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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
While I have loved other Beatriz Williams books, this was a miss for me. I feel like a lot of it was my fault as I was preoccupied while reading it. That being said, I could not keep up with what was happening, switching between the two twin sisters and the different timelines just led to a big jumbled mess in my mind. I couldn't keep up with who's sleeping with who and who's spying on who. Siiiiggggh......maybe one day I will try to re-read it. My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a galley of this book for review.
adventurous
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-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
Initially I was not sure about this book but soon became completely engrossed in it, an absolute page turner. Set mainly in 1940 and 1952 the story is loosely based on the Cambridge Five a group of extremely well educated men who became spies and subsequently defected to Russia. The spy Donald McLean is represented by Sasha Digby, a man who works in the foreign embassy. He falls in love with and marries Iris, telling her very little about his double life, eventually the strain becomes too much for him and he turns to alcohol. He convinces Iris to defect to Russia with him, taking their three children.
Ruth is Iris’s sister, the opposite of Iris in both appearance and confidence. They have a falling out and after the defection she hears nothing from Iris until one day she receives a postcard saying Iris is pregnant and she would like Ruth to go to Moscow to help when she has the baby as previous births have been extremely difficult.
The reader is drawn into the machinations of Moscow and the complete lack of trust of anyone; tension builds as the family tries to escape from Russia.
Ruth is Iris’s sister, the opposite of Iris in both appearance and confidence. They have a falling out and after the defection she hears nothing from Iris until one day she receives a postcard saying Iris is pregnant and she would like Ruth to go to Moscow to help when she has the baby as previous births have been extremely difficult.
The reader is drawn into the machinations of Moscow and the complete lack of trust of anyone; tension builds as the family tries to escape from Russia.
This was honestly so captivating and fun! A spy thriller! Estranged twins! Romance! American defectors. It's got it all and it was well written and well paced. I would definitely recommend it
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Really hard to follow the different timelines. I was confused half of the book as to which sister I was reading about. It did get interesting towards the end, but overall, unless you enjoy political fiction or stories set in the aftermath of WWII / beginning of Cold War, I would not recommend.