A review by cattytrona
Transcription by Kate Atkinson

3.0

very fun and easily read. spies are cool! and what a strange time in history. it’s inherently interesting moving thru this period
but occasionally the writing is poor, it’s obvious in an amateurish way, and i think the ending is very oddly delivered. my friend m

iriam

was saying the other day, just before i started this, that atkinson’s not actually a particularly strong plotter, and i felt that here. it’s not that the plot isn’t here, but it’s oddly revealed.

the reveal juliet’s a spy feels like it comes too late in the game to matter, and there’s not much of a hint of any of it. heck, halfway thru i thought ‘it’s weird that she doesnt seem to believe in anything except snark’ and like i guess that was a conspicuous absence. but the fact we don’t know this stuff about her only really works in a book that is more plot than character (like a christie) whereas this feels so focused on juliet and the plot is so murky for so long that it sort of seems like a character piece. idk maybe i should have been more clued in by the fact we’re doing spying in the 50s. but it felt all a bit out of nowhere.

still, i enjoyed it, which has been a major hesitation with kate atkinson since slogging thru life and life so maybe i will catch up with jackson brodie again one day