Failed hype, this book was not very good and had a lot of cliched plot and character devices as well as being kind of boring.

This book was so addictive. Gwen has been lied to her whole life but she still wants to do the right thing. I loved how she trained to become a super spy. I was fearful for her safety as a young naive girl in Europe. However she handled everything like a pro. I was a little unsure of her relationship with Terrance. I also wanted her to go back and show those mean girls at her school who she was now. However none of those things would have been very realistic. The ending was very realistic but also very sad. Fans of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo will love this book.

DNF @ 2%.

I did NOT get far. Mean girls and bullying are often a dealbreaker for me, and in this case, the mean girl were so exceedingly cruel and unrealistic that I had to put it down. Throughout my teenage years, I never encountered a Heathers type clique, and I have my doubts that they exist - especially in 2018, where individualism and open-mindedness is encouraged with the newer generation.

It was so over-the-top and just in the beginning, and quite frankly, I refused to go further. Usually with my netgalley reviews, if there is a book I am finding myself uninterested in, I try to force myself to read for a fair enough amount so that I can provide a helpful review. In this case, I simply could not tolerate it.

If it helps, I generally read paranormal fantasy and do not like too much romance.

An exciting series starter, that some of my boys will love.

Exciting for sure, but definitely ridiculous. And making fun of YA novels in the midst of a YA novel? Not cool. Also the sexism throughout the book. I can find much better titles to give to teens.

Lots of action. Interesting plot twists and fun to read. I'll add it to my collection!

Although some of the things that happen in this book are far fetched and the heroine seems to catch a lot of lucky brakes the action was non stop. This is the kind of book that is hard to put down and makes you stay up late telling yourself "Just one more chapter....".

Nope, nope, a whole lot of nope. I was curious despite myself but this book is just not worth it.

I had a difficult time putting this book down. It had adventure, romance, and I always love a strong female character. Some reviewers put that they didn't like that the main character was 17, but I don't feel that took away from the story. This book is better suited for at least 10th grade and up because of the drugs and human trafficking part of the story. It bothered me to think of this happening in our world, even though I know it happens everyday.

I was given this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

With the roles reversed from the Taken movies, The Cruelty begins by building the backstory of Gwendoyln Bloom's life with her father before he disappears. Upon her father's disappearance, Gwendoyln transforms from average high school student to mafia/mob spy infiltrator after her father goes missing. Instead of trusting the authorities, Gwendolyn follows a series of clues left behind by her father. Readers looking for a fast-paced, though not necessarily realistic, action-packed adventure around the world will enjoy The Cruelty.

Though the ending is somewhat resolved, it absolutely sets up book two, and readers will anxiously await more of the story.

I finished this book by basically skipping pages and pages of narrative. The main character Gwen was pretty boring, and the events surrounding the main plot of the story were kind of interesting but hastily executed.

(**Spoilers**)

She speaks multiple languages!
Her father gets kidnapped!
Her neighbor is former Mossad!

Suddenly she learns how to fight in 3 weeks and is a bad ass assassin traipsing throughout Europe? Right.

It's fiction, so obviously the story is supposed to incite the imagination, but it's hard to feel any kind of empathy for the main character.

Concept - 4 stars
Execution - 2 stars

All the BS that the author said about the YA Fiction genre, proved how uninformed about the genre he really is.

Maybe next time.

Gwendolyn has enough on her plate dealing with the snobs she goes to school with, the anniversary of her mother's (violent) death, and a Dad who works too hard. Then her dad goes 'missing' while on assignment - and she learns his job includes a lot more than 'diplomacy'. Worse, his employers are hinting that he disappeared quite willingly. Unwilling to believe he'd just walk away and leave her, she is faced with a difficult choice: she can move to Texas and live a normal life with her maternal aunt - she's only seventeen, after all - or she can enter her father's world to try and find him, hopefully while he is still alive. What follows is a crash course in the world of espionage, and a desperate search across the criminal underworld of Europe, hoping to find the traffickers who kidnapped her father. This story has plenty of action to satisfy fans of thrillers, but the characters are what really sold this to me. Even the bad guys aren't nameless thugs. And at the heart of it all is Gwendolyn, and a question she has to face, again and again: how far is she willing to go to save her father, and where will she draw the line? Because it's a cruel world, and there's only one way for her to succeed.

Great book. Great character development. Look forward to more from this author.

Gwendolyn Bloom is a typical teenager, except she is a ‘diplobrat.’ The child of a diplomat, she has been raised in various countries all around the world. She is very intelligent and is fluent in multiple languages. While her father is working in New York, she attends a prestigious private school. She has the usual teen problems with bullies at school and finding a boyfriend, until her father suddenly disappears while on a diplomatic trip to Paris. In the weeks following his disappearance, Gwen learns that her father may not have been what she thought all her life. Could he actually have been a CIA spy?

Gwen learns from her neighbors and close friends about secrets that her father had never wanted her to know. She deals with government types who question her over and over for information she simply doesn’t have. Then, she makes a discovery that changes everything. She and a friend from school translate a document she finds her world turned upside down.

Gwen decides to go overseas to find her father on her own, since the government seems to have given up the search. Suddenly, this 17-year-old American who has never known hardship is thrust into a world that will eat her alive if she doesn’t toughen up. Will she find her father? What will happen to her along the way? Is she strong enough to take on the seedy world that awaits her overseas?

