I really enjoyed this story about Frannie, who escapes a terrible live in the Bahamas and disguises herself as a young Brit traveling to America as the Revolutionary War is bubbling up. I appreciated the way that she realistically became invested in the American cause and how that influenced her to use her new found position to become a spy. I also really appreciated that her efforts as a spy did not simply go smoothly, always avoiding truly present danger. Frannie experiences terrible consequences of spy life and has to resist caving in on her convictions.

This book was exciting and interesting and my students already really love it!

Historical? Yep. Female spy? Yep. Completely different than the authors previous work? YEP. This book was good. I actually forgot who the author was when I was reading it because it was so vastly different than her Under the Never Sky books. And while I love sci-fi and historical fiction, I do hope the author writes more sci-fi in the future.

I loved this book, you can never go wrong with historical lady spies! There were a few historical inaccuracies, but you have to expect those. Would definitely recommend!

3.5 stars. It had a bit of a slow start, but once Frannie escapes her island home, the story takes off. I really enjoyed the author’s weaving historical facts into her story. There were several flaws in this book (she’s half Spaniard but doesn’t have an accent? Or a tan? She was alone with someone from the opposite sex a few times but it was accepted though she was living in high society? She goes through a part in the book where her period is totally brushed under the rug, and other instances) but I still really liked it and would still recommend. This will appeal to those who want something else after Hamilton :)

We know that Agent 355 of George Washington's Culper Spy Ring was "a lady," but we don't know who that lady was. Veronica Rossi's Rebel Spy is a novel that imagines this spy was a girl by the name of Frannie Tasker.

Frannie lives a double life. She escaped from her lecherous stepfather in the Bahamas by becoming Emmeline Coates and that transformation allowed her to be accepted into New York Society. But Frannie hasn't forgotten where she came from or her revolutionary ideals.

I enjoyed this book. It's got a big big dose of romance, but the set up was really interesting, and Frannie is a fascinating character.

Veronica Rossi presenteia o leitor com um ya histórico com uma protagonista cativante.



Não se engane pelo início lento do livro. Tudo é construído de forma que você vai tomar ritmo junto com o desenvolvimento da nossa espiã, a 355, quem além de ser uma peça fundamental na revolução americana, é uma das primeiras mulheres reconhecidas como espiãs na história norte-americana.



Nossa protagonista vai ter a oportunidade de mudar de vida, mas acaba se envolvendo em uma trama perigosa. Mas qual o real custo que essa liberdade vai gerar para ela? Está pronta para virar uma espiã? Qual o custo de carregar esse disfarce?



Para quem gosta do gênero, com toda certeza vai gostar do livro e especialmente de ver o desabrochar e evolução da protagonista. Pessoalmente, uma belíssima surpresa e uma leitura maravilhosa.



Não conhecia a história verídica que inspirou a autora, mas depois dessa leitura fui correndo procurar saber um pouco mais. Espero que alguma editora possa publicar o livro aqui no Brasil.

This book made me remember how much I loved the AMC series, Turn. Some of the characters make an appearance here, and the feel of the story is similar. I love the idea of taking a little known historic footnote of a person and making a fully fleshed out and incredibly interesting character out of it. Frannie is such a masterwork of character development--she feels real. I love the story of the Culper ring and how much they helped the war effort. To learn about it from this angle was really entertaining.

Rebel Spy by Veronica Rossi is a fictional tale of a real female spy, 355, during the Revolutionary War. 355 was never named, so everything about her is unknown. No one even knows what exactly she spied upon or what information she gave.

