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Barnes, Jennifer Lynn
14 Reviews
(4)
YA
Kira enjoys helping her foster mom, Cady, train dogs for search-and-rescue operations. But this work becomes deeply personal when Cady's estranged father shows up, begging the two to help find a girl who's gone missing, in a case that may connect with Kira's own story. A tense mystery plot and strongly drawn setting help compensate for underdeveloped supporting characters.
Reviewer: Norah Piehl
(4)
YA
When eighteen-year-old Sawyer's maternal grandmother (whom she's never met) offers to pay her to participate in debutante season, Sawyer accepts--partly because she's hoping to discover the identity of her biological father. But it's not just her family hiding something--the deb world is full of dirty secrets. Though it's sometimes hard to keep track of the characters' complicated familial connections, the story is enjoyably scandalous.
Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith
(3)
YA
Sixteen-year-old Tess is sent to live with her adult sister, an infamous DC "fixer." As Tess realizes that politics at her elite private school aren't that different from Ivy's clients', she becomes a fixer herself. In the standalone sequel (Long), Tess runs a classmate's student-council campaign and becomes embroiled in a Capitol Hill conspiracy. Gossip Girl meets Scandal in these juicy political thrillers. Review covers these titles: The Fixer and The Long Game.
Reviewer: Meredith M. Sittman
(3)
YA
Naturals series.
In this fourth book, Cassie and her fellow Naturals (teenage FBI profilers) close in on a generations-spanning society of sadistic serial murderers carrying out a dark ritual that may involve Cassie's missing mother. The web of crime the teens unravel is dense and complex, and each clue they discover is more chilling than the last. A compelling conclusion to a strong series.
Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald
(3)
YA
Shortly after her murdered mother's remains are finally located, Cassie and her fellow Naturals are summoned to Las Vegas to investigate three gruesome casino murders. Authentic camaraderie continues to develop among the teen investigators as they uncover a chillingly sinister connection between murders past and present. Gripping and fast-paced, this latest installment takes the series in a darker--but intriguing--direction.
Reviewer: Meredith M. Sittman
(3)
YA
Naturals series.
Shortly after her murdered mother's remains are finally located, Cassie and her fellow Naturals are summoned to Las Vegas to investigate three gruesome casino murders. Authentic camaraderie continues to develop among the teen investigators as they uncover a chillingly sinister connection between murders past and present. Gripping and fast-paced, this latest installment takes the series in a darker--but intriguing--direction.
Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald
(3)
YA
Naturals series.
Cassie and her fellow teen crime specialists--the Naturals--are prohibited from crime-solving while the FBI evaluates their controversial appointment. But when a local murder hits close to home for one Natural, the rest of the team happily thwarts surveillance to investigate. With lively characters and a seamless whodunit plot, Barnes loses no momentum in this tense and entertaining sequel.
Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald
(3)
YA
Seventeen-year-old Cassie, an exceptional people-reader, is the newest recruit for the FBI's program for teens with singular crime-solving talents. Cassie and her fellow prodigies get to know one another while honing their forensic skills. Then Cassie discovers an open case that might explain her missing mother's whereabouts. Smart and well paced, this mystery has all the addictive appeal of a TV crime procedural.
Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald
(3)
YA
Kali D'Angelo hunts creatures from Hell--but only every other day. The rest of the time she's a normal high school girl. To save herself and a classmate, Kali and some unexpected new friends face down the corporation that created her. Well-formed characters and skillfully executed plot twists will keep readers on the edge of their seats.
Reviewer: Jenn Matters
(4)
YA
Bryn, an orphaned fifteen-year-old human raised by werewolves, joins forces with a dangerous wolf-teen to fight her fears, her past, and her pack, and to defeat the "big bad wolf" that haunts her. Despite some inconsistencies and leaps in logic, the action, mystery, and constant peril keep this story humming with tension.
Reviewer: Bethany Templeton Klem
(4)
YA
Barnes's humorously narrated follow-up to Tattoo fuses a chick-lit chronicle of the friendship between four high school seniors with a fantasy adventure featuring elements of Greek and Irish mythology. The episodes set in the Otherworld are awkwardly plotted, but the girls' bantering relationship, worries about graduation, and schemes to romance the geekiest boys in school are warmly conveyed.
Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac
(4)
YA
Four friends stumble into a supernatural battle between the Three Fates when they apply temporary tattoos that give them magical abilities. Though the girls' characters rarely rise beyond standard types (tomboy, fashionista, etc.), they are sympathetic players in a layered plot that fuses Celtic and Greek mythology for a sort of supernatural Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
Reviewer: Hannah Rodgers Barnaby
(4)
YA
Queen bee Lilah's gift of "retronition" (seeing the past) reveals itself when a handsome ghost invades her life, jeopardizing her social position and predicting her boyfriend's death. Though male characters are one-note, female friendships and power plays are explored with a deft touch in this page-turning Gossip Girl-meets-Charmed sequel to Golden.
Reviewer: Claire E. Gross
(4)
YA
Lissy, struggling with an inherited magical ability to see people's auras, moves to a new high school ruled by popular "Goldens." Fitting in is soon the least of her problems when she uncovers a sinister supernatural mystery affecting her classmates and family. The novel stumbles over clichés, but its addictive plot builds momentum toward an exciting conclusion.
Reviewer: Amy Lee Bennett
14 reviews
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