freaking adorable. I love that Jesse and Maggie have their awkward moments, but there's also an ease to their relationship. They make a natural (okay, so he was her assignment, but still) progression from friendly to more than friends, and play off each other well. Jesse is sweet an you can tell he really likes Maggie. He talks openly with her about personal things, but still acts goofy around her. He felt like one of the most realistic YA guys I've read in a while.
Roux and Maggie's relationship is pretty great too. I love that Benway managed to balance a boyfriend relationship and a best friend relationship. Roux and Maggie start off kind of weird since Maggie seems to think she's a bit of a witch and Roux's closed herself off from personal relationships, but they do a good job of helping each other grow. And Roux is fantastic. She's loud and obnoxious, but in a rather endearing way. She's like that one crazy friend we all have.
Angelo is straight-up awesome. I loved every single scene he was in. He's a great mentor to Maggie, and manages to be humorous in an elegant way. Plus, he's not intimidated by Roux which kind of says a lot.
If I had one gripe it would be the overuse of “gonna.” Okay, I totally get that it's what we say instead of “going to” most of the time, but Maggie said it every single time it came up. It really started to drive me insane. You can even ask Jacob, I had a little outburst while reading.
The Nutshell: Also Known As is a cute and quick read. There's some good spy action, but there's a lot of focus on Maggie and her relationships (parents, boyfriend, best friend, etc.) which I found really nice. If you want a cute romance, some action, and a good “realizing who you are” story then Also Known As is your story.
Hit
The spy aspect of the story was neat. It didn't feel too over the top and I love that Maggie was all about just picking locks and didn't use a bunch of gadgets and whatnot. It felt way more believable than the the movies that involve lots of rappelling and acrobatics to avoid lasers. More believable = easier to stay in the story.
The romance is freaking adorable. I love that Jesse and Maggie have their awkward moments, but there's also an ease to their relationship. They make a natural (okay, so he was her assignment, but still) progression from friendly to more than friends, and play off each other well. Jesse is sweet an you can tell he really likes Maggie. He talks openly with her about personal things, but still acts goofy around her. He felt like one of the most realistic YA guys I've read in a while.
Roux and Maggie's relationship is pretty great too. I love that Benway managed to balance a boyfriend relationship and a best friend relationship. Roux and Maggie start off kind of weird since Maggie seems to think she's a bit of a witch and Roux's closed herself off from personal relationships, but they do a good job of helping each other grow. And Roux is fantastic. She's loud and obnoxious, but in a rather endearing way. She's like that one crazy friend we all have.
Angelo is straight-up awesome. I loved every single scene he was in. He's a great mentor to Maggie, and manages to be humorous in an elegant way. Plus, he's not intimidated by Roux which kind of says a lot.
If I had one gripe it would be the overuse of “gonna.” Okay, I totally get that it's what we say instead of “going to” most of the time, but Maggie said it every single time it came up. It really started to drive me insane. You can even ask Jacob, I had a little outburst while reading.
The Nutshell: Also Known As is a cute and quick read. There's some good spy action, but there's a lot of focus on Maggie and her relationships (parents, boyfriend, best friend, etc.) which I found really nice. If you want a cute romance, some action, and a good “realizing who you are” story then Also Known As is your story.
Hit
| Overall rating | 4.3 | |
| Plot | 4.0 | |
| Characters | 5.0 | |
| Writing Style | 4.0 |
Also Known As (A Room with Books review)
Also Known As is a super cute read. (Has anyone else noticed that I tend to start off my reviews with weird sentences?)
The spy aspect of the story was neat. It didn't feel too over the top and I love that Maggie was all about just picking locks and didn't use a bunch of gadgets and whatnot. It felt way more believable than the the movies that involve lots of rappelling and acrobatics to avoid lasers. More believable = easier to stay in the story.
The romance is freaking adorable. I love that Jesse and Maggie have their awkward moments, but there's also an ease to their relationship. They make a natural (okay, so he was her assignment, but still) progression from friendly to more than friends, and play off each other well. Jesse is sweet an you can tell he really likes Maggie. He talks openly with her about personal things, but still acts goofy around her. He felt like one of the most realistic YA guys I've read in a while.
Roux and Maggie's relationship is pretty great too. I love that Benway managed to balance a boyfriend relationship and a best friend relationship. Roux and Maggie start off kind of weird since Maggie seems to think she's a bit of a witch and Roux's closed herself off from personal relationships, but they do a good job of helping each other grow. And Roux is fantastic. She's loud and obnoxious, but in a rather endearing way. She's like that one crazy friend we all have.
Angelo is straight-up awesome. I loved every single scene he was in. He's a great mentor to Maggie, and manages to be humorous in an elegant way. Plus, he's not intimidated by Roux which kind of says a lot.
