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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
This book had me trying to read faster and faster to find out what happened.
Although this book was a slow starter, it was worth the read. The Cold War is one of my favorite eras of history to study, and this book gave me even more perspective from a very unique point-of-view.
I think more people should read this book, and remind themselves that the "American Way" of blind patritoism is dangerous. Americans have long been colonizers and asimilationist, and forget to acknowledge that our way of life and governing is oppressive when forced onto other places in the world. It is sad to think we are STILL waving our flags around in the faces of countries who are not like us, and that many fail to realize that it is okay to be different. Sometimes it even means life can be BETTER if you stop following blind patritoism and look at what is best for everyone - not just the white, upper-class male. Okay, I'll get off my soap-box now. But, seriously, give this a read.
I think more people should read this book, and remind themselves that the "American Way" of blind patritoism is dangerous. Americans have long been colonizers and asimilationist, and forget to acknowledge that our way of life and governing is oppressive when forced onto other places in the world. It is sad to think we are STILL waving our flags around in the faces of countries who are not like us, and that many fail to realize that it is okay to be different. Sometimes it even means life can be BETTER if you stop following blind patritoism and look at what is best for everyone - not just the white, upper-class male. Okay, I'll get off my soap-box now. But, seriously, give this a read.
I finished this book in 2 days, which for an audiobook is QUICK. Bahni Turpin once again does a story complete justice; she is one of my favorite narrators.
American Spy is at once a complex and simple story. The writing is utterly engrossing. It’s told as a semi-epistolary novel - a mother writing the story of her life to her twin sons. If it weren’t based on a true story I’d say some of it is too far-fetched for fiction, but the way the US and USSR behaves in Africa in the Cold War is astonishing.
I recommend this to people who love spy novels, or those who usually lean toward nonfiction and are looking for something to bridge the fiction/nonfiction gap.
American Spy is at once a complex and simple story. The writing is utterly engrossing. It’s told as a semi-epistolary novel - a mother writing the story of her life to her twin sons. If it weren’t based on a true story I’d say some of it is too far-fetched for fiction, but the way the US and USSR behaves in Africa in the Cold War is astonishing.
I recommend this to people who love spy novels, or those who usually lean toward nonfiction and are looking for something to bridge the fiction/nonfiction gap.
this book was such an interesting concept and so promising to me! sadly, it fell slightly short of my expectations.
I loved the main character and her relationship with each of her family members, particularly her sister, of course. her relationship with her mother, her father, and her sister was uniquely complicated, flawed and loving in a beautifully human way, and I loved learning more about what caused those relationships to unfold as they did.
I also really enjoyed reading about the political context of the time in New York, Martinique, and Burkina Faso. this international story taking place in 1986 at the height of the Cold War is clearly a well-researched journey - and based on true events!
I found the structure of the book very endearing, as well. writing the book as a letter to her sons was very confusing at first, and I had to read whole paragraphs twice or three times in the beginning to track characters and relationships, but soon I was enveloped in the story.
I was so excited after the first few pages of this book for an exciting and fast-paced spy novel, and that’s just not in the design of this book. this book is much more of a family history, social and political commentary, and history of international relations than it is a spy novel. I was sadly bored in many moments and it took me so long to get through this book. I think that is because I was expecting a spy novel and instead got this deeply interesting and complicated unpacking of what it means to be a Fed and the ethics behind US intervention in governments internationally. which I found really interesting, but not the pace of a spy novel.
I think the main reasons I returned to the book even when I was a bit bored were our main character, her life story, and the interesting political climate the story discussed. the pace was off for me sadly but the writing is really strong! I rated this 3 stars on Goodreads & think I would recommend to some people, but not generally.
I loved the main character and her relationship with each of her family members, particularly her sister, of course. her relationship with her mother, her father, and her sister was uniquely complicated, flawed and loving in a beautifully human way, and I loved learning more about what caused those relationships to unfold as they did.
I also really enjoyed reading about the political context of the time in New York, Martinique, and Burkina Faso. this international story taking place in 1986 at the height of the Cold War is clearly a well-researched journey - and based on true events!
I found the structure of the book very endearing, as well. writing the book as a letter to her sons was very confusing at first, and I had to read whole paragraphs twice or three times in the beginning to track characters and relationships, but soon I was enveloped in the story.
I was so excited after the first few pages of this book for an exciting and fast-paced spy novel, and that’s just not in the design of this book. this book is much more of a family history, social and political commentary, and history of international relations than it is a spy novel. I was sadly bored in many moments and it took me so long to get through this book. I think that is because I was expecting a spy novel and instead got this deeply interesting and complicated unpacking of what it means to be a Fed and the ethics behind US intervention in governments internationally. which I found really interesting, but not the pace of a spy novel.
I think the main reasons I returned to the book even when I was a bit bored were our main character, her life story, and the interesting political climate the story discussed. the pace was off for me sadly but the writing is really strong! I rated this 3 stars on Goodreads & think I would recommend to some people, but not generally.
Solid novel, and I liked the specificity of mentions of middle class black neighborhoods in Queens from her childhood - parts of the city that seem vastly underrepresented in literature.
This book could have been so much more. My favorite part was the main character's description of her first few days in Burkina Faso and how she described some incidents of culture shock. The rest was very unbelievable, and if it were more of a thriller spy novel, I'd be okay with an anti-hero doing unbelievably spectacular feats of changing geopolitics through sheer cunning (or force if it was a male character of course) but this wasn't quite a spy thriller and wasn't quite historical fiction and just overall wasn't quite good enough.
how can a comforter fit in a backpack? 🤔
really enjoyed this book. Excited to read whatever she writes next.
really enjoyed this book. Excited to read whatever she writes next.
I had to binge-read this book when someone else put a hold on it, and I'm grateful for that. I absolutely loved this book. This is a character-driven story of a woman in the FBI, starting out when she escapes an intruder in her home and flees to her mother's home in Martinique with her young twin sons. It tells her backstory and relationship with her family, how she started in the FBI, and then ultimately leads her to an opportunity in Burkina Faso. This section of the book is based in fact, and I love when I can learn real history while reading fiction. Ultimately, we learn why she, a Black woman, chose to work in a traditionally white man's field, and also about being a Black American in Africa, and the outsiderness of that situation. So many different themes relating to both feminism and race, and woven together well. One of my favorite fiction books of the year so far.
This was a different take on a typical spy story with lots of family drama woven in. Can't say I've read a novel partially based on Burkina Faso (nor did I realize the political aspect of that story was true until I googled it after reading).