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ninetalevixen's review against another edition
3.0
Decent for a middle grade novel, though the protagonist's age seems to suggest a slightly older target audience. Lots of action and intrigue developed with a memorable cast, although the romance was a little much.
marie123's review against another edition
4.0
These are cute books. They're silly, but you have to expect that when you're reading a book with this kind of premise. I enjoyed it a lot.
smlunden's review against another edition
2.0
really, with the plot being so cool, it seems difficult for me to dislike this. but i was meh to good on the first one and this one kind of broke down for me. the dialog between characters seemed to keep coming out off-topic (like they were fighting about something, so they brought up completely unrelated items while arguing? not to prove a point?) and the flirting and romance-y bits were pretty awkward and hard to read through. i quite like flirting and romance and even awkward in most books, but it did not seem to be intentionally awkward. i cringed a lot.
bibliocat4's review against another edition
3.0
ARC from netgalley
Good story and ending - everything happened faster than the first book but Roux & Jesse are still around which is good.
Good story and ending - everything happened faster than the first book but Roux & Jesse are still around which is good.
badmc's review against another edition
2.0
Isn't as good as the first book, due to far-fetched premise and gazillion of new characters I cared little about.
Still, it was a fun, feel-good book.
Still, it was a fun, feel-good book.
majafekete's review against another edition
4.0
more like 3.5
i enjoyed it less than the first book, the plot wasn’t very interesting, the romance was cute but nothing special, some parts felt forced. overall a good read, especially if you’re looking for something light.
i enjoyed it less than the first book, the plot wasn’t very interesting, the romance was cute but nothing special, some parts felt forced. overall a good read, especially if you’re looking for something light.
princess_starr's review against another edition
4.0
After I first finished Also Known As and knew that there was a sequel on the way, I had one of two feelings as to where the series may be heading: 1. Following Maggie on assignments from book to book while she tries to juggle her spy work and her personal life in NYC or 2. Continuously escaping the clutches of Colton Hooper and his associates while doing the aforementioned juggling act. And I think either one would have been fine considering Benway’s style and plotting. Going Rogue is a little bit from column A and little bit from column B, and I really liked that she goes this route. I liked that even though the shadow Big Bad from the last book is still out there, there’s other parties who are interested in Maggie and her family, and that there are consequences from the fallout of the last book.
Which I really liked—this could have been a series that would have ignored said consequences, or have Maggie continuously coming up against corruption in the Collective, and I like that Benway dispenses any pretense of Maggie and her family still working for the ‘good guys’ almost automatically. And while I really do like this angle, it didn’t grab me as much? Mainly because there’s still a lot that we don’t know about the Collective overall. Yes, I get that it’s a big shadow spy organization and a lot of things would be hush-hush until Maggie came of age, but there’s so much mystery behind the higher-ups of the Collective that this swift of a retribution does seem quickly paced. I think my problem with the Collective is that as a plot device, they’re too large in scope for a series with just two books.
But as I said, I liked that Going Rogue does focus on the fallout from the first book and dealing with the consequences of exposing higher-up double agents. I really liked that Maggie’s forced to confront the fact that her parents will and can be used as collateral against her, and that Maggie is going to have to investigate her parents. (I also love the fact that this is a blown up version of “Finding out that your parents were cool and rebellious when they were your age.” Yeah, it has no bearing on the plot until the gang heads to Paris, but it’s a nice character development for Maggie and her relationship with her parents.) Benway manages to pull off making the stakes higher and gives us the right amount of emotional payoff when it counts.
