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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
Spies who are also foodies!
If you like the modern day spy novel where it is measured by the body-count and egotistical dialogue, then this book may not be for you. Red Sparrow is a refreshing change. The book has a clever plot with interesting characters. Can't wait to read the next one!
If you like the modern day spy novel where it is measured by the body-count and egotistical dialogue, then this book may not be for you. Red Sparrow is a refreshing change. The book has a clever plot with interesting characters. Can't wait to read the next one!
Think the Cold War is over? Think again.
I'd always had somewhere in me (I mean, really, who doesn't?) an interest in Soviet history and everything Red Army, KGB, Iron Curtain, and Gulag. It's one of the greatest stories ever told after all -- the rise and fall of a mighty and murderous political and geographic monolith that aggressively absorbed many nations and languages and religions into its insatiable machinery in a quest for ultimate global supremacy. A nerve-wracking Cold War entrenchment would prove a constant counter-balancing act with the United States to see which would emerge the most super of two superpowers -- while the rest of us could do nothing but watch with bated breath to see whether one or both would destroy the world in a conflagration of nuclear annihilation. Good times.
While it seems like those old Cold War threats and anxieties are in the past, lost to the annals of history and diminished by Soviet collapse, I would venture that there remain a fair number of Russian politicians who think otherwise. Dig a little deeper into Putin's presidency and you will find a shocking (or perhaps not that shocking at all) amount of old-school Soviet corruption and megalomania.
And that's what gives Red Sparrow its sense of urgency and authenticity. The author doesn't really have to exaggerate or sensationalize his modern spy game between CIA operatives and Russian SVR agents. It's happening. In point of fact, it never stopped. Names might have changed, there might be a veneer of civility and legality over the top of it all to shine it up for a new century, but in a lot of important ways it's the same shit different day.
Author Jason Matthews isn't writing out of his ass either. He's been in the spy game for over three decades and served in multiple overseas locations performing clandestine acts and participating in recruitment operations.
Reading about spy games as they are unfolding in this century is definitely thrilling, though at times because it requires so much description it's easy to become mired in the details. Many times while reading the action, I longed to be watching it instead. Spy games are extremely visual by their very nature -- so I did feel that some of the book's potency and terror was lost in the amount of dense prose required to put the reader in that place.
I couldn't help think about FX's brilliant spy drama The Americans and how it handles drops and communiques, late-night rides, expedient kills and ruthlessly efficient body disposal (all the more impressive since it's done using 80s technology and employing an array of epic wigs). After three superb seasons I'm truly addicted, especially to the rich emotional depth that simmers beneath its layers of intrigue and counterintelligence techniques.
So yeah, watching this stuff tends to be way more awesome than reading about it. The author overcomes this handicap by introducing a great cast of characters to act as our portal into the twisty, exciting narrative, giving us people to care and worry about. The stakes are high in these cat and mouse games that aren't games at all of course. One wrong move and you're dead, your body likely never to be found. I will definitely read the second book in this series, if only to tide me over until The Americans return in January.
Two quick nit-picky thoughts:
1) What the hell is up with all the recipes appearing at the end of every single chapter? That became a bit annoying only because I really didn't see the purpose, and some of them made me hungry, which would make me stop reading in order to run for the refrigerator.
2) Dominika is a kick-ass female lead, I really like her a lot, but I wish she didn't have those extra sensory capabilities because it felt like cheating. Couldn't she just be kick-ass, full stop, with a really well-tuned social and emotional intelligence to read people, rather than something that's almost paranormal/supernatural?
This was a good spy novel. Pretty good character development. Predictable all the way through which is why I give it a 3.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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:
Yes
I think this book has potential, or maybe I should say that the s t o r y has potential. Sadly, overall it’s difficult to read and I weren’t able to enjoy it in almost any way. Dominica’s character is compelling and I really did try to get through the book but the whole experience of attempting to finish it felt like an obligation to me. When I read something I just love the moment when I can sit down, relax and open the book. In case of Red Sparrow it was more like “‘aight maybe I should continue this... this... thing. Or on the second thought... next episode of Gossip Girl sound way more appealing”. So, give it a try. Maybe you’ll like/love it or maybe, like me, you won’t be able to get past chapter 10. Or maybe your reaction we’ll be something completely different :)
This wasn't doing it for me. When I read the author's description of Dominika, that was really the last nail in the coffin. Some men are just really, really bad at writing women characters. They always get objectified. I understand that Dominika is a seductress or whatever, but just reading it . . . Ew. It was gross. I've heard the movie's good, so maybe I'll just watch that instead.
Very pedestrian and hard going at times, almost gave up but persevered. Its an ok spy story with recipes.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Couldn't figure out if I was reading a damn cookbook, a sleazy romance, or a spy novel.
Review contains very minor spoilers for info from within the first 10-20% of the book.
