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A review by thepaledreamer
Northern Spy by Flynn Berry
2.0
2.5 stars.
I have so many mixed feelings about this book. As a character-driven novel, it excels. I was fully invested in Tessa, Marian, and their family (their mom cracked me up multiple times, bless). Unsurprisingly I also enjoyed the espionage/informant aspects though admittedly, the plot had SO many holes it tested my suspension of disbelief. Mostly my ambivalence comes from the novel's descriptions of Northern Ireland. I am not well versed in the history of The Troubles, yet from all accounts, while the peace in NI is a tense one, there haven't been as many attacks as this book seems to suggest (this week notwithstanding). I even saw a couple of reviewers native to the region say it was a fictionalized version of NI? I don't know; I feel as if more effort had to be made to establish the alternate timeline if that was the case, and if it was more Tessa worrying over her family, then that could have also been made more apparent? It's a shame because though I did enjoy reading it, these aspects just kept pulling me out of what would have otherwise been a great reading experience.
I have so many mixed feelings about this book. As a character-driven novel, it excels. I was fully invested in Tessa, Marian, and their family (their mom cracked me up multiple times, bless). Unsurprisingly I also enjoyed the espionage/informant aspects though admittedly, the plot had SO many holes it tested my suspension of disbelief. Mostly my ambivalence comes from the novel's descriptions of Northern Ireland. I am not well versed in the history of The Troubles, yet from all accounts, while the peace in NI is a tense one, there haven't been as many attacks as this book seems to suggest (this week notwithstanding). I even saw a couple of reviewers native to the region say it was a fictionalized version of NI? I don't know; I feel as if more effort had to be made to establish the alternate timeline if that was the case, and if it was more Tessa worrying over her family, then that could have also been made more apparent? It's a shame because though I did enjoy reading it, these aspects just kept pulling me out of what would have otherwise been a great reading experience.