Since this is a war novel, in a way, there are hints of the ongoing war, especially when the Loyalists talk about their exploits. Nothing is ever shown full force however. The one thing that is shown, is the press ganging of sailors by the English Navy. It's pretty violent and brutal, but toned down from how I'm sure the actual press ganging was. There is murder and death as one would assume in a war. One other thing that is pretty awful is the prison of war ship, it's as nasty as it sounds. There are also some stories of past rapes done by the Red Coats on American women. There is also a near assault by the main characters step-father in the opening chapters.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I liked the historical parts, but also the fictional parts. They were weaved together very well. There are some YA tropes; falling in love fast, two men loving the same woman and hating each other, but they don't stand out as obnoxious or overbearing. The cast of characters is well written and add a lot of heart to the story. A few of the characters are based on real life people, mainly the male characters. The main characters friends are funny and charming. They also care for each other deeply, which is always nice to see.

I think that anyone who enjoys the mystery of who spies are behind the scenes, especially in a war as old and important to America as this one, will enjoy the novel. It has action, romance, and enough factual evidence to make it almost real.

WHY DID I LISTEN TO REBEL SPY BY VERONICA ROSSI?
I really enjoyed Veronica Rossi’s Under The Never Sky series and well, it has been a few years since I’ve read the series. So, I thought I would try out one of Rossi’s newer books and why not begin with Rebel Spy. After all, I really enjoy historical fiction. So, logically, I figured I would also really enjoy Rebel Spy given that it is written by Veronica Rossi. I went with the audiobook version as it was available via Libby and I knew that would be the quickest way I would be able to get to it.

WHAT’S THE STORY HERE?
Frannie Tasker lives on the Grand Bahama Islands with her mother and stepfather who is actually quite terrible. She works as a wrecker, meaning that she dives shipwrecks in hopes of finding items to sell. When her mother dies, she is left in the custody of her stepfather. He gets the idea in his mind to marry Frannie. Oh, and the book is set during the Revolutionary War, which as the book starts out, Frannie doesn’t know about. So, she is despondent about her situation. When a ship wrecks nearby and one of the victims is Emmeline Coates, Frannie sees her chance at escape. She takes on Emmeline’s identity and is rescued by a British Merchant ship. While aboard, she learns a little bit more about how to meet a lady and meets a young man who gives her a copy of Common Sense, it changes her life.

So, over the course of the next three years, Frannie lives in New York under the identity of Emmeline Coates. She lives the upper class life. She also comes to the realization that she’s in a pretty good position to help out the Rebels and General Washington as she does tend to overhear a lot. So, as you can guess, Frannie/Emmeline becomes a spy.

HOW DID I LIKE REBEL SPY?
Honestly, I thought that Rebel Spy was a pretty good read. I loved the historical detail and the fact that you could really feel the tension in the air in New York. Frannie’s life as Emmeline, the upper class young woman, is so interesting. I liked learning about her marriage prospects or lack there of. I also enjoyed reading about her new friends that she makes. However, I wasn’t a huge fan of how her stepdad comes back into her life, that bit seemed a little over the top. I also liked how this was very clear about how limited life could be for women back in the Revolutionary War era and how much that kind of sucks. Oh, and the romance! That was quite interesting as I had a specific romance I was rooting for, even when it seemed impossible.

HOW’S THE NARRATION?
The audiobook is narrated by Jennifer Jill Araya. It is 10 hours and 42 minutes unabridged. I thought that Araya’s voice sounded a lot like Nicola Barber which is actually high praise. Her voice was PERFECT for the story – very much how I’d imagine a girl from colonial times sounding and very melodic. The audiobook of Rebel Spy is easy on the ears and perfectly transporting.

DNF. I could not get invested in the story and really did not like the protagonist. The narrator's voice felt far too modern for historical fiction, and I got bogged down in the narrator stowing away on a ship. I don't think this one holds up to comparisons of Julie Berry and Tatiana deRosnay, and I don't think the title will appeal to many non-adolescent readers, but it will still entertain YA historical fiction fans.

