Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
It's hard to decide how I felt about this book. I wasn't overly excited about the book, and yet I didn't hate it. There were some great action packed moments where I couldn't wait to find out what would happen. My heart would race and I would have to keep reading to find out if our characters would escape or not but then the next scene would come up and the action and interesting aspects of the book would fade away. This book was constantly grabbing my attention then suddenly losing it again, making me flip through pages waiting for something eventful and possibly more interesting than our two main characters staring into each other's eyes.
Avery is a pretty average man heroine in any YA novel. She's bland, yet everyone is falling in love with her, she of course is the "chosen one", and she has to somehow save the world. The thing I did like about Avery is she has a good head on her shoulders. She stayed calm no matter how many stressful things came her way. She broke down not while running from bad guys trying to kill her. She fought for her life and when she was safe and had a moment she let loose and broke down. She wasn't a damsel and I appreciated that about her. As much as I appreciated her determination, I could have lived without her boy crazed moments. If I had to hear about how pretty our love interests were one more time I think I would have burned this book. We get it, Jack has lovely arms, move on! I don't need an essay on how pretty this boy's tummy muscles are.
And our boys. So first we have Jack, our British, secret agent dream boat. So bored! This boy was so bland vanilla is jealous of him. He had no personality. He's so busy trying to control himself he lacks any appeal. So many girls are wetting themselves at the thought of this boy and I was unimpressed. And then there's Stellan. I wanted to like Stellan, he's your typical bad boy with a chip on the shoulder who will have a personality switch after he falls for our heroine. Sadly we don't see enough of our bad boy, he has potential, and could be interesting especially with what we've seen of the witty banter but he's not much of a love interest. He doesn't show much interest in our main character and he's too busy trying to live his life than get into the mess this girl has got going for her. I hope we see more development of Stellan in the next book but so far he's a very flat cliched character that needs a bit more rounding out to make interesting.
This novel has a lot of first book in a series potential. I can really see this series either becoming really good or really terrible. Hopefully we see more character building in the next book, and a lot less Jack, send Mr. Vanilla home!
Avery is a pretty average man heroine in any YA novel. She's bland, yet everyone is falling in love with her, she of course is the "chosen one", and she has to somehow save the world. The thing I did like about Avery is she has a good head on her shoulders. She stayed calm no matter how many stressful things came her way. She broke down not while running from bad guys trying to kill her. She fought for her life and when she was safe and had a moment she let loose and broke down. She wasn't a damsel and I appreciated that about her. As much as I appreciated her determination, I could have lived without her boy crazed moments. If I had to hear about how pretty our love interests were one more time I think I would have burned this book. We get it, Jack has lovely arms, move on! I don't need an essay on how pretty this boy's tummy muscles are.
And our boys. So first we have Jack, our British, secret agent dream boat. So bored! This boy was so bland vanilla is jealous of him. He had no personality. He's so busy trying to control himself he lacks any appeal. So many girls are wetting themselves at the thought of this boy and I was unimpressed. And then there's Stellan. I wanted to like Stellan, he's your typical bad boy with a chip on the shoulder who will have a personality switch after he falls for our heroine. Sadly we don't see enough of our bad boy, he has potential, and could be interesting especially with what we've seen of the witty banter but he's not much of a love interest. He doesn't show much interest in our main character and he's too busy trying to live his life than get into the mess this girl has got going for her. I hope we see more development of Stellan in the next book but so far he's a very flat cliched character that needs a bit more rounding out to make interesting.
This novel has a lot of first book in a series potential. I can really see this series either becoming really good or really terrible. Hopefully we see more character building in the next book, and a lot less Jack, send Mr. Vanilla home!
Finished reading: April 8th 2016
“Toska.” He leaned forward, too. “It’s a Russian word. It has no translation into any other language, but the closest I’ve heard is the ache. A longing. The sense that something is missing, and even if you’re not sure what it is, you ache for it. Down to your bones.”