And it’s not even the main plot that’s focused on the fallout and development from the first book, we also get a lot of this with Maggie as well. I said with Also Known As that one of the things that I really liked about Maggie’s character was that her special talent balanced really well with “I just want to be normal.” Here, we get more of the reality of that situation, which is for as much as Maggie wants to go to school and hang out with Roux and make out with Jesse *AND* be a super cool spy, she can’t realistically have it all. The opening of the book has her bored and wanting to go on another assignment, and even when that assignment happens, Maggie has to juggle the two sides of her life (emotional attachments notwithstanding). And what I really liked about this is that when Maggie’s work gets in the way of her personal life—such as being trapped in a nook when she’s supposed to be meeting Jesse’s mom—the situation isn’t treated as wacky hijinks and she and Jesse have a misunderstanding fight. Jesse’s side of the relationship is stressful; not only is he worrying about his girlfriend being in constant danger, but he’s unsure if Maggie’s job is always going to come before anything else. So, the moment that they do fight, I like that neither Maggie or Jesse is wrong in their actions, and that Jesse is trying to deal with everything to the best of his abilities.
And as for Maggie, I liked that she does have to confront what she wants to do in the future. Roux states outright that Maggie wouldn’t be happy at a college, idly studying and with the occasional jetting off to do a job, and that future isn’t necessarily viable. It’s not a plot thread that’s really touched on, but it is discussed enough that given what Maggie uncovers about the Collective, you can tell that she’s at a crossroads. She likes what she does…but she also likes having friends and a life that’s not entirely about secrets.
Which makes the second half of the book really fantastic, or at least it was for me. It’s one thing to put Maggie’s friends in danger (as they would be, being literally dragged along for the ride), but it’s another to have nearly everything ripped away from Maggie, that two of her constants in her life have been taken away and possibly dead and she doesn’t know a thing that I really loved. I really liked the Paris sequences where we have Maggie so stressed out and trying to deal with everything…and also learning about her family history, and finding out some of the things her parents did at her age. Sure, a lot of what happens in Paris feels out of left field—let’s explore the underground tunnels! Restoring buildings! Best friend birthday party!—but given the explosive (heh) events that lead Maggie to Paris, the breather moments are kinda needed.
I also really need to talking about Roux because oh my god my feelings for that poor girl as of this book. I love that she’s able to read Maggie so well and it’s so spot on. And even then, Roux’s still along for the ride. It’s hard to remember at times that Roux isn’t as worldly as she seems, and that even though her life’s going to be in constant danger being friends with Maggie, she’s having fun. (And to be fair, constant danger is much more preferable to Roux than dealing with absentee parents and slut shamers.)
And much like the first book, this one ends on a “To be continued?” note—look, Maggie’s line of “I think I’m ready to meet the phoenix” basically telegraphs a potential third book. And I’m kinda curious to see where things will lead from there, especially with the expanded identifiable members of the Collective who are involved now. (Also, to tangent: I was convinced almost all the way up til the end that Angelo was going to end up being a turncoat. I don’t know why, aside from his extremely underhanded sneakiness and refusal to reveal anything, but I did. And thank God he’s not a double agent as well, because I think there may have been incoherent screaming on my end.)
I really do like this series, especially in how Benway’s taking the plot and characters and not setting them down the standard routes. This could have easily been a breather fluff book, with not much in the way of plot and probably not as much character growth. But I really liked that she goes for the gut in this one, that she does explore the idea that there are consequences from the first book, and that it comes from an unlikely source. I really do hope that we get a third book out of this, because I, like Maggie, really want to see what rises from the ashes.
Which I really liked—this could have been a series that would have ignored said consequences, or have Maggie continuously coming up against corruption in the Collective, and I like that Benway dispenses any pretense of Maggie and her family still working for the ‘good guys’ almost automatically. And while I really do like this angle, it didn’t grab me as much? Mainly because there’s still a lot that we don’t know about the Collective overall. Yes, I get that it’s a big shadow spy organization and a lot of things would be hush-hush until Maggie came of age, but there’s so much mystery behind the higher-ups of the Collective that this swift of a retribution does seem quickly paced. I think my problem with the Collective is that as a plot device, they’re too large in scope for a series with just two books.
But as I said, I liked that Going Rogue does focus on the fallout from the first book and dealing with the consequences of exposing higher-up double agents. I really liked that Maggie’s forced to confront the fact that her parents will and can be used as collateral against her, and that Maggie is going to have to investigate her parents. (I also love the fact that this is a blown up version of “Finding out that your parents were cool and rebellious when they were your age.” Yeah, it has no bearing on the plot until the gang heads to Paris, but it’s a nice character development for Maggie and her relationship with her parents.) Benway manages to pull off making the stakes higher and gives us the right amount of emotional payoff when it counts.
