The Fixer

An endless amount of thanks to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for this one. I always struggle to find good contemporary - fantasy seems to be all I read and love these days, but The Fixer really broke me out of that genre for a little while, and it was SO refreshing. The Fixer is definitely a political thriller full of tense emotions and PLOT TWISTS GALORE. Barnes surprised me at EVERY turn, and it was the most incredible thing. The last fourth or so of the book is full of reveal after reveal, each even more shocking than the last. I love Jennifer Lynn Barnes, but this is easily her best book yet. "My sister was a mover, a shaker, a problem solver - and right now, the problem she'd set her sights on solving was me." While I think the strongest point in this book is, obviously, the incredible shocks, our main character, Tess, is a close second. I spent the entire time wanting to give her a huge hug. I felt what she felt. Her frustration with her sister, Ivy, is a very deep-rooted emotion, and I found myself holding a grudge along with Tess. The last 25% of the book is full of SO many emotions, and I felt every single one of them along with Tess. It kind of broke my heart. (Read: It REALLY broke my heart.) Tess, who just wants to take care of her grandfather. Tess, who's ripped away from him and her life by a sister who left her all those years ago. Determined and stubborn and witty and clever Tess. If I could wrap her in a blanket and give her some hot chocolate, I would. There wasn't a single thing I didn't like about her. A really cool thing about The Fixer is that it doesn't have any romance, really. I think there's definitely some potential for it in the next book (I hope with Asher, but probably not), but this one is solely focused on these fantastic characters and murders and politics. You guys are going to love it. "Some memories were like scars. This one had never healed right." Tess manages to find a few friends, and it never felt like they were being pushed aside for bigger plots or more important things. They were part of the plot, intricately woven in in their own ways. Vivvie becomes her first friend - another character I just want to hug forever. Asher is fun - and sometimes a little annoying for Tess - and I can't wait to learn more about him. Tess is quite reluctant to be friends with him at first, but he worms his way in. Then, of course, there's the prim and proper Henry, who we may or may not be able to call a friend of Tess at this stage. He's a very stiff person, a child always immersed in politics, dealing with things no teenager should have to deal with. I'm excited to see more of him, too. (Basically, JUST GIVE ME THE NEXT BOOK NOW.) I also really loved Adam, a friend of Ivy's. He's an ex-military man with daddy issues just trying to take care of Ivy and Tess when they need it. Once again, next book please? "He would bury this, push it into the recesses of his mind where he kept the secrets that hurt him most." There were so many details and different places the plot of The Fixer went, and it all felt very authentic to me. We get glimpses of the president, members of the Supreme Court, all the people behind the scenes who really pull the strings. And, you know, murder. In addition, I just really love the concept of Ivy being D.C.'s own Fixer, making problems disappear at every turn. And the way Tess accidentally and unwillingly follows in Ivy's footsteps at school. Overall: It's hard for me to talk about why I love The Fixer without giving away basically the entire book, but in short: The Fixer tugged on all my heartstrings. It's got an incredible main character, a great supporting cast, but what really stands out is how truly shocking The Fixer is. I didn't predict any of it coming, and the plot twists are INSANE. If you love Jennifer Lynn Barnes, this book is for you. If you don't, this book is still for you. It lives up to the term "political thriller" in all the right ways. 4.5 stars.

Grade: A This e-galley was provided by Bloomsbury USA Childrens via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Jennifer Lynn Barnes has done it again. She has written an addictive story that kept me hooked. Tess was such a normal girl, despite all the craziness she went through and all the things she was thrown into. She had a bit of sass to her, and she has a strong moral compass. She loves her grandfather and Ivy, even if she tries not to show it. And I genuinely love this cast of characters, y'all. They're much different than Cassie and the team in The Naturals. Most of them are less jaded, but they're still well-rounded. Vivvie is great, and I can't wait to see her friendship with Tess develop further in book two. Henry was interesting, and I found myself to be a fan of him in the end. I liked that his goals didn't always align with Tess's. It's enjoyable when secondary characters want good to win in the end, but they may not always agree with the protagonist. (Also props to Jennifer for mentioning straight off that he's biracial. Yay for diversity! And I'm pretty sure Vivvie is Middle Eastern or Indian.) Emilia was interesting too - sort of the mean girl but not. She cares about her brother, and she's smart, and she enlightens Tess about STEM. She's not really the enemy; I could tell she didn't really like Tess, but she didn't actively seek out our protagonist to be mean to her. Then there's Asher. For most of the book, I couldn't decide whether I wanted to smack him or date him myself. He's witty and a bit pushy and flirty, but he seemed to only want friendship with Tess...for now at least. There's minimal romance in this book, y'all. There's flirty tension between Asher and Tess but not once do they kiss or confess feelings for each other or anything of the like. The mystery, which is most of the plot, was a wild ride. I never knew who quite to suspect, and I didn't guess the real culprit at all. Jennifer really knows how to write a mystery. There's a plot twist towards the end that I did guess much earlier on and the reveal was a bit dramatic, but I like where it took the story. Some of the fall-out is going to be great in book two, I just know it. (And seriously, I could take a giant series about Tess and her adventures.) One final note, this is definitely great for fans of Veronica Mars. There's intrigue and scandal and cover-ups; since I recently watched the whole series for the first time, it was fresh in my mind and I could see a few small parallels. Mild language. Mild violence (nothing's really shown). The Verdict: So amazingly good. If you love Veronica Mars or Ally Carter's Heist Society, this is totally a book for you.

