The Conspiracy of Us (The Conspiracy of Us #1) by Maggie Hall - Review

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Avery West has just discovered that she actually has a family, aside from her mother that is, and that they are some of the most powerful people on the planet. They are part of a secret society called The Circle and they have essentially been pulling all of the strings behind the scenes on the world's stage for a very long time - let's just say that World War II was a disagreement between the twelve families who make up the secret society. They believe Avery could be at the center of an ancient prophecy that could change everything. Some want to use her and others would rather see her dead. Now, she has to stay a few steps ahead of them and work out the mystery surrounding the prophecy which will reveal a massive conspiracy that just might end in another world war. She will need to make plenty of decisions about her personal safety, family, and freedom if she wants the ones she loves to survive - not to mention choose between the boy she's falling for and the boy who could help her save the world.

The Conspiracy of Us by Maggie Hall is a fun, fast-paced, jet setting read with international conspiracies, thrilling chases, and Destiny. It has a lot of things going for it and it's even compared to an old favorite, The Da Vinci Code, which is actually somewhat accurate. I even enjoyed the alternate look at history through the lens of the secret society. Admittedly, though, that did get a bit bogged down by some infodumps, and the convoluted nature of their goals and the massive scale of everything.

What really disturbed me about this story is our main character, Avery. She makes some of the dumbest, most irrational decisions I've seen in quite awhile. It isn't just one doozy, she consistently makes astoundingly foolish decisions from the beginning. I have a feeling that this story would have turned out entirely different if her stalker (aka Jack) hadn't been hot and British, or if the Russian Viking (aka Stellan) didn't look like he had just stepped off of a modeling runway - or if Avery had actually listened to her mother in the first place. Anyway, Avery isn't the brightest, so it's a good thing there are hot boys fighting over her to take her mind off of the really tough stuff.

I'd say this pretty accurately describes Avery's decision making skills for the majority of the story:

Overall, The Conspiracy of Us by Maggie Hall is a fun romp around the world, full of conspiracies spanning hundreds if not thousands of years, albeit with a real ding dong of a leading lady at the helm.

The real take-away of this story:

I listened to this audiobook from May 18 - 21, 2016 and my review is also on Goodreads.