The Fixer

Weak 3 stars. This is a fast-paced thriller about a teen girl who reluctantly moves to Washington D.C. because she can no longer keep the truth about her Grandfather's condition secret, so her sister comes out of the blue and uproots her out of her country ranch life. She quickly learns her sister has more connections with people in high places than she would ever expect, especially since she had no clue what her sister did in Washington.

I really liked the protagonist but she's the only person I could empathize with because of her situation. I didn't connect to any of the other characters (though they were well-crafted) because I ultimately didn't care about them. Tess's relationship with Ivy was rocky to say the least, and that led to a faulty foundation on which any sort of relationship would crumble, which didn't ever get resolved in this book. This first installment focused primarily on revealing secrets and answers questions (after repeatedly going over the same ever evidence exhaustively) about the main mystery “case” than building any sort of deep connections or investing time with the characters introduced throughout the book.

Overall, a good thriller that didn't expand beyond just that. Won't be continuing with the series.

okay, so The Fixer was just suuuper twisty and lots of fun, overall. I thought I wouldn't like it because the goodreads summary hinted at a lot of cliche tropes (boarding school filled with rich, privileged kids! love triangles!) but it's actually a pretty decent YA mystery/thriller with tons of political intrigue

some other good things:

- the main character, tess, is a total badass. she really reads and sounds like an authentic teenager (in a good way imo). yes, she makes quite a few mistakes but she always tries her best to fix them, instead of spending 18298297 hours angsting about everything

- NO LOVE TRIANGLES. I do not know who made that blurb but there was barely even a hint of romance in the book !! it's def more focused on family and friendship and just <3333 I love tess' relationship with her sister or mother, ivy, and how much she cared about her grandfather, even after he'd been sent away to an inpatient care facility. I mean, usually in YA, the mc always forgets about her family once she's hooked up with the New Guy. but nope, not here. this book is better than that.

so, to sum it up, while this wasn't exactly the kind of thing that ~changed my life~ or anything, it's a fast-paced, addictive read with a KILLER ENDING. def pick this up if you like:
a) the tv series, scandal
b) very twisty political machinations
c) books with a family/friendship focus