You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
I'm definitely too old to be reading this, but I enjoyed the fast paced plot progression which took me back to my teenage years devouring detective/spy fiction.
I liked Alex as a character because not only is he not blindly patriotic, he's not thrilled to become a spy as one would expect from a teenage boy. He's uninterested, slightly snarky, and a pretty cool character.
What bothered me and hence lowered the rating was the racist overtones. I get it. The book was written long ago, still not an excuse. When the villain details his past of getting bullied as a foreigner, a middle eastern with dark skin and someone who could not speak proper English, Alex's response is not what I would have expected.
Not once does the book censure the Prime Minister for being a bully during his childhood and an opportunistic person of power as an adult. No, instead Alex says that lots of kids get bullied. Which is the absolute worst thing you could say to someone who just narrated the worst part of their life to you. I could ignore it if it was just Alex (the character) who said this. But then the narration ignores the whole backstory as if it didn't matter.
The author utilised the 'circumstances make a man' aspect of storytelling, but did not comment on it at all. I get that books do not have to do this. But when you bring such a a diverse character in, you do not ignore what made them hate something they loved and respected so much. Making him a 'Middle Eastern Baddie' seems an awfully familiar narrative by now.
This has left such a sour taste in my mouth. The white superiority is great in this as Herod Sayle says that there are a lot of people who hate the English, pitting the 'virtuous English' against the 'corrupt Other' as always.
I wanted to read these as the show was incredibly well put together, but I think I'll skip these. At least the show doesn't suffer from such bad character depiction.
I liked Alex as a character because not only is he not blindly patriotic, he's not thrilled to become a spy as one would expect from a teenage boy. He's uninterested, slightly snarky, and a pretty cool character.
What bothered me and hence lowered the rating was the racist overtones. I get it. The book was written long ago, still not an excuse. When the villain details his past of getting bullied as a foreigner, a middle eastern with dark skin and someone who could not speak proper English, Alex's response is not what I would have expected.
Not once does the book censure the Prime Minister for being a bully during his childhood and an opportunistic person of power as an adult. No, instead Alex says that lots of kids get bullied. Which is the absolute worst thing you could say to someone who just narrated the worst part of their life to you. I could ignore it if it was just Alex (the character) who said this. But then the narration ignores the whole backstory as if it didn't matter.
The author utilised the 'circumstances make a man' aspect of storytelling, but did not comment on it at all. I get that books do not have to do this. But when you bring such a a diverse character in, you do not ignore what made them hate something they loved and respected so much. Making him a 'Middle Eastern Baddie' seems an awfully familiar narrative by now.
This has left such a sour taste in my mouth. The white superiority is great in this as Herod Sayle says that there are a lot of people who hate the English, pitting the 'virtuous English' against the 'corrupt Other' as always.
I wanted to read these as the show was incredibly well put together, but I think I'll skip these. At least the show doesn't suffer from such bad character depiction.
This book was great! Not the first time I've read it, but when I was younger I didn't enjoy it as much. It was a brilliant story, thrilling but with no excessive amounts of violence and no bad language. I really loved it!
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is a fast paced book aimed at young adults. After watching the TV show I was curious about the books, and I have to say I enjoyed both!
Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz is about Alex Rider, a British 14-year-old boy who was raised by his uncle. His uncle dies in a car accident, which sends Alex into an investigation about how his uncle died. He discovers his uncle was a secret agent, and now they need Alex's help to spy on a crook.
This book is a quick read, not especially deep or even entirely realistic, but a fun adventure. It keeps a fast pace, not lingering on details, making this a good book for reluctant readers. This book is best for younger to mid-aged teens.
This book is a quick read, not especially deep or even entirely realistic, but a fun adventure. It keeps a fast pace, not lingering on details, making this a good book for reluctant readers. This book is best for younger to mid-aged teens.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I really enjoyed this book! It was recommended to me by my friend, but I was skeptical at first because I haven't had much luck with spy novels. But this really surprised me! I loved that it reached my age group through the teen main character, but while it worked well for me, I can see how this might turn others off.
