Book Review: Spies and Prejudice by Talia Vance

Pages: 304

Genre: YA Realistic Fiction

Pub. Date: June 11, 2013

Source: Publisher for review

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Goodreads says, "Fields’ Rule #1: Don’t fall for the enemy.Berry Fields is not looking for a boyfriend. She’s busy trailing cheaters and liars in her job as a private investigator, collecting evidence of the affairs she’s sure all men commit. And thanks to a pepper spray incident during an eighth grade game of spin the bottle, the guys at her school are not exactly lining up to date her, either.  So when arrogant—and gorgeous—Tanner Halston rolls into town and calls her “nothing amazing,” it’s no loss for Berry. She’ll forget him in no time. She’s more concerned with the questions surfacing about her mother’s death.  But why does Tanner seem to pop up everywhere in her investigation, always getting in her way? Is he trying to stop her from discovering the truth, or protecting her from an unknown threat? And why can’t Berry remember to hate him when he looks into her eyes?  With a playful nod to Jane Austen, Spies and Prejudice will captivate readers as love and espionage collide."

Berry's father owns a private investigation company and she often does undercover work for him, especially if it involves catching people cheating on their spouses. I mean who would suspect that a high school student is actually a spy? It's just Berry and her father at home as her mother died many years ago and the police say it was a suicide.  While spying on someone else one night, she sees her best friend's dad with a file.  Upon closer examination, she sees the file says her mother's name.  What would Mary Chris' father be doing with this file? The question consuming Berry's mind is the fact that maybe the police were wrong about her mother's untimely death. This question, naturally, becomes her obsession.  To top it off, Berry finds herself dealing quite often with two new boys to her school, Drew and Tanner. Berry can't initially stand Tanner, especially when he refers to her as "nothing amazing," but he keeps showing up in her latest investigation. It doesn't help that he is gorgeous either!  Talia Vance's debut, Spies and Prejudice, is a charming twist on the Jane Austen classic, especially if you are a fan of mysteries.

Berry is my kind of heroine in Spies and Prejudice. She's smart, snarky, and pretty much a kick-butt spy even though she's a teenager.  This may seem far-fectched, but think of it as being similar to Veronica Mars.  My only issue is that Berry and her friends seemed to know more than the adults in the book; but hey, I guess that makes for an interesting read and I know my middle school students would really enjoy this novel.

The twist on Pride and Prejudice was a fun one, although not a strong of a connection as I'd like.  However, there is a lot of slow burn romance and build-up between Tanner and Berry as well as witty dialogue which is very similar to the Darcy and Elizabeth relationship.

The mystery is what drives Spies and Prejudice and although it was an entertaining read, it didn't excite me as much as I had hoped.  Teenagers that are fans of Veronica Mars, Jane Austen, and mysteries would appreciate this novel. It was a middle-of-the-road type of read for me, which sometimes is a breath of fresh air in a world full of epic fantasy novels and taxing series.