Liberty

By: Andrea Portes, Joel Silverman

Narrated by: Tara Sands

The bestselling author of Anatomy of Misfit and The Fall of Butterflies,Andrea Portes, is back with another irresistible snarky heroine in Liberty.

What is a hero? Paige Nolan knows. Edward Raynes, the young man who exposed America’s unconstitutional spying techniques, is a hero, even if half the dum-dums in the country think he’s a traitor. Or Paige's parents, journalists who were captured by terrorists while telling stories of the endangered and oppressed. They were heroes, too. Were. . . or are—no one has ever told Paige if they’re still alive, or dead.

Not heroes? Anyone in the government who abandoned her parents, letting them rot somewhere halfway across the world. And certainly not Paige herself, who despite her fluency in five languages and mastery of several obscure martial arts (thanks, Mom!) could do nothing to save them.

Couldn’t, that is, until she’s approached by Madden Carter, an undercover operative who gives her a mission—fly to Russia, find Raynes, and discover what other government secrets he’s stockpiled. In exchange, he’ll reopen the case on her missing parents. She’s given a code name and a cover as a foreign exchange student.

Who is a hero? Not Paige Nolan, but maybe, just maybe, Liberty is.

Protagonist Was Too Annoying To Finish

At first, I appreciated the pop references, but the meandering monologues bogged down the book. The protagonist, and by extension the author, loved to hear themselves speak. This story was like a date that started off okay, but kept getting worse the more you learned about the other person.

I couldn't finish it.