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adameriks's review against another edition
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
amargaridaa's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Just amazing
jennyt17's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Even if you didn't know, this is obviously part of a series and felt v laboured in parts to make references to other previous plot lines which were unnecessary. Enjoyed the story - it felt like it was written for men. Don't bother if you like strong female representation.
historybooksandtea's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
m_bbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
in_and_out_of_the_stash's review against another edition
4.0
First Daniel Silva book that I have read and enjoyed it.
jacki_f's review against another edition
4.0
I am gradually working my way through this series. I have been reading 3-4 more of the books every year which is about as many as I can stomach before the very repetitive nature of the writing and plots does my head in. The books are quite good, but they are essentially the same book over and over. Which is equally true of a lot of very successful writers - yes, Lee Child, I'm looking at you.
What I liked about The English Girl is that Silva made a determined effort here to shake up the formula. This time Gabriel Allon is on his own (or with a new partner) for a large chunk of the book, before the inevitable "let's get the group back together and go to Moscow" ending. The story is also a refreshing change from Muslim terrorists trying to wipe out Israel.
But while Daniel Silva tries to make a shift from his usual repetitive plot, he still can't shake the very repetitive writing. For starters, every time he uses the exact same phrases to describe his characters. Why is he so wedded to the description of Allon's nose looking like it's carved from wood? It was a silly line the first time he used it, and it's even sillier now he's up to #50.
Even more annoying though is the way he repeats sentences in the same scenes. Several times, people exchanged exactly the same phrases to one another 2-3 times in a conversation. Twice in three pages we read "Suddenly the last thing Gabriel wanted to do was to leave Jerusalem and go looking for a girl he didn't know". (Spoiler alert: he does just that). It's tedious and irritating and it makes it feel like the entire book was written on auto-pilot.
Silva likes to write in a documentary style format (eg this happened on this day, but later witnesses would disagree about exactly what time it was), but I've noticed that he doesn't really drill into the operational details. There is an ex-SAS officer as a character who camps out in a field for two days and can ghost his way through a crowd without being noticed. I wanted to know more about how he does this, but we don't get that. The way that he writes feels like it's full of details, but they are extraneous rather than intrinsic. Surely by now Silva has the heft to get some ex-spies to spill some trade secrets. I'd rather read that than the same recycled sentences about the same team members having the same arguments that they have in book after book after book.
What I liked about The English Girl is that Silva made a determined effort here to shake up the formula. This time Gabriel Allon is on his own (or with a new partner) for a large chunk of the book, before the inevitable "let's get the group back together and go to Moscow" ending. The story is also a refreshing change from Muslim terrorists trying to wipe out Israel.
But while Daniel Silva tries to make a shift from his usual repetitive plot, he still can't shake the very repetitive writing. For starters, every time he uses the exact same phrases to describe his characters. Why is he so wedded to the description of Allon's nose looking like it's carved from wood? It was a silly line the first time he used it, and it's even sillier now he's up to #50.
Even more annoying though is the way he repeats sentences in the same scenes. Several times, people exchanged exactly the same phrases to one another 2-3 times in a conversation. Twice in three pages we read "Suddenly the last thing Gabriel wanted to do was to leave Jerusalem and go looking for a girl he didn't know". (Spoiler alert: he does just that). It's tedious and irritating and it makes it feel like the entire book was written on auto-pilot.
Silva likes to write in a documentary style format (eg this happened on this day, but later witnesses would disagree about exactly what time it was), but I've noticed that he doesn't really drill into the operational details. There is an ex-SAS officer as a character who camps out in a field for two days and can ghost his way through a crowd without being noticed. I wanted to know more about how he does this, but we don't get that. The way that he writes feels like it's full of details, but they are extraneous rather than intrinsic. Surely by now Silva has the heft to get some ex-spies to spill some trade secrets. I'd rather read that than the same recycled sentences about the same team members having the same arguments that they have in book after book after book.