Rebel Spy was such an interesting story that made me want to do research on a topic that never came to my mind until I read this book and the author's note. Rebel Spy is set in 1776 and follows a young girl Frannie as she takes the life of a Miss Emmeline Coates and pretends to be her when Emmeline died in a naval accident. She does it to run away from her abusive step-father who intends to take her as his new-wife after her mother's death. Obviously, Frannie is willing to do about anything to get out of this situation and save her life even if it means taking a risk as people might know that she isn't the real Miss Coates. Along the way she meets Asa, the love of her life who will be one of the sparks that will make Frannie decide to become a spy... Ahhhh Asa. I loved him so much!! All I wanted was for them both to be together and happy even though obstacles were present.

Overall, I'm glad I finally read this book even though it was a bit slow at times and that it took me a little while to finish it. However I fell in love with the characters. This book made me cry and broke my heart multiple times. The ending is one that marked me and for these reasons, I kind of want to give it five stars instead of four.

<i>(Thank you for letting me read and review an ARC via Netgalley)

I liked this book, but nothing really stood out to me. I was very excited to read a book by Veronica Rossi, especially in a different genre than she usually writes as far as I know, but this book was very average. That said, Veronica Rossi is an extremely talented author and I can absolutely see the appeal in this book, it just wasn't for me specifically. 2.5/5 stars, rounded up to 3.

Frannie Tasker’s life is in danger and so she conveniently pretends to be an heiress whose shipwrecked body has washed up on the shores of the Bahamas. This sets in motion a dramatic change in circumstances. Not only was the dead girl wealthy, but her parents are gone and her custodian only knew her as a little girl, so almost no one suspects a switch. Learning to live as a member of New York society elite proves to be a little challenging, but Frannie manages to keep up the ruse. It’s a story of a girl who is adept at pretense and who takes advantage of those skills when the British officers are around, discussing military tactics with no thought to the innocent young woman in their midst. Based on the real Agent 355, who spied for George Washington, Frannie commits herself to helping the colonists as they fight to establish their own country.

Historical fiction based upon real people always holds a special fascination. Though the circumstances may be imagined, the reality of the person or the event gives greater significance to the tale. Rossi’s creation of the poor girl rising in social standing due to deception, reminds one of Pygmalion. But her life as a spy brings Frannie back to the lowly hardscrabble girl she once was, a girl who used her wits to survive. Fannie is a memorable character who, once she sets her mind on something, refuses to turn back or be deterred. She has courage, wiliness and determination. Women of her time often play a secondary role but here Fannie uses her connections to help the American patriots and prove her worth,

Lovers of American history, of spy tales or just of spunky women, will find this fascinating. Though a young adult novel, this book will have definite crossover appeal to adults.
4.5*

I love reading a historical fiction story that requires the author to imagine a lot and fill in the blanks. George Washington really used a spy network to help win the war against the British, and there was really a spy known as 3-5-5, “Lady”. That’s just about all that is known. So, Veronica Rossi used her imagination and historical events and people to build a story around the unknown spy, 355.

I found the book to be absolutely engrossing. I was in love with the character, Frannie. She is strong-willed and absolutely amazing. Her ability to adapt created a story that I couldn’t stop reading. I loved her the most when she was being her true self. She’s a bit crass and completely un-lady-like, and I loved it.

Frannie’s need to escape her awful step-father is apparent. He’s a horrible human, and I wanted her to get away from him so much. When her opportunity arises, she seizes it, and takes another woman’s identity. I really enjoyed this situation. I liked her inner worries and her solutions to her problems.

The entire story was filled with exciting moments that made me worry about what would happen to her next, but I thought all that excitement would take place on the front lines, and really a lot of it happens at garden parties, and social dinners. It was something I hadn’t envisioned when picking up this book, and I really enjoyed it!

Overall, I truly enjoyed reading this historical fiction. It was filled with great characters and had a plot that kept me engaged throughout the book!

