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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Abandonment
Moderate: Vomit, Pregnancy
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
We Peek into the lens of a mother, who is also a black American spy in this novel. She informs us of her journey of being undervalued at work. Being inspired by her deceased on her sister, our main character, her opportunity in her career by spying on a political figure.
I wanted to love this book. However, although fictional it’s difficult to read the realities of how orchestrated political violence is carried out.
I wouldn’t call this book a thriller but it’s worth a read.
I wanted to love this book. However, although fictional it’s difficult to read the realities of how orchestrated political violence is carried out.
I wouldn’t call this book a thriller but it’s worth a read.
Super engrossing. This is the first book in years that I simply wasn’t able to put down. It’s suspenseful, makes you question the motivations of folks involved in international politics, and has plenty of humanity thrown in to keep the characters three-dimensional.
I tried this once before, closer to its release date, because the premise is so irresistible: in the late 1980s, Black FBI agent Marie Mitchell is subcontracted by the CIA for a honeypot mission, seducing and compromising charismatic Thomas Sankara, the Communist leader of Burkina Faso. I was initially stymied by what felt to me like stilted writing and pacing, and put it down. Later I read that the epistolary conceit (the book is supposedly Marie’s journal/letter to her twin sons) fades out halfway through and the book improves. The conceit sort of fades out, but the book does not improve. The writing never gets less awkward and demonstrative; the emotions we’re meant to feel about Marie’s divided loyalties, the complexity of her position as a Black woman in a racist society who nevertheless actively works to uphold and expand American global supremacy, are always told us but never come alive on the page. Nor is her sexual attraction to Sankara, or his powerful political appeal to his own people, convincing; Wilkinson gives us two of his speeches and neither contains more than vague platitudes. I won’t go on about American Spy’s weaknesses—there’s no mileage in doing a hatchet job on this novel, which I think was written in good faith and wasn’t so wildly popular that it feels like a public duty to rip it apart—but this didn’t work for me on any level. A huge shame with a premise so promising. Source: local library #LoveYourLibrary
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Incredible book. Not a traditional spy thriller by any means, though the tension definitely picks up in the last quarter. I’m obsessed with characters like Marie who end up working in a system that’s designed to be hostile to them, believing that she can effect change from the inside, and the mix of her idealism and cynicism was like catnip to me. I loved the conceit of the format—her journals, written for her sons, and the way the story unfolded. I had a slow start with it, but devoured the last three quarters. Fascinating and thought provoking and engrossing.
My only real issue is that it desperately needs an epilogue, perhaps something written by her sons years later, if you want to stick faithfully to the format. I’m sure it was a deliberate choice, but the story feels unfinished.
My only real issue is that it desperately needs an epilogue, perhaps something written by her sons years later, if you want to stick faithfully to the format. I’m sure it was a deliberate choice, but the story feels unfinished.
I don't read spy novels really, but I love a good historical fiction, and especially with Cold War intrigue and race/gender as well - and the story did not disappoint. The book was exciting, the pacing great, the observations of how overseas travel as an American of color makes you experience your racial and cultural identity differently. The characters felt frustratingly opaque though, and the kind of throw-your-hands-up response by Marie to complicated and contradictory ethics and actions both made sense and also felt deeply unsatisfying. The mysterious Helene also remained unresolved, she was never really a good person but her memory animated so much of the plot, and we never really get a sense of what happened when she died. Was it dishonoring her memory to try to shut down Ross and Slater, when she'd been part of the plot? I'm glad in the end that there isn't a clear resolution - the narrative is consistent that way - and I wonder if we'll see a sequel.
medium-paced
American Spy is a novel the spy genre has desperately needed to add to its ranks. Unfortunately, while there are many moments of greatness in this book (particularly at the beginning), the novel overall falls a bit short. There were one too many coincidences and unexplained plot points that gave me pause while reading. For a novel that had a lot of grounding in the gritty reality of spying from the overlooked and under appreciated perspective of Marie, it became downright unbelievable at points. Of course, reality has to be suspended somewhat in fiction in order to entertain the audience, but I felt that often times the plot was rushed when it should have been more flushed out. However, despite these criticisms of the novel I really must say I enjoyed it and recommend it. Is it perfect? No. But does it start a conversation and open up the spy genre to more stories like Marie's? Absolutely. And as I previously mentioned, there were actually several moments in the book that were quite outstanding.