Reviews

A Beautiful Spy by Rachel Hore

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staceyinthesticks's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

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chloeab's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

sslovesbooks's review against another edition

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4.0

This is a lovely read which tells the story of Minnie Gray, who is recruited as a spy in the inter war period. She finds herself in the middle of the Communist movement in London, living a double life.

annarella's review against another edition

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4.0

This is the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last as I liked the well researched mix of historical facts and fiction and the style of writing.
The book is slow burning and I liked the vivid historical background and Minnie, an interesting and fleshed out characters.
Even if this based on the life of a real spy I think that the Minnie and her struggle to maintain the balance are at the centre of the story.
The author is a good storyteller and the book kept my attention till the end.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

erinandbooks's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

Exciting, engrossing and I didn't want to put it down. The paranoia followed me to the final page. Can't believe this was a true story. What an amazing woman.

mackenzierm's review

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3.0

3/5 stars!

A BEAUTIFUL SPY is the fictional story of Minnie Gray who is a spy for the British government in the 1930s. The story is based on the real life experiences of Olga Gray. Minnie is expected by her family to conform to societal norms and find a man to marry and procreate with. This doesn’t appeal to her in any way, so when given an opportunity to be a spy for the British government, she jumps on it.

Rachel Hore writes a beautiful story detailing the life experiences of Minnie Gray as a spy. I personally found the story to be a bit dry, not really holding my interest. It’s described to be a suspenseful story, but ultimately, did not reach to my expectations. The plot is slow and builds up to the main event which happens in the last 50-60 pages.

Minnie is a brave and courageous character, devoting nearly a decade of her life to leading a double life, which few are privy to. I thought it was really cool to read about a female spy in the 1930s and learn about the difficulties that entailed during that time period.

I enjoyed the ending of the novel because I feel like we got a nice closure to Minnie’s life. I think that may have been my favorite part of the book as we get to see another side of Minnie!

Rachel Hore is an author who is new to me and I will most definitely be checking out her other works in the future!