I normally don't like it when a book is compared to the work of a different author, but in this case I totally agree The Conspiracy Of Us bears similarities to one of the Ally Carter books I read last year (All Fall Down). And like with that series, I ended up loving The Conspiracy Of Us as well. I'm so glad my TBR jar decided it was time to start reading this series, because I haven't felt this way about a fiction read in way too long! It's true I didn't care for the romance scenes and the 'almost' love triangle, but in this case the rest of the story more than made up for it. It's easy to say Maggie Hall's writing had me hooked right from the first chapter; the story is fast-paced with just the right amount of plot twists, adrenaline and mystery. More importantly, since I love traveling and discovering new cultures myself, I could especially appreciate the Paris and Istanbul descriptions and the many historical references. I liked the main characters and their development as well (if you don't count the romance scenes), and I'm really looking forward to find out what happens next. In short, The Conspiracy Of Us is basically just about everything I want in a good story. If you haven't read it yet and like the genre, I strongly suggest trying out this series!
It's been a long time since I have love a series (that isn't YA fantasy) this much. Besides the romance scenes I didn't particularly care for, The Conspiracy Of Us is basically an example of what I would call a perfect read. A fast pace, easy-to-read prose, an interesting plot with just the right amount of plot twists, an international atmosphere, characters I can connect to... Check. Check. CHECK! As you might have guessed already, I really enjoyed this first book and I have already started reading the sequel as I'm writing this review. Recommended!
This book was entertaining, and I am definitely crushing on Jack hardcore. I'm excited to read the next one.
Je ne terminerai pas ma lecture. Plus j'avance, plus je suis abracadabrée par le contenu, le personnage principal, toussa toussa. Je préfère en rester là et passer à autre chose qui me conviendra plus !
This book gave me big National Treasure vibes. I was constantly interested and didn't get bored of it as I might with other books. It seemed like a quick read and would recommend this to fans of treasure hunting, mysteries, and those who like love triangles.
I listened to the audiobook and thought the narration was very clear. She used accents for some of the characters, which I enjoyed.
I listened to the audiobook and thought the narration was very clear. She used accents for some of the characters, which I enjoyed.
Hmmmm. 2.5 stars. I just finished the book (audio edition) and I'm just not sure what the story was.Had a bit of a "National Treasure" or "Davinci Code" feel. It never pulled me in at all. It wasn't bad ... it just didn't capture my attention. I felt no connection with the characters. I finished this book, but I don't think I'll continue on. I am a bit disappointed. I liked the cover and was ready to find another trilogy to keep me entertained ...
This would be interesting if I was 12 years old. At page 150 I decided I can't take it anymore.
Here’s the thing about this novel…I couldn’t stop rolling my eyes every few pages. It was all just a little too much.
The plot is very predictable and the characters are kind of dull…which I guess fits most YA books at the moment. It would have been nice to have more descriptions on the places they visited…along with more likeable characters. It’s hard to root for people you don’t care for.
It was a quick read and the story never dragged, so I guess it has that going for it.
The plot is very predictable and the characters are kind of dull…which I guess fits most YA books at the moment. It would have been nice to have more descriptions on the places they visited…along with more likeable characters. It’s hard to root for people you don’t care for.
It was a quick read and the story never dragged, so I guess it has that going for it.
"Conspiracy of Us" manages to qualify for one of my least favorite books of 2015. One major qualification for this category is that storyline has so much potential, but the actual book falls flat. So much could be done with the idea of 12 families that rule the events in the earth and have economic, political and social control over what happens. Sounds great, right? But is wasn’t. So much potential, and so poorly done.
This book follows around tiny 17-year-old Avery who manages to be simultaneously aggravating and boring female lead character, a feat in it of itself. She is obsessed with constantly stating and reinforcing how independent she is and how she doesn’t need anybody, while proving to act quite the opposite throughout the entire book. She lives with her mom, her only known living relative that she cares a lot about, and they move a lot because of “mandates” from her mom’s “work.” While attending her prom, Avery meets members of The Circle (a.k.a. the organization that is really powerful and controls everything), and decides to leave with them on a private plane to France overnight without telling her mom. Let me rephrase that, Avery, so smart and independent, travels to a foreign country without any passport, without telling her mom, (her own family member she knows or cares about), with someone she just met, because they tell her to. How is that a reasonable thing to do?
Anyway this happens, and then Avery gets to meet more of the Circle. The Circle as it turns out is only comprised of the hottest guys in the world and they are all flirty with Avery, setting the table for a great love triangle between two of the main hottest guys with really deep and interesting eyes, Jack and Stefan. The Circle wants to find some stuff, like where Alexander the Great is buried, and where Napoleon’s secret diaries are, so they can become more powerful, and another unknown group of people called the Order want to hunt them down and stop them. Action ensues. Some of that is pretty good. The one downside to the action is that Avery, because apparently there are no other clothes available in the world, can only do all of these action sequences in the tightest and shortest of dresses, and the tallest of heels. All that action in such skimpy wear leads to some inadvertent touching and also lots of stuff that Avery can’t do independently, like run or balance or jump.
