Wednesday, January 4, 2017

#Wednesday Review - You Don't Know My Name by @KristenOrlando1 #YALIT #Thriller @SwoonReads

Series: The Black Angel Chronicles # 1
Format: Hardcover, 320 pages
Release Date: January 10th 2017
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Source: Publisher 
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Thriller


Fighter, Faker, Student, Spy.
Seventeen-year-old Reagan Elizabeth Hillis is used to changing identities overnight, lying to every friend she’s ever had, and pushing away anyone who gets too close. Trained in mortal combat and weaponry her entire life, Reagan is expected to follow in her parents’ footsteps and join the ranks of the most powerful top-secret agency in the world, the Black Angels. Falling in love with the boy next door was never part of the plan.
Now Reagan has to decide: Will she use her incredible talents and lead the dangerous life she was born into, or throw it all away to follow her heart and embrace the normal life she's always wanted? And does she even have a choice at all?Find out if you are ready to join the Black Angels in the captivating and emotional page-turner, You Don't Know My Name, from debut novelist Kristen Orlando!


You Don't Know My Name is the first installment in debut author Kristen Orlando's The Black Angel Chronicles. 17-year old Reagan Hillis is the protagonist of the story. She comes from a family of Black Angel Watchers. The Black Angels are a secretive organization that rescues hostages, stops terror plots, and takes down the bad guys. Reagan is a sort of prodigy and all around badass. She's gone through weapons training since an early age, she's been trained in a variety of martial arts, and she knows how to hack into computers. 

The down side is that she's moved more times than she likes, has been forced to change her name due to the secretive nature of her family's mission, and the fact that they under constantly under the threat of being discovered. Reagan and her family are forced to relocate yet again after an assassin gets too close to them. After packing up only what they need in their go-bags, Reagan and her family end up in New Albany, Ohio. After a year of living in Ohio, Reagan seems to be settling in. She now has some new friends, and has managed to snare the attention of her next door neighbor Luke Weixel, who is a West Point hopeful. 

But, after seeing a mysterious van, and her parents mission goes sideways, Reagan knows that her year of peace & quiet has come to an end. Reagan is forced to make her own choices, make her own path, and ignore those like her Aunt who may believe that they have her best interest at heart. She puts herself into a dangerous situation, and the outcome will have everlasting repercussions on what happens to Reagan over the course of this series. I have to admit falling in love with Reagan, as well as her parents who aren't necessarily perfect, but do the best they can. 

She has to make some serious choices over the course of this story that I don't believe a majority of those her age could have survived without panicking or running for the hills. She knows that her future is fluid. She knows that she will have to make a choice of whether to go to college as she plans, or follow in her parent's footsteps and become a Black Angel as she is expected to by the organization.

When things go horribly wrong, and the organization rushes to protect her, it is Reagan who steps up her A-game and delivers a knock-out performance of a lifetime. Reagan is a character who has all the facets of a major badass just waiting to jump out of the page and take on real life villains. I am encouraged by the start of this series. I loved the action scenes, the relationships between the characters, and the intensity of the final chapters of this book. Bring me the next book please? 




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