A review by myrdyr
Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews

4.0

3.75/5 stars. This book was a bit of a mess, but I enjoyed it anyway. It wavered between being a spy novel, a romance, and a ladies home journal, but it didn't actually commit to any of them. I wouldn't have pegged me for its target audience, but I think I probably was. The inclusion of the recipes baffled and frustrated me. The lack of measurements rendered them useless as actual recipes, so I am unclear as to their purpose. Since they didn't contribute to plot advancement, I would have preferred complete recipes included in an appendix as opposed to these overviews. I wish Matthews would examine some of the stereotypes that reoccur throughout the book, as they are a bit insulting. As an end note, I found the whole idea of grandma's antique long curvy handled hairbrush repurposed as a dildo to unlock Dominika's "secret self" and the repeated references to it to be creepy and superfluous, never mind the lack of hygiene. Eww.