Review and Giveaway: The Long Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Long Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
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Series: #2 in the The Fixer series
Release date: June 7th, 2016
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Length: 368 pages
Source: ARC from the publisher
Rating:  *sucker punch gasp* *PROLONGED SOBSCREAM*



Tess Kendrick, teen fixer extraordinaire, returns in a pulse-pounding thriller about a deadly conspiracy at the heart of Washington.

For Tess Kendrick, a junior at the elite Hardwicke School in Washington D.C., fixing runs in the family. But Tess has another legacy, too, one that involves power and the making of political dynasties. When Tess is asked to run a classmate's campaign for student council, she agrees. But when the candidates are children of politicians, even a high school election can involve life-shattering secrets.

Meanwhile, Tess's guardian has also taken on an impossible case, as a terrorist attack calls into doubt who can--and cannot--be trusted on Capitol Hill. Tess knows better than most that power is currency in D.C., but she's about to discover first-hand that power always comes with a price.

Perfect for fans of Harlan Coben and Ally Carter, the second book in this thrilling series will leave readers breathless.

Fun bonus: today's visual entertainment will be provided by screenshots of my reading liveblog to Lizzy and Shae, aka the evil people who told me to read this book and then laughed at me while I sobbed over it. Spoilers redacted.

Ho. Ly. Shit.


So this book...well, it's kind of a HUGE JERK, but in sort of the best way? It's hard to describe. I will be minimal on the spoilers for book one and will say absolutely NOTHING about the plot of book 2 in this review, because honestly, the best part of The Long Game is the way JLB...well...plays the long game. It's one of the most classic, high octane, truly RIPPING YA thrillers I've ever read.



Not a single punch is pulled, and not a single line of tension is let go. Everything is tightened as the plot notches up, and up, and up, and just when you think the most ADJKHFSDLS thing possible has happened, the plot explodes. And then it explodes again. And then it inches you in the FACE. And then it grabs your soul and rips it out of your chest and then runs away with it and you're like DUDE, I WAS USING THAT, but the book doesn't care, because Washington, DC is burning.



Wow. I bet you all really want to read this now, don't you?



Anyway, the gist: Tess Kendrick, who is smarter and cooler than you will ever be, is a student at an elite DC prep school. She has a COMPLICATED FAMILY, to say the least, but Tess is focused and grim and smart and cannot let a problem go past without wanting to solve it. That's how she became her high school's "fixer", because she gets shit DONE. Also she has a team of awesome friends, some of which are cute boys, which...well. YAY FOR CUTE BOYS. I love that whole pack of nerds. Squad goals, except this squad could legit ruin your life. They go toe to toe with DC big shots and WIN.



Basically, if you thought The Fixer was intense, The Long Game is Simba in the Shadowlands, laughing in the face of danger. The stakes are magnified on a political level AND a personal level. Because it's not just, like, the fate of the nation that's up in the air...oh no. JLB is going for our hearts. I swear to you, I have not known such exquisite agony in quite a long time. LIKE I WAS JUST REALLY STRESSED OUT THE WHOLE TIME I HAVE ULCERS



As a thriller, this book is obviously going to be a twisty turny plot-twisty menace, but like...you are not prepared. You're not. You're just not.



This book is a lot less Fixer-y than the first book and blossoms into a full blown political thriller. (If you automatically yawn at the sight of the word "political", I assure you there is nothing snooze-inducing about it. Scream-inducing, yes. Will it make you nauseated with nerves? Absolutely. Will you bite off all you fingernails and cry because you're so worried about all your precious smol children, as the youths of today would say? Good chance.)



I honestly don't know how to review this book. Every time I think about it I moan and clutch my chest and let out faint little whimper sounds, and then I think that I will go FULL TESS KENDRICK on the world if they do not get me a book three. Because you guys. You guyssss. Ship stuff. Squad stuff. SO MANY REASONS I NEED A BOOK THREE. I AM RUINED.



So ends a very professional, coherent review. Please just read this series so I don't have to coolly threaten anyone, like a Kendrick? I am really not that bad ass.



And now the fun part: the GIVEAWAY! This is international (provided The Book Depository ships to your location) so have at it, gents. Also if you haven't read The Fixer yet and want to win a copy of that instead, that's totally fine.

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