This novel reads like a spy story, but this is not the usual heroine one finds in adult spy novels. Even though she’s a teenager, Gwen has seen a lot of the world and knows some things about other cultures that will help her in her search. When you first begin reading the story and Gwen shows herself to be afraid of the bully at school, you wonder if she will be up to the arduous tasks ahead of her. But, the reader gradually learns that Gwen has untapped reserves of courage and strength, and that it will take all her efforts to find her father alive.

The supporting characters are well developed and have plenty of history and background to make them real to the reader. Each of their stories helps Gwen in her quest. Her neighbors have contacts that can help her, her friend from school is a genius with codes, and the woman who trains her is thorough and careful.

This is a well done novel and the storyline was easy to follow. There are not so many characters that the reader becomes lost trying to sort them out. There are just the right number and each is memorable in their own way and it’s easy for the reader to keep them straight.

The end was not what I had hoped for her. I thought it was appropriate though. You really never can go back. I had been wondering if the stress of all she had been through was going to be too much and that it would keep her from returning to a normal life. But, the ending turned out quite well and the reader is left feeling that she will do fine and go on to bigger and better things in life. Although poignant, the ending does suit the storyline and seemed like the best ending possible.

The editing was done well and I found no typos in the text. There were no parts of the novel where I got bored or thought the story was dragging along too slowly. In fact, the pace of the story was just perfect, not too fast and not too slow, just as Gwen’s work had to be. In that way, the text mirrored what the main character was going through and reinforced the storyline.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes spy novels, or adventure stories, or suspense. This book was one that I read late into the night because I wanted to find out what was going to happen next. It was exciting and well-written and I’d recommend it to anyone.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and the author and publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for my honest review.

The Cruelty is appropriately titled because this book is cruel!

Gwendolyn is a normal New York teen who has traveled extensively as her father gets posted to different places around the world for his job with the state department. When he disappears, she finds out he has lied to her all these years because he is really a CIA agent. And the CIA has quit looking for him, thinking he has disappeared on his own.

Gwendolyn refuses to believe this and takes it upon herself to find out what happened to her dad. As she travels across the globe, she gets mixed up with some seedy people -- some are helpful and others not so much.

As she gets closer and closer to the truth about her dad, she gets herself into more and more danger. And she becomes a ruthless killer who will do anything to save her father. This is the part I had some problems with. I just don't think a "normal" 17-year-old can make such an about-face in a few short weeks. Even with her supposed training. Her entire personality and attitude totally and completely changes.

But....this book is exciting! She encounters more and more danger as she goes. She gets lucky a few times and makes some bad decisions. But mostly she is just relentless in her pursuit of her goal. She's creative, resourceful, and very tough. If you shy away from violence, you should know that Gwendolyn doesn't, and The Cruelty isn't your book. It is very graphic.

And don't expect a complete "happy ever after" ending -- yes, Gwendolyn is in a safe place, but she's not the same person and never will be. Which brings me to a possible sequel -- I'm ready!

Teens who are fans of high-octane action will surely love The Cruelty. And it's been optioned for a movie so it may become even more popular.

The summary of this book is amazing, isn't it? I thought it was going to be this 'grab me by the neck and refuse to let me go until the last page' book, but unfortunately, my reading experience was not like that. I really dug into the first 35% of the book. After that, I thought, "This will pick up any time now." It didn't.
I found it very difficult to really like Gwendolyn. The turn her life takes when her father is taken almost doesn't seem to bother her. She goes on with day to day life until she decides to go get him back. And then it's just... here's what I think it boils down to: the voice of the writing doesn't seem to match the voice of the character very well and it has a tremendous effect on the whole story.
Did the grit bother me? No. Lord knows something YA can use more of is gritty stories. Some of our kids are battling things very similar to the struggles of the grittier characters in the story. AND I appreciate an author being willing to dive headfirst into the topic of human trafficking - which is NOT easy to write about authentically.
All of that being said, was it horrible? NO! It was just difficult for me to finish (took 4 months because I kept putting it down in favor of other material) and even more of a challenge for me to care about what happened. If you are looking for something gritty about human trafficking, please try Ellen Hopkins "Tricks" and "Traffick" books instead. I think you'll be happier.

DNF at 25%

I could not relate to the main character of this book because she was quite annoying. This affected my enjoyment of the book immensely. Unfortunately, this one is just not for me.

Gwendolyn may not have enjoyed her boring life, but when her father disappears she does not believe the U.S. Government that he defected to another country. She believes he was kidnapped and decides to undertake the monumental task of traveling across Europe and infiltrates various groups in Paris, Berlin and even Prague. As Gwendolyn becomes a part of the underground world of gambling, smuggling and human trafficking, she must reevaluate how far she is willing to go to find and hopefully rescue her father. Is there a line she won’t cross? Will she discover the truth about her father?

The Cruelty is the first book in a new series with the same name. Bergstrom’s portrayal of these various illegal operations appears to be believable, at least to someone who has never experienced them. Gwendolyn is a weak and timid girl at the start of the book and by the end readers will find a strong and amazing woman. The Cruelty is a good adventure with a strong female protagonist. There is a definite ending to this volume, but readers are left hanging with a need for the next installment.