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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
Look, I appreciate a dramatic cold open as much as the next girl, but I have difficulties with this one. Where did the boatman go?
This may have been the most implausible plot yet, and the most twisty-turny, the most dramatic. I thought the cliffhanger in book two was annoying? THIS ONE. Ugh.
My final comment on this series: acceptable junk reading material for tween/teen boys, more interesting than the Hardy Boys, but hardly of better quality. I will quit reading this series for now and concentrate on other books this year. It gets a pass for my household--I wouldn't buy these books or encourage them (except to very reluctant readers), but if they were in the library haul I would not confiscate them.
This may have been the most implausible plot yet, and the most twisty-turny, the most dramatic. I thought the cliffhanger in book two was annoying? THIS ONE. Ugh.
My final comment on this series: acceptable junk reading material for tween/teen boys, more interesting than the Hardy Boys, but hardly of better quality. I will quit reading this series for now and concentrate on other books this year. It gets a pass for my household--I wouldn't buy these books or encourage them (except to very reluctant readers), but if they were in the library haul I would not confiscate them.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
2020 review:
Scorpia is my favorite Alex Rider book so far, so I'm giving it 4 stars. I just read The Troop and gave it 3 stars. If Scorpia and The Troop were the only two books left on earth and we had to give one of them the Nobel Prize in Literature, it should probably go to The Troop, I can't deny that, but I rate based on 1) my enjoyment, and 2) how successful I think the book is in achieving what it's trying to achieve. So when I sit down and read Alex Rider, I don't expect to be blown away by the prose or the deep themes, I just want him to go on some crazy, over the top adventures, and that's what I got in this book. I thought it was a really good installment in this series, and I'm sure if you placed this in the hand of the target audience they would just love it (and that's supported by this being one of the highest rated books in the series).
To be totally honest, I also rate these books based on just how insane Alex gets in them. He just wants to be an ordinary school boy, he hates the MI6 for making him into a spy, so you know what he does in this book? He literally joins a group of assassins. I was not expecting him to go become an anti-hero so early in the books. Considering what kind of book this is, of course he eventually realizes the error of his ways, but not before really doing some insane things with Scorpia, the actual terrorist organization. Alex also ends up in a meeting with the prime minister, he climbs up the rope into a flying hot air balloon, the villain's plan was interesting and felt original to me, there are a lot of revelations and plot twists regarding his parents, so I couldn't have asked for a much crazier adventure.
Just to briefly mention it because I've done it in every Alex Rider review so far, this book also had some problematic moments. At one point Alex dress up as a Turkish slave, and to be perfectly honest I'm not sure what that means, but it was definitely weird and unnecessary (I tried to figure out why he needed to do this, but couldn't). [He also disguise himself as a black guy later? With a mask, not paint, but still... It was all very strange. (hide spoiler)]
Scorpia is my favorite Alex Rider book so far, so I'm giving it 4 stars. I just read The Troop and gave it 3 stars. If Scorpia and The Troop were the only two books left on earth and we had to give one of them the Nobel Prize in Literature, it should probably go to The Troop, I can't deny that, but I rate based on 1) my enjoyment, and 2) how successful I think the book is in achieving what it's trying to achieve. So when I sit down and read Alex Rider, I don't expect to be blown away by the prose or the deep themes, I just want him to go on some crazy, over the top adventures, and that's what I got in this book. I thought it was a really good installment in this series, and I'm sure if you placed this in the hand of the target audience they would just love it (and that's supported by this being one of the highest rated books in the series).
To be totally honest, I also rate these books based on just how insane Alex gets in them. He just wants to be an ordinary school boy, he hates the MI6 for making him into a spy, so you know what he does in this book? He literally joins a group of assassins. I was not expecting him to go become an anti-hero so early in the books. Considering what kind of book this is, of course he eventually realizes the error of his ways, but not before really doing some insane things with Scorpia, the actual terrorist organization. Alex also ends up in a meeting with the prime minister, he climbs up the rope into a flying hot air balloon, the villain's plan was interesting and felt original to me, there are a lot of revelations and plot twists regarding his parents, so I couldn't have asked for a much crazier adventure.
Just to briefly mention it because I've done it in every Alex Rider review so far, this book also had some problematic moments. At one point Alex dress up as a Turkish slave, and to be perfectly honest I'm not sure what that means, but it was definitely weird and unnecessary (I tried to figure out why he needed to do this, but couldn't). [He also disguise himself as a black guy later? With a mask, not paint, but still... It was all very strange. (hide spoiler)]
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Alrighttttttt, Horowitz is finally giving us action thriller. I thought I liked the last one the most, but I think this one tied or is just a little above. Alex can no longer trust MI6 to tell him the truth and joins the enemy, who have illuminating information on Alex's dad and his life before he died. Alex is becoming a little secret agent in this, and I enjoyed it. There was a bit more espionage and turning the script in this installment. I enjoyed the plot twists and am interested to see where we go from here.
I'm just asking once again for Horowitz to stop writing characters of color whose characterization is solely based on their race and stereotypes attributed to it. For example, a black person with vitiligo is still black--an autoimmune disease doesn't change that. (Don't get me started on the trend of making the bad guys have a disability.) And while the villain is the one who states this, there's no rebuttal. There's no inner monologue from Alex, no questioning. It's a harmful stereotype that erases culture and, in this story in particular, for NO reason.
I'm just asking once again for Horowitz to stop writing characters of color whose characterization is solely based on their race and stereotypes attributed to it. For example, a black person with vitiligo is still black--an autoimmune disease doesn't change that. (Don't get me started on the trend of making the bad guys have a disability.) And while the villain is the one who states this, there's no rebuttal. There's no inner monologue from Alex, no questioning. It's a harmful stereotype that erases culture and, in this story in particular, for NO reason.
Actually enjoying this series, even though its for teenagers.