Publisher: Putnam Juvenille
Released: January 13, 2015
Format: Hardcover, 336 pages
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult, Thriller
Avery West's newfound family can shut down Prada when they want to shop in peace, and can just as easily order a bombing when they want to start a war. Part of a powerful and dangerous secret society called the Circle, they believe Avery is the key to an ancient prophecy.
Some want to use her as a pawn.To unravel the mystery putting her life in danger, Avery must follow a trail of clues from the monuments of Paris to the back alleys of Istanbul with two boys who work for the Circle—beautiful, volatile Stellan and mysterious, magnetic Jack. But as the clues expose a stunning conspiracy that might plunge the world into World War 3, she discovers that both boys are hiding secrets of their own. Now she will have to choose not only between freedom and family--but between the boy who might help her save the world, and the one she's falling in love with.
Some want her dead.
Featuring 17-year old Avery West as the main protagonist, The Conspiracy of Us is the first book in Maggie Hall's trilogy. Avery is a girl who has moved around a whole lot in her young life thanks to her mother Carol's job as a military contractor. They tend not to stay in one place for long, and usually move whenever Carol gets a mandate. This causes Avery to avoid personal contacts. She isn't a joiner. She basically has no friends, and having a life or a boyfriend is not currently on her agenda.
But, then she finds a new guy named Jack Bishop with a picture of her and a British accent to boot talking about her on his phone. Why would Jack have a picture of Avery? Who does he work for? Avery finds herself even further involved in a mystery when Stellan, "we want her because you want her," shows up and she agrees to be flown half way around the world to Paris. Here Avery gets an education of what the Circle of Twelve really does, and who they are, and what they want. It also starts her Dan Brownesque travel from Paris, to Istanbul to find clues before the Order can find them.
"What kind of girl abandons everything for people she doesn't know?" pg.59
Avery learns that there is a prophecy of sorts that claims a girl with purple eyes like Avery's and a boy who is the One, will find a powerful missing treasure. When all is said and done, Avery is an innocent girl, who hasn't been told anything about her families background, or that her family is powerful enough to shut down a store any time they want. She does have daddy issues. She has no clue who he is, or why her mother hasn't spoken about him. She finds herself being stalked at each and every turn, and falling deeper for other mysterious Jack Bishop as they gather clues at the risk of their own lives.
I have to say that I agree with the comparisons to The DaVinci Code. Once the story gets going, you realize that there's a secret society that truly does rule the world. I'm into conspiracy theories, so this book captured my attention and imagination. The story is filled with politics, life and death circumstances, and a battle over power to control the world. The story has a bunch of interesting twists while pitting Avery against the Circle and the Order for her loyalty.
I have to admit that as a history buff, I loved that Hall used Alexander Great as the descendants of the Twelve Diadochi families who are now called the Circle. Toss in an ancient prophecy about unimaginable power, three absolutely different main characters who are forced to work together regardless of situation, an opposition group named the Order that uses murder, kidnapping and threats in order to get what they want, and you get an highly entertaining, and quickly paced read.
Probably more like a 4 star read, but unfortunately there is also the unnecessary triangle, and the heartbreaking cliffhanger that really got under my skin. One could say that the triangle isn't really a triangle...yet. There are two sequels to this book, so readers will have to suffer in agony for 2 more years before finding out what really happens to Avery, the Circle, the Order, and the boys who are attached at her hip now that her worth to both parties has been exposed.
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