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A review by theliteratureladies
Orphan Monster Spy by Matt Killeen
3.0
It’s no secret your literature ladies love WWII fiction. While I have found myself personally tapering off some on this genre in recent years (needed some books a little less heavy, anyone with me?), I still enjoy stepping into this pivotal and monumental part of history from time to time, especially via a fictionalized narrative. Orphan, Monster, Spy by Matt Killeen certainly fit the bill.
Readers join Sarah, a Jew, who goes undercover as the niece of a prominent “German” (he’s actually a spy), enrolls in school with the other daughters of Nazi elite, and collects information she feeds back to her “uncle.” Sarah’s physical features allow her to blend in seamlessly, and her late mother’s career as an actress (and subsequent training of Sarah to do the same) equip her to play the part well.
While I found myself immersed in the story, I didn’t feel it entirely wowed me. I felt Sarah was a likable enough character, but I didn’t love her. We don’t spend enough time with many other characters (apart from a select few) for me to feel any strong attachment one way or the other. The overall story was interesting – learning about the German school, the highlights on Nazi disorganization, the way the youth were so indoctrinated with the ideals of Nazi Germany…the glimpse into the education system was interesting, but it was just a glimpse. It really only provided a backdrop for the drama between the school girls (which again, was the point of the novel, but still).
My biggest beef with the story was I felt Killeen could have varied up his word repetition. He used a certain German phrase constantly, and that got old to me pretty quickly. He also had Sarah referencing being a “good monster” pretty frequently. I felt his writing style just wasn’t my favorite, and the lack of word variety (a pet peeve of mine) took away from the story just a touch.
Overall, this was a good book. I enjoyed the story, I wanted to see how it ended, and I read it fairly quickly (all marks of a decent read for me these days). It wasn’t extraordinary, but it was interesting and did a meaningful job of highlighting some of the many atrocities of WWII – from the persecution of certain people groups to the abuse of the young women they were raising up to continue the race.
www.theliteratureladies.com
Readers join Sarah, a Jew, who goes undercover as the niece of a prominent “German” (he’s actually a spy), enrolls in school with the other daughters of Nazi elite, and collects information she feeds back to her “uncle.” Sarah’s physical features allow her to blend in seamlessly, and her late mother’s career as an actress (and subsequent training of Sarah to do the same) equip her to play the part well.
While I found myself immersed in the story, I didn’t feel it entirely wowed me. I felt Sarah was a likable enough character, but I didn’t love her. We don’t spend enough time with many other characters (apart from a select few) for me to feel any strong attachment one way or the other. The overall story was interesting – learning about the German school, the highlights on Nazi disorganization, the way the youth were so indoctrinated with the ideals of Nazi Germany…the glimpse into the education system was interesting, but it was just a glimpse. It really only provided a backdrop for the drama between the school girls (which again, was the point of the novel, but still).
My biggest beef with the story was I felt Killeen could have varied up his word repetition. He used a certain German phrase constantly, and that got old to me pretty quickly. He also had Sarah referencing being a “good monster” pretty frequently. I felt his writing style just wasn’t my favorite, and the lack of word variety (a pet peeve of mine) took away from the story just a touch.
Overall, this was a good book. I enjoyed the story, I wanted to see how it ended, and I read it fairly quickly (all marks of a decent read for me these days). It wasn’t extraordinary, but it was interesting and did a meaningful job of highlighting some of the many atrocities of WWII – from the persecution of certain people groups to the abuse of the young women they were raising up to continue the race.
www.theliteratureladies.com