Chasing Truth (Eleanor Ames, #1)

by Julie Cross

Three months after the scandal that rocked the nation - the suicide of Simon, the teenage son of a California senator - seventeen-year-old Eleanor Ames is left wondering if abandoning her con-artist family for the private school life was worth it. Not only was Simon her date to homecoming, he was also one of the few people at school who didn't seem like a phony. And she can spot a phony a mile away. Just when things are beginning to return to normal, Miles Beckett moves into her apartment building, rides her bus to school, and won't stop asking questions about Simon's death. The thing is...Ellie has questions too. Not only about Simon, but about the new kid who seems to be here for the sole purpose of dredging up a ghost. Can Ellie uncover what happened to Simon without falling in too deep with Miles?

• ISBN10: 1633755088
• ISBN13: 9781633755086
• Publish Date: 27 September 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Entangled Publishing
• Format: eBook
• Language: English

Reviews

[pagingserenity]

Oof that was a good read! It has a little bit of everything I love to read - from cons to playing detective, friendships and of course, romance. My only problem is that it is a tad predictable but the pacing is so fast I barely had time to think about it. It's so good I'm highly considering reading the sequel right now even though A) it's almost midnight and if I start it, I'll probably be up until 5AM and B) this book has an open ending, but it's not a cliffhanger.

[Sam@WLABB]

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Eleanor had recently abandoned her past as a con artist to reunite with her sister. Just when she seemed to be settling into her new life, her only friend allegedly committed suicide. I say allegedly, because Ellie doesn't believe Simon would kill himself, and she was determined to get to the bottom of his death.

At first glance, I thought I was getting a simple prep school murder mystery, but there was a lot more going on in this book, and I loved every delicious moment of it.

From the very beginning of this book, I got a Veronica Mars vibe, and incase you're wondering, that's a very good thing. Eleanor had this fabulous voice. I loved her snark and wit, and couldn't get enough of the banter between her and the other characters. But I also really liked getting inside Ellie's head. She was quite a complicated character. She struggled with many things, and one thing she had trouble with was leaving her past in the past. As she was searching for answers to Simon's death, she would often leverage some of those skills she acquired as a con artist, and that would lead to these flashbacks, which gave us some insight into Ellie's past life. It was quite a fascinating world she left, and I really enjoyed those peeks into her past.

I also enjoyed the side characters. Harper, Ellie's sister, and Aiden, her sister's boyfriend, were both quite wonderful. They undoubtedly loved Ellie, and I enjoyed all the time they shared together on page. But the character, who won my heart was Miles. You know the author did the romance well, when you fall for the hero, and I fell pretty hard for Miles. He was quite mysterious, and I really liked how Ellie chipped away at him, layer by layer, piece by piece.

Speaking of Miles, I was all about the romance in this book. There was a lot of push and pull, hate to love sort of stuff going on, but once it got going, it was all sorts of swoony. Cross did a great job blending the romance into this story without it distracting me from the mystery, and as far as I'm concerned, every story could use a little romance.

As for the story, I loved the way each reveal gave way to something bigger, and enjoyed sitting back as Miles and Ellie worked to untangle all the lies as they searched for the truth. And who doesn't enjoy spending time with the young and rich prep school crowd? Prep school on of my favorite settings, and I really appreciated all the peeks into this world that Cross gave us. We went to parties, a dance, and even to class, which was a lot of fun. And the ending! I was pleased.

Overall: A fabulous mystery filled with action, suspense, intrigue, and swoons.

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[Leah]

Chasing Truth is one of those books that has you hooked, beginning to end. I’m not even kidding, it took me over a week to read (because, life) but every time I picked it back up, I knew what had come before, and I was so, so invested in Ellie’s life. What I liked is the book just chucks you into the deep end – there’s no pre-amble, no flashbacks to the night Simon died, we just know he died and that it bothers Ellie, a lot. And that there were shady things in her past, that are hinted at but never fully seen, and it definitely seems like the family drama will continue as the series progresses because, yes, this is the first in a series, and if the other book continue in such a fast-paced, amazing way, then everyone is in for a helluva ride!

I just loved everything about Chasing Truth. I loved the characters – Ellie is so kick-ass, and carries the story so well. SO WELL. Then there’s mysterious Miles, who had me swooning from the off, and much like Ellie I was never sure if we were supposed to trust him, but I liked him anyway, whether he was involved in Simon’s death or not, because he was such a charmer, such a smooth talker, and he just made me sigh in happiness. As did Aidan, which was weird. But he seemed like such a protector, and he worked for the secret service which means he must wear lots of suits. He seemed so masculine and protective and the way he cared for Ellie and Harper was so sweet. And I’d love to know more about Harper, she very much was a bit of a wallflower, only around to be the parental figure for Ellie, but she seems like she has her own stories, so we shall see!

This book literally has it all. Swoon-worthy scenes, action that has your heart pumping madly, an absolutely jaw-dropping final act, and it was just everything that I wanted in a book, and more. It kept me hooked from beginning to end, and I can’t wait for book two! I need more Ellie and Miles in my life, because man, do those two have a connection and I’m looking forward to them solving many, many more crimes/suspicious deaths/anything really that means they need to be in the same room together, investigating. This is genuinely one of my favourite young adult thrillers, it had my heart racing from start to finish and I never knew where the plot was going to go next (actually that’s a small lie as I was very, very worried something would happen with Aidan, in that maybe he was too good to be true? Man, did that have me nervous/sweating). Chasing Truth is a must-read, I absolutely devoured it.