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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
I enjoyed this book and it definitely had its gripping moments in which I kept on reading to find out the outcome..
I'm not sure what exactly moves me to leave it at 3 stars but I don't have the yearning to find the next book and keep on reading about these characters. Nate was less than a complete image of a person and Dominika's aura reading abilities are a little hard to believe. I liked MARBLE the best and well, there it is. It was thrilling at times, interesting and informative, but something elusive was missing.
I'm not sure what exactly moves me to leave it at 3 stars but I don't have the yearning to find the next book and keep on reading about these characters. Nate was less than a complete image of a person and Dominika's aura reading abilities are a little hard to believe. I liked MARBLE the best and well, there it is. It was thrilling at times, interesting and informative, but something elusive was missing.
As a work of fiction I enjoyed it. The story moved well and was engaging and it was an easy read. However, the plot was fairly predictable which I can forgive on its own but I there were aspects I really didn’t care for.
For a start I don’t think the synesthesia was necessary at all and took away from the believability, especially as I’m fairly certain that’s not how it works. If she was particularly perceptive and trained to understand facial expressions and body language, fine, but instead she has some magical ability to judge a book by its cover “because synesthesia”. It never really played a part in the plot either it was just used to describe people in narrative.
The very unsubtle bias against Russia irritated me the whole book. Regardless of politics, people are people and I’m sure the nice guy to asshole ratio between the SVR and CIA are near identical because the US are just as guilty of pulling crap as Russia and suggesting otherwise is propaganda or naivety. “Oh no the Russians use torture but the US are good guys and don’t stoop to that level!” Guantanamo Bay anyone? I would have preferred to see neutrality on the moral judgment of the two countries or at least a bias that wasn’t rammed down my throat every chapter because the only good Russians defected and the only really terrible Americans defected.
This guy also clearly hates Putin with a burning passion and honestly he wasn’t necessary to bring into things it felt again like believability was compromised because he’s a real living person right now and you know the author probably hasn’t even met the guy and yet he’s actually demonizing him in every description. He’s got some bad policies and beliefs but dehumanizing him into some sort of evil overlord while barely including him in the plot comes across like Taylor Swift writing songs about her exes.
This bias almost balanced itself enough to be palatable towards the end with the CIA director being an arrogant pushy douche. He was allowed to have a 3 dimensional personality however unlike his Russian counterparts. Then the ending spoiled it being all “there’s the Russians for you, untrustworthy and merciless but Dominika’s okay because she’ll obviously now keep betraying Russia”.
Do I need to touch on the constant reference to Dominika’s sexy muscular ballet legs or her blue eyes and dark hair? I can’t freaking remember what Nate’s hair color is or his eyes because it wasn’t repeated every five pages. It’s not necessary. Dominika herself doesn’t appreciate being sexualized by her Evil Russian Countrymen so why is it okay for the author?
Overall it was a decent read but these things definitely detracted for me.
For a start I don’t think the synesthesia was necessary at all and took away from the believability, especially as I’m fairly certain that’s not how it works. If she was particularly perceptive and trained to understand facial expressions and body language, fine, but instead she has some magical ability to judge a book by its cover “because synesthesia”. It never really played a part in the plot either it was just used to describe people in narrative.
The very unsubtle bias against Russia irritated me the whole book. Regardless of politics, people are people and I’m sure the nice guy to asshole ratio between the SVR and CIA are near identical because the US are just as guilty of pulling crap as Russia and suggesting otherwise is propaganda or naivety. “Oh no the Russians use torture but the US are good guys and don’t stoop to that level!” Guantanamo Bay anyone? I would have preferred to see neutrality on the moral judgment of the two countries or at least a bias that wasn’t rammed down my throat every chapter because the only good Russians defected and the only really terrible Americans defected.
This guy also clearly hates Putin with a burning passion and honestly he wasn’t necessary to bring into things it felt again like believability was compromised because he’s a real living person right now and you know the author probably hasn’t even met the guy and yet he’s actually demonizing him in every description. He’s got some bad policies and beliefs but dehumanizing him into some sort of evil overlord while barely including him in the plot comes across like Taylor Swift writing songs about her exes.
This bias almost balanced itself enough to be palatable towards the end with the CIA director being an arrogant pushy douche. He was allowed to have a 3 dimensional personality however unlike his Russian counterparts. Then the ending spoiled it being all “there’s the Russians for you, untrustworthy and merciless but Dominika’s okay because she’ll obviously now keep betraying Russia”.
Do I need to touch on the constant reference to Dominika’s sexy muscular ballet legs or her blue eyes and dark hair? I can’t freaking remember what Nate’s hair color is or his eyes because it wasn’t repeated every five pages. It’s not necessary. Dominika herself doesn’t appreciate being sexualized by her Evil Russian Countrymen so why is it okay for the author?
Overall it was a decent read but these things definitely detracted for me.
Wow, this is SO detailed and amazing. If you love books about spycraft and CIA work, you will appreciate the complexity and detail of Jason Matthews’ RED SPARROW, which is told from the pov of Dominica, a Russian girl who is trained as a “sparrow” or Russian intelligence officer who will spy and run honey pot operations, seducing her targets and gathering information, and Nate, a CIA officer who had been in Moscow managing informants until one day he is nearly caught and his cover is blown. She is sent to extract information from him. He is told to develop her as an agent. But are real feelings starting to form?
This is just a really cool book, especially if you ever loved the TV show “The Americans” and questions of real or not real. Long, complex, and with an interesting array of emotions that keep you invested in seeing what comes next. And I just loved Dominica and Nate! So many twists and turns as this winds its way towards the end. Definitely reading the next book in the series!
This is just a really cool book, especially if you ever loved the TV show “The Americans” and questions of real or not real. Long, complex, and with an interesting array of emotions that keep you invested in seeing what comes next. And I just loved Dominica and Nate! So many twists and turns as this winds its way towards the end. Definitely reading the next book in the series!
Too many details I didn’t care about. I almost didn’t finish this. I had to scan the boring parts to get to the actual good parts. Honestly, I’m not a spy book kind of person. I don’t understand the lingo, all the undercover he said she said just gets me confused and bored out of my mind. The ending sucked completely and I realized it’s because there’s more books in the series and that made me even more mad.
They sure do eat a lot for spies- if only the book was as interesting as the food
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No