I first read this series years ago well at least the 1st 4 books, and recently decided to pick it up again from the start as I was a little vague on the story. I have to say for a short book it's awesome, Francine gives you enough about the characters and what is going on and gets to the point without so much additional useless filler information. I love it. Looking forward to finishing the rest of the story. ( )

I liked the premise of this more than the actual execution. This is more like a long introduction than a self-contained book. I would say you can't really read this first book without reading at least the next two for it to make an impact. A lot of mysteries of Gaia and her past get introduced but none are really explored and definitely not answered. I get that it's a series and it will gradually confront who Gaia is and her circumstances but it would've been nice to know something about her. Maybe why she was moved to New York? Where she was before? How many other places she's lived? Something about who she's living with now beyond their names? You know, something to give it a little bit of depth or feeling. But, if nothing else, there's plenty of action and high school drama.

The romance sucked. Even for a teen book it sucked. I can't say I really got the attraction between Gaia and Sam. I especially didn't get why she thought he was the one to attack Zolov? I mean sure, he was standing over him, but why not give him the benefit of the doubt when there's a whole gang that's been terrorising the park? And was it really necessary to have them kiss? When he was passed out and unaware of what she was doing? Creepy af.

Gaia was about the only fleshed out character and she fell flat. The best friend Ed makes a few appearances but we never really get to know anything about him either. The mean girls, Heather and whoever, make sure to create drama and bitchiness, but we know nothing about them beyond that. The chess characters who are given a name and a scene or two. And the love interest Sam - who is Heather's boyfriend and was apparently a geek in a past life. I just wasn't feeling it. They were all cardboard cutouts and it made it hard to care. And it could just be that I'm getting to old for this shit. I'm sure I would've loved it back in the day. They are easy beach/holiday reads - I just would prefer to pick up a cosy mystery.

Although I will say I did enjoy the beginning;

Losers with no imagination say that if you start a new school, there has to be a first day. How come they haven’t figured out how to beat that? Just think existentially. All you do is take what’s supposed to be the first day and bury it someplace in the next month. By the time you get around to it a month later, who cares? When I first heard the word existential, I didn’t know what it meant, so I never used it. But then I found out that no one knows what it means, so now I use it all the time. Since I just moved to New York last week, tomorrow would have been my first day at the new school, but I existentialized it, and now I’ve got a good thirty days before I have to deal with it.

Pascal, Francine. Fearless . Simon Pulse. Kindle Edition.

I liked the creative problem solving. Unfortunately it didn't really go on in the same vein.

I didn't like the weird chapter interludes with a couple of sentences from the upcoming one? Maybe it translates better in paperback but it just seemed repetitive and strange in the Kindle version.

Overall it's a typical teen read. It has some humour, has a lot of action and has some ridiculous romance. 2.5 stars. ( )

very Alias-ish....super strong & super smart girl who knows pretty much all the right moves to kill you in 3 seconds, an ex(?)-spy for a father and many mysteries to reveal...
I liked it! It's a quick read in a very long series and it's like watching an episode of a tv-show, with the same anticipation between a book and the next one.
My fav characters in the series?! Ed all the way!!! ( )

This book was slow in the beginning and started to pick up towards the middle. I can't wait to see what happens to Gaia next. ( )

A short, fast-paced book unlike any I've ever read before. It was so short and gripping I swallowed the entire thing in about the space of an hour. And when I went to buy the next one, I got parts 2, 3 and 4 at once. This series is seemingly endless but you find yourself praying that it will never end because you are so caught up in a flurry of adventure and excitement and passion... but never fear. Gaia is one of the coolest characters ever, you're immediate perception of her is that she is cold and unfeeling but it doesn't take long to discover the truth behind this. The only thing Gaia doesn't feel is fear, but she has a whole torrent of other emotions swirling about inside of her.
I've seldom found myself pulled in so closely to all the characters, with a desperate need to discover more and more about each. But with 30 installments, there's a lot to keep going with. ( )