A review by shelovestoread
Orphan Monster Spy by Matt Killeen

3.0

"Would the future Germany have any evidence of its crimes? Would it smell bad and would people even know why?"

This book is a World War II novel. The main protagonist is Sarah, who is a Jew with an Aryan appearance. After her mother get killed abandoned and alone she meets a man who turns out it be a spy. She is recruited by him to to be a spy and go inside and infiltrated a Nazi boarding school.



Sarah was an incredibly strong character. She kept all her suffering and violence she has witnessed buried in the back of her mind and used it to be stronger and more push through situations. She is clever, sharp and Swift and deal quickly with situation to keep herself safe.

The world building and the insight to Nazi time is done very brilliantly, you can see the research done.. It has a lot of German words and I had to constantly search and find out their meaning (because well I didn't know any of them, totally new to me). But they provided a great insight into those times.


This book portrays a great deal inside the mind of Nazi's and how wrong and bad things were back than. The race complex and all the superiority. Also how everyone was supposed to be strong and brutal and serve the "fatherland". How everyone was assigned a role. This book tells you a lot of facts.


The thing I struggled with this book was the plot. I know it's supposed to historical fiction. But I just had this feeling in the back of my mind about this being fiction. And how the plot didn't feel so enthralling to me. I know that these things really did happen in time and all. But just this story of Sarah, it being fiction. I don't know to explain but it just didn't move me the way I should have. But that's my own personal problem. I have know to cry over WW stories but I guess I just didn't connect with this one sigh.


The plot was chillingly uncomfortable. A lot of things happens that make you gag. Or chill you to the bone.

This book though historical fiction is more on the side of a brutal and very difficult spy operation with the war on the backside of things.

Over all this book is hauntingly intense. Gives you a deep insight of Nazi times, it's deeply educational for people who might not know nitty gritty in the background of the world war II.

Thank you to Usborne for the ARC.