Read this captivating YA thriller in one go---I couldn't go to bed until I knew the truth.

After finishing Lamar Giles' first book, Fake ID, I couldn't wait to read his next. For some reason I was under the impression that this book was a sequel to Fake ID. I'm not sure if a student planted that seed in my brain or what happened. This is NOT a sequel, so I immediately was a bit disappointed.

The story is about a high school student who is an anonymous blogger and photographer. The subjects of her photos and blogs are students from her school that have wronged others, and Lauren aka Panda intends to right those wrongs by exposing the aggressors. Her identity becomes exposed to a super fan who begins to take payback a bit too far.

The story was interesting but not as fast-paced as Fake ID. I had trouble fully empathizing with the protagonist. Nevertheless, I think my students would enjoy this novel!

Originally published on Rich in Color in August 2015

I had heard only great things about Lamar Gile’s latest book so I had high expectations and they were surely met. Endangered is a fun summer read that I picked up at just the right time. The novel moved at a quick pace as Panda tried to discover who the Admirer is, while her life spins out of control due to her own actions. I am often a bit wary of mysteries because I try, like most readers, to figure out “who done it” before the main character, and with Endangered, I didn’t figure it out who the Admirer was until Panda uncovered the clues. I love mysteries such as Endangered where the reader is consistently second guessing everything and being wrong. Once the Admirer was revealed, I thought back to the little clues that Giles left and marveled how the answers were there all along, but he masterly misdirected the clues keeping Panda, and the reader, guessing.

One of the many aspects of Endangered that I loved was the YA tropes that Giles subverts throughout the story. The first is Panda’s relationship with her parents. Both of her parents are involved, to a certain extent, in her life. Like any modern teen, Panda does have her secrets but when she realizes she needs their help, she doesn’t hesitate to share her knowledge with them. She confesses her double identity and her “game” with the Admirer and how it relates to the murder to a student. This creates tension between her and her parents throughout the rest of the book, but I greatly enjoyed that the parent/child relationship was realistic and present in the novel. Another trope that was inverted was the “romance” angle, if you could even call it that. Panda’s ex-boyfriend Taylor Durham, whom she clearly hates, re-enters the picture and ends up helping her sort out the mystery. While her feelings towards him change through the story, from animosity to friendship, he clearly still has feelings for her. She does recognize her old feelings for him, but the hurt he caused her keeps her guarded around him, initially. Through the events of the story, they slowly rebuild their friendship by forgiving each other and becoming honest with each other. It’s a very mature relationship and also very realistic. I guess, based on these two aspects alone, that I loved that fact people actually communicated with each other in the novel. One of the YA tropes, or rather literary tropes, that bug me is that in order for much of a novel to make sense, people don’t communicate their knowledge with each other creating misunderstandings to drive the story forward. Giles throws that trope out the window effectively showing us that a story can be exciting and entertaining even when folks are honest and communicate.

I loved the characters, Panda, especially. She is fiercely smart girl who believes she is handing out justice, while not realizing she’s doing the very same thing she accuses the bullies of. The reader completely understands Panda’s position and emotionally connects with why Panda exposes the dirt on her classmates, as some of them are truly despicable people. When her life starts to fall apart because her identity is exposed, Panda’s heartbreak and her desire to repair the hurt of others, specifically her friends, is really what makes Panda real. This line “We’re all something we don’t know we are” is repeated throughout the novel as Panda begins to recognize who she was and comes to learn who she really is. She learns to forgive those who hurt her, hurt others, and also learns to forgive herself.

Like I’ve stated many times before, Endangered is a very realistic novel in terms of how the characters relate to each other and the relationships, along with the mystery, is what makes this story so wonderful. I was drawn to not just Panda, but Taylor, and even the Admirer. In fact, once the Admirer is revealed, I actually felt sorrow for the character (and actually that reveal is a wonderful plot twist that I absolutely loved!). Giles wrote a novel that is thrilling and exciting on the surface, but so much deeper when you get to it’s heart.

Recommendation: If you love compelling mysteries with lots of twists and turns, get this soon!

Fun teen thriller.

3.5. This thriller hooked me and I had trouble putting it down at the end. Grades 9+ I had a bit of trouble believing some elements of the book, but I enjoyed the premise.

Great. I reviewed on my blog: http://mclicious.org/2015/03/21/thats-our-black/

4.5

Get ready Marshmallows, this is a book for all of you who miss Veronica Mars. I loved this even more that Fake I.D. While I figured out "who done it" pretty quickly, the suspense was still intense and made for a good read. Also, the details I didn't figure out made the story interesting and dynamic. What a great read to start the fall with.

Intriguing psychological thriller with introspective reflection. Will be fun to book talk.

This had a strong voice and kept me on the edge of my seat. I read it in a day because I was so engrossed.

Panda/Lauren seeks revenge for those who have mistreated people at her school. She operates in secret, so even her best friend doesn't know. Lauren takes responsibility pretty quickly. Her growth comes from her recognition that she doesn't know people by one aspect of their lives, just like people don't know her from one aspect of hers.

Lots of twists and turns. I had a few suspects. The one it winds up being, I did consider at some point. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't change my mind several times. I enjoyed the ride.

Lauren, a.k.a Panda, strives to maintain her anonymity in high school, perfecting the look and posture of a wallflower. She doesn't do too well in her classes and she doesn't dress to impress. A humiliating end to a relationship her freshman year made her never want to be in the spotlight again. And it gives her the perfect camouflage to inflict damage to right the wrongs she sees in the high school halls. She sees herself as a photoblogging Robin Hood, exposing the secrets of the high schools's elite, mean crowd. But her latest expose does more than out the offender and leads to a high stakes, dangerous exchange with a secret admirer who also has an axe to grind. But this admirer takes it much farther in a deadly game of cat and mouse.

Although, I was interested in the premise, I did not enjoy the story as much as I thought I would. It's the typical high school hierarchy, teaching the popular, mean kids a lesson, or at least lowering them a rung or two on the social totem pole. I know you don't have to like a main character for a novel to be good. Some of the novels I've enjoyed best have unlikable protagonists. I did not like Lauren at all and, consequently, I wasn't drawn into her story. It was hard to empathize with her. I thought she was shallow, selfish, narrow minded, and possibly, the worst best friend ever. She's so self-involved, immature, and sanctimonious. Even by the end of the novel, in which there is some character growth, I don't like her. Instead, I felt sorry for everyone that knew her!

This is definitely a book for high school readers. Language and content make it most appropriate for more mature readers. Although it's a thriller, it only made me impatient for the reveal. I didn't want to spend more time than necessary finding out who the secret, crazy fan was and why his/her motives were so dark.