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jamiejmcnicol's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
jacintasousa's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
joe16210's review against another edition
5.0
Who likes spy books and adventures, I can only recommend this series. There are also very interesting places where the children goes for their missions. In this book, James goes through the basic training and after that, on his first mission, he goes into the hippie camp Fort Harmony.
nmuss97's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
thebooklovingpanda's review against another edition
4.0
Really cool, funny and I WISH it were true. But maybe it is...and we just don't know it...
sutoscience's review against another edition
1.0
Dear God, how is this book not a joke? How on earth did this get published?
I demand to know who encouraged Robert Muchamore to publish this. Please step forward and explain yourself.
Listen, everybody, I really wanted to love this book, I did. A young adult novel about spies who belong to an organization that doesn't exist? YES PLEASE! This is my genre, you don't even understand.
But really, the writing is unbearable to the point where you have to put down the book and take a breather in order to not smash something in a fit of frustration. Even in the "Young Adult Fluff" category, this book is ridiculous.
JUDGE FOR YOURSELF:
The book begins with this pessimistic twelve year old- aptly named James Choke- who hates everything. I hate Combined science, he whines. I hate the mean girl next to me who keeps making "Yo' momma so fat" jokes. But it turns out his Mom really is fat. She had to "order her clothes out of a special catalog for fat people" and her own son is ashamed of being seen with her.
But that stereotypical mean girl, she's more than our supposedly tough character can take. Girls teasing him apparently sends him into bouts of rage not unlike The Hulk.
So, our unstable main character shoves her up against a wall during the middle of class, where some really confusing action occurs. Apparently he shoves her against said wall, and turns her around so quickly a protruding nail gets stuck in her face.
Then his teacher tells him that "...you are in some extremely serious trouble!"
Uhh, I think that's an understatement. Filled with pointless modifiers.
So then this girl-injuring twelve year old "couldn't face up to what he'd done. No one would believe it was an accident."
You just shoved a girl's face into a protruding nail. She's bleeding and crying and all he can think is, "IT WAS AN ACCIDENT". Right, so then what happens next is an accident, too? Just blame everything on chance, why don't you!
So he then proceeds to skip the apologizing, shoves the teacher so hard that she "toppled backwards, limbs flipping helplessly in the air like a beetle turned upside down." When you (and by you I mean adult-sized teacher probably twice the size of your students) get shoved by a twelve year old, do you stumble back a step, or do you fall over because you have no sense of balance, and continue to flail like an insect?
Seriously, now. Seriously. Can this book get any worse?
BUT IT DOES.
Any normal abusive twelve year old who just assaulted two women would go to juvie, at the least. But no, he gets drafted into a secret spy society where he can go whine and complain about how his life sucks.
IN CONCLUSION.
This book is a disgrace to the spy genre. It's not only implausible and stupid, but the writing is horrendous. As a young adult, I blame these kind of books for watering down the 'young adult' genre. As an aspiring writer, I had a good laugh about how awful Robert Muchamore's writing is, and have learned many lessons from reading what I could bear of this book.
Namely, abusive, angst-ridden twelve year old boys who brutalize women without remorse don't make good main characters.
Also, James Choke? Really? What kind of name is that?
I rest my case.
I demand to know who encouraged Robert Muchamore to publish this. Please step forward and explain yourself.
Listen, everybody, I really wanted to love this book, I did. A young adult novel about spies who belong to an organization that doesn't exist? YES PLEASE! This is my genre, you don't even understand.
But really, the writing is unbearable to the point where you have to put down the book and take a breather in order to not smash something in a fit of frustration. Even in the "Young Adult Fluff" category, this book is ridiculous.
JUDGE FOR YOURSELF:
The book begins with this pessimistic twelve year old- aptly named James Choke- who hates everything. I hate Combined science, he whines. I hate the mean girl next to me who keeps making "Yo' momma so fat" jokes. But it turns out his Mom really is fat. She had to "order her clothes out of a special catalog for fat people" and her own son is ashamed of being seen with her.
But that stereotypical mean girl, she's more than our supposedly tough character can take. Girls teasing him apparently sends him into bouts of rage not unlike The Hulk.
So, our unstable main character shoves her up against a wall during the middle of class, where some really confusing action occurs. Apparently he shoves her against said wall, and turns her around so quickly a protruding nail gets stuck in her face.
Then his teacher tells him that "...you are in some extremely serious trouble!"
Uhh, I think that's an understatement. Filled with pointless modifiers.
So then this girl-injuring twelve year old "couldn't face up to what he'd done. No one would believe it was an accident."
You just shoved a girl's face into a protruding nail. She's bleeding and crying and all he can think is, "IT WAS AN ACCIDENT". Right, so then what happens next is an accident, too? Just blame everything on chance, why don't you!
So he then proceeds to skip the apologizing, shoves the teacher so hard that she "toppled backwards, limbs flipping helplessly in the air like a beetle turned upside down." When you (and by you I mean adult-sized teacher probably twice the size of your students) get shoved by a twelve year old, do you stumble back a step, or do you fall over because you have no sense of balance, and continue to flail like an insect?
