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nchinnici 's review for:
Red Sparrow
by Jason Matthews
I hadn’t heard of Red Sparrow before seeing a preview for its movie adaptation but it looked so interesting I decided to pick the book up before watching the movie.
“It’s a spy movie, for Christ’s sake.”
A true spy novel, Red Sparrow is a story of espionage that follows modern day American and Russian agents as they pursue each other across the world. Matthews’s CIA background is quite clear through the sheer amount of detail that helped bring this story to life. On the other hand, sometimes the details became overwhelming to the point of slowing the story down. I also was surprised and confused to see a recipe at the end of every chapter. (If someone can explain the purpose of this, please let me know!) That being said, in the end I was entertained and found myself excited to see how it would translate to screen.
This was a case where the movie was well adapted from book to screen, condensing some sections and removing some storylines entirely. The more tightly edited plot and faster pace of the movie was more to my liking but constricted the amount of time necessary to build chemistry between the main characters. And the ending took a twist that I did not expect!
I won’t go into more details so as not to spoil anything, the blurb gives you all the information you need going in. I will say that both the book and movie are decidedly graphic, with both sex and torture scenes that may make some uncomfortable. Fans of spy thrillers will enjoy digging into the details of the trade in the book. If you prefer your spy stories with more action and a faster pace, try the movie instead.
“It’s a spy movie, for Christ’s sake.”
A true spy novel, Red Sparrow is a story of espionage that follows modern day American and Russian agents as they pursue each other across the world. Matthews’s CIA background is quite clear through the sheer amount of detail that helped bring this story to life. On the other hand, sometimes the details became overwhelming to the point of slowing the story down. I also was surprised and confused to see a recipe at the end of every chapter. (If someone can explain the purpose of this, please let me know!) That being said, in the end I was entertained and found myself excited to see how it would translate to screen.
This was a case where the movie was well adapted from book to screen, condensing some sections and removing some storylines entirely. The more tightly edited plot and faster pace of the movie was more to my liking but constricted the amount of time necessary to build chemistry between the main characters. And the ending took a twist that I did not expect!
I won’t go into more details so as not to spoil anything, the blurb gives you all the information you need going in. I will say that both the book and movie are decidedly graphic, with both sex and torture scenes that may make some uncomfortable. Fans of spy thrillers will enjoy digging into the details of the trade in the book. If you prefer your spy stories with more action and a faster pace, try the movie instead.