If I had one gripe it would be the overuse of “gonna.” Okay, I totally get that it's what we say instead of “going to” most of the time, but Maggie said it every single time it came up. It really started to drive me insane. You can even ask Jacob, I had a little outburst while reading.
The Nutshell: Also Known As is a cute and quick read. There's some good spy action, but there's a lot of focus on Maggie and her relationships (parents, boyfriend, best friend, etc.) which I found really nice. If you want a cute romance, some action, and a good “realizing who you are” story then Also Known As is your story.
Hit
Was this review helpful to you?
Also Known As by Robin Benway
eARC received from Bloomsbury
Release Date: 2-26-2013
Reviewed by: Middle Sis Jenn
The Sisters Say: Witty and Hysterical
Spies. That’s all I needed to read before I was sold on this one. Plus, I’m always looking for new contemporary because I love them—even though they are really hit and miss with me. Also Known As was definitely a fun read albeit it, the story is completely unrealistic. (At least I think it is, but who knows, I’m not a spy.) Getting over the fact that the story seem sensationalized to me, I still found myself laughing at loud at the random humor that Robin so brilliantly added.
Robin’s writing definitely stole the show with this spy thriller. Maggie is a teenage safecracker who has always been a part of the spy world—a girl on the outside looking in at what the normal world does every day. And right away, she is intimidated, but that doesn’t bog her down. Instead, she straps on her trusty sarcasm and heads straight for the lion’s den. “Right off, I noticed that no one else was alone: students traveled in packs of two, three, or four through the halls, not moving out of the way for anyone else…Wild animals also traveled in packs, I realized. That was usually how they surrounded and devoured their prey.” ARC, Location 381-383 I love her sense of humor here, and Maggie’s blunt and clever thoughts just keep getting better and better.
I loved Maggie, but my favorite character, by far, was Roux. She’s this punk girl with a “stick it to the man” chip on her shoulder, and I loved every single, trashy word that leaped from her mouth. She was hilarious, and she had a way of turning the simplest of scenarios into something that will cause you to fall off the couch and roll around on the floor laughing. (Seriously). Need an example? “’Well, I think we can all agree bidets are weird,’ Roux announced as she strolled back into the room.’” ARC, Location 2433-2434 I mean, girls don’t talk about going to the toilet! So, when this came popping out of her mouth (in front of the cute guy nonetheless), I found myself laughing hysterically. Because, let’s face it, bidets are weird!
Despite the hilarious writing and great female characters, there were still times when the plot dragged. I found myself skipping over entire paragraphs to get to the good parts. In a spy thriller like this, I don’t need all the extra, gritty details. I need the bang of guns, the hiding in plain sight, and the occasional passion-filled kiss! I really didn’t get much of this, though, which is upsetting. The whole “spy” part of the story seemed to fall into the background as the relationship part of the story took center stage. I don’t have a problem with this really, but it would have been nice to hear a few guns ?
One other thing that threw me off (it didn’t bug me, it was just different) was how middle grade the romance and action were while the language was definitely YA to Mature YA. I mean, there were a whole lot of s-words, and a-words and what not, but very little of anything else that would show their age level. Take away the language, and you would have a middle grade book. I would have preferred a steamier romance to accompany the rest of the story.
Overall, this was definitely a fun read, and I am still reeling from the great humor that Robin put into her story. I will definitely be reading more by her in the future! If you are a fan of spy stories or fun, light-hearted contemporaries, then this is a book you definitely need to check out. Push through the slower parts and the unrealistic story and get to know the amazing and witty characters.
eARC received from Bloomsbury
Release Date: 2-26-2013
Reviewed by: Middle Sis Jenn
The Sisters Say: Witty and Hysterical
Spies. That’s all I needed to read before I was sold on this one. Plus, I’m always looking for new contemporary because I love them—even though they are really hit and miss with me. Also Known As was definitely a fun read albeit it, the story is completely unrealistic. (At least I think it is, but who knows, I’m not a spy.) Getting over the fact that the story seem sensationalized to me, I still found myself laughing at loud at the random humor that Robin so brilliantly added.
Robin’s writing definitely stole the show with this spy thriller. Maggie is a teenage safecracker who has always been a part of the spy world—a girl on the outside looking in at what the normal world does every day. And right away, she is intimidated, but that doesn’t bog her down. Instead, she straps on her trusty sarcasm and heads straight for the lion’s den. “Right off, I noticed that no one else was alone: students traveled in packs of two, three, or four through the halls, not moving out of the way for anyone else…Wild animals also traveled in packs, I realized. That was usually how they surrounded and devoured their prey.” ARC, Location 381-383 I love her sense of humor here, and Maggie’s blunt and clever thoughts just keep getting better and better.
