Book Review: Safe House by Meg Cabot

In the spirit of the Meg-A-Readers Blog Hop, I'm going to be reviewing one book by Meg Cabot every sunday for the duration of the event!  This week is a bit late because I didn't have the chance to do it yesterday! But here we are!

At First Sight: After a summer spent as a counselor at a music camp -and with a couple of missing kids thrown in the mix - Jess Mastriani is ready to start her Junior year of high school. And she's even trying to make an effort to stay out of trouble.

But on her first day back at school, Jess finds out that Amber, the perky cheerleader who sat in front of her in homeroom since the sixth grade, is dead. Oh, and that Amber's friends are blaming Jess for it since she wasn't around to use her psychic powers to find missing people - even if said powers are allegedly gone, in case the FBI comes asking. 

But then, Mark - Amber's boyfriend and all around king of Jess' school - starts noticing her. And sure, Jess' heart belongs to Rob Wilkins, but she still feels flattered so when he sort of asks her out, she accepts - mostly because Rob hasn't called since she has been back in town. 

Things seem to be looking up for Jess - even Rob eventually does show up - until another cheerleader goes missing, and it's up to Jess to find her before she has the same end as Amber. 

Second Glance: I decided to skip the review Code Name Cassandra because, after I re-read it, I realized that nothing much happens in the book - definitely, not enough Rob in it - so I jumped onto Safe House (Which you can find in Vanished, Volume 2, along with Sanctuary).  

I have to say that Safe House is one of my favorite books in the 1-800-Where-R-You series, I like that the plot is pretty straight forward and that Rob is around more - and he even has some cute moments with Jess. I still love how decent a guy he is. Jess is pretty fun, as usual and I love how she tries to do the right thing, specially when the problems caused by her "gift" start to hit a bit too-close-to home. 

Also, love Jess's brother Douglas, I have a soft spot for him and it's easy to see why he's Jess's favorite. 

Anyway, I generally love this book, I like the fast plot and the characters. Except for Ruth, Jess' best friend. I find Ruth to be a very unlikable and snobby person at times - calling Rob a Jerk for no good reason at all, her only problem with Rob is that he's a Grit (a kid who lives in a rural area) and not a Townie (kid who lives in the town proper), and that his mom doesn't have as much money as Ruth's own family does. 

We are told Jess likes Ruth because she's smart and interesting, but I would rather have a person who is kind as a friend. She's my second most disliked character out of all of Meg Cabot's books, beat only by Lily from The Princess Diaries. 

Bottom Line: I highly recommend Safe House, it's a very enjoyable, fun read. Characters are good and the plot is fast and interesting. Plus, it has Rob Wilkins.

1/2 

Next week, I go into Mediator Territory by Re-reading Darkest Hour!