Tag Archives: spies

Review: Augusta Pine Does Not Exist by Emily Lloyd-Jones

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Augusta Pine Does Not Exist by Emily Lloyd Jones

Augusta Pine Does Not Exist
Emily Lloyd-Jones
Balzer + Bray
Published July 7, 2026

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About Augusta Pine Does Not Exist

Combining the suspense of a thriller, the intrigue of spy fiction, and the emotional resonance of a confessional narrative, this is gripping, wholly original novel about a teen secret operative who must outwit a band of murderous cyberterrorists.

I was fifteen when I became a murderer.

After a hack gone tragically wrong, a teen girl is given an ultimatum: accept a harsh prison sentence or leave her old life behind and use her talents in the service of a shady government agency.

Three years later, the newly-named Augusta Pine has become a skilled wraith, one of the Identity Security Division’s secret operatives. She has no home, no family, and her only friends are her coolly professional handler and a snarky AI spybot. So when she is sent to Portland for an assignment, she seizes the chance to catch a glimpse of her beloved grandmother and rents the apartment next door.

What begins as nostalgic stalking turns into a fight for survival when a group of cyberterrorists hacks the building and imprisons the residents. Augusta doesn’t know exactly what they want, but she does know they are ready to murder for it. With her quick wits, tech savvy – and help from an intriguing fellow hostage – Augusta must race against the clock to stay one step ahead of the killers.

Unfolding through a suspenseful narrative interspersed with case-file excerpts, this is a pulse-pounding novel about identity, connection, and justice.

My Review

This book kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end. Wow.

Okay, so the only other book that I’ve read by Emily Lloyd-Jones is The Wild Huntress, which I really enjoyed, and which is a lush fantasy. So it’s very different than this book. I wasn’t sure what to expect in picking this one up, except that I liked the other book I’d read and wanted to see how she handled a contemporary suspense/thriller novel.

Turns out… I quite like both!

This one has a little bit of a Die Hard flavor, but with a teen protagonist more likely to hack her way through the enemy’s defenses on a computer rather than with a machine gun. But the same sort of constant improvisation and high stakes run through this story as the other.

Fans of the Stars and Smoke series by Marie Lu who want more suspense with the romance dialed way back will really enjoy this fast-paced, compulsively readable novel.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used fairly infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
One brief kiss.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. References to a catastrophic car accident. References to hostage situations and the threat of murder. One-on-one combat between characters.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: City Spies: Golden Gate by James Ponti

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City Spies: Golden Gate (City Spies #2)
James Ponti
Aladdin
Published March 9, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About City Spies: Golden Gate

After thwarting a notorious villain at an eco-summit in Paris, the City Spies are gearing up for their next mission. Operating out of a base in Scotland, this secret team of young agents working for the British Secret Intelligence Service’s MI6 division have honed their unique skills, such as sleight of hand, breaking and entering, observation, and explosives. All of these allow them to go places in the world of espionage where adults can’t.

Fourteen-year-old Sydney is a surfer and a rebel from Bondi Beach, Australia. She’s also a field ops specialist for the City Spies. Sydney is excited to learn that she’ll be going undercover on the marine research vessel the Sylvia Earle. But things don’t go exactly as planned, and while Sydney does find herself in the spotlight, it’s not in the way she was hoping.

Meanwhile, there’s been some new intel regarding a potential mole within the organization, offering the spies a lead that takes them to San Francisco, California. But as they investigate a spy who died at the Botanical Gardens, they discover that they are also being investigated. And soon, they’re caught up in an adventure filled with rogue missions and double agents!

My Review

After reading the first book in this series, I wasn’t sure if I’d continue. There are a LOT of books out already, so I have a lot of ground to cover to catch up on book seven, which comes out in the spring of 2026. However, I was looking for something to listen to while I waited for my holds to come in, so I decided to try this one.