I wanted to enjoy Red Sparrow, but there were just too many insurmountable eye roll inducers in one book for me to click with it. Our main protagonists are Nate Nash, CIA spy handler guy and ... you know, I can't actually think of much to describe him, because even just one day after finishing the book, he's too bland a character for me to remember his having any distinctive qualities. Dominika Egorova, the other protagonist, is easier to remember because just about every chapter feels the need to remind you of her qualities: sexy, blue eyes, hot, brilliant, cute, coulda been Russia's top ballerina, and oh did I mention she's super attractive? Better throw it in a few more times, along with a detailed breakdown of what her outfit looks like. For good measure, better throw in detailed breakdown of everyone's outfits. Every time they appear in a chapter. Sometimes, chapters in this book read like someone's closet inventory.
But regardless of the content of a given chapter, each one ends the same way: with a recipe for a dish mentioned in the chapter. "Why?" you may ask. I think - I think? - at some point midway through the book, there was a 1-2 sentence throwaway about someone sharing a recipe with someone else and that was significant in some way. I don't remember the reasoning, nor was it a very clear explanatory mechanism for why there's a recipe at the end of a chapter. I think the likelier explanation for the recipes are "Wouldn't this be a cool THING to mark the end of a chapter? You know, to really stand out and be memorable!" And so also, every now and again a chapter has to force characters into eating something - so a recipe can be tacked on to the end of it.
But by and large, my biggest pet peeve with this book: I don't know a ton about synesthesia, but I do know one thing: synesthesia =/= being psychic. And yet somehow our hot-intelligent-graceful-talented-polyglot Russian spy gal can use her Magical Powers of Synesthesia to preeeetty much read people's thoughts/intentions/whatever. Had this been presented as a skill she honed over time as she gradually learned the intricacies of reading people's faces and body language, I might've been more on board. Instead, it's another convenient superpower for a character who is ostensibly supposed to be in the real world. Must be real handy to be a spy and find that people you can trust are always haloed in blue and purple, and people who you cannot are always yellow, brown, and black.
Okay, now that I've ranted about this book for 3 solid paragraphs, I can say: when I got away from descriptions of outfits, and recipes, and misunderstandings of neuroscience, and fairly one-dimensional characters... the action- and spy-packed portions of this novel were a lot of fun to read. In particular, the second half of the book turned out to be a much more exciting chunk. Overall, though, I just don't think I can deal with two more books filled with so many things that aggravated me.
I wanted to enjoy Red Sparrow, but there were just too many insurmountable eye roll inducers in one book for me to click with it. Our main protagonists are Nate Nash, CIA spy handler guy and ... you know, I can't actually think of much to describe him, because even just one day after finishing the book, he's too bland a character for me to remember his having any distinctive qualities. Dominika Egorova, the other protagonist, is easier to remember because just about every chapter feels the need to remind you of her qualities: sexy, blue eyes, hot, brilliant, cute, coulda been Russia's top ballerina, and oh did I mention she's super attractive? Better throw it in a few more times, along with a detailed breakdown of what her outfit looks like. For good measure, better throw in detailed breakdown of everyone's outfits. Every time they appear in a chapter. Sometimes, chapters in this book read like someone's closet inventory.
But regardless of the content of a given chapter, each one ends the same way: with a recipe for a dish mentioned in the chapter. "Why?" you may ask. I think - I think? - at some point midway through the book, there was a 1-2 sentence throwaway about someone sharing a recipe with someone else and that was significant in some way. I don't remember the reasoning, nor was it a very clear explanatory mechanism for why there's a recipe at the end of a chapter. I think the likelier explanation for the recipes are "Wouldn't this be a cool THING to mark the end of a chapter? You know, to really stand out and be memorable!" And so also, every now and again a chapter has to force characters into eating something - so a recipe can be tacked on to the end of it.
But by and large, my biggest pet peeve with this book: I don't know a ton about synesthesia, but I do know one thing: synesthesia =/= being psychic. And yet somehow our hot-intelligent-graceful-talented-polyglot Russian spy gal can use her Magical Powers of Synesthesia to preeeetty much read people's thoughts/intentions/whatever. Had this been presented as a skill she honed over time as she gradually learned the intricacies of reading people's faces and body language, I might've been more on board. Instead, it's another convenient superpower for a character who is ostensibly supposed to be in the real world. Must be real handy to be a spy and find that people you can trust are always haloed in blue and purple, and people who you cannot are always yellow, brown, and black.
Okay, now that I've ranted about this book for 3 solid paragraphs, I can say: when I got away from descriptions of outfits, and recipes, and misunderstandings of neuroscience, and fairly one-dimensional characters... the action- and spy-packed portions of this novel were a lot of fun to read. In particular, the second half of the book turned out to be a much more exciting chunk. Overall, though, I just don't think I can deal with two more books filled with so many things that aggravated me.