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Monday, March 9, 2015

The Conspiracy of Us

by Maggie Hall

Maggie  Hall

The Conspiracy of Us (The Conspiracy of Us #1)


This past Friday, March 6, 2015, Marcy and I posted our answers to Maggie’s debut novel The The Conspiracy of Us. Today, you get to read Maggie’s favorite's. 

Terrific answers, Maggie! We can’t wait for our readers to read the novel. And hopefully to give us a few of their favorites, too. 



1. What is your favorite line or paragraph from the novel as it relates to the main character's development and/or growth?

There’s a point in the story where Avery starts to realize exactly what a mess she’s gotten herself into. Until then, she’s been a little naive, not quite understanding how serious the situation is. But now, she realizes that her life is in danger. She’s in trouble, and she needs to make a real plan, and needs to not freak out about everything she’s just learned: 

If I was going to fall apart, I’d have to do it some other time. 


2) What is your favorite chapter ending or cliffhanger?

Ooh, this is a tough one. I love ending chapters on cliffhangers, so there are a lot of these! 

Unfortunately, most of them are way too spoilery to list here. This one is kind of spoilery, but still pretty early on in the book:

He pulled out something that, for a moment, didn’t register. It was too discordant with the marble floors, the dresses, the Bach chiming from the speakers. He stepped toward me, and the overhead light glinted off the object.

Then I knew, but I still didn’t understand.

It was a knife.


3) Who is your favorite secondary character and why? 

I count Avery, Jack, and Stellan as the three main characters, so other than them? I love Luc. He’s so fully entrenched in the world of the Circle, and yet so sweet and innocent at the same time. And he’s funny! But not always on purpose, which is my favorite. 


4) What is your favorite line or paragraph of description?

I loved writing all the Istanbul scenes—it’s such a rich, intriguing city, and that was so fun to try to capture. But one of my favorite paragraphs of description isn’t exactly about setting:

Istanbul had always been a crossroads city. A crossroads between Europe and Asia. A crossroads of Christianity and Islam, like the Hagia Sophia itself. A crossroads between ancient and conservative, like that museum, and modern and anything but conservative, like this club.

I squeezed the shoulder strap of my bag, wondering what kind of crossroads the city would be for me tonight.


5) What is your favorite line of dialogue?

There’s a scene where Avery is talking to Stellan, pretty early on. He’s been annoying her since they got to France, but all of a sudden he says something that really resonates with her:

“Toska.” He leaned forward, too. “It’s a Russian word. It has no translation into any other language, but the closest I’ve heard is the ache. A longing. The sense that something is missing, and even if you’re not sure what it is, you ache for it. Down to your bones.”


Bio: Maggie Hall indulges her obsession with distant lands and far-flung adventures as often as she can. She has played with baby tigers in Thailand, learned to make homemade pasta in Italy, and taken thousands of miles of trains through the vibrant countryside of India. In her past life, she was a bookstore events coordinator and marketing manager, and when she's not on the other side of the world, she lives with her husband and their cats in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she watches USC football and dabbles in graphic design.

To read more about Maggie Hall’s debut novel THE CONSPIRACY OF US please go to:


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