You Don't Know My Name by Kristen Orlando (Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads)Published by Macmillan on January 10th 2017
Genres: Action & Adventure, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 320
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 must 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?
You Don’t Know my Name by Kristen Orlando was a book I just happened to come across and I love spy thrillers. Of course, add in a teen as the main character and I’m in!
Seventeen year old Reagan Hillis is used to secrets and living a lie. Her parents are part o f a top secret agency called the Black Angels and she is following in their footsteps. Because of their work, Reagan has had to change her name, move with no notice, and lie to every friend she has ever made. When a threat gets too close to home for the Hillis family, Reagan has to decide what she really wants to do with her life and what is important to her.
I liked Reagan – she’s smart and she’s tough. Things have not been easy for her with the work her parents do and while she has always thought she wanted to be part of the Black Angels, she is now having doubts. She is sick of having to give up her friends and this time around that includes the boy next door, Luke. Add to all of that, the fact that her parents are keeping secrets from her and she isn’t super excited to lose everything again.
As Reagan tries to figure out what she wants to do, she is pulled into a situation where she is in danger because of something her parents did on a mission. When a man named Torres comes after them all, they are all forced to do things they never expected.
The pacing of the story is perfect and there is plenty of action that kept me turning the pages. This was a pretty quick read and you do have to suspend reality a bit throughout because a seventeen year old who is trained and able to do the things Reagan is able to do is somewhat unbelievable but heck…that’s one of the reasons we read books, right?
The other characters in the book do help to move the story along. The adults of the story were obviously doing what they thought best and whatever they thought they needed to do to protect Reagan. The problem was that they expected Reagan to act like an adult and accept their decisions but they wouldn’t tell her anything. Because of that, she ended up doing what she thought was the right thing.
Of course, the friendship and relationship that Reagan had with Luke was great. Luke wasn’t going to just give up on Reagan, no matter what she did or what was going on with her family. I love that he stuck with her and even stood up to Sam and the Black Angel agents when he felt it was important.
I can’t say much more about the actual story because I don’t want to give anything away. What I will say is that the character development and the relationships that are built were well done. Reagan has had to grow up quickly and she doesn’t really catch a break at all and while there were times I felt bad for her, I also saw her strength and it made me like her even more. If you are looking for a fast paced story with solid, well developed characters, definitely consider checking this book out. I am definitely looking forward to the next book in the series when it comes out as I’m excited to see where Orlando takes Reagan next.
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy!
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