Every single character in this book is bursting with personality, the only negative thing I can find to say about it is that I wish for it to be a series! Please, please write more Augusta Pine adventures, Emily Lloyd-Jones Structure: I loved the way the action is interspersed with case files, this leaves us in suspense and maintains the pace while deepening our experience of the world and the characters. Plot: I found the near future setting creative and compelling, and I found the story by turns witty, mysterious, dark, and poignant. There are repeated episodes of action alongside an ongoing core plot running all the way through it. *Applause!* Characters: Edgar is my favourite, of course, but Augusta in the lead role is brilliant and as I have said I WANT MORE! We come to care about Augusta early on through her personal story and then root for her as she confronts obstacles and enemies. Representation: I felt this was a sensitive depiction of someone who has been through a traumatic event, and I’m glad this was included as an aspect of the story. 5 stars!

I enjoyed this one even more than I thought I was going to! Won over immediately by the synopsis, I knew this would be an exciting and fast-paced read, but I wasn't anticipating how emotive and humorous it would also be. I loved the characters and the futuristic (but largely-familiar) world. Comparisons for this book included Five Survive, The Naturals (some of my absolute fave YA thrillers) and Cyberpunk 2077, but I think it would be remiss to not include Die Hard in there too. The idea of one undercover operative taking down a ring of terrorists, who have hijacked an apartment complex, so that she can rescue the civilian residents all on her day off was absolutely Die Hard material and was so much fun to read! Augusta's backstory was spliced in, non-chronologically, like flashbacks throughout the 'present day' action, though done through the medium of a disordered case report, which I loved, as it allowed the writer not to break the immersion of the story with chunks of exposition or to fall into overdone flashback/memory sequences. Each new snippet of Augusta's story was as action-packed as the main event, bringing more rounding to her character and detailing the missions on which she had gathered the skills to be able to undertake the impossible task she was now faced with. All of this worked to make us more invested in not only Augusta, but in supporting characters too, namely Augusta's handler, Prefect, and her AI bumblebee spybot, Edgar. (Yes, you did read that correctly.) All together, this was exciting, entertaining and emotive, packing everything a good thriller needs. I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a good time and a character they can really get behind. Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for having me as an ARC reader; I had a great time!

Augusta Pine Does Not Exist is a YA thriller set barely twenty years into the future, which follows a teenage undercover agent as she tries to stop a hotel hijacking by a group of dangerous hacktivists. Told through present-day prose and interspersed with case reports and interviews from Augusta’s previous assignments, this is packed with so much plot that the pages practically turn themselves. Confident, snarky and ridiculously smart, Augusta Pine is my new favourite heroine. She’s the perfect blend of believable teenager and covert secret agent, and her inner monologue and dialogue (especially with her equally-dry-humoured handler, Prefect) had me laughing out loud on multiple occasions. The author doesn’t spend a huge amount of time developing any of the other characters but, even so, I did find Augusta’s ragtag crew incredibly easy to root for. This book is such a wholesome blend of pure, action-packed fun, and compelling emotional development and I truly can’t recommend it enough. This is my first Emily Lloyd-Jones book but certainly won’t be my last, and I imagine I’ll be recommending it to anyone who will listen for a long time to come.

This is a YA dystopian spy thriller set in a near future high tech world. After a car crash a teenager accepts recruitment into a secretive government organization as an alternative to a prison sentence. In doing so, she has to leave her family and begin a new life and identity. On a rare weekend off duty Augusta becomes involved in a terrorist heist and uses all her skills to protect the residents of the building. After a punchy opening chapter which hooks the reader in, the story is told through an action and tension packed present interspersed with short case files which explain Augusta’s backstory. The world that is built seems scarily plausible with themes such as climate change, social inequality, the dominance of AI and even identity tattoos all featuring in our near future. The best part of this cracking good read is the character relationships. Augusta Pine (not her real name!) is smart, funny, irreverent and determined to put herself in harm’s way to protect others. Her found family including Edgar the bumblebee bot are all given depth and detail and provide some funny and human moments. A highly recommended read for a YA audience. I’d like to think there would be more but I it does read like a stand alone novel.

This is a YA dystopian spy thriller set in a near future high tech world. After a car crash a teenager accepts recruitment into a secretive government organization as an alternative to a prison sentence. In doing so, she has to leave her family and begin a new life and identity. On a rare weekend off duty Augusta becomes involved in a terrorist heist and uses all her skills to protect the residents of the building. After a punchy opening chapter which hooks the reader in, the story is told through an action and tension packed present interspersed with short case files which explain Augusta’s backstory. The world that is built seems scarily plausible with themes such as climate change, social inequality, the dominance of AI and even identity tattoos all featuring in our near future. The best part of this cracking good read is the character relationships. Augusta Pine (not her real name!) is smart, funny, irreverent and determined to put herself in harm’s way to protect others. Her found family including Edgar the bumblebee bot are all given depth and detail and provide some funny and human moments. A highly recommended read for a YA audience. I’d like to think there would be more but I it does read like a stand alone novel.