Review: The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Publish date: 2015
Source: Library
Format: Hardcover
Length: 372 pages
"Sixteen-year-old Tess Kendrick has spent her entire life on her grandfather's ranch. But when her estranged sister Ivy uproots her to D.C., Tess is thrown into a world that revolves around politics and power. She also starts at Hardwicke Academy, the D.C. school for the children of the rich and powerful, where she unwittingly becomes a fixer for the high school set, fixing teens’ problems the way her sister fixes their parents’ problems.

And when a conspiracy surfaces that involves the family member of one of Tess's classmates, love triangles and unbelievable family secrets come to light and life gets even more interesting—and complicated—for Tess." (Goodreads)

I'll be honest: none of Jennifer Lynn Barnes's books have ever appealed to me. I met her a few years ago at a Smart Chicks Kick It tour (maybe 2011? 2012?) and thought she was a lovely person and was bummed that her books didn't sound like me books. Fast forward to sometime earlier this year (maybe 2015, who knows) and I started reading really good reviews about The Fixer. It sounded completely different than her other books, so I decided to go for it and really enjoyed it.

I put this on hold a couple months ago at my library and embarrassingly, totally forgot to pick it up. I blame general May craziness at school. A few weeks ago, I started thinking about what books I wanted to take on vacation (the MOST important thing I pack, let's be honest) and got this and The Conspiracy of Us from the library. I wish I'd read The Fixer earlier because it was pretty entertaining and very fast paced. Some of it was fairly unbelievable, but really, I think a lot of YA is unbelievable.

Some of the politics were a little confusing at first, but I got used to who everyone was pretty quickly. I liked all the little twists and turns and while I didn't love all the characters, there's no one that would stop me from reading the sequel. I stayed up really late one night on vacation to finish it, so that should tell you about the plot :)

I see it compared to Heist Society and while I suppose they are both thrillers, they aren't that similar (but I didn't really like HS). I also saw a comparison to the show 24, which I would say is better. But really, if you like political thrillers with secrets and twists and a fast moving plot, read The Fixer!