I was provided a gifted copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

Caught and held my attention from start to finish. Frannie's hard in a way heroines don't always get to be, and she's clever as hell. While I had some quibbles (the prologue was literally copied from later in the text, [how did her stepfather find her at the end? (hide spoiler)]), overall I really enjoyed this. It's cool how it shows that espionage wasn't always the intense kind you see on TV shows, but that it can still make a major difference.

What I Loved: This YA historical fiction novel is a retelling of sorts of Agent 355. It is very clear from page 1 that Rossi did so much research and, as a result, Rebel Spy is quite immersive. Additionally Rossi, prose is lush and atmospheric. Frannie/ Emmeleine is a strong, capable heroine at the center of the story who assumes a false identity and subsequently becomes a colonist spy, feeding information to Washington’s own network of information. The stakes are high and there are some legitimately tense moments and close calls that I think fans of historical fiction will absolutely adore.

What I Didn’t Love: I have found that I frequently struggle with historical fiction because it feels too slow and I do feel like the pacing was rather inconsistent throughout the story and the plot kind of got lost in the shuffle. Maybe I’m growing out of my love for books that simply examine historical, polite society because I just found chunks of the book boring.

i would, however, recommend this book to anyone looking for a lyrical, lush historical YA novel. Overall, I gave this one 3/5 stars.

I was really intrigued by this book when I found out that it was a historical fiction following Agent 355 during the Revolutionary War-era. From the moment I got the digital arc I was dying to dive in, so a big thank you to Delacorte for the e-arc.

This book was quite fast-paced. I was really glad for that since a lot of historical fictions feel slow or dragging to me and it was nice to have a historical fiction that didn't feel that way. I do think that there could have been so much more to the story, though, if it had been longer than the ~350 pages it was. I really liked our main character and I thought that she was an enjoyable one to read from. Not only is she spying for the Americans, but she's also trying to maintain her identity as Emmeline. I thought that this was a really interesting part of the story to read.

Overall I did really enjoy this book and thought that it was a fun way to engage with American history and have an exciting tale to read.

This ARC was provided for review, but in no way affects the following unbiased and impartial review:
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5*
Pros: Completely immersive world-building. Exquisite narrative and writing style. Layered and complex female lead. Beautiful and soul-rendering. Portrays the story of the spy 355 that helped Americans win their independence from the British. Talks about making difficult choices, fighting for what you believe in, surviving and doing what it is necessary to thrive. Talks about loss and feeling lost. Important PoV on surviving sexual assault and domestic abuse.
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Cons: Slow beginning. Lots of inconsistencies regarding female biology by the end.
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Trigger warning: Sexual assault. Domestic violence.

My Review- Thank you to FFBC for inviting me on to this Blog Tour. I had never read a Veronica Rossi book until now, and it has me questioning myself on why?

I really liked Frannie, I thought she was a fierce young lady and a character that was much needed in YA. I’d never heard of the original story, prior to reading the re-imagining, so I did some research of my own. Very interesting stuff.

I really liked Rossi’s writing style. It was very imaginative, and detailed. She was great at world building and developing the characters within it. Now I feel like I need to read her backlist titles.

When was the last time you read a book and immediately wanted to to research about the characters?

I adore books like this. Fiction books based on real characters sprinkled with historical facts. The idea of a young rebel spy, hidden in plain sight, among fine society intrigued me. And as I finished the book I sat with tears in my eyes. This young lady was real! Rebel spy 355 took her life in her hands for what she believed was right. She risked everything for this country! I am amazed by this. I had no idea things like this happened!

~Spying let me breathe again. It let the sunlight shine through the cracks, to reach the soul of me.The truth. The suffocating, hidden girl.~

Veronica Rossi has a way with words that makes you feel as though you are living right along side them. This is a beautiful and inspiring YA standalone with a bit of romance swirled with intrigue. If you’re looking to feel inspired and motivated to make a change, then I highly recommend you grab this book and get ready for excitement.

I am in such a book fog right now. This book will definitely be in my top 10 of 2020!