Month: February 2018

Title: #Prettyboy Must Die
Author: Kimberly Reid
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Macmillan
Source: NetGalley
Release Date: February 13, 2018
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

A CIA prodigy’s cover is blown when he accidentally becomes an internet sensation in #Prettyboy Must Die, inspired by the #Alexfromtarget story.

When Peter Smith’s classmate snaps a picture of him during a late night run at the track, Peter thinks he might be in trouble. When she posts that photo–along with the caption, “See the Pretty Boy Run,”–Peter knows he’s in trouble. But when hostiles drop through the ceiling of his 6th period Chem Class, Peter’s pretty sure his trouble just became a national emergency.

Because he’s not really Peter Smith. He’s Jake Morrow, former foster-kid turned CIA operative. After a massive screw-up on his first mission, he’s on a pity assignment, a dozen hit lists and now, social media, apparently. As #Prettyboy, of all freaking things.

His cover’s blown, his school’s under siege, and if he screws up now, #Prettyboy will become #Deadboy faster than you can say, ‘fifteen minutes of fame.’ Trapped in a high school with rabid killers and rabid fans, he’ll need all his training and then some to save his job, his school and, oh yeah, his life.

Review:

I really enjoyed his story. It reminded me of the movie Agent Cody Banks, which was one of my favourites when I was a kid. It was also about a teenage secret agent.

I liked the beginning of the story. It throws us right into the action in the Ukraine. Then, the majority of the book is about a lockdown in Peter’s school. I wish there was some more background on how he became an agent. It would have also been nice to see him in more situations than just the one day at school.

Peter is a diverse character, but that isn’t obvious from the boy on the cover. When I started reading the book, Peter mentions that he is black. However, the boy on the cover doesn’t necessarily look black. Perhaps if his whole face was shown, it would have been more obvious, since only part of his face and hands show his skin.

This is a great book for fans of spy novels in a school setting.

Title: S.T.A.G.S.
Author: M.A. Bennett
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Penguin Random House Canada
Source: NetGalley
Release Date: January 30, 2018
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old Greer, a scholarship girl at a prestigious private school, St Aidan the Great School (known as STAGS), soon realizes that the school is full of snobs and spoilt rich brats, many of whom come from aristocratic families who have attended the institute throughout the centuries. She’s immediately ignored by her classmates. All the teachers are referred to as Friars (even the female ones), but the real driving force behind the school is a group of prefects known as the Medievals, whose leader, Henry de Warlencourt, Greer finds both strangely intriguing as well as attractive. The Medievals are all good-looking, clever and everyone wants to be among their circle of friends. Greer is therefore surprised when she receives an invitation from Henry to spend a long weekend with him and his friends at his family house in the Lake District, especially when she learns that two other “outsiders” have also been invited: Shafeen and Chanel. As the weekend unfolds, Greer comes to the chilling realization that she and two other “losers” were invited only because they were chosen to become prey in a mad game of manhunt.

Review:

I’ve wanted to read this book since it originally came out in the U.K. in the summer. It was definitely worth the hype.

From the beginning of the story, we know how it will end. Greer will somehow kill someone at her weekend away. The whole story was building up to this ending, which was already revealed. But we don’t know how it happens. It was very well done. I was excited to read the whole thing and find out what happened. And the ending didn’t disappoint.

Tradition is a major theme in this story. When I went to England, I loved that everything was very traditional. There are large families in the story who trace their origins back more than a thousand years. The school STAGS also has historical origins.

The death occurred well before the end of the story, so I was surprised that there was so much left to happen. I thought the story was finished when they showed the death, but it continues right to the last page. I really liked the ending.

After I started reading this story, I read that it might be made into a movie. That’s so exciting and I’d love to see this story on the big screen!