This book is more like 3.5 stars, but I still consider it to be a good read. It's a solid debut from a new author, and I appreciate the narrative presented within the book.

A Spy in the Struggle follows a young, black woman's journey to discovering herself and learning more about her history as she navigates a sticky situation. I loved reading about a woman of a color as a spy - it's sad that it's so rare that we see books like these. I also enjoyed seeing the protagonist's self-realization as she worked to undermine an organization. There were some parts of the book that are cheesy and a little unrealistic, but overall, I enjoyed the message within the story. I would be interested reading other books released by the author in the future.

After not allowing her company to bring her down on their sinking ship, Yolanda Vance is given the opportunity to work for the FBI. Plucked from her new job at another law firm the FBI places Yolanda undercover in a familiar place. Once she gets to know her subjects more she begins to wonder if she’s on the right side.

Some of the things that bothered me about Yolanda were her thoughts and judgements on the people she was observing and the situations they were standing up for. I had moments of “is she really this clueless?” but reminded myself that while the MC was Black she grew up somewhat privileged.

The story felt a bit rushed towards the end and the plot lost me a couple times. I would have enjoyed more FBI interviews/emails or scenes. I have lots of questions regarding characters but in the end by I pushed through and while I didn’t love it I still liked it.

trigger warning
<spoiler> racism, n-word as colloquialism, emotional abuse, mention of domestic abuse, mention of miscarriage, police brutality, drug addiction, mention of suicide, grief, trauma</spoiler>

A rookie FBI agent who expected to be a lawyer is instead sent as an undercover agent to an activism group that protests the work of a morally-dubious but <i>very</i> finacially successfull company.

Newbie corporate lawyer Yolanda Vance decides to not take a hit for the company she works for and to not shred evidence - a decision which puts her out of a job now and for the future.
So she has to fall back on plan z and go through with the application she sent to the FBI ages ago for shits 'n giggles. Since she is a woman of colour with a degree, she doesn't get the job she applied for, but has no agency in the matter of where she is put to work.

So, right off from the start we know that Yolanda not only has a conscience, but also that she will act on it, even if it goes against direct orders. We know right from the start that she probably will do the right thing, eventually. The question is how long it will take, and what a mess she'll have to clean up later.

There are heavy topics in this novel. You can't say I'll do activism for one issue in my area but I'll ignore all the rest, so of course, Black Lives Matter plays a big role. Racism, police brutality, classism. In fact, Yolanda spends a majority of the time wrestling with the difference in how the teens she now works with are brought up to how she herself was brought up - having to hide her blackness, trying to act as the white privileged people she is educated with do. She is called out on this and has to work things out, which is hard to watch.
You could say this is very political, but for me it's more about compassion. Human rights for <i>every</i> human.
And if you argue this is political, well, the FBI is involved so what did you expect?

The characters are three dimensional. The pacing is great. I could have done without the sex scenes, so fellow aces, be aware that quite suddenly, there is a lot. But I promise it's executed in a great way, not "spy spies attractive specimen of the opposite binary gender and <i>wants</i>" like in James Bond.

I love how randomly a FBI person is queer and has a woman at home, waiting for her. This is how you insert queerness in your books. Don't kill them off randomly, don't make them cartoonish.

So far, the experiment "do I like spy novels if it's not about the same white male stories over and over again?" is successfull. Full recommendation, will read more by this author if there should be more one day.

The arc was provided by the publisher.

I am not sure how I feel about this book. I do understand it is a book but to think the FBI would sent someone undercover with. No real experience is something we need to believe, because this is what this book is based on. Yes, Yolanda nay be the perfect race, age., etc. But this took away from the book for me. Overall of read. I have mentioned this book to a few friends as I think they will enjoy it. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the arc of this book in return for my honest review. Receiving this book in this manner had no bearing on this review.

I enjoyed this book. I have never read this type of plot but it was interesting and enjoyable. It involved a romance aspect between the main character and another character which at first I did not see the point. As the story progressed it became cute to see their interactions alongside the main plot of the story. Now, to be honest, once I reached about halfway I was wondering if the story was going to get better or if this was all the story was going to be about but as I kept reading, I started scooting to the edge of my seat with anticipation and excitement. I hate most of the action happened at the end of the book and the story wrapped up so suddenly though. Even though this was the case, the ending did bring to a close all of the things that were left open. I would give this book a solid 4 stars.