{My thoughts} – Tess Kendricks world is forced to change when she’s pushed into living with her sister Ivy in DC. This happens when Tess’ school calls Ivy to inform her that Tess has been missing a lot of school and hiding a major secret at home. She’d changed her whole life around in order to keep the secret a secret, but now with Ivy involved it’s no longer a secret anymore. Tess’ grandfather the one that has been taking care of and raising her has his good and his bad days. The good days are few and far between now that the disease is progressing and has been untreated. Her grandfather has alzeimers and she’s been hiding it from the world. Ivy has one conversation with him and she knows somethings wrong. By the end of the night her grandfather is in a home in Boston and Ivy and Tess are at her home in DC. Ivy already has Tess ready and enrolled in school. Ivy seems to be able to make things happen at an undeniable pace. Ivy tries to keep her life with Tess separate from her job, but that’s not easy. Tess is curious and gets herself involved in ways Ivy couldn’t have calculated to be possible. At her first day of school she meets Vivvie. Vivvie is the one to pull Tess down the rabbit hole into the world Ivy was trying to keep Tess out of, the world where people have secrets, people keep things from one another, people blackmail each other and they simply know things that they probably shouldn’t. When it comes down to it in DC there is a lot people know that they shouldn’t. Tess goes from the simple life on a ranch with her grandfather to this complex life in DC with her sister that seems to be primarily based on who knows who and how much they should and shouldn’t know and what to use against one another. In Vivvie’s case she needs help with a problem and since Tess’ sister fixes problems she hopes Tess can help her. Tess tries and she involves three other students in their grade Asher, Henry and Emilia. It turns out it was too big of a problem and they ended up going to Ivy who instructed them to stay out of it, obviously they did the complete opposite. Teenage curious minds, who could blame them? Once Ivy latched onto the problem a lot of things happened at once. Vivvie, Henry, Asher and Tess all had life changing situations occur to them. However through all of it they sort of managed to remain friends, considering everything that did happen. Tess also learns a lot more about herself, her family and who she is and where she comes from. The last of the chapters ties up the situation that Ivy had been working to fix. You learn a lot of information in these last chapters, but it doesn’t appear to be rushed or overwhelming. It also leaves you with a cliff hanger type ending as well. I really enjoyed reading this book, it covers thriller, mystery etc in such a way that it kept me wanting to continue reading in order to figure out what was what and where to go from here and there kind of things. Highly enjoyable book and I do recommend it to other readers with similar reading interests. I also look forward to reading the next book in this series called the long game due to come out in June of 2016.

This was an interesting story. Not as good as some of her stories but still good. It had some intriguing aspects and kept me interested in the story. I would recommend people read this if this is the type of story that people are interested in.

