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A review by emmaaxtco
Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews
1.0
What do you do when you have about 150 pages left and it's due back at the library in 24 hours? You sigh and power through, I guess.
Had this not been for book club I'd probably have given up and deemed it one of those books that's just not "for me." I'm not terribly familiar with the spy genre, but I won't be back anytime soon. Whether or not this is Matthews' fault, I can't really say it matters.
I expected a James Bondian adventure with twists, turns, dynamite action sequences and steamy sex scenes. What I got was a disjointed story with moments of interest and intensity being dragged down by too many names and too many details about which I didn't give a crap. And to make matters even worse most of the action happens off screen, and we only hear about it through boring conversations after the fact. Classic failure to show, don't tell.
I wanted to love Dominika, but she didn't feel like a fully fleshed out person for me (though she was the closest thing in this book). Her relationship with Nate was insane. I didn't believe it for even a moment.
Around page 276 when we meet Senator Boucher is when I seriously contemplated just chucking the thing across the room, but I was too bored to work up the energy. I also began Googling detailed plot summaries so I wouldn't have to finish it, but no luck.
I have now confirmed I have no interest in the nuances of counterintelligence and spy games. Perhaps my clouded boredom with the details weighed me down too much to enjoy the actual plot.
But mine is an unpopular opinion, it would seem. I'm not baffled that people like this book, I guess, I just know now that I am 100% not the target audience.
Had this not been for book club I'd probably have given up and deemed it one of those books that's just not "for me." I'm not terribly familiar with the spy genre, but I won't be back anytime soon. Whether or not this is Matthews' fault, I can't really say it matters.
I expected a James Bondian adventure with twists, turns, dynamite action sequences and steamy sex scenes. What I got was a disjointed story with moments of interest and intensity being dragged down by too many names and too many details about which I didn't give a crap. And to make matters even worse most of the action happens off screen, and we only hear about it through boring conversations after the fact. Classic failure to show, don't tell.
I wanted to love Dominika, but she didn't feel like a fully fleshed out person for me (though she was the closest thing in this book). Her relationship with Nate was insane. I didn't believe it for even a moment.
Around page 276 when we meet Senator Boucher is when I seriously contemplated just chucking the thing across the room, but I was too bored to work up the energy. I also began Googling detailed plot summaries so I wouldn't have to finish it, but no luck.
I have now confirmed I have no interest in the nuances of counterintelligence and spy games. Perhaps my clouded boredom with the details weighed me down too much to enjoy the actual plot.
But mine is an unpopular opinion, it would seem. I'm not baffled that people like this book, I guess, I just know now that I am 100% not the target audience.