Sophie Reads YA: Sarah Sky

Blog Tour & ARC Review: Catwalk Criminal (Jessica Cole: Model Spy #3) by Sarah Sky (+UK Giveaway)

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Catwalk Criminal
Series: Jessica Cole: Model Spy #3
Author: Sarah Sky
Published June 4th 2015 by Scholastic Press

Goodreads Summary
Models, spies and lipstick gadgets in this fast-paced teen series. Jessica Cole has been recruited to Westwood, MI6's secret division of supermodel spies. Her first official mission seems simple at first, until it turns into the biggest cyber-attack ever known, threatening the security of the whole country. Then it emerges there is a traitor in the midst at MI6 - and suddenly Jessica herself is being accused. With no one believing her innocence, and the country on the verge of chaos, Jessica has no choice but to take matters of national security into her own hands and catch the culprit - fresh from the catwalk.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the author and publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.

In Catwalk Criminal, Jessica is now a fully fledged member of Westwood, and the face of a new line of designer clothing, by the up-and-coming designer, Ossa Conway. She's struggling to keep her personal and work lives private, especially when it comes to having to cancel plans with her boyfriend, Jamie, or best friend, Becky, in order to complete a really important mission. She's not the only one facing problems - the whole of the country and MI6 are suffering at the hands of a cyber-terrorist group, known as The Collective, and its elusive leader, LibertyCrossing. Jessica finds herself right at the centre of the action, and she may be the only person able to fix everything, and save herself, before it's too late.

Catwalk Criminal was a wonderful addition to this series, and in my opinion, even better than the first two instalments. Jessica is more secure in her position at Westwood in this book, and she is able to develop herself as both an agent, and as a person in general. I felt as though this allowed her to be more involved in the action, which the book was full of, as see wasn't second guessing herself all the time.

I really enjoyed the new characters, especially Zak, and the ways in which Jessica interacted with them. I did miss Kat though, and I hope she'll be back again in later novels. All of the characters, both new and old, were wonderful in their own ways, though some I wanted to slap/give a shake at times. Though the romance played quite a big role in this book, with the introduction of a love triangle that I don't exactly mind, I never felt as it retracted from the plot or from the action. If these issues hadn't have been dealt with, it probably would have been more confusing, as it all intertwined in some areas.

The fact that this book series is UKYA contemporary spy fiction makes it all the more better. Most of the time, YA spy books are set primarily in America, e.g. The Gallagher Girls series, and I loved seeing familiar places and settings in the book, especially when some of the characters came up North to Durham. I've said it before that I need to read more UKYA, and this is one of my go-to series for that. I could never recommend this series enough, and I'm just so glad I picked up book one, Code Red Lipstick, from my library last summer, as I've never looked back since.

Dates Read:
May 16-18, 2015

Rating
5 Stars