A review by alongreader
Amber Undercover by Em Norry, E.L. Norry

4.0

What a fun book! Amber and her best friend complete an Escape Room challenge and, in the final moments, Amber finds herself feeling calm and forceful, keeping the others playing to their strengths until they win with moments to spare. The company running the Room invite her back for another new game...and then they reveal that actually, they've been looking for some new spies, and Amber is a perfect fit...

I keep seeing this book compared to Alex Rider (and Amber even name checks that series) but really, apart from being about teenage spies, they're not much alike. Alex was always very angsty; he didn't want to be a spy, but kept getting forced into it. Amber doesn't like lying to people, but she loves being a spy, once she starts to get the hang of it. It's more like a kid friendly version of Cherub, if anything.

I was expecting things to be much more sinister than they turned out ... I've probably read too many adult thrillers recently ... but I really enjoyed reading along with Amber. This is a fantastic read and I could see it being useful in the classroom, too.

This is a wonderful, funny, heartfelt, action packed read and I'd love to read more about Amber's adventures in the future. I'm sure she has a bright future ahead of her.