A review by emtheauthor
The Cruelty by Scott Bergstrom
4.0
All Gwendolyn Bloom has is her father.
As the daughter of a diplomat, Gwen has moved countless times, knows five languages, and has zero friends. All the kids at her newest prep school are snobby and pretentious, and make it known to Gwen that she's not rich enough to be included. Lonely and haunted by her mother's death years earlier, all she has is her bestie relationship with her dad.
But then one night, dad doesn't come home—CIA agents do instead. Apparently her father isn't a diplomat at all, but an undercover agent, and he's been compromised. The agency claims they're doing all they can, but with their promises as well as their theory her father just left, Gwen has her doubts. And when she finds a secret code her father left behind, she decides she'll go get him herself.
What starts off as a rather slow story with murky characters I was only half interested in, develops into an action packed thriller full of intrigue, violence, and deep moral questions. Despite its flaws, The Cruelty is worth the read.
Lets start with the flaws: first, Gwen. I've read many reviews that people's biggest problem with the book was the main character and how difficult she can be to connect with. I'm torn with that statement, because Gwen is kind of a contradiction for me. At some points, she's bland and as dimensional as a piece of cardboard. Other times, though, I'd get a glimpse of personality that makes her lack of dimension seem more like character flaws than writing flaws. Regardless, she can make it difficult to start and get into the story. In the last half, though—especially in the last quarter—I was fascinated by her character development, and watching how she hardened and change was almost more interesting than the plot. How many of us have wondered how far we would be willing to go for those we love? Gwen answers that question while becoming a weapon: cruel, deadly, and complex. It wasn't until near the climax that I truly saw and appreciated her character arc, and even if it isn't perfect, it's still entertaining. Even if it's written by a guy who clearly leans toward Hollywood's stereotypical 'kick butt female who is basically a man with long hair but who cares' tendencies these days. It was annoying at times, but, like I said, the climax and intricacies allowed me to look past it eventually.
The cast of supporting characters ranged from totally goodsebump-inducing awesome to barely getting an eye roll (I'm looking at you Terrance). Does she really have to run into a classmate she's been going to school with for ages but they've never really met until now, and they totally hit it off? Does he really have to coincidentally be super rich and a hacker and the perfect sidekick-ish that she needs for pulling this off? Really? Does she have to? Because that absolutely killed it for me. And that was on, like, chapter two. If the unnecessary insta-love turns you off as much as me, never fear: he mostly fades into the background so we can meet people that are complicated and intriguing and actually matter. Namely, Marina, the Russian prostitute that makes me want to both laugh and cry; Roman, the mafia leader's conflicted, lethal (and secretly gay) son; Yael, the kick butt trainer that I had a love/hate relationship with but can't argue that she's dang cool; and Bohdan Kladivo, the mafia leader, who is as strangely admirable as he is insanely terrifying. These characters are deep and morally gray and SO freaking fascinating to read about (to the point where sometimes I didn't really even care about Gwen, so good thing she got cooler when these people came around or I'd want to ditch her for them). They added such a dark and gritty level to this dark and gritty book, and I loved them all for their complicated morals and brutal natures that really made me stop and think.
They book starts out a little shaky, which I think is why so many people quit fifty pages in. If you have a weird moral issue with DNF-ing books, as I do, you'll be glad to know that the plot does get better. The last half is filled with intense action and surprising turns that kept me going, and the last few chapters had me on the edge of my seat, unsure which way everything was going to go.
The one thing that I truly loved and really solidified the book for me was the writing. For the story being told, the tone and style were majorly on point, and I felt the Scott Bergstrom's talent made up for the story's weaknesses. It had an edge to it that complimented everything he was trying to do, and I really liked it. The settings Gwen found herself in were also written vividly without being boring. I felt the dirty grime and harsh realities of the lowly streets Gwen found herself on, and it only helped the story and her character to be transported there with her.
As I said, The Cruelty isn't a perfect book, but it definitely scratches my YA spy thriller itch.