So this whole plot line happens in a matter of days and Avery falls in love with one of the members of the Circle. There love is forbidden. She gets in trouble and she is always trapped in all these places by members of the Order or the Circle, the two most powerful organizations in the world, but these organizations always manage to put her in places with secret exits and unlocked windows. These super powerful organizations aren’t very smart for being rulers of the world. She manages to escape sometimes.
The way the book is set up Avery has no knowledge of the power of the two groups like the rest of the world. The Circle and the Order remain a secret organization to everyone outside of the organization. When members of the Circle began to explain to Avery the ideas surrounding what The Circle does, her reactions were painful and made her independent character that she was trying so hard to personify fall flat. Her hands were always trembling. Her body was always shaking. Her general indigent statements and exclamations of disbelief made her seem silly and over the top, because I, as a reader, had already bought into “The Circle” idea. That’s why I was reading the book in the first place. Maybe that would have been a better way for Maggie Hall to approach the book. Instead of it being a real world conspiracy scenario, maybe a dystopic universe scenario where everyone knew what was going on already would have worked more. It might have made Avery more bearable.
More stuff happens in the book and then it was “The End.” Except for not really because there is going to be another one of these books. It is going to be a trilogy starring Avery. I think I will pass.
This book follows around tiny 17-year-old Avery who manages to be simultaneously aggravating and boring female lead character, a feat in it of itself. She is obsessed with constantly stating and reinforcing how independent she is and how she doesn’t need anybody, while proving to act quite the opposite throughout the entire book. She lives with her mom, her only known living relative that she cares a lot about, and they move a lot because of “mandates” from her mom’s “work.” While attending her prom, Avery meets members of The Circle (a.k.a. the organization that is really powerful and controls everything), and decides to leave with them on a private plane to France overnight without telling her mom. Let me rephrase that, Avery, so smart and independent, travels to a foreign country without any passport, without telling her mom, (her own family member she knows or cares about), with someone she just met, because they tell her to. How is that a reasonable thing to do?
Anyway this happens, and then Avery gets to meet more of the Circle. The Circle as it turns out is only comprised of the hottest guys in the world and they are all flirty with Avery, setting the table for a great love triangle between two of the main hottest guys with really deep and interesting eyes, Jack and Stefan. The Circle wants to find some stuff, like where Alexander the Great is buried, and where Napoleon’s secret diaries are, so they can become more powerful, and another unknown group of people called the Order want to hunt them down and stop them. Action ensues. Some of that is pretty good. The one downside to the action is that Avery, because apparently there are no other clothes available in the world, can only do all of these action sequences in the tightest and shortest of dresses, and the tallest of heels. All that action in such skimpy wear leads to some inadvertent touching and also lots of stuff that Avery can’t do independently, like run or balance or jump.
So this whole plot line happens in a matter of days and Avery falls in love with one of the members of the Circle. There love is forbidden. She gets in trouble and she is always trapped in all these places by members of the Order or the Circle, the two most powerful organizations in the world, but these organizations always manage to put her in places with secret exits and unlocked windows. These super powerful organizations aren’t very smart for being rulers of the world. She manages to escape sometimes.
The way the book is set up Avery has no knowledge of the power of the two groups like the rest of the world. The Circle and the Order remain a secret organization to everyone outside of the organization. When members of the Circle began to explain to Avery the ideas surrounding what The Circle does, her reactions were painful and made her independent character that she was trying so hard to personify fall flat. Her hands were always trembling. Her body was always shaking. Her general indigent statements and exclamations of disbelief made her seem silly and over the top, because I, as a reader, had already bought into “The Circle” idea. That’s why I was reading the book in the first place. Maybe that would have been a better way for Maggie Hall to approach the book. Instead of it being a real world conspiracy scenario, maybe a dystopic universe scenario where everyone knew what was going on already would have worked more. It might have made Avery more bearable.
More stuff happens in the book and then it was “The End.” Except for not really because there is going to be another one of these books. It is going to be a trilogy starring Avery. I think I will pass.