I’m so glad I did. While I loved the concept of the first book, it was easy to see how much Ponti had grown as a writer between writing the first book of the “City Spies” series back in 2020 and writing the first book of “The Sherlock Society” series in 2024. This book felt a lot more like his newer series in terms of how the story is executed.

I also enjoyed getting to know the cast of characters better, too, and learning more about Mother’s backstory and missing children. The ending has a big emotional moment that also really makes the story hit. I loved that. Reading this book made me pretty excited about reading what happens next!

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. A girl uses exposure to a toxic sea urchin to slow down a bad guy. Kidnappers take control of a ship filled with teen/preteen girls. The City Spies investigate a murder (no body on scene… the murder happened long before the story takes place) and dodge bad guys.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I borrowed a copy of this book from my library. All opinions are my own.

Review: Codebreaker by Jay Martel

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Codebreaker
Jay Martel
Wendesday Books
Published July 22, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Codebreaker

This original, interactive thriller from debut author Jay Martel follows a brilliant teenage girl as she races across D.C. to decode the clues her father left behind, which may just be the key to saving the country from a devastating tragedy.

Mia Hayes has peaceful plans for the summer—find a part-time job at a coffee shop and work on her application for Harvard. Those plans are shattered one night when government agents arrive unannounced at her home seeking something they believe her father has taken. When the dust settles, her mother is dead and her father is gone, a fugitive on the run.

Three weeks later, and still reeling from her father’s betrayal, Mia spends her seventeenth birthday at a protest in the heart of D.C., where she meets Logan, a rebellious and charming hacker. Just as she’s enjoying her first happy moment since the night her world exploded, a voicemail from her father arrives to upend everything she believed about her family, her past, and what really happened that night three weeks ago. Even more, the voicemail hides another encoded message inside which, once Mia solves it, sets her and Logan off on a mission from her sleepy suburb straight into the heart of the federal government.

With the same agents now hot on their trail, Mia and Logan must navigate their way through American history’s most iconic sites and uncover its most well-hidden secrets to reveal the truth about her family and stop a deadly attack.

In this non-stop thrill ride, the reader has the chance to test their own codebreaking skills alongside Mia, lending an exciting interactive element to this page-turning thriller packed with action, romance, and life-changing revelations.

My Review

One of the really clever things about this book is that it allows and encourages readers to break the codes along with Mia. Once the reader has all the information necessary to break a code, a certain symbol appears on the page. At that point, you can pause and break the code or keep reading and see Mia reveal the answers. I love that concept, and I had fun figuring the codes out myself as I read.

The story also kept me engaged. It’s fast-paced with short chapters, so it felt like I was reading really fast. I liked both Mia and Logan, and appreciated that the authors balanced Mia’s focus and intelligence with her fresh grief. There was one thing that I guessed before it was revealed. I don’t think it altered my enjoyment of the story.

Codebreakers feels like a great book for readers aging out of middle grade and into young adult fiction who like intense, action-packed stories. The interactive element would be great for kids interested in codes. I hope there are more books like this in our future!

Content Notes for Codebreaker

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A few instances of profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Gun violence. Death of a parent. In two scenes, a person with a gun threatens to harm someone else unless Mia cooperates with them.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: City Spies by James Ponti

Book Review and Content, Middle Grade 8-12, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, , , , , , , ,

City Spies (City Spies #1)
James Ponti
Aladdin
Published March 10, 2020

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About City Spies

Sara Martinez is a hacker. She recently broke into the New York City foster care system to expose her foster parents as cheats and lawbreakers. However, instead of being hailed as a hero, Sara finds herself facing years in a juvenile detention facility and banned from using computers for the same stretch of time. Enter Mother, a British spy who not only gets Sara released from jail but also offers her a chance to make a home for herself within a secret MI6 agency.

Operating out of a base in Scotland, the City Spies are five kids from various parts of the world. When they’re not attending the local boarding school, they’re honing their unique skills, such as sleight of hand, breaking and entering, observation, and explosives. All of these allow them to go places in the world of espionage where adults can’t.

