The Conspiracy of Us

[image borrowed from Amazon.com]

You’ll Like The Conspiracy of Us If You Like…

• The National Treasure movies
• The Da Vinci Code
• The Gallagher Girls
• The Heist Society
• Also Known As
• Two Lies and a Spy

The Premise

The main character’s name is Avery. Avery is also the nameof one of the Australian hunks in the Mary Kate and Ashley classic, Our Lips Are Sealed. This Avery though, has purple eyes, an AWOL father, and a penchant for following strange (albeit dreamy) dudes around the world. What began as a journey to meet said father, turns into a rescue mission to save her teacher from when she was 7 years old, all while figuring out the role she plays in a secret society.

The Boys

There are two studs duking it out for Avery, though the motives are questionable throughout the book. Jack is the tall-dark-n-handsome jock type, while Stellan (yeah, that’s his name, and I hope it has a weird pronunciation like “Stell-ahn” or “Stay-an”. Otherwise, it’s just Stellaaaaaa, with an ‘n’) is the mysterious, brooding blonde. Their personalities actually reminded me a lot of two parts of another love triangle—Stephen and Damon Salvatore of The Vampire Diaries. Stellan is the Damon of the equation. He’s got that dry wit, and you can just imagine him quirking his eyebrows as he delivers his man-sass. Jack, on the other hand, is very much like Stephen. He seems to always be looking out for the heroine, protecting her, comforting her, and being her first love.

Team Jack or Team Stellan?

Honestly, right now I’m Team Jack, but I’m not confident in that decision. It seems too easy…he’s too perfect. So something  must be something wrong, right? Plus, there’s just something about Stellan’s personality. I would have a blast verbal sparring with him. Amongst other things.  Wink.

The Verdict

I really enjoyed this book. And by enjoyed I mean totally love. I think I read it in less than 36 hours. If I didn’t have a job that I had to be at, that bad boy would’ve been donezo in one day. But you know, money. 

In all seriousness though, it’s a great book. With suspense/action books, I find that you often have to wait for things to pick up and get going. That wasn’t the case here. Chapter Six (less than 30 pages in) marked the beginning of the action and excitement, and Maggie Hall did a great job of keeping that feeling rolling throughout the entire book, without making it feel forced. There was no, “Oh. We haven’t had a fight in 30 pages, let’s whip out a semi-automatic machine gun.”

I also love the characters she’s developed in Avery, Stellan, and Jack. I felt myself rooting for Avery and yelling directions to her (in my mind, of course) whenever she’d get in a hairy situation (which is a lot). I totally got the butterflies when she shared her first kiss with a certain someone (swoon). And I definitely caught myself suppressing comebacks to Stellan’s wisecracks.

There is a downside. This is a trilogy. This book is the first. And it just came out in January. After stalking Maggie’s twitter, she revealed the next installment won’t be coming at us until 2016. Wahhhhh!

The Burning Questions:

Warning! Potential spoilers!

I found myself with more questions than I did answers by the end of the book. Seeing as how this is a trilogy, it’s like DUH. Everything can’t be tied up nicely in a bow by the end of Book 1. However, I’m 99% sure only ONE thing was resolved, and that’s the identity of her father. Because I’ll have to wait a million years for the next book, here is a compilation of the questions that I hope will be answered in it.

1. Is Mr. Emerson really dead?
2. Who is the mole?
3. Do Stellan and Avery reeeeally have to be together? You figure that Mr. Emerson knew about Stellan’s identity this whole time, and knew about Napoleon’s realization of the prophecy. So if he knew Stellan and Avery would have to be together, then why would he have been trying to get Jack and Avery together their whole lives?
4. Is her mom a good guy or a bad guy? Clearly she was getting mandates, but was it a heads up from Mr. Emerson, or is she part of The Circle, or is part of The Order?
5. What is Jack’s flaw? He has to have one! He uses Axe Body Spray, doesn’t he?

Thanks for reading, guys. If you read The Conspiracy of Us, let me know what you think of it! Are you Team Jack or Team Stellan? What are your theories regarding my unanswered questions? And for shits and giggles, if this was turned into a movie, who would you cast in it? I would choose Sarah Hyland for Avery; Robbie Amell, Brant Daugherty, or Julian Morris for Jack; a young Alexander Skarsgard or Tom Felton for Stellan; William Daniels (Mr. Feeney, c’mon!) for Mr. Emerson.

If there’s anything else you’d like to see from my reviews, let me know, and I’d be happy to accommodate!