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A review by jennifermreads
Orphan Monster Spy by Matt Killeen
2.0
Received advanced reader copy from publisher via Baker & Taylor book supplier
After her mother is killed, an Aryan in appearance but very Jewish Sarah is taken in by a man who has many accents, more names, and an uncertain past. She agrees to help him on a mission he is having a hard time completing: get into the home of a top scientist who has the plans for a bomb that could decimate Germany’s enemies. Using the years of training her actress mother passed along to her, Sarah enters a boarding school to try to befriend the scientist’s daughter – and get to those plans before the bomb is completed.
I love first lines of books. A fantastic one can grip readers from the first word; a mediocre one makes me proceed with caution. This book’s first line? “Finally, the car came to a stop.” Um. Yeah. Not a real suck-you-in kind of line. Luckily the first scene did what the first line did not: quick action with amazing pictures being painted while our heroine goes on the run.
And then? Sputtering. The middle of the book was just ok and felt very disjointed. It seemed to take an eternity for Sarah to get where she needed to be. And then? Ewwwwww!
The ending was decent – and. But when I closed the cover for the last time, I had the immediate thought of “Huh. How could that have happened and Sarah didn’t …?” A big enough plot hole that I was left feeling very uncomfortable.
World War II and Holocaust historical fiction is a favorite of mine. So picking this up from my massive pile of ARCs was a no brainer. But by the end, I was just left feeling “meh” and that plot hole was hard to suspend and let ride. If there is more Sarah, I’m not going along for the ride.
After her mother is killed, an Aryan in appearance but very Jewish Sarah is taken in by a man who has many accents, more names, and an uncertain past. She agrees to help him on a mission he is having a hard time completing: get into the home of a top scientist who has the plans for a bomb that could decimate Germany’s enemies. Using the years of training her actress mother passed along to her, Sarah enters a boarding school to try to befriend the scientist’s daughter – and get to those plans before the bomb is completed.
I love first lines of books. A fantastic one can grip readers from the first word; a mediocre one makes me proceed with caution. This book’s first line? “Finally, the car came to a stop.” Um. Yeah. Not a real suck-you-in kind of line. Luckily the first scene did what the first line did not: quick action with amazing pictures being painted while our heroine goes on the run.
And then? Sputtering. The middle of the book was just ok and felt very disjointed. It seemed to take an eternity for Sarah to get where she needed to be. And then? Ewwwwww!
Spoiler
The scientist is a pedophile? And his daughter brings girls home knowing what will happen? Plain creepy, 100% disgusting. But, I guess, necessary in order for the plot to move where the writer took it.The ending was decent – and
Spoiler
left a door open for the author to write more about SarahSpoiler
Sarah was near the gates/guards when the bomb blast hit (went “white,” then “red,” then she was at the barrier at a canter on the horse when the sound hit. So, if the guards at the house got radiation poisoning, how did Sarah avoid it?World War II and Holocaust historical fiction is a favorite of mine. So picking this up from my massive pile of ARCs was a no brainer. But by the end, I was just left feeling “meh” and that plot hole was hard to suspend and let ride. If there is more Sarah, I’m not going along for the ride.