Emancipated

by M. G. Reyes

Overview

Fans of Pretty Little Liars and L.A. Candy will devour this fast-paced series from a writer New York Times bestselling author Michael Grant raves is "an amazing new talent!"

Six gorgeous teens, all legally emancipated from parental control, move into their dream house on LA's infamous Venice Beach only to discover their perfect setup may be too good to be true. The roommates—a diva, a jock, a former child star, a hustler, a musician, and a hacker—all harbor dark secrets but manage to form a kind of dysfunctional family . . . until one of them is caught in a lie and everyone's freedom is put on the line. How far are they each willing to go to hide the past? And who will they betray to protect their future?

Told from alternating points of view, Emancipated is the first book in a blistering guessing game of a series packed with intrigue, romance, and scandal.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062288967
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/24/2016
Series:	Emancipated , #1
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	416
Product dimensions:	7.80(w) x 5.20(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

M. G. Reyes (Guadalupe, aka "Pita") was born in Mexico City and grew up in Manchester, England. She studied at Oxford University and spent several years as a scientist before setting up her own internet company. She lives in Oxford, England, with her husband and grown son. She loves visiting LA! 

Editorial Reviews

Enjoyably gossipy.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Older teens who love drama will be hooked and asking for the next book immediately.” — School Library Journal

“I’m a huge fan of M. G. Reyes. She’s an amazing talent!” — Michael Grant, New York Times bestselling author of the Gone series

From the Publisher

I’m a huge fan of M. G. Reyes. She’s an amazing talent!

Michael Grant

03/09/2015
With an omniscient narrative voice that moves among multiple characters, Reyes’s story of six high school students who end up living in a Venice Beach, Calif., house sans adults can read more like a script jumping between scenes than a novel. The teens, all emancipated minors, come to the house with high hopes of freedom, love, and a good time, but they also bring haunted pasts and damaging secrets. The idea of emancipation will probably appeal to a number of readers who wouldn’t mind shedding parental restrictions and input in their own lives, and Reyes (author of the Joshua Files series as M.G. Harris) certainly makes the idea of living on a California beach seem great—until it isn’t. But her characters often seem older than they are, some of their stories are unlikely (a tennis star is emancipated because his family doesn’t want to move him to Mexico with them), and the connections between them can be forced. The ending sets readers up for a sequel, though the languid pace means that getting there takes dedication. Ages 14–up. Agent: Robert Kirby, United Agents. (May)

Publishers Weekly

03/01/2015
Gr 10 Up—The situation is any adolescent's fantasy: six beautiful teenagers living together in a house on Venice Beach without parents. For different reasons, each of the young people—two boys and four girls—have been emancipated from their parents. Though they promise to finish school and pay their rent, trouble finds them. As Lucy's music career takes off, Candace finds success as an actress, and Paulo works on his tennis game (he's a very in-demand tennis pro for reasons not just related to his athletic prowess), each of the characters' pasts catches up to them. In the tradition of other popular teen dramas—like Lauren Conrad's "L.A. Candy" and Sara Shepard's "Pretty Little Liars" (both HarperCollins) —the six housemates are all hiding something: a past mistake, their true identity, or their real intentions, and things get messy when their worlds converge. Set up as the first in a series and told with alternating points of view, Emancipated is careful to sketch the characters' complicated worlds for maximum dramatic impact. The book ends just as the teens' truths are starting to reveal themselves. VERDICT Older teens who love drama will be hooked and asking for the next book immediately.—Jennifer Miskec, Longwood University, Farmville, VA

School Library Journal

2015-01-20
A group of emancipated minors, many hiding secrets, share a house in LA's Venice Beach.Candace and her stepsister, Grace, go to LA in hopes of furthering Candace's acting career. John-Michael, who spent a year living on the streets, leaves home for good after his homophobic father dies, apparently by suicide. Paolo, an all-American tennis pro, is emancipated so he can stay in California when his father's job moves to Mexico. Talented punk rocker Lucy Long keeps her past a secret, and the group's youngest, Maya, claims to be busy developing an app but may have a hidden agenda. Meanwhile, a mysterious woman named Ariana makes phone calls to a former child star who may have witnessed a murder. With so many point-of-view characters and not quite enough of anyone's checkered past revealed to pique readers' interest early on, the pace is initially slow. Action picks up, however, as the group throws boozy parties, romantic entanglements develop, and John-Michael is investigated by the police. When readers learn the story's secrets, it is often less from skillful plotting than because a character happens to mention a previously undisclosed detail. A few larger reveals tumble out by the end, but the conclusion is far more cliffhanger than resolution. Enjoyably gossipy at times, but it takes some patience. (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Review