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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was ok and I think I am not the target audience. At least the MI6 point out that they have to let a 12 or 14yo save the world repeatedly. The ending reminded me of The Wizard of Oz, you'll figure it out when you get there.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Great continuation of the series! Darker than ever!
Story: In this third book in the series, Alex is sent by MI-6 on a vacation. He doesn't have to do anything, just swim and lounge, while pretending to be the son of a set of parents who are actual spies.But as usual, Alex gets caught up in events and a dozen twists and turns and filled with action, will Alex survive?
Pace: Fast, fast, fast! This is a longer book, but the chapters are of medium length, and each is exploding with action! This young James Bond will leave you feeling like you've just left a movie theatre every time you put it down.
Characterization: Most readers will already be familiar with Alex Rider. A teen, who spends less time in school and more time battling crime as a secret spy-but it's not his fault. He didn't ask to be a spy; his country keeps putting him in these positions. In this book Alex has a potential girl-interest in the beginning, with a suggestion of more in later books in the series.The bad guy in this story, Sarov, is a cold-blooded Russian bent on power with a creepy assistant.
Frame: The book starts in the UK, continues to the Skeleton Key and nearby islands and concludes in Russia. This is a darker story than the others in the series so far, with a rather serious conclusion. Not for younger YA's!
I really enjoyed this book and look forward to the next in the series, Eagle Strike. Although this was a lot darker than the others, potential readers must be aware that Alex is growing up and his role as secret spy is becoming a lot more dangerous and has a lot more responsibility.
Story: In this third book in the series, Alex is sent by MI-6 on a vacation. He doesn't have to do anything, just swim and lounge, while pretending to be the son of a set of parents who are actual spies.But as usual, Alex gets caught up in events and a dozen twists and turns and filled with action, will Alex survive?
Pace: Fast, fast, fast! This is a longer book, but the chapters are of medium length, and each is exploding with action! This young James Bond will leave you feeling like you've just left a movie theatre every time you put it down.
Characterization: Most readers will already be familiar with Alex Rider. A teen, who spends less time in school and more time battling crime as a secret spy-but it's not his fault. He didn't ask to be a spy; his country keeps putting him in these positions. In this book Alex has a potential girl-interest in the beginning, with a suggestion of more in later books in the series.The bad guy in this story, Sarov, is a cold-blooded Russian bent on power with a creepy assistant.
Frame: The book starts in the UK, continues to the Skeleton Key and nearby islands and concludes in Russia. This is a darker story than the others in the series so far, with a rather serious conclusion. Not for younger YA's!
I really enjoyed this book and look forward to the next in the series, Eagle Strike. Although this was a lot darker than the others, potential readers must be aware that Alex is growing up and his role as secret spy is becoming a lot more dangerous and has a lot more responsibility.
adventurous
mysterious
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
dark
funny
tense
medium-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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
Ok... So this is the third book in the Alex Rider series. Alex gets shipped off to yet another mission, this time to an island next to Cuba. I probably would have given this 5 stars but there were just a couple of things that I did not particularly like. I mean these things did not make the book any worse but it's just my personal opinion about these things...
Something tells me these reviews are going to be exceptionally repetitive but oh well.. This story is a teenage spy's adventure through 'enemy territory' where Alex is forced to use cool gadgets and cooler karate skills in order to pass through every obstacle in his path.
***** SPOILERS AHEAD *****
READ AT YOUR OWN RISK
So basically what I did not like about this book were the bad guys. I mean not in the way that they were very plain or didn't have any backstory (in fact they did and in this case it actually made me feel kind of sorry for him in the end) but just that with every bad guy one of the first things mentioned is their nationality and something in their past that connects to our real history. I mean I'm not usually offended by this sort of thing but so far all the bad guys have been German, Russian, Chinese or African. This doesn't particularly spoil the book or anything but there are just these small comments on the sides that bug me. Some connections that are made to our real history I did not enjoy reading about.
I think that's really the only reason why i didn't give this book 5 stars. That and the fact that I did read the graphic novel and remembered most of the plot... But other than those I loved the book! I liked the characters and I'm glad that there's Sabina in the picture now. I wonder if she might end up on one of these missions with him at some point... highly unlikely but well see...
End of rant i guess...
Something tells me these reviews are going to be exceptionally repetitive but oh well.. This story is a teenage spy's adventure through 'enemy territory' where Alex is forced to use cool gadgets and cooler karate skills in order to pass through every obstacle in his path.
