2.5 stars. It was slow and rather boring for the first half of the book, but then it picked up towards the end. I'll read the sequel out of sheer curiosity. ( )

A terrific YA spy thriller. Alexandra is a strong character who has to suppress her own identity in order to serve her country. An adult gets to choose this occupation but Alexandra was forced into it at a very young age. Feeling abandoned by her father, and missing her murdered mother, she longs for family. She denies this need for years as she lets her training govern her emotions. A teenager spends those years learning about themselves and she has to pretend to be someone else. Love is a powerful force and it is love for her grandfather that changes her loyalties. Her relationship to Grant, friendship with Martine and a growing dislike for the need to lie become the triggers for change. I was invested in Alexandra and her story from the start. Spy genre is not my first choice but I enjoyed this one and fully recommend it. ( )

I got this book through NetGalley.


When I requested this book, I knew that I was going to enjoy it, because I love espionage thrillers. What I didn't know is that I was going to enjoy it so much. I definitely recommend this book to all the people who like YA espionage books.

While not an adult book, it's more mature than I expected. I don't mean it in the sense of graphic, because while death and murder are mentioned, they're not very detailed in their description.

I didn't know that this book was likely to be a first book in a series until I reached the end, because it's not as slow as first books usually are. It helps that the premise is very straightforward and simple for an espionage story, until things get more complicated. Alexandra is not actually Alexandra but Milena, a girl who takes Alexandra's place after her parents and her are killed in a car crash. As the real Alexandra didn't have a close relationship with her grandfather and children change so fast, nobody is supposed to notice anything odd. Milena is part of a secret organisation of Olissa, an imaginary ex-Soviet country.

What I didn't like was the ending. When I say that I didn't like it, I mean it in a good way, because that cliffhanger is evil. Ever since a certain piece of information was revealed (saying what would be a huge spoiler though), I was looking forward to seeing a certain character's reaction to it. However, the book ends right after this character is told that bit of information. I don't know whether there's going to be a second book or not, but this book ends in a way that made me think that there's going to be at least one more.

The one thing that I found a bit odd, considering that the girl has been trained and is not someone who suddenly finds herself in the middle of an international espionage situation, is that she gets a tattoo. Sure, the place is usually covered by average clothes, but it's very visible with certain kind of dresses and t-shirts. I would have thought that she would be more careful with anything that might make identification easier, especially as it's not something that she does to make her cover more believable. ( )

Actual Rating: 3.5 Stars

Although I thought They Call Me Alexandra Gastone started off a little slow, I soon appreciated the back story and character interaction once Lex became faced with difficult decisions and the impact of spying.

At first, I felt a comparison to [b:Also Known As|13132661|Also Known As (Also Known As, #1)|Robin Benway|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1354665105s/13132661.jpg|18309079] was warranted, but Lex is older, her situation more serious, and her thought process deeper. I enjoyed the dilemmas Lex encountered. I like that she struggled with where her loyalties lied, who she was, and what the truth really was.

The spy games really picked up near the end and with it added excitement and twists. It ends on a bit of a cliffhanger and I cannot wait to see what happens next. ( )

For more reviews go to: www.best-of-ya.blogspot.com

Alexandra Gastone is not who she claims to be. At the age of 7, Milena Rokva was dropped off at the secret headquarters of Perun, a clandestine organization of her homeland, Olissa. There she trained to be a spy and learns everything she needs to know in order to become Alexandra and to infiltrate the life of Albert Gastone, a prominent CIA analyst—the real Alexandra and her parents are killed in a car crash in order for Milena to take her place. The original plan is to have Alexandra finish high school, attend Princeton, and eventually join the CIA in order to help the Olissan government, but when an opportunity presents itself, Perun activates Alexandra earlier than she is ready.

I actually loved this more than I was expecting to. The plot has the perfect amount of action, romance, and suspense. The whole storyline is very well-planned and complex; Perun, the politics and unrest between the two countries, and the other spy agents were all completely believable. The beginning is a bit slow because we are introduced to the characters and their backgrounds, but once the spy stuff actually kicked in, I couldn’t put it down. There were quite a few surprises and plot twists along the way that I honestly never saw coming; the author really throws curveballs that keep you fully immersed in the story. It ends in a cliffhanger and I am hoping there is a sequel because I NEED to know what happens next.

The characters are also really likable and real. Lex is strong and brave but I also felt that she was a bit lost—imagine being abandoned by your father and forced to become a spy before even starting middle school. I admired her resistance of Perun in the beginning, but I can also see why she gave in to the organization and believed in it as much as she did. She uncovers some secrets that really make her question her loyalty and everything she’s been made to believe about her mission; it all kind of tears her up inside and it was interesting to see what she ultimately decides to do. I just thought she was an overall well-rounded character and found it a little funny how bad at being a spy she was sometimes.

Albert, her grandfather, is the nicest and sweetest person ever. There was a point in the story where I was sure he would turn into the villain, but I’m glad this was not the case. As for Grant, he seemed nice enough, but there was something about him that I didn’t particularly like? He was a little too needy for my tastes, but for good reason I guess since she does lie to him quite a bit.

This is a fantastic debut novel and, as I mentioned before, I hope there is a sequel to this story or at least another book by T.A. MacLagan in the near future because I will be picking up whatever she publishes next! ( )