Rated 3.9/5 for ambiguous and complex supporting characters, deep moral struggles, and a writing style that highlighted the protagonist's decent into a dangerous and vivid world
As the daughter of a diplomat, Gwen has moved countless times, knows five languages, and has zero friends. All the kids at her newest prep school are snobby and pretentious, and make it known to Gwen that she's not rich enough to be included. Lonely and haunted by her mother's death years earlier, all she has is her bestie relationship with her dad.
But then one night, dad doesn't come home—CIA agents do instead. Apparently her father isn't a diplomat at all, but an undercover agent, and he's been compromised. The agency claims they're doing all they can, but with their promises as well as their theory her father just left, Gwen has her doubts. And when she finds a secret code her father left behind, she decides she'll go get him herself.
What starts off as a rather slow story with murky characters I was only half interested in, develops into an action packed thriller full of intrigue, violence, and deep moral questions. Despite its flaws, The Cruelty is worth the read.
Lets start with the flaws: first, Gwen. I've read many reviews that people's biggest problem with the book was the main character and how difficult she can be to connect with. I'm torn with that statement, because Gwen is kind of a contradiction for me. At some points, she's bland and as dimensional as a piece of cardboard. Other times, though, I'd get a glimpse of personality that makes her lack of dimension seem more like character flaws than writing flaws. Regardless, she can make it difficult to start and get into the story. In the last half, though—especially in the last quarter—I was fascinated by her character development, and watching how she hardened and change was almost more interesting than the plot. How many of us have wondered how far we would be willing to go for those we love? Gwen answers that question while becoming a weapon: cruel, deadly, and complex. It wasn't until near the climax that I truly saw and appreciated her character arc, and even if it isn't perfect, it's still entertaining. Even if it's written by a guy who clearly leans toward Hollywood's stereotypical 'kick butt female who is basically a man with long hair but who cares' tendencies these days. It was annoying at times, but, like I said, the climax and intricacies allowed me to look past it eventually.
The cast of supporting characters ranged from totally goodsebump-inducing awesome to barely getting an eye roll (I'm looking at you Terrance). Does she really have to run into a classmate she's been going to school with for ages but they've never really met until now, and they totally hit it off? Does he really have to coincidentally be super rich and a hacker and the perfect sidekick-ish that she needs for pulling this off? Really? Does she have to? Because that absolutely killed it for me. And that was on, like, chapter two. If the unnecessary insta-love turns you off as much as me, never fear: he mostly fades into the background so we can meet people that are complicated and intriguing and actually matter. Namely, Marina, the Russian prostitute that makes me want to both laugh and cry; Roman, the mafia leader's conflicted, lethal (and secretly gay) son; Yael, the kick butt trainer that I had a love/hate relationship with but can't argue that she's dang cool; and Bohdan Kladivo, the mafia leader, who is as strangely admirable as he is insanely terrifying. These characters are deep and morally gray and SO freaking fascinating to read about (to the point where sometimes I didn't really even care about Gwen, so good thing she got cooler when these people came around or I'd want to ditch her for them). They added such a dark and gritty level to this dark and gritty book, and I loved them all for their complicated morals and brutal natures that really made me stop and think.
They book starts out a little shaky, which I think is why so many people quit fifty pages in. If you have a weird moral issue with DNF-ing books, as I do, you'll be glad to know that the plot does get better. The last half is filled with intense action and surprising turns that kept me going, and the last few chapters had me on the edge of my seat, unsure which way everything was going to go.
The one thing that I truly loved and really solidified the book for me was the writing. For the story being told, the tone and style were majorly on point, and I felt the Scott Bergstrom's talent made up for the story's weaknesses. It had an edge to it that complimented everything he was trying to do, and I really liked it. The settings Gwen found herself in were also written vividly without being boring. I felt the dirty grime and harsh realities of the lowly streets Gwen found herself on, and it only helped the story and her character to be transported there with her.
As I said, The Cruelty isn't a perfect book, but it definitely scratches my YA spy thriller itch.
Rated 3.9/5 for ambiguous and complex supporting characters, deep moral struggles, and a writing style that highlighted the protagonist's decent into a dangerous and vivid world