***** SPOILERS AHEAD *****
READ AT YOUR OWN RISK
So basically what I did not like about this book were the bad guys. I mean not in the way that they were very plain or didn't have any backstory (in fact they did and in this case it actually made me feel kind of sorry for him in the end) but just that with every bad guy one of the first things mentioned is their nationality and something in their past that connects to our real history. I mean I'm not usually offended by this sort of thing but so far all the bad guys have been German, Russian, Chinese or African. This doesn't particularly spoil the book or anything but there are just these small comments on the sides that bug me. Some connections that are made to our real history I did not enjoy reading about.
I think that's really the only reason why i didn't give this book 5 stars. That and the fact that I did read the graphic novel and remembered most of the plot... But other than those I loved the book! I liked the characters and I'm glad that there's Sabina in the picture now. I wonder if she might end up on one of these missions with him at some point... highly unlikely but well see...
End of rant i guess...
After the action-filled ending in Point Blanc, i expected, at least, a book with a four star rating. But i think i got disappointed.
This book didn't caught my interest, as the former books had done. This one was just a bad part of an apple - or in this case, a bad sequel to a great series.
However, i have not lost faith in this series, because i think that this is just temporary - i truly believe that the next book will be better.
This book didn't caught my interest, as the former books had done. This one was just a bad part of an apple - or in this case, a bad sequel to a great series.
However, i have not lost faith in this series, because i think that this is just temporary - i truly believe that the next book will be better.
I have the distinct feeling that I'm burning myself out on these books. I didn't feel the same spark of joy when rereading this book. Or maybe I just don't like this book quite as much as the first two. Whatever it is, and beyond my own mental block, this book was still amazing.
Alex is getting pretty damn worldly, I have to say. And it keeps getting more and more condensed so that he's going more places in a shorter time span. It's a lot for the reader to take in, and I like that. He's all over the world, and meets all sorts of people from all sorts of organizations. It's getting more complex. The only thing I DON'T like about that is the fact that it makes the book seem a bit hurried. But that's probably a necessity, considering he didn't want to write a 500-page book.
The plot itself, though, even with it being jam-packed, was great. It took a while to get going, but build-up isn't bad, and the stakes are definitely getting higher with each book. The whole...crazy...family aspect was...interesting. The other two books have been pretty clinical. The mission, and then Alex's reactions to it. 70% action, 30% Alex's emotions. Not a bad mix. But this time, emotion was fixed INTO the plot with the whole Sarov-father-son thing. It was a different approach. Horowitz will never be known for writing incredibly deep emotional revelations, but he did a decent job.
Speaking of emotion, and the good job Horowitz did, the little thing at the end broke my heart. I can only imagine how isolated he must have felt, the poor boy. And that's why I appreciated the whole Sabina thing. It was tasteful. It wasn't specifically about romance, it was about Alex having a friend his own age who can get him out of his head, who can cheer him up, etc etc sappy etc. This friend just happens to be an attractive girl. That's a bonus. No big deal.
Overall, I still loved this book the second time around. It's quick, it's easy, and I can always got back to it. A childhood favorite.
Alex is getting pretty damn worldly, I have to say. And it keeps getting more and more condensed so that he's going more places in a shorter time span. It's a lot for the reader to take in, and I like that. He's all over the world, and meets all sorts of people from all sorts of organizations. It's getting more complex. The only thing I DON'T like about that is the fact that it makes the book seem a bit hurried. But that's probably a necessity, considering he didn't want to write a 500-page book.
The plot itself, though, even with it being jam-packed, was great. It took a while to get going, but build-up isn't bad, and the stakes are definitely getting higher with each book. The whole...crazy...family aspect was...interesting. The other two books have been pretty clinical. The mission, and then Alex's reactions to it. 70% action, 30% Alex's emotions. Not a bad mix. But this time, emotion was fixed INTO the plot with the whole Sarov-father-son thing. It was a different approach. Horowitz will never be known for writing incredibly deep emotional revelations, but he did a decent job.
Speaking of emotion, and the good job Horowitz did, the little thing at the end broke my heart. I can only imagine how isolated he must have felt, the poor boy. And that's why I appreciated the whole Sabina thing. It was tasteful. It wasn't specifically about romance, it was about Alex having a friend his own age who can get him out of his head, who can cheer him up, etc etc sappy etc. This friend just happens to be an attractive girl. That's a bonus. No big deal.
Overall, I still loved this book the second time around. It's quick, it's easy, and I can always got back to it. A childhood favorite.
