bek_parsons 's review for:

Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews

3.5

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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As far as spy romps go, I enjoyed it as an espionage thriller. The free indirect discourse style allowed interesting insight into the side characters, and they bring this book to a much higher level. It runs into ‘females written by men’ issue, especially as it deals with the protagonists sexuality as her ‘secret  self’ amongst other very sexist descriptions of women. How do you show a woman that success with the world of men - write her as mannish….