A zippy thriller about a white-collar lawyer tossed into an undercover mission spying on an African-American youth activist organisation - it took me a second to warm up to this, but I wound up really enjoying it. For my money it started a little slowly and the writing style felt awkward towards the beginning, but after a few chapters I was immersed and the end came along at a good clip. I do love spying shenanigans, which probably helped with this impression.

Above all things, I thought that the character work in particular was really well-done: Yolanda Vance starts out as a fairly stiff, judgemental figure who had - almost literally - swallowed an unhelpful self-help book. There are a good number of flashes back to her past which I enjoyed, as they helped to illustrate how she turned into the character we meet at the start of the book and they often tied in very effectively to the current scene. It was great to watch her develop into someone who appreciated the activism of the RBG organisation, and I thought the gradual change was really well represented. I also appreciated that this character shift was in tandem with - but not dependent on! - a romantic subplot, which I thought was also executed well.

Overall, this was a pretty quick read for me, it fulfilled its promise of spying shenanigans admirably, and I really liked the character work evident in Yolanda Vance. Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I featured A Spy in the Struggle as Book of the Day on all my social media platforms, included it in a weekly roundup and will include it in a monthly roundup of new releases.

I really enjoyed this story. there were twists and turns that I was not expecting. Not to mention, you don't see a lot of black women in the role that the main character portrayed in this story. The story to me was a perfect mix of romance, a thriller and mystery. It was an exciting and interesting read. I read it in several hours. I couldn't put it down. It was especially great to see growth, especially in Yolanda's Character. I didn't like her in the beginning, but I eventually grew to like her character. The author did such a great job with this story.

4.5 stars

This is a contemporary thriller by Aya de Leon.

I am wondering if this book will be the first one in a series. It has series potential, that is for sure! Yolanda has been struggling to find her place in the world. She got her law degree but her firm gets raided by the FBI and her career goes into the toilet. She ends up finding a job at the FBI using her law degree but the pay isn’t as good as it could have been. Then she gets transferred to another location in order to place her inside what they deem an African American extremist group. Of course, it isn’t that at all. She finds a great guy while jogging whom she doesn’t realize until later is part of this group.

This is a beautiful story of looking for identity and finding connection in the most unlikely of places. I loved how the teens were so respectful and the adults were looking for ways to make things better for them.

I enjoyed seeing this through Yolanda’s eyes. She was in a difficult position. It was almost as if her life had prepared her for this exact situation. I think a lot of people are like Yolanda. Life is hard but they find their way in the end.

If you like a good contemporary thriller, definitely check this one out. You won’t be disappointed.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.

This was my first book by Aya de Leon and I must say it was well worth the read. I was initially attracted to the story for two reasons, one the cover is gorgeous, and secondly, I was totally on board for the whole Black woman undercover storyline. I must say that I had no regrets after reading this one. I really loved Yolonda, the main character and I appreciated the glimpses of her past that were peppered throughout the narrative I think that was a great touch to assist in understanding her more as a person. Yolonda, who is very much an overachiever graduated from Harvard Law and lands a job and a corporate firm. After refusing to shed some compromising paperwork the firm gets indicted. Threw a strange turn of events she gets recruited by the FBI and goes undercover to spy on an African American “extremist” group. As she begins her work and job she struggles between her past, her new friends, and her identity as a lawyer. The combination and character development all kept me reading.

Such a fun book! This opens your eyes up to the world of law enforcement and is super funny at times while doing it. Our main character is so easily likeable and the story was super engaging the whole way through!!

Yolanda Vance was initially a first-year associate at a law firm, but when the firm comes under investigation by the FBI, she becomes a whistleblower. She soon interviews and accepts a position at the FBI and immediately gets sent on her first mission: infiltrate the Red, Green, and Black (RBG) organization stationed in her college hometown.