3.5 stars in part 3 of my Alex Rider readathon: https://inkandplasma.wordpress.com/tag/alex-rider-reread/
Skeleton Key was super enjoyable, and I always have such a vivid memory of the pre-adventure set at Wimbledon. Again it shows Anthony Horowitz's ridiculous attention to detail when it comes to his research, where you not only have a really vivid image of the setting, but you learn things too. Despite the fact that I love the pre-adventures so much - it's something that makes Alex's stories so memorable, you get to see him work through loads of wild and wacky situations- I rated it 3.5 instead of 4 stars mostly for the pacing. It felt like I was two-thirds of the way through the book before the main section of the story started. There was a really interesting aspect to this story with the Alex/Dimitry which was under-explored because the ends of the book was coming around so quickly.
Conrad's character kind of irritated me. Why do we always get disfigured characters as the side-kick? It's a whole Igor thing gone crazy. This book came out in 2002, so I'm not necessarily expecting anything super-woke here, but that's twice now in two books that we've had the 'you can see this character is evil because he's disfigured' trope, and I hate it. Facial scarring and severe injuries don't make someone evil, and consistently describing them as hideous and evil is infuriating. What happened to him in the end was absolutely fucking disgusting too, but that was actually the good writing more than it was to do with the disfigured trope.
BUT, there were lots of things I loved in this book. Alex continues to not only be well-written, but he's not a Mary Sue. He repeatedly acknowledges that he's in fights with people who are better trained and more experienced, and he wins and loses appropriately - winning due to luck and smarts rather than plot armour and inexplicable strength. The quickest way to lose my interest in a teenage character is for them to somehow have the power of a thirty year old SAS expert tactician. He's a kid, and things go wrong because he thinks like a kid. I love it.
Anthony Horowitz's writing continues to floor me during action scenes. Conrad's ending was absolutely disgusting and there was a scene with a heartbeat monitor that is absolutely hardcore. I remember it from the last time I read it, and it still made me flinch to read it again. Powerful, powerful writing. That being said, why does Alex fake die every time? I'm not calling that a spoiler because this is part 3 in a 12 part series, and also because this is literally the second time in two books we've had this 'scare'. Do we have to do this? It loses impact.
And a very special mention for 'Centurion International Advertising', which made me laugh like an idiot. I don't care if it's true or not, as far as I'm concerned that's how the CIA hide all their bases. I hope the FBI do it too, 'Friendly Building Inspectors' is a totally normal name for a company, right?
Skeleton Key was super enjoyable, and I always have such a vivid memory of the pre-adventure set at Wimbledon. Again it shows Anthony Horowitz's ridiculous attention to detail when it comes to his research, where you not only have a really vivid image of the setting, but you learn things too. Despite the fact that I love the pre-adventures so much - it's something that makes Alex's stories so memorable, you get to see him work through loads of wild and wacky situations- I rated it 3.5 instead of 4 stars mostly for the pacing. It felt like I was two-thirds of the way through the book before the main section of the story started. There was a really interesting aspect to this story with the Alex/Dimitry which was under-explored because the ends of the book was coming around so quickly.
Conrad's character kind of irritated me. Why do we always get disfigured characters as the side-kick? It's a whole Igor thing gone crazy. This book came out in 2002, so I'm not necessarily expecting anything super-woke here, but that's twice now in two books that we've had the 'you can see this character is evil because he's disfigured' trope, and I hate it. Facial scarring and severe injuries don't make someone evil, and consistently describing them as hideous and evil is infuriating. What happened to him in the end was absolutely fucking disgusting too, but that was actually the good writing more than it was to do with the disfigured trope.
BUT, there were lots of things I loved in this book. Alex continues to not only be well-written, but he's not a Mary Sue. He repeatedly acknowledges that he's in fights with people who are better trained and more experienced, and he wins and loses appropriately - winning due to luck and smarts rather than plot armour and inexplicable strength. The quickest way to lose my interest in a teenage character is for them to somehow have the power of a thirty year old SAS expert tactician. He's a kid, and things go wrong because he thinks like a kid. I love it.
Anthony Horowitz's writing continues to floor me during action scenes. Conrad's ending was absolutely disgusting and there was a scene with a heartbeat monitor that is absolutely hardcore. I remember it from the last time I read it, and it still made me flinch to read it again. Powerful, powerful writing. That being said, why does Alex fake die every time? I'm not calling that a spoiler because this is part 3 in a 12 part series, and also because this is literally the second time in two books we've had this 'scare'. Do we have to do this? It loses impact.
And a very special mention for 'Centurion International Advertising', which made me laugh like an idiot. I don't care if it's true or not, as far as I'm concerned that's how the CIA hide all their bases. I hope the FBI do it too, 'Friendly Building Inspectors' is a totally normal name for a company, right?