Conspiracy Girl by Sarah Alderson

Title: Conspiracy Girl

Author: Sarah Alderson

Release Date: 12th February 2015

My Rating: 5/5

Blurb:

Everybody knows about the Cooper Killings.

There was only one survivor – sixteen year-old Nic Preston.

Now eighteen, Nic is trying hard to rebuild her life. But then one night her high-security apartment is broken into. It seems the killers are back to finish the job.

Finn Carter – hacker, rule breaker, player – is the last person Nic ever wants to see again. He’s the reason her mother’s murderers walked free. But as the people hunting her close in, Nic has to accept that her best chance of staying alive is by staying close to Finn.

And the closer they get to the truth, and to each other, the greater the danger becomes.

In a Nutshell:

Conspiracy Girl is a thrilling mystery full of suspense that had me speed-reading from the first page.

My Review:

Conspiracy Girl is a thrilling mystery full of suspense that had me speed-reading from the first page. Once again, I made the mistake of starting chapter one just before I went to bed and wasn’t able to put it down until I finished the whole book in the early hours of the following day. 

Nic Preston is paranoid, but with good reason. After her mother and stepsister were murdered in a home invasion, the killers were never brought to justice. Nic has spent the last two years constantly looking over her shoulder, never feeling safe, even with the top security systems utilized and taking every precaution. She is strong and resilient but has built up a fortress around herself, not just literally but emotionally, to make sure she never feels powerless and vulnerable again. But when her security system is compromised and the FBI’s ability to protect her is questioned, it looks like the worst moment of Nic’s life is set to repeat itself. 

Enter Finn, gorgeous computer hacker and seeker of justice who is asked to ‘babysit’ Nic while the FBI look for the mole in their organisation. Finn has an interesting catalogue of skills and also a tragic past of his own, one, much to Nic’s annoyance, which has also crossed paths with her own. Battling her constant fear and survivors guilt, Nic has to learn to trust again if she and Finn have any chance of escaping the people on their tail, who somehow keep managing to find them as they go on the run, dodging bullets across country while searching for answers. 

I can tell you now, if I had assassins after me, I’d want Finn by my side! Don’t get me wrong, Nic isn’t useless at protecting herself, she’s just in way over her head! Finn is super protective of Nic and willing to do anything to keep her safe, and the more that’s revealed about him, the more you fall in love with him. There’s also some killer sexual tension thrown in to heat things up and complicate the situation! 

Conspiracy Girl was a total page-turner and I can’t wait to get my hands on another Sarah Alderson book! 

Meeting Sarah Alderson

Last week I was very fortunate to meet the lovely Sarah Alderson, author of Hunting Lila and the recently released, Fated. Myself and five other bloggers and fans met up with Sarah at Greenhouse in Perth to talk books, literary crushes and travelling, as well as eating yummy dessert!

Sarah and I

Signing our books :)

A big thankyou to Sarah for taking time out of her Christmas holiday to meet up with us. It was an absolute treat and she was a delight to meet. A great afternoon had by all!

Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson

Title: Hunting Lila
Author: Sarah Alderson

Release Date: 1st September 2011

My Rating: 5/5

Blurb:
Lila has two secrets she's prepared to take to the grave. The first is that she can move things just by looking at them. The second is that she's been in love with her brother's best friend, Alex, since forever.

After a mugging exposes her unique ability, Lila decides to run to the only people she can trust, her brother and Alex. They live in Southern California where they work for a secret organisation called The Unit, and Lila discovers that the two of them are hunting down the men who murdered her mother five years before. And that they've found them.

In a world where nothing and no one is quite as they seem, Lila quickly realises that she is not alone, there are others out there just like her, people with special powers, and her mother's killer is one of them...

In A Nutshell:
Hunting Lila is an exciting, suspenseful novel that keeps you questioning if all is really as it seems.

My Review:
Lila is an impulsive and curious 17-year-old girl who has been on an emotional roller-coaster for the last five years after the death of her mother and separation from her brother, and it’s just gotten worse as she has somehow developed the ability of telekinesis. After arriving on her brother Jack’s doorstep, she becomes curious as to what it is his military unit actually does as he is cagey and extremely over-protective, as is his best friend Alex (and Lila’s long term crush).

As Lila gets more and more fed up with being kept in the dark and ‘babysat’ around the clock, she starts fishing for information about what their unit are investigating. She has no idea who to trust with her secret, especially because Jack and Alex are still treating her like a child. When the stumbles across the unit’s real mission she has to question what the real truths in her life are, and if she can still trust those closest to her. She also discovers she is not alone in her unique ability.

There are many twists and turns to the story, with the constant question of who is telling the truth, and what parts of the supposed truths are actually lies. It is fast-paced and will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end. While it doesn’t finish on a traditional style cliff-hanger, you will still find yourself desperately wanting the sequel, Losing Lila, which of course won’t be released until the second half of 2012.

I think Lila’s feeling and actions in regards to Alex are spot on. When faced with being in the company of someone you love but you can’t do anything about, it’s excruciating and I think it was appropriately portrayed. They are very real moments and feelings; not wanting to tell Alex how she feels for fear of rejection, the jealousy she feels when seeing the way other females look at him, how she makes up scenarios in her head and also jumps to conclusions on all manner of subjects.

This was the first book I have read in six weeks. After a family tragedy, I didn’t have the will to pick up a book, let alone review anything. Hunting Lila was the book I chose to ‘get back on the horse’ and I couldn’t have picked a better story to keep my mind occupied and be completely enthralled by the plot and characters.

Absolutely loved it!