A review by olivialandryxo
The Shadow Mission by Shamim Sarif

adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I really enjoyed The Athena Protocol, and was excited to dive into The Shadow Mission. However, I’m sad to say that this was, overall, a disappointing sequel. I liked the character dynamics and the spy vibes, but there wasn’t any of the heart-pounding action that was so prominent in the first book. I sped through that one because the story was intense and I didn’t want to stop reading; I sped through this one simply because it was short and I had nothing better to do. While there were some
intense moments in the end, it was much less satisfying. I wasn’t nearly as invested in Jessie’s story this time around.

Speaking of Jessie, I have one thing to say: give that poor girl a girlfriend. She keeps getting seriously let down in the romance department. And while on the subject of romance, on a somewhat similar note, I’d like to say that I’m especially disappointed in the queer representation here. Jessie is sapphic, very casual, totally fine. But of the other two notable queer characters—and they were the only others, as far as I’m aware—one was an antagonist and the other died. Excuse me, Ms. Sarif, are you serious? That’s the best you, a queer woman, can do in the year 2020? Personally, I found this to be a huge let-down.

I’m not sure what else to say. I don’t know if we’ll be getting another book, though the ending left that possibility open. Honestly, if we do get a third, I’m not sure I’ll pick it up.

Representation
  • sapphic protagonist
  • sapphic Indian side character
  • side characters of color (ft Arab, Indian, Chinese, and Black rep)
Expand filter menu Content Warnings