Seriously, now. Seriously. Can this book get any worse?
BUT IT DOES.
Any normal abusive twelve year old who just assaulted two women would go to juvie, at the least. But no, he gets drafted into a secret spy society where he can go whine and complain about how his life sucks.
IN CONCLUSION.
This book is a disgrace to the spy genre. It's not only implausible and stupid, but the writing is horrendous. As a young adult, I blame these kind of books for watering down the 'young adult' genre. As an aspiring writer, I had a good laugh about how awful Robert Muchamore's writing is, and have learned many lessons from reading what I could bear of this book.
Namely, abusive, angst-ridden twelve year old boys who brutalize women without remorse don't make good main characters.
Also, James Choke? Really? What kind of name is that?
I rest my case.
dinnureads's review against another edition
5.0
Underaged spies, torturous training and first missions ;) It wasn't exactly what I was expecting but I liked it and I pretty much read most of the book in one night :) Are 12-year-old kids really that mature? Or makes the tough past and the spy training them more mature? Well, whatever the case, the characters act almost like 20-year-olds :D
wrentheblurry's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars! I read this aloud to my sons (14 and 11), and I enjoyed it more than any of the ones I've read to them in quite some time. The premise involves orphan children that are recruited to be a part of a spy training school called CHERUB. These kids are used in espionage because adults will often let their guard down around them, inadvertently giving up valuable information.
This first book (there are LOTS of them: http://www.cherubcampus.com/books.htm) centers on James Adams. His backstory is described, along with the ordeals of his grueling training program. In the last third or so of the book, we experience James' first mission.
While James is just 12, he's had a hard life, and talks and acts like a kid in their middle teens. He has crushes on several girls, and one of those becomes a brief, innocent fling. I found the characters engaging, and interesting to learn about, even the ones that are a bit cliched, like the training officer.
I'm not sure that the concept and characters can hold my attention for 12+ books, but I like the writing, I had fun with the character voices, and I'm curious to see how things develop for James and his friends. I'm reading Jinx to my boys right now, but I'm hoping when we're done that we'll move on to Mission 2. My 11 year old gives it 3 stars. He liked it, and voted to continue with the next title. Still, he didn't like the romantic aspect, or the fact that James liked several girls, sometimes at once. His favorite part was the training, and the whole kids-as-spies concept. My 14 year old liked it too, but was close lipped about how much, or what he didn't like. I think he'd like to read the series by himself, but after slogging through more than two very mediocre series with them, I think I deserve to read a GOOD ONE.
Oh, I should note that this was my 11 year old's first YA book. There are a handful of curse words in it, but mostly "shit" and lesser ones. There are alcohol references, some violence, and plenty of bad decisions, all of which probably only served to remind him of how different life can be. Isn't that one of the reasons we read fiction, anyway?
Two thumbs up!
This first book (there are LOTS of them: http://www.cherubcampus.com/books.htm) centers on James Adams. His backstory is described, along with the ordeals of his grueling training program. In the last third or so of the book, we experience James' first mission.
While James is just 12, he's had a hard life, and talks and acts like a kid in their middle teens. He has crushes on several girls, and one of those becomes a brief, innocent fling. I found the characters engaging, and interesting to learn about, even the ones that are a bit cliched, like the training officer.
I'm not sure that the concept and characters can hold my attention for 12+ books, but I like the writing, I had fun with the character voices, and I'm curious to see how things develop for James and his friends. I'm reading Jinx to my boys right now, but I'm hoping when we're done that we'll move on to Mission 2. My 11 year old gives it 3 stars. He liked it, and voted to continue with the next title. Still, he didn't like the romantic aspect, or the fact that James liked several girls, sometimes at once. His favorite part was the training, and the whole kids-as-spies concept. My 14 year old liked it too, but was close lipped about how much, or what he didn't like. I think he'd like to read the series by himself, but after slogging through more than two very mediocre series with them, I think I deserve to read a GOOD ONE.
Oh, I should note that this was my 11 year old's first YA book. There are a handful of curse words in it, but mostly "shit" and lesser ones. There are alcohol references, some violence, and plenty of bad decisions, all of which probably only served to remind him of how different life can be. Isn't that one of the reasons we read fiction, anyway?
Two thumbs up!
noapo88's review against another edition
2.0
קראתי את הספר הזה כשהוא יצא בעברית וחשבתי שהוא מאוד מוצלח. הפעם קראתי באנגלית ולא סבלתי אותו. הדמויות לא אמינות, לאף אחד לא איכפת שגיבור הסיפור הוא בכל זאת ילד, הכל מלא בגבריות רעילה של אסור להראות רגשות וצריך להיות קשוח.
אולי בעברית קראתי אותו יותר מהר אז לא שמתי לב לבעיות, או שפשוט הדרך שבה אני מסתכלת על העולם השתנתה.
אולי בעברית קראתי אותו יותר מהר אז לא שמתי לב לבעיות, או שפשוט הדרך שבה אני מסתכלת על העולם השתנתה.