Before she knows what she’s doing, Sarah is heading to Paris for an international youth summit, hacking into a rival school’s computer to prevent them from winning a million euros, dangling thirty feet off the side of a building, and trying to stop a villain…all while navigating the complex dynamics of her new team.

No one said saving the world was easy…

My Review

I’m waaay behind on the City Spies series, but I keep hearing people talk about it, so I wanted to give it a try. I have books five and six on my shelf, so I would love to catch up enough to read them.

The first novel that I read by James Ponti is The Sherlock Society, which I had a ton of fun reading. The tone of that one is different than City Spies, which makes sense, since one is a mystery and the other is a spy thriller. I think personally, I prefer the more low-key, Florida-based mystery vibe in The Sherlock Society, but I still found a lot to like about City Spies.

City Spies rotates through several points of view. It starts out with Sarah’s perspective and then introduces Paris’s point-of-view and that of the mentor they call “Mother.” We also see some scenes from the perspective of a girl no longer on the City Spies team. This allows us to get some backstory on how the team formed and what’s truly at stake. It also created a really nice setup for a sweet moment between Sarah and Mother at the end.

The book perfectly set up the series. It leaves tons of room for future adventures for the team who operate under the names of the cities they were recruited from. I love that little snippet of geography and the fact that future books take the team to different places. I’m interested to read more.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Someone threatens others with a biological weapon.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I borrowed a copy of this book from my library. All opinions are my own.

Review: Heist Royale by Kayvion Lewis

Book Review and Content, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,

Heist Royale (Thieves’ Gambit #2)
Kayvion Lewis
Nancy Paulsen Books
Published November 12, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Heist Royale

The high-stakes sequel to Thieves’ Gambit, for fans of Jennifer Lynn Barnes and Ally Carter.

It’s been six months since the end of the Gambit. Instead of winning an impossible wish, Ross has the threat of her family’s execution hanging over her head. Devroe, the only person Ross thought she could trust, could wish the Quests into oblivion at any time. Shockingly, despite his betrayal, Devroe is still making a play for Ross’s heart as the two work together pulling jobs for the Organization. But Ross has learned her lesson: A Quest can only trust another Quest.

When Ross finds herself at the center of a power struggle within the Organization, she sees her chance to change her fortunes. As a new deadly Gambit develops for control of the criminal underworld, Ross strikes a risky deal to guarantee protection for herself and her family.

In this final clash, Ross will square off against a ruthless opponent who will stop at nothing to seize power, and in their corner will be not only Devroe but his mother, who wants to destroy the Quests at any cost.

The new Gambit takes Ross and her crew into the intoxicating casinos of Monte Carlo and across treacherous snow-covered slopes in Antarctica as Ross competes against Devroe in a fight for her life. Loyalties will be tested, backs stabbed, hearts broken. May the best thief win.

My Review

Ross is back in a new high-stakes adventure that had me on the edge of my seat. The story took her to a variety of places, including Antarctica and an elite casino.

I was a little nervous in the opening chapters of the story because of the dynamic between Ross and Devroe. She rebuffs his romantic advances in no uncertain terms and he continues to pursue her, convinced that underneath her “no” is a “yes.”

That kind of storyline makes me uncomfortable. Maybe it’s romantic when someone wants to be pursued, but it also romanticizes ignoring boundaries. Not great.

A few chapters in, though, the story veers away from that dynamic, and Ross is more open about her conflicted feelings for Devroe. He gets drawn into other relationship issues, and their romance takes the back burner for a while. When the romantic tension builds again, Ross and Devroe speak more openly about their boundaries and feelings, though the story continues to offer obstacles they must overcome if they want to try a relationship.

The story continues to examine questions about trust and what true friendship looks like. Some of the things Ross goes through as she tries to build friendships for the first time are cute. I enjoyed that journey.

