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jgurniak's review
5.0
Norah McClintock has crafted a great mystery series. I think Robyn is a great protagonist and I also enjoyed Nick.
valeriew's review
4.0
This book was actually pretty good. I "barrowed" it from my 5t grader. After reading the back I was more concerened that the content was too advanced for her. It wasn't. Turned out to be a pretty cute book.
zigalayho's review
4.0
I actually received this book through NetGalley to review ahead of time. The premise behind the story sounded interesting at the time so I thought I would give it a go.
Robyn is the protagonist in this story. She's a nice young lady who was in the wrong place at the wrong time during during a bad prank at a peaceful protest. Her mom and dad are divorced; her mom is the high-powered strict lawyer and her dad is the happy go lucky retired policeman. In exchange for her penance she has to volunteer her summer away at an animal shelter. This wouldn't be a big deal except Robyn is absolutely terrified of dogs. Not to mention she realizes that she and one of the troubled teens working at the shelter have a past.
I really enjoyed the story of Robyn's summer. The characters were well written and not shallow; you could relate to them. I loved the doggie characters as well. I would very much like to read more of Norah McLintock's books about Robyn and her adventures. Sometimes you just have to have a break from vampires and werewolves. I thoroughly enjoyed this YA read!
Robyn is the protagonist in this story. She's a nice young lady who was in the wrong place at the wrong time during during a bad prank at a peaceful protest. Her mom and dad are divorced; her mom is the high-powered strict lawyer and her dad is the happy go lucky retired policeman. In exchange for her penance she has to volunteer her summer away at an animal shelter. This wouldn't be a big deal except Robyn is absolutely terrified of dogs. Not to mention she realizes that she and one of the troubled teens working at the shelter have a past.
I really enjoyed the story of Robyn's summer. The characters were well written and not shallow; you could relate to them. I loved the doggie characters as well. I would very much like to read more of Norah McLintock's books about Robyn and her adventures. Sometimes you just have to have a break from vampires and werewolves. I thoroughly enjoyed this YA read!
kristinaweber's review
2.0
A little too predictable, but McClintock is a frequent contributor to the high interest/low level genre, so that is to be expected. The characters started to annoy me after a while as they were somewhat one-dimensional. All this aside, I feel that middle school mystery lovers would definitely like it.
pagesofmilkandhoney's review
4.0
Man, I still have a crush on Nick, despite everything he's done, the decisions he's made, and the stuff he's put Robyn through. He was my original bad boy crush. Nick aside, I love how real these books are. They are gritty and not nice sometimes, but they don't feel like a fictional story. I fully believe these kinds of plots can happen in real life. Also what I like is that they are generic Canadian - I have no idea where they are located, but I know they are not located in America because no American author would mention Alberta as a place that Nick would run off to (that is not in this book, but this has turned into a review of the series in general). That alone makes me love them even more. Nothing turns out the way you want it to in these books, and they're great examples at exhibiting the "your fave is problematic" trope. And the growth the characters go through is actually pretty amazing and believable.
bethmitcham's review
As usual with McClintock, I like how Robyn solves mysteries but find the drama with her friends a bit dull. And I was amazed at how well she got along with her parents, who were both rather awful to her, not consistently but at key moments. When your mom shows up when you are in trouble and instantly takes the side of everyone else there is trouble.
I hope Robyn learned her lessons from her problems in the first chapter:
1) People in uniform are allowed to hurt you. Don't whine about it.
2) The truth is useless. You are guilty of whatever people in uniform think you have done.
3) If you get in trouble, at all costs avoid involving your parents. They will try to make things worse.
But the bad boy Nick did help her make friends with a scary dog, despite her dog fears.
I hope Robyn learned her lessons from her problems in the first chapter:
1) People in uniform are allowed to hurt you. Don't whine about it.
2) The truth is useless. You are guilty of whatever people in uniform think you have done.
3) If you get in trouble, at all costs avoid involving your parents. They will try to make things worse.
But the bad boy Nick did help her make friends with a scary dog, despite her dog fears.
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