Aya de León crafted a well-developed plot. I enjoyed reading of Yolanda's background and understanding how she made the choices she made. She went through a lot of growth over the course of the book — Yolanda used to be someone who made split-second judgements of people and became someone more empathetic. I also enjoyed reading of the RBG organization and the world-building that went into the novel. However, the beginning was slow and mostly focused on laying the groundwork, but quickly picked up about 25% into the book. The romance felt awkward and I felt it detracted from the overall plot in some areas. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a spy/thriller book!

content warnings: mentions of gun use/shootings, drug overdose

A Spy In The Struggle is my introduction to author Aya de León. I was sold on the cover which is pretty bad-ass and the title which fit the description of the synopsis of the book. However, in many ways, the book fell slightly short of what I imagined it to be.

What I did enjoy was Yolanda Vance the corporate attorney turned FBI spy. I enjoyed her backstory and refusal to go down for a firm who would have her jailed for their poor choices and illegal moves. I absolutely loved the concept of big corporation being challenged by grassroots community organizations who courageously call them out for their illegal practices and often life-threatening results to follow. And in this case, a youth driven group, determined to make significant and necessary change.

Perhaps I was hoping for a page-turning, suspense driven thriller of a story. But instead what I did get was a choppy novel that faired well in the mystery realm but fell flat where romance was concerned. I felt that the emphasis on the budding relationship between Jimmy and Yolanda would have been better served in the background. I wanted more of the of the RBG and Yolanda’s work there and at FBI’s headquarters and less of the romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was really well done and I really enjoyed it. I would read books from this author again. This was a vey interesting story and things are not always what they seem. I highly recommend this book.

Aya de León can write. This is well-crafted, nicely paced. In this particular part of the Bay Area! I enjoyed that Yolanda Vance is a full, real, complicated character with an interesting history and outlook.

Thanks to NetGalley for this chance to meet a new author. I'll read more of hers.

Things are not always as they seem and sometimes you end up finding that out the hard way. Aya de Leon’s heroine is one for the ages and her story resonates. Perfect for fans of Alyssa Cole. This novel is a must read.
4.5 stars

Overall this book was really well done and kept my interest. There were a few points I felt the story lagged a little but the exciting bits were more than enough to keep me going. I really loved that it was a spy novel but also a contemporary look at racial tensions and racism that occurs every day. I loved the main character who kept getting dealt a poor hand and I loved that we also got glimpses into her past. Yolanda Vance is an overachiever and after graduating Harvard Law she gets picked up by a corporate law office that promptly gets shut down for fraud. With no other options she goes to work for the FBI and being that she is young, African American, and went to college nearby to the mission she gets sent on an undercover mission into a radical black extremist group in California. Yolanda planned on being a white collar attorney with the FBI not a spy and her mission turns out to be more complicated than she could have ever imagined.

Thank you to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the Reader's Copy!

Now available!

Tense, tightly wounded and intense are all words that perfectly fit Yolanda Vance, the protagonist of Aya de Leon's latest thriller A Spy in the Struggle. After recent scandals at her law firm, Vance finds herself on the verge of homelessness, a condition she sought to escape throughout much of her childhood. Driven by desperation, she joins the FBI on a mission to investigate the untimely death of a young Black woman and a community based organizing union, the Red Black and Green. Along the way, Vance confronts her own demons and paradoxes.

What I liked about this novel is Leon's never ending plot twists. Each time I thought I knew what Vance was going to do, she surprised me. The ever evolving character development and Aya de Leon's complex exploration of class, race and gender in the modern "movements" makes this a great read!

Aya de Leon did not disappoint with "A Spy in the Struggle". The book is engaging and thrilling however it did have a few points in which the book did feel a little flat. Overall, however, the book delivered a thoroughly interesting read.

This book follows interesting storylines that I'm very glad to see them being explored, identity and our relationships with our surroundings, and how you can find your place. However, the romance plot overshadowed a little the positive aspects, the chemistry didn't feel organic, although I can only say so much about this topic due to the romance genre not being one of my most read nor most enjoyed genres. At last, the cover art is beautiful, cohesive colour palette and illustrations were the first things that grabbed my attention, and what kept me reading.