This book, HOLY S*** (Excuse my language). I thought I had somewhat figured it out while I was reading, but I was totally wrong. It was so shocking and kept me guessing until the literal last page. I am a sucker for books set on the political scene, and I love suspense and mystery, therefore, I was sold on this book from the second I read the synopsis. I really like Tess (our main character) because she is truly a strong independent girl who isn't focused on a boy (not that being focused on a boy is a bad thing), but she's been through a lot and has her sights set on her relationship with her sister, and her friends. Tess is also very intelligent and totally badass. She hates bullies, and stands up for the kids who seem to need it most. I really admired her character. Plus our secondary characters are amazing too! Asher, who loves explosions and is also very funny. Henry, who seems rude at first, but as we get to know him we learn there's so much more to his story. Vivvie, the extremely energetic and bubbly friend. They were all very well written side characters. Another thing that was awesome about this book was that there was absolutely no romance. None whatsoever, yet the book was still really badass and intriguing. I actually think this is the first book I've read without a romantic relationship. It definitely proves a book can be captivating without a love interest or romance. There was never a point in The Fixer where I found myself wanting a romance either, because the story is so gripping and engaging. I believe this is supposed to be a duology (based on Goodreads) and I am very excited for the next book. I can't believe I have to wait a year *pained expression*. By the end of The Fixer we had most answers, but there’s still more to be figured out. Jennifer Lynn Barnes is so good at throwing curve ball after curve ball and The Fixer has so many twists you'll never see coming.

I adore Jennifer Lynn Barnes. She is such a good writer. This is the fifth book I've read by her, so you can truly trust me when I say her books never disappoint in any way. J.L. Barnes knows how to write characters and dialogue, and this book proved that. Tess Kendrick was such a good protagonist. She was smart and competent and totally relatable. There is true friendship portrayed in this book; no romance. Tess's friendship with Vivvie, Asher, and Henry is everything! I also love Ivy's friendship with Bodie and Adam. J.L. Barnes also knows how to write a mystery and a plot that doesn't have any holes or stray components that aren't addressed. I flew through this book because it had me so intrigued. The writing flowed so nicely, that it was hard to stop reading once you started. The setting was perfect. Washington D.C, the politicians, the powerful elite, and their kids. I love the idea of a 'Fixer'. I loved reading about Ivy and Tess fixing problems. As for the reveal, I didn't see who the bad guy was, but I did suspect the other twist. Those last three pages were so good. I live for it! I. Cannot. Wait. To. Read. The. Next. Book!!! ... Just Bought it!

More of a 4.5 This review is also posted on my blog The Little Book Affair I love Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ writing so much. I fell in love with her writing after I read the first two books in The Naturals series, so naturally I had to pick up The Fixer ASAP. I was definitely not disappointed. A young adult political thriller from an author I love? Uh, yes please! It was everything I could have wanted. I liked Tess, the main character, right away, which is great. I also liked Bodie and Vivvie right away, too. I went back and forth on whether or not I liked Asher and Emilia, but I do like Asher and Tess together. Sometimes the supporting characters were just fantastic. I was very interested in Ivy and what she was all about and I loved figuring out her secrets. I thought it was enjoyable watching Tess and Ivy trying to work through their past struggles. And that twist towards the end, with Tess and Ivy, oh my God! I never would have guessed that! The writing was gripping and entertaining. I was just flying through the pages dying to know what came next. I couldn’t wait to figure out how all the characters were connected to each other and I couldn’t wait to uncover the secrets and the lies. This is my first time reading a political thriller but I’m definitely interested in reading others. I can’t wait to read the second book, and I’m definitely going to try to get my hands on Jennifer’s other books

The Fixer is a surprisingly captivating book that I would not typically pick up and am now glad I did! Described as Scandal meets Veronica Mars, The Fixer steadily unfolds as a mystery novel, constantly adding depth to the various situations in a way that never feels forced or unrealistic. Or maybe I watch too much Scandal so nothing shocks me politically ;). Tess has her world turned upside down when her sister and political Fixer, Ivy, plucks her from her life and places her at DC's most exclusive of schools. Quickly, Tess befriends Vivie and from there, they tumble down an unforgettable political rabbit hold, starting with the suspicious death of Vivie's grandfather. Finding her inner Fixer roots, Tess and her friends embark on a dangerous game of whodunit. I love that the adult interactions aren't minimized in this book. It's unrealistic that a group of teens could tackle complex and dangerous political situations alone. There's a lot of "family drama" that unfolds (and I assume extends into the upcoming novel) but even that doesn't feel forced or unrealistic. I caught this one on audio, which I would recommend. I was able to listen to it at 2x because the voice was paced correctly.

The Fixer is a fantastic read. It delves in to world of money, power and privilege where those who have it know that there are people who can fix anything for a price. It's a fast paced read that throws you head first in to this world and doesn't let you go.

Absolutely brilliant... Full of so many twists and turns in the plot, I literally could not put it down. I definitely enjoyed this one of Barnes' novels the best!