And it’s not even the main plot that’s focused on the fallout and development from the first book, we also get a lot of this with Maggie as well. I said with Also Known As that one of the things that I really liked about Maggie’s character was that her special talent balanced really well with “I just want to be normal.” Here, we get more of the reality of that situation, which is for as much as Maggie wants to go to school and hang out with Roux and make out with Jesse *AND* be a super cool spy, she can’t realistically have it all. The opening of the book has her bored and wanting to go on another assignment, and even when that assignment happens, Maggie has to juggle the two sides of her life (emotional attachments notwithstanding). And what I really liked about this is that when Maggie’s work gets in the way of her personal life—such as being trapped in a nook when she’s supposed to be meeting Jesse’s mom—the situation isn’t treated as wacky hijinks and she and Jesse have a misunderstanding fight. Jesse’s side of the relationship is stressful; not only is he worrying about his girlfriend being in constant danger, but he’s unsure if Maggie’s job is always going to come before anything else. So, the moment that they do fight, I like that neither Maggie or Jesse is wrong in their actions, and that Jesse is trying to deal with everything to the best of his abilities.
And as for Maggie, I liked that she does have to confront what she wants to do in the future. Roux states outright that Maggie wouldn’t be happy at a college, idly studying and with the occasional jetting off to do a job, and that future isn’t necessarily viable. It’s not a plot thread that’s really touched on, but it is discussed enough that given what Maggie uncovers about the Collective, you can tell that she’s at a crossroads. She likes what she does…but she also likes having friends and a life that’s not entirely about secrets.
Which makes the second half of the book really fantastic, or at least it was for me. It’s one thing to put Maggie’s friends in danger (as they would be, being literally dragged along for the ride), but it’s another to have nearly everything ripped away from Maggie, that two of her constants in her life have been taken away and possibly dead and she doesn’t know a thing that I really loved. I really liked the Paris sequences where we have Maggie so stressed out and trying to deal with everything…and also learning about her family history, and finding out some of the things her parents did at her age. Sure, a lot of what happens in Paris feels out of left field—let’s explore the underground tunnels! Restoring buildings! Best friend birthday party!—but given the explosive (heh) events that lead Maggie to Paris, the breather moments are kinda needed.
I also really need to talking about Roux because oh my god my feelings for that poor girl as of this book. I love that she’s able to read Maggie so well and it’s so spot on. And even then, Roux’s still along for the ride. It’s hard to remember at times that Roux isn’t as worldly as she seems, and that even though her life’s going to be in constant danger being friends with Maggie, she’s having fun. (And to be fair, constant danger is much more preferable to Roux than dealing with absentee parents and slut shamers.)
And much like the first book, this one ends on a “To be continued?” note—look, Maggie’s line of “I think I’m ready to meet the phoenix” basically telegraphs a potential third book. And I’m kinda curious to see where things will lead from there, especially with the expanded identifiable members of the Collective who are involved now. (Also, to tangent: I was convinced almost all the way up til the end that Angelo was going to end up being a turncoat. I don’t know why, aside from his extremely underhanded sneakiness and refusal to reveal anything, but I did. And thank God he’s not a double agent as well, because I think there may have been incoherent screaming on my end.)
I really do like this series, especially in how Benway’s taking the plot and characters and not setting them down the standard routes. This could have easily been a breather fluff book, with not much in the way of plot and probably not as much character growth. But I really liked that she goes for the gut in this one, that she does explore the idea that there are consequences from the first book, and that it comes from an unlikely source. I really do hope that we get a third book out of this, because I, like Maggie, really want to see what rises from the ashes.
booksandcecilia's review against another edition
3.0
A bit slow in the beginning and a bit fast in the end, but I adored the characters and the plot!
bookifiction's review against another edition
5.0
there's literally nothing I love more than teen espionage lmao. I looooove this series its so fun and action packed hhhhhh