I loved Maggie, but my favorite character, by far, was Roux. She’s this punk girl with a “stick it to the man” chip on her shoulder, and I loved every single, trashy word that leaped from her mouth. She was hilarious, and she had a way of turning the simplest of scenarios into something that will cause you to fall off the couch and roll around on the floor laughing. (Seriously). Need an example? “’Well, I think we can all agree bidets are weird,’ Roux announced as she strolled back into the room.’” ARC, Location 2433-2434 I mean, girls don’t talk about going to the toilet! So, when this came popping out of her mouth (in front of the cute guy nonetheless), I found myself laughing hysterically. Because, let’s face it, bidets are weird!
Despite the hilarious writing and great female characters, there were still times when the plot dragged. I found myself skipping over entire paragraphs to get to the good parts. In a spy thriller like this, I don’t need all the extra, gritty details. I need the bang of guns, the hiding in plain sight, and the occasional passion-filled kiss! I really didn’t get much of this, though, which is upsetting. The whole “spy” part of the story seemed to fall into the background as the relationship part of the story took center stage. I don’t have a problem with this really, but it would have been nice to hear a few guns ?
One other thing that threw me off (it didn’t bug me, it was just different) was how middle grade the romance and action were while the language was definitely YA to Mature YA. I mean, there were a whole lot of s-words, and a-words and what not, but very little of anything else that would show their age level. Take away the language, and you would have a middle grade book. I would have preferred a steamier romance to accompany the rest of the story.
Overall, this was definitely a fun read, and I am still reeling from the great humor that Robin put into her story. I will definitely be reading more by her in the future! If you are a fan of spy stories or fun, light-hearted contemporaries, then this is a book you definitely need to check out. Push through the slower parts and the unrealistic story and get to know the amazing and witty characters.
| Overall rating | 3.7 | |
| Plot | 3.0 | |
| Characters | 4.0 | |
| Writing Style | 4.0 |
Hilarious and Witty, but didn't blow me away
Also Known As by Robin Benway
eARC received from Bloomsbury
Release Date: 2-26-2013
Reviewed by: Middle Sis Jenn
The Sisters Say: Witty and Hysterical
Spies. That’s all I needed to read before I was sold on this one. Plus, I’m always looking for new contemporary because I love them—even though they are really hit and miss with me. Also Known As was definitely a fun read albeit it, the story is completely unrealistic. (At least I think it is, but who knows, I’m not a spy.) Getting over the fact that the story seem sensationalized to me, I still found myself laughing at loud at the random humor that Robin so brilliantly added.
Robin’s writing definitely stole the show with this spy thriller. Maggie is a teenage safecracker who has always been a part of the spy world—a girl on the outside looking in at what the normal world does every day. And right away, she is intimidated, but that doesn’t bog her down. Instead, she straps on her trusty sarcasm and heads straight for the lion’s den. “Right off, I noticed that no one else was alone: students traveled in packs of two, three, or four through the halls, not moving out of the way for anyone else…Wild animals also traveled in packs, I realized. That was usually how they surrounded and devoured their prey.” ARC, Location 381-383 I love her sense of humor here, and Maggie’s blunt and clever thoughts just keep getting better and better.
I loved Maggie, but my favorite character, by far, was Roux. She’s this punk girl with a “stick it to the man” chip on her shoulder, and I loved every single, trashy word that leaped from her mouth. She was hilarious, and she had a way of turning the simplest of scenarios into something that will cause you to fall off the couch and roll around on the floor laughing. (Seriously). Need an example? “’Well, I think we can all agree bidets are weird,’ Roux announced as she strolled back into the room.’” ARC, Location 2433-2434 I mean, girls don’t talk about going to the toilet! So, when this came popping out of her mouth (in front of the cute guy nonetheless), I found myself laughing hysterically. Because, let’s face it, bidets are weird!
Despite the hilarious writing and great female characters, there were still times when the plot dragged. I found myself skipping over entire paragraphs to get to the good parts. In a spy thriller like this, I don’t need all the extra, gritty details. I need the bang of guns, the hiding in plain sight, and the occasional passion-filled kiss! I really didn’t get much of this, though, which is upsetting. The whole “spy” part of the story seemed to fall into the background as the relationship part of the story took center stage. I don’t have a problem with this really, but it would have been nice to hear a few guns ?
One other thing that threw me off (it didn’t bug me, it was just different) was how middle grade the romance and action were while the language was definitely YA to Mature YA. I mean, there were a whole lot of s-words, and a-words and what not, but very little of anything else that would show their age level. Take away the language, and you would have a middle grade book. I would have preferred a steamier romance to accompany the rest of the story.
Overall, this was definitely a fun read, and I am still reeling from the great humor that Robin put into her story. I will definitely be reading more by her in the future! If you are a fan of spy stories or fun, light-hearted contemporaries, then this is a book you definitely need to check out. Push through the slower parts and the unrealistic story and get to know the amazing and witty characters.
Do You Recommend?
Yes
Was this review helpful to you?
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