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3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
Struggling with not having half stars to bump this to 3-1/2. I enjoyed reading it, and I got bored reading it. I didn't love any of the characters.
This was honestly such a well crafted story that legit seemed like the retelling of an actual real life spy (maybe it is and I just don’t know).
But this was such a unexpectedly captivating story. Although there was very little to no big explosive action movie type of action, the story moved at a very nice pace and was super intriguing at all times.
I honestly cannot put my finger on what it is that kept me reading (because usually I prefer more actions rather than a fully character driven book) but this just did it for me.
There’s also a very nice exploration of identity, patriotism and what it means to be loyal to one’s country.
But this was such a unexpectedly captivating story. Although there was very little to no big explosive action movie type of action, the story moved at a very nice pace and was super intriguing at all times.
I honestly cannot put my finger on what it is that kept me reading (because usually I prefer more actions rather than a fully character driven book) but this just did it for me.
There’s also a very nice exploration of identity, patriotism and what it means to be loyal to one’s country.
http://wordnerdy.blogspot.com/2015/01/2015-book-5.html
This novel was amazing, and I enjoyed every word. The two parallel narratives worked really well together.
"At any rate, Gary was different from the rest of us ... and earned his promotions, granted directly from the top. To tell the truth, in the seventies, my colleagues would pronounce his name with reverence."
"You mean they regarded him as a hero?"
"Also a legend."
I wasn't planning on reading A Map of Betrayal. It was on a huge discount at my local Barnes and Noble. While I did end up enjoying this, I didn't like specific parts of it.
For one, I disliked how
I also disliked how Lilian seemed to have friends everywhere. Needs a place in X? Stacy from X, USA is inevitably teaching international finances at a high-end university there. Everything was just too conveniently placed for Lilian to me.
"You mean they regarded him as a hero?"
"Also a legend."
I wasn't planning on reading A Map of Betrayal. It was on a huge discount at my local Barnes and Noble. While I did end up enjoying this, I didn't like specific parts of it.
For one, I disliked how
Spoiler
Ben (Lilian's long-lost nephew) was revealed to be a minor Chinese spy. It was so obvious from the moment that we were introduced to him that he was a shady character with something to hide.I also disliked how Lilian seemed to have friends everywhere. Needs a place in X? Stacy from X, USA is inevitably teaching international finances at a high-end university there. Everything was just too conveniently placed for Lilian to me.
For a book about a spy with two families and a mistress, this is written in the most practical and undramatic prose imaginable. For the most part, that's a good thing; the story hums along and provides a nice exploration of China without theatrics, but it did leave me with a major sense of disconnect from the characters. I can't say this moved me at all, but it was very readable and I enjoyed this little sojourn out of my usual vein of fantasy and sci-fi.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Mildly entertaining but so self-righteous and a completely lazy attempt by a man to write a female first-person narrator. Mostly a vehicle for the author's thoughts on China and geopolitics - I could give the analysis itself a higher rating if I didn't take personal offense at the way it was shoehorned into a fiction narrative
A very well-done book with all the little details that make you think the story is a documentary. Only with the characterization you can only get in fiction. Very worth reading.
This wasn't the greatest page-turner but I still found it interesting, largely because of Lillian's first-person narration of the story, which I preferred over sections about her father Gary (told in the third person).