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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
4.5
Fantastic - so many intricate ideas well-developed and executed. Additionally, a complex and admirable lead and an exciting plot! I usually don't read spy stories but this is really excellent.
Fantastic - so many intricate ideas well-developed and executed. Additionally, a complex and admirable lead and an exciting plot! I usually don't read spy stories but this is really excellent.
I loved the journal format of this book as a love letter to the spy's children, and the audiobook narrator was excellent. However, the book lacked the urgency most spy novels seem to have. It read more like a historical accounting of the 1980s interactions of the IS intelligence against an African dictator. I found it interesting, but felt no urgency to untangle the "mystery". Still, it was a good read.
2.5 stars. I'm not sure if this was a problem with my own expectations, or that the book was mis-marketed.
The cover blurb on my paperback describes this as an "espionage thriller" - and when I think "thriller," I think of fast pacing, twists and turns. It starts out strong, the way I expected a thriller to be, but the pacing dipped back down and kind of barely hovered above the ground for most of the book. And that's the problem for me: if this had been marketed as a character study of Marie's journey into becoming a spy, or even a family "saga" (I say that with a tinge of irony, because the book is less than 300 pages) since so much has to do with Marie's mother and sister - whom we are led to believe are also both Feds - and Marie's children, I might have appreciated it more. But instead, I kept waiting for something major to happen. Even the climax felt anti-climactic.
It's complicated too. There's a lot that's unsaid, both in Marie's conversations and in what is presented to the reader. I believed Marie when she said she was good at her job, that external facts (racism, sexism) kept her in the field office instead of out being a spy, until I read Gabriella's review while I was finishing up. Her review makes some really good points about Marie's competence, and made me question what I thought of Marie. And I suppose that's great, that Marie is allowed to be a complicated mess, but I didn't buy a lot of the work she was doing, particularly in the second half off the book.
It'll make a good conversation for book club tonight. :)
The cover blurb on my paperback describes this as an "espionage thriller" - and when I think "thriller," I think of fast pacing, twists and turns. It starts out strong, the way I expected a thriller to be, but the pacing dipped back down and kind of barely hovered above the ground for most of the book. And that's the problem for me: if this had been marketed as a character study of Marie's journey into becoming a spy, or even a family "saga" (I say that with a tinge of irony, because the book is less than 300 pages) since so much has to do with Marie's mother and sister - whom we are led to believe are also both Feds - and Marie's children, I might have appreciated it more. But instead, I kept waiting for something major to happen. Even the climax felt anti-climactic.
It's complicated too. There's a lot that's unsaid, both in Marie's conversations and in what is presented to the reader. I believed Marie when she said she was good at her job, that external facts (racism, sexism) kept her in the field office instead of out being a spy, until I read Gabriella's review while I was finishing up. Her review makes some really good points about Marie's competence, and made me question what I thought of Marie. And I suppose that's great, that Marie is allowed to be a complicated mess, but I didn't buy a lot of the work she was doing, particularly in the second half off the book.
It'll make a good conversation for book club tonight. :)
I like the writing style and the premise - especially when she wrote about relationships. I also like the book was written as a letter to her sons. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.
V
V
I really enjoyed this book, especially the perspective of Marie, a black American woman spy. I wish that the love story were more believable. We didn’t really know why he would be interested in her and I think their relationship could have been expanded while still filling into the narrative. I also wish there could have been more of a plot twist at the end. That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed it and didn’t want to put it down.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is marketed as a spy thriller, but the structure of the book takes all the thrill out of it and makes the pacing all wonky. The novel starts in the early 90s with Marie, a former spy, surviving an assassination attempt and taking her two young boys to stay with her mother in Martinique. The book is written as a letter to her sons, who are quickly revealed/heavily implied to be the children of Thomas Sankara, the assassinated former president of Burkina Faso who had been her mark. So, that takes all the surprise out of the main storyline about her relationship with Sankara.
In addition, there's a lot about her childhood and relationship with her sister Helene. So much so that she only finally goes to Burkina Faso more than halfway through the book. I didn't feel connected to Marie, and it felt like Helene had the more thought-out character with a distinct personality.
With that said, it was an interesting story about a crazy part of the Cold War that I know nothing about.
In addition, there's a lot about her childhood and relationship with her sister Helene. So much so that she only finally goes to Burkina Faso more than halfway through the book. I didn't feel connected to Marie, and it felt like Helene had the more thought-out character with a distinct personality.
With that said, it was an interesting story about a crazy part of the Cold War that I know nothing about.
The beginning of this started out great and then... well. It just kinda fell flat. Stuck with it hoping it would pick up and get better, but no such luck.
Bailing 2/3rds of the way through because the plot took forever to start and then was too implausible to pass the smell test longer than a chapter. Pretty disappointing considering the raves.