Alex was a really cool character, and I liked how they didn't give him an annoying amount of teen angst. I would have liked to have seen more character development, but maybe there will be in the other books, so we'll see. I enjoyed the backstory and the author did well on the "internal confliction" without (as I said before) giving him an unrealistic amount of angst. Definitely working his way up my favorite book character list!
Another great thing is that this book cleared up that obnoxious trope where there is an obvious distinction of the good vs. evil. This is much more realistic, portraying M16 (the spy agency that his uncle worked for) as almost heartless, though they are technically the "good guys." This definitely made the book more interesting for me.
I definitely liked the plot twists, and while some were slightly obvious, I found them to be entertaining.
Okay, the one thing I will admit is that I found Herod Sayle's backstory to be kind of ridiculous. I mean, sure. You got bullied at school. But so do 90% of the few billion kids on Earth that go to school. So (SPOILER ALERT) we're now going to try to kill thousands of innocent children because you don't like the Prime Minister? Like, really. That is my one big complaint. I just don't get how someone can grow up to be a mass-murderer of children solely because he got bullied at school. (I'm not making light of bullying at ALL, but it just seems quite extreme.)
But other than that, I thought this book was a great fast read, and good for my age group! Definitely recommend!
Alex was a really cool character, and I liked how they didn't give him an annoying amount of teen angst. I would have liked to have seen more character development, but maybe there will be in the other books, so we'll see. I enjoyed the backstory and the author did well on the "internal confliction" without (as I said before) giving him an unrealistic amount of angst. Definitely working his way up my favorite book character list!
Another great thing is that this book cleared up that obnoxious trope where there is an obvious distinction of the good vs. evil. This is much more realistic, portraying M16 (the spy agency that his uncle worked for) as almost heartless, though they are technically the "good guys." This definitely made the book more interesting for me.
I definitely liked the plot twists, and while some were slightly obvious, I found them to be entertaining.
Okay, the one thing I will admit is that I found Herod Sayle's backstory to be kind of ridiculous. I mean, sure. You got bullied at school. But so do 90% of the few billion kids on Earth that go to school. So (SPOILER ALERT) we're now going to try to kill thousands of innocent children because you don't like the Prime Minister? Like, really. That is my one big complaint. I just don't get how someone can grow up to be a mass-murderer of children solely because he got bullied at school. (I'm not making light of bullying at ALL, but it just seems quite extreme.)
But other than that, I thought this book was a great fast read, and good for my age group! Definitely recommend!
This book was okay. I give it a 3.5 stars. Some parts were really fast pace and interesting and some parts were just bla.
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
This is my second time reading this book. I read almost the whole series around 5 or 6 years ago and adored it. And I still adore it. I love Alex as a character and I always enjoyed reading about him. There were definitely a handful of things this time around that stuck out to me that I had never noticed before, and other things I remember loving that I was reminded of. I'm really glad I decided to pick this up again. I think I have to reread the whole series now haha.
adventurous
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Firstly, even though I feel I was within the minority of people who enjoyed the movie, having being around Alex's age when it was released, I have to admit the book was better.
As an adult reader I enjoy reading young adult books alongside intense/dark adult ones for the option of a lighthearted alternative when I want to read.
I do think I would've been able to enjoy the twists and plot devices a bit more if I hadn't seen the movie but I could still appreciate the tone, writing style, character development and internal monologue the movie sometimes can't portray as well on screen. If anything the book felt more 'adult' than the movie, probably because the movie had to be appropriate to a younger target audience as well to ensure a wide range of potential watchers.
This was definitely fast-paced and a nice easy read. I would fully recommend it to anyone who likes the action/spy genres and doesn't mind the main character being a teenager.
As an adult reader I enjoy reading young adult books alongside intense/dark adult ones for the option of a lighthearted alternative when I want to read.
I do think I would've been able to enjoy the twists and plot devices a bit more if I hadn't seen the movie but I could still appreciate the tone, writing style, character development and internal monologue the movie sometimes can't portray as well on screen. If anything the book felt more 'adult' than the movie, probably because the movie had to be appropriate to a younger target audience as well to ensure a wide range of potential watchers.
This was definitely fast-paced and a nice easy read. I would fully recommend it to anyone who likes the action/spy genres and doesn't mind the main character being a teenager.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced