'The Brotherhood' by Shannon Condon

Genre: Thriller/Espionage

Another great instalment of the ‘Finding Magdalena’ series! Much like the first book, ‘The Brotherhood’ had me hooked from the beginning, with the drama, action, and suspense being even more intense than the first book, it was difficult to put this book down.

Much like the first book, however, some aspects seemed too good to be true just for the sake of plot or drama and seems like it will be a recurring trope that men either love or hate her with a passion.

Yet once you look past these aspects, the storyline and the characters are captivating. Maggie is such an interesting protagonist and I really enjoyed how she opened up and developed as a person in this book compared to the first book.

Again much like the first instalment, I appreciated the themes and issues Condon brought awareness to in her writing, such as rape and abuse. It is refreshing to see a YA novel explore such graphic yet prominent issues that women face and still make it readable yet realistic to the real emotions someone would feel in that situation.

Although the espionage emergence at the end of the first book surprised me, I really liked its integration into Maggie’s story. The spy scenes all seemed very well-thought-out, and the way the Condon wrote the action scenes made them very engaging, and it was nice to see a different side of Maggie in these moments.

I have really enjoyed this series so far, I would definitely recommend it!

Rating: * * * * *

I was sent this book for free to review as part of an ACR group, however, my opinions are honest and unbiased.