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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
Hmmm....I'm honestly not sure, the more I read this series. I'm okay with it being a junior homage of sorts to midcentury spy fiction, but this is reading like "Baby's First Bond". Alex Rider's new girly-pop friend is Sabina PLEASURE. There's a scene (her parents are at home, supervising, of course but STILL) in which she is described as freshly out of the shower, wearing a robe, bringing him a soda at the pool. Some grown women look him over at some point and wink. I'm sorry, this is weirdly sexual for a book aimed for 12-15 year-olds. Super weird for a grown man to be writing. Now, I'm sure the references would fly right over your average child's head...hopefully...but ew. EW.
This would be acceptable for adult reading, but the age range just makes this icky. I will keep reading the next few books to see if this is a one-off, but the books keep getting less and less appropriate as I read. Mr. Horowitz is a great writer, and I like the books--the action, the implausible plots, it's all very enjoyable. Except Alex Rider is not James Bond, and I don't like that the way this series is painting him to be some sort of PG proto-womanizer. Wink wink, nudge nudge, it's just like the James Bond books, only he's 14 so nothing happens, get it? UGH.
This would be acceptable for adult reading, but the age range just makes this icky. I will keep reading the next few books to see if this is a one-off, but the books keep getting less and less appropriate as I read. Mr. Horowitz is a great writer, and I like the books--the action, the implausible plots, it's all very enjoyable. Except Alex Rider is not James Bond, and I don't like that the way this series is painting him to be some sort of PG proto-womanizer. Wink wink, nudge nudge, it's just like the James Bond books, only he's 14 so nothing happens, get it? UGH.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
One of my favourites in the series 🥲 (for all the wrong reasons…)
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Okay, so this book had weird racist undertones (and overtones) and relied so heavily on the long-held idea of villainy of Cuba and Russia by the Western World. And there were some weird slightly sexual moments between Alex and women (like full grown women ogling him?) and it felt like Horowitz was writing Alex as a fourteen-year-old the way he had wished he had been. Also, not saying I wanted him to, BUT ALEX SHOULD’VE DIED SO MANY TIMES IN JUST THIS BOOK ALONE. Only thing that slightly redeemed this one was the spark of a love interest (and even she did do something super suspect).