I was not so keen the pacing, but the unique plot kept me compelled. I think I would recommend this to those who enjoy action with a romantic subplot too.

I wanted to love this story badly, but I couldn’t get through it. I couldn’t get into the characters; the words felt empty, I couldn’t differentiate between flashbacks and the present … I just couldn’t. I ended up dnfing at 43%.

Overall, I have no rating for this story. This is rare for me, but I have no opinion of the story. It just exists. The concept had good potential, and I wish the writing were livelier to see it play out. But this title was a no for me.

I really wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. The premise is fascinating but the storytelling fell flat. I think it might've been a pacing issue or some unnecessary sidetracking. I'm excited to see what else de León writes, though. Her story ideas are excellent and so needed for this time.

I loved the premise off this book and the cover really drew me in. The main character is hard to relate to, but the plot still benefits from the good premise.

This is one of the handful of times where I cannot stand the main character and so I skimmed through the last 30-40 per cent of the book just to see if the character will develop and stop having these very chewed up opinions about everyone else. As far as I understood, that was not the case, and therefore I did not enjoy reading this book although it has some potential behind the idea.

Thank you to Netgalley for this e-copy. My opinions are my own.

Yolanda Vance is used to working hard, but she also believes in honesty. When her law firm gets raided by the FBI, she turns over evidence against them and goes to work as an agent instead. The FBI is watching a group of black activists who claim that a local corporation is intentionally hurting their neighborhood, and Yolanda is the perfect person to send undercover. As she discovers what is really going on, she is caught in the impossible position of doing her job and hurting people she has come to care for or breaking the rules and fighting back.
I really liked the premise of this book--why don't we have more stories about women (particularly women of color) who are detectives and spies and agents? Aya de Leon does a wonderful job of showing through Yolanda's experiences that it is not always easy to know who is good and who is bad. Unfortunately, the character of Yolanda fell flat for me; it seemed that the author hadn't really decided who Yolanda was outside the parameters of this story.

A Spy in the Struggle
By Aya de Leon
Kensington Books December 2020
352 pages
Read via Netgalley

I suspect that most who pick up this book will find Yolanda's initial naivete a little tough to sink into but de Leon works quickly and delivers a great book.

A Spy in the Struggle started with a great plot, a promising set of characters and some incredibly important themes discussed in its plot. While the mystery was set up very well and the writing style was fantastic, the romantic plotline in the book felt a bit shoehorned into the story. This is our own experience, however, so if you're looking for a YA spy thriller with a romance and great mystery, this might be the book for you!

I loved this book! The character development and pacing were perfect. The mystery was well-rounded and overall, I enjoyed this quick little read. However, it did drag a bit for me in the middle due to the police/investigator heavy plot. That's a personal preference though. I think this book is really important for the genre as the representation was done really well. There was discussion of race as well as a diverse cast of characters, and there was casual LGBTQIA rep, which is always appreciated. I wasn't expecting such intense smut in a book that tackles such heavy and real themes, but I ended up liking the sex scenes and thought it balanced out the plot in a sex-positive and refreshing way. In all, 4 stars!

A Spy in the Struggle is the first book I read from this author.

This is an interesting twist to life as an agent in the field. The story started great then it just did not peak my interest any longer. There is potential in the storyline.

*Disclaimer I received this free ARC ion NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Aya de Leon has crafted an expert realistic story of a modern-day black spy, Yolanda Vance. Exuding power, intelligence, Yolanda is no average protagonist. Originally recruited to be a corporate lawyer for the FBI after being a whistleblower on her corrupt previous employers, the FBI decided to put her on a field assignment in her hometown to stop a group of black activists. As Yolanda got closer to the group, her heart and mind is split and, in the end, she must decide between duty and love. When a mysterious death ends up revealing key evidence in the case she is working on, will the truth set her free or will it be her undoing?

De Leon highlights current issues through the lens of this young protagonist: government corruption, human caused environmental injustices, and racial and social issues. The reader is left to contemplate the verisimilitude of de Leon’s A Spy in the Struggle, in the rise of social activism calling to bring on police reform and environmental change. The strong dialogue, realistic characters, and subtle call to action, will make a wonderful pandemic read.

Since childhood Yolanda Vance has forged her desire to escape poverty into a laser-like focus that took her through prep school and Harvard Law. When her prestigious New York law firm is raided by the FBI, Yoland turns on her corrupt bosses to save her career. Her determination has taken her to a new position at the FBI, where she is sent undercover to infiltrate Red, Black, and Green, a Black activist group in her California college town that has been dubbed “extremist”. Yolanda is determined that this undercover assignment needs to be a success in order for her to get back to a life in corporate law. All of that is thrown into chaos when a suspicious death and a romantic connection open her eyes.

A spy thriller with a social justice aspect? Sold! Aya de León has created a fun, engrossing, educational, and timely book that spans beyond the crime fiction genre. From the moment I met Yolanda Vance I felt an instant connection that continued to build as I learned more about her past. Watching Yolanda work with and bond with the members of Red, Black, and Green were some of my favorite moments of this story, as we saw walls coming down on all sides and truly got to bond with the characters in this book.

In addition to an all-around delightful thriller, A SPY IN THE STRUGGLE has an intense romantic plotline that I normally wouldn’t be on board for, but found added so much more to this story. I really wasn’t expecting to read this book and find a whole lot of steam packed into the pages!

A huge thank you to BookishFirst and Kensington Books for my gifted copy!

In a time that's equivalent to that 30 Rock “Lemon, it’s Wednesday,” meme, A Spy in the Struggle is a warm breeze, a reset, a refresh, like opening your front door on a harsh winter day and finding you’re on a tropical island. Yolanda Vance is a tightly wound Harvard law graduate and, reluctantly, a new FBI recruit after her big money corporate job disappears under indictment. Through her, readers get a funny but extremely heartful fish-out-of-water story about institutionalized racism, corruption, community organizing, and surprisingly, love and vulnerability.

Shipped out from the East Coast to the California town where she went to college, Yolanda is tasked with infiltrating a youth-focused eco-racial justice group that’s labeled “extremist” in big, red scary letters. The reality, she finds, is really an old gym full of ambitious, bright teenagers and their beleaguered leader, who are desperate to be heard and taken seriously by their community leadership. After a suspicious death that the local cops label an overdose, Yolanda’s mind starts to turn: is she fighting for the wrong side?

Full review is available at Book & Film Globe: https://bookandfilmglobe.com/fiction/a-spy-in-the-struggle-is-no-struggle-to-read/

Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

I enjoyed the story of Yolanda, an FBI agent sent to protect a chemical company by infiltrating a youth group run by an activist. The author brings in current events and uses them to have you root for Yolanda throughout. This was a very interesting read with a surprising ending. The only thing I didn't like was the romance, I felt like it wasn't necessary and it detracted from the main point of the story. If there was no romance involved this would have been a 5 star read for me. Overall I still really enjoyed the book and I will definitely read more from Aya in the future.

“My situation was unique . . . being an African-American woman working undercover is exceptionally stressful . . . When I wasn’t on assignment . . . I would stay in bed, isolated and along, for days. ” – From Clean Dirt: A Memoir of Johnnie Mae Gibson, FBI Special Agent
Aya de Leon’s A Spy in the Struggle is not the typical spy novel but I’m here for it. Who says James Bond is the only spy that matters? We’ve heard his story already so let’s hear about the Johnnie Mae Gibsons and Yolanda Vances of the world.

Yolanda Vance had her heart set on working as a lawyer in Manhattan. As an African-American woman, Yolanda went against whatever stereotypes were in her way to become a lawyer. She seemed to run into the argument of whether she was too black or not black enough, depending on who was doing the questioning.

She was still succeeding in her plan for a legal career until the law firm was investigated by the FBI. Then Yolanda turned over evidence that would end that law firm and also her career in corporate law. So she had to say goodbye to all of her fancy Manhattan dreams. She was a whistleblower and wasn’t exactly sorry about doing the right thing.

Yolanda isn’t a quitter but she was blackballed by most law firms so she has to find a new path to success. To make ends meet, she became part of the legal team at the FBI. Yolanda’s first post is in New Jersey. It’s not fancy but it is a stepping stone.

After a short time at the New Jersey post, Yolanda is given an undercover assignment in the San Francisco area. She went to college at Cartwright College, which is in the San Francisco Bay area in this book.

Yolanda is given the assignment because she is African-American with ties to the area. They don’t want her to stick out like former agents have in the past. She is given the task of infiltrating a black extremist organization, Red, Black and GREEN!, who is supposedly harassing Randell Corporation, an industrial contractor with the U.S. Government. Yolanda quickly catches on that RBG is just trying to defend the people in the community.

A local woman, Anitra Jenkins, has been killed. The cops say it’s a heroin overdose but Anitra’s grandmother is telling anyone who will listen that her granddaughter was murdered. Grandmother Jenkins believes that Anitra saw something while working at Randell Corporation and she was killed for it.

Yolanda wants to do the right thing for the people in the community and the RBG group. She believes that the group has been helping the youth and also the homeless community. Her boss wants to protect the corporation and accuse RBG of doing terrible things. How can Yolanda do the right thing and stay alive? Will she be able to keep her relationships with the RBG group and her new boyfriend if they find out that she’s been spying on them? She is really walking a dangerously thin tightrope.

If you are a grassroots activist that truly wants to make a positive difference or if you just want good to overcome evil, then you will probably enjoy A Spy in the Struggle.

Here is a short list of people who will not enjoy this book:

Corporate big whigs who have to win at all costs.
People who choose money above everything.
Proud Boys. Also, whoever enables racists and their groups.
I received this ebook from NetGalley. All opinions are my own. Obviously.
Amazon affiliate links included in this post.

I received a copy of the book from Netgalley to review. Thank you for the opportunity.
A poweful and action. packed story with a fascinating heroine and plenty of twists and turns
A good read.

This book started off so strong for me and I was so excited to dive into it, but it feel flat a few chapters in for me. I loved Yolanda's back story and how she grew. I also really liked learning about more of the social and ecological justice as I know a lot of it is not covered in the media but is very much a issue.

The biggest thing that turned me off was the romance. This really did not need to have a romance in the book. In fact, I think I would have enjoyed this book more without it. It completely killed it for me. I believe that Aya de Leon was just trying to make sure the story had a little bit of everything in it, but this aspect of it just didn't belong with this story. and honestly was the thing that brought this story from 4 starts to 3 stars.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for my honest reviews.

A Spy in the Struggle, written by Aya de León, is the story of Yolanda Vance, a spy who is assigned to infiltrate an environmental group that’s dangerous because it’s so effective at community organizing. She doesn’t count on falling in love and she certainly doesn’t count on learning to care for the people she’s spying on. It’s such a classic spy story and yet I threw myself into reading it because it isn’t another cold war story.

Yolanda is relatable even if she’s maddening. She’s rigidly written which makes it that much better when her character has to really start examining her life choices. Why does she decide to turn on her bosses at her cushy corporate job? Why does she go into the FBI? Why doesn’t she get close to anyone?

The pacing of the book lags in the middle. There’s a good chunk (20 pages) where Yolanda’s backstory almost overwhelms the story currently happening and it was a chore to get through. It’s worth it to stick through because the story really is worth reading, if only because Yolanda is such a strong character.

Aya de Leon, a skilled storyteller, once again showcases her skills in this gritty exploration of social injustices through a Black feminist lens that is not often represented in publishing.

Yolanda Vance is grateful for the job opportunity to be employed as an FBI attorney, after being the whistle blower at a prestigious corporate law firm that was raided by the FBI. Being successful is a top priority for Yolanda, so when she is recruited to go undercover to infiltrate an African American activist group that is deemed “extremist”, she gladly accepts and is determined to make this a “win” for her. But, as the FBI’s goals and reports do not match what she is observing, Yolanda will have to make choices that may be harmful to her safety and her heart.

This is a layered and compelling tale that seamlessly weaves in issues of environmental racism, corporate corruption, and government surveillance in compelling and entertaining way.

A SPY IN THE STRUGGLE is utterly engrossing, entertaining, informative, preceptive as the snappy dialogue and careful characterizations move riveting plot along at quick pace.

I am glad to see more and more spy thrillers with a Black female protagonist and hop to read more in the future.

What a lovely cover! I thought the story was good and fleshed out characters too. Important topics are covered as well as super relevant, especially during this time. I went into this not knowing much so I think it's one of those books that you can just pick up and start reading and be pleasantly surprised. Thank you to Netgalley and Kensington Books for the advanced copy.