Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
I enjoyed this a lot. It's a real spy vs spy story with Russians against Americans in fairly modern-day times, with Putin as the Russian president. It's mainly about recruiting moles for each side, with a twist of two spies trying to recruit each other. To make it more interesting, one is a beautiful Russian spy who is very capable. She started out as a dancer, but a competitor knocked her out of that, by breaking her leg. Her uncle was a high-ranking spy, and when she wanted to become a spy, he trained her to be a sort of honey-trap, which they call a Sparrow; since she's Russian, she's a Red Sparrow. But she was able to move beyond this role into a full-fledged spy, with special capabilities that made her a super-star.
The author is a retired CIA officer, so I guess he knows a bit about the field, which makes this more interesting, since I assume it's all feasible if not happening. I'm looking forward to reading more in this series.
The author is a retired CIA officer, so I guess he knows a bit about the field, which makes this more interesting, since I assume it's all feasible if not happening. I'm looking forward to reading more in this series.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There were two things that stood out to me immediately about the novel Red Sparrow. The first is that Nathaniel Nash is clearly meant to be the author's own dashing self-insert. The second is that the main character Dominika Egorova is probably the closest thing to the old joke about men writing women as 'breasting boobily down the stairs' as I've ever seen written in an actual book.
Aside from that, there were several other reasons I found myself contemplating putting the book down. For one, the supporting characters were much more engaging than the two leads were. If there was a book about Korchnoi and his exploits as a long-lived mole in Russian intelligence, I'd snap it up in a heartbeat. Dominika, in all her breasted boobiness, is a woman whose character is entirely written around her sex appeal. And the frequent sex scenes are weird. Did her sexual awakening where she masturbated with a precious heirloom hairbrush really need to be included? She's also a synesthete that can read people's emotions, which is somehow both over-utilized and under-explored in the novel.
There was also a scene with some out-of the blue transphobia that was incredibly jarring. Towards the end of the book Nate gets in an altercation with a female Russian mole who has been stealing state secrets about submarine manufacture. For no reason except to make her more monstrous, the book fixates on her being hypermasculine and having a 'bulge' in her spandex workout gear and being near impossible to defeat. It had no purpose in the story other than that one fight and was never brought up again.
This is a particularly egregious example, but it highlights something that Jason Matthews does a lot. All of the good characters are conventionally attractive, or if not conventionally attractive they exude personality and charm. This extends to the good Russians, and is used to contrast Dominika from her non-traitor peers in the Russian intelligence service. The evil characters, however, are flagged by being unattractive. This could be through exploiting disability as ugliness (Matorin's 'poached egg' blind eye, another character's apparent dwarfism) or through the use of Dominika's synesthesia. Either way it's cheap writing. I'm not a child and I don't need Disney-style villain coding to make it clear who the bad guys are.
What I did enjoy and what kept me from giving up on Red Sparrow all together was the detailed spycraft and the tense pacing of the action. I didn't care all that much about Nate or Dominika, but I wanted to figure out what happened next in the book. It's a good thing, too, or I would have tossed it much earlier.
All in all, I managed to finish it, and I consider that a victory. 2.5/3 stars, rounded up.
Aside from that, there were several other reasons I found myself contemplating putting the book down. For one, the supporting characters were much more engaging than the two leads were. If there was a book about Korchnoi and his exploits as a long-lived mole in Russian intelligence, I'd snap it up in a heartbeat. Dominika, in all her breasted boobiness, is a woman whose character is entirely written around her sex appeal. And the frequent sex scenes are weird. Did her sexual awakening where she masturbated with a precious heirloom hairbrush really need to be included? She's also a synesthete that can read people's emotions, which is somehow both over-utilized and under-explored in the novel.
There was also a scene with some out-of the blue transphobia that was incredibly jarring. Towards the end of the book Nate gets in an altercation with a female Russian mole who has been stealing state secrets about submarine manufacture. For no reason except to make her more monstrous, the book fixates on her being hypermasculine and having a 'bulge' in her spandex workout gear and being near impossible to defeat. It had no purpose in the story other than that one fight and was never brought up again.
This is a particularly egregious example, but it highlights something that Jason Matthews does a lot. All of the good characters are conventionally attractive, or if not conventionally attractive they exude personality and charm. This extends to the good Russians, and is used to contrast Dominika from her non-traitor peers in the Russian intelligence service. The evil characters, however, are flagged by being unattractive. This could be through exploiting disability as ugliness (Matorin's 'poached egg' blind eye, another character's apparent dwarfism) or through the use of Dominika's synesthesia. Either way it's cheap writing. I'm not a child and I don't need Disney-style villain coding to make it clear who the bad guys are.
What I did enjoy and what kept me from giving up on Red Sparrow all together was the detailed spycraft and the tense pacing of the action. I didn't care all that much about Nate or Dominika, but I wanted to figure out what happened next in the book. It's a good thing, too, or I would have tossed it much earlier.
All in all, I managed to finish it, and I consider that a victory. 2.5/3 stars, rounded up.
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
It took a bit for me to become invested in the characters, making the time it took to read the book longer. I blame this on the fact that I could already picture Jennifer Lawrence and wanted to blow past ancillary characters and plot points to meet the Sparrow. I hit what I call the 3/4 slump--the moment where you've read 3/4 of the book and wish you could power through to find out where the main characters end up but the book isn't holding your interest as much as you hoped.
Despite the slump, the book was enjoyable. I'll probably read the other two, but it won't be too soon.
Despite the slump, the book was enjoyable. I'll probably read the other two, but it won't be too soon.
An interesting read at times. I think it was a little black and white on America is good and Russia is bad. Maybe it is that simple but I have my doubts. Also I feel as if the whole sparrow school thing was kind of just thrown in there. It doesn't really seem to play a part after she leaves. Overall still entertaining but I'm not sure if I'll continue the series unless I have nothing else to read.
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Definitely recommended. There is a movie coming out later this year (Nov 2017) based on this book. The movie should be really good, but I haven't seen any trailers. The second book in the trilogy is out and the third is scheduled for release in late August 2017. I have both on my to read list. New-ish male CIA recruit and new-ish female Russian spy attempt to recruit each other while stationed in Helsinki - and that's just the start of the book.