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Tess Kendrick has spent her entire life on her grandfather’s ranch, and she has no intentions of ever leaving. But when her grandfather’s declining health is discovered, her estranged sister, Ivy, uproots her to Washington, D.C. Suddenly Tess finds herself thrown into an entirely foreign world that revolves around politics and power. She’s even enrolled at the prestigious Hardwicke Academy — the D.C. school for the children of the rich and powerful.
If there’s one thing Tess hates it’s bullies, but when she chooses to stand up for a fellow student one day, she unwittingly becomes known as a fixer. She can fix other students’ problems the way her sister fixes their parents’ problems. The last thing Tess wants is to be compared to her sister in any way. But when a conspiracy surfaces that involves the family member of one of Tess’s classmates, she’s compelled to do something to help. This isn’t a small school fix, though. As dangerous secrets come into the light, Tess must choose how far she’s willing to go to help her friend, and how much she’s willing to risk to uncover the truth.
I’m coming to love Jennifer Lynn Barnes’s writing (check out The Naturals or The Lovely and the Lost, for instance). Her style is snappy, I can’t begin to untangle her complex mysteries on my own, and the stories feature strong themes of family and friendship. While The Fixer is one of her lesser-known works, it is no exception. From the moment I started reading, I was hooked.
A lot of characters are introduced in this young adult thriller, and it was easy to fall in love with them all, especially Tess and her sister, Ivy. Even as Tess struggles to find her footing in a new world surrounded by political games and lies, she struggles to forgive her absentee sister, who is suddenly attempting to fill the parental role in her life. The heightened emotions Tess has to sort through make this a poignant coming-of-age story crossed with a twisty mystery and a dark thriller.
Overall, The Fixer is the addictive kind of thriller book that is impossible to put down, but also one you don’t want to end. It’s perfect for fans of Ally Carter or for readers who love political twists, friend gangs, and dialogue steeped with sarcasm.
Rated: Moderate, for three uses of mild language and two uses of the name of Deity. In one scene, an underage character appears drunk. Sexual content is revealed through several derogatory comments and insinuations. In one scene, a girl threatens the boys who took and shared the nude picture of a female student with all the ways she knows to castrate a bull. Violence and terror also play a strong role in the story (the reason for the moderate rating). One female character suffers from physical abuse at the hand of her father. Several offscreen murders happen — one that’s partially witnessed in a live news report. A character is held for ransom.