An inclusive cast appears on the page, with team members of different races and nationalities. A side romance develops between two boys. Fans who shipped these two in the first book will love how that plays out.

All in all, this is an excellent finish to a high-energy duology. It’s a good choice for readers who’ve aged out of middle grade books but aren’t ready for some of the content in upper YA novels.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used pretty infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. References to torture and murder.

Drug Content
Some scenes show Ross and her teammates in a casino and other places where alcohol is served. A couple of people pretend to be drunk.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: A Traitorous Heart by Erin Cotter

Book Review and Content, Historical, Paranormal, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , , ,

A Traitorous Heart
Erin Cotter
Simon & Schuster
Published January 7, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About A Traitorous Heart

A noblewoman in the scandalous French court finds herself under the dangerous and watchful eye of the Parisian royalty when she falls in love with the handsome king who is betrothed to her former lover in this bisexual The Three Musketeers by way of Bridgerton and F.T. Lukens.

Paris, 1572. Seventeen-year-old Jacqueline “Jac” d’Argenson-Aunis is lady-in-waiting to her best friend and former lover, the French Princess Marguerite “Margot” de Valois, but she dreams of more. If Jac plays her cards right, one day, she’ll become a full member of the Societas Solis, a secret society of spies—just like her uncle and guardian, Viscount Gabriel d’Argenson-Aunis.

But it’s hard to think about her own ambitions while France is on the brink of war, and the only thing that might save the country is an alliance—a marriage between the Catholic Princess Margot and Henry, the awful son of the Huguenot queen. Who would be the perfect person to play matchmaker? Jac, of course.

Jac resents lying to her best friend almost as much as she resents the brazen and arrogant King Henry, but it’s her one chance to prove to the Societas Solis that she belongs among their ranks before her uncle can marry her off or worse. The more time Jac spends in the French Court’s clandestine corners, though, the more she starts to wonder if Henry is…not as terrible as she once believed. And the Societas Solis may not be what they seem.

Politics. Spies. Chaos in the French court. Perhaps even witchcraft? Everything’s more dangerous when love is involved.

My Review

I enjoyed this book, but it took me longer to read than I expected. I liked the main characters for the most part. Truthfully, I wanted to like Margot more than I did. I felt like the plot kind of easily dismissed her as selfish and frivolous, though there was obviously more to her. Her goal was to open a school where women and people of any class could be educated. So she obviously had a lot of depth.

I appreciated the development of the romance between Jac and Henry. At first, they don’t like each other at all, but as they’re forced to work together on a common goal, they each surprise the other, and gradually, they grow to like one another. I appreciated that the relationship developed more slowly, giving us time to savor it as it developed.

Jac’s complex relationship with her oncle also added some layers to her character and backstory. Sometimes she interpreted his behavior to mean pretty dramatic things, but I felt like that fit her character and her age. I appreciated that the story included some changes in their relationship and how they saw one another and understood what the other needed from them, if that makes sense.

All in all, I enjoyed this one, and I can see how the marketing comparisons to Bridgerton and F. T. Lukens fit. If those ideas appeal to you, I think you’d enjoy ]A Traitorous Heart.

Content Notes for A Traitorous Heart

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
I don’t think there was much in the book in terms of profanity. Maybe some mild profanity infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing and references to sex.

Spiritual Content
Reference to religious differences between the Catholics and Huguenots (Protestants). References to spells, potions, and occult practices. Jac investigates a graverobbing group, looking for evidence of occult activity, possibly reanimating the dead.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. An assassin comes after Jac and her allies. After she ties him up, Jac tosses one would-be assassin over a wall into a moat. A fire consumes a building with a child inside. Jac attempts to save him and his cats. References to a prisoner potentially being tortured. (Not shown on scene.)

Drug Content
References to drinking alcohol at social gatherings. The King of France is consistently embarrassingly drunk at the events.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.