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A review by alifromkc1907
The Shadow Project by Herbie Brennan
3.0
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Facts:
Rating: 3.11✨/5✨
Recommended? Not so much.
Movie Availability: No
Review Points:
Gut Instinct Reaction (Gut Instinct Score: 3)
This book was severely underwhelming. I read it in one sitting, but struggled to get through it from the beginning. I hate writers who rotate through their characters chapter after chapter - and this book did a poor job of it anyways, so it was the biggest force against me.
Characters:
Who were the main characters? (Character Score: 4)
Danny is the main character. He breaks into this supposedly top secret facility (yeah, I know, horrible introduction right?) posing as a house to steal and he gets caught and then is forced to join this top secret group for Britain's CIA to help his grandma get better.
Michael is another teen agent who should have more impact and story time, but doesn't.
Opal is another teen agent who's dad (Sir Rowland) runs the program. She is probably more of the focus of the story despite Danny being the main character.
Were the characters credible? I suppose they are. I mean, Danny seems to be the most authentic because he comes from this and that and he tends to be the most forthcoming with his life. We hardly know a thing about Michael, even though we should know more since he plays such a huge role from the beginning and has some weird thing with Opal. And Opal is fine. I don't feel one way or another towards her because her story is about her actions, not about who she is.
Who was your favorite character? Why? I really didn't feel anything towards any particular character.
Could you relate to any of the characters in the story? I mean, I guess we're back to Danny - he had a shit life before the Project and then he is forced to do it to prevent anything from happening to his grandma. But, I can't really relate to him so much as I can empathize for him.
Was the book believable? (Believability Score: 3) It wasn't super hard to believe - I mean, for as long as I can remember, we've had movies about Spy Kid and Agent Cody Banks and so on. So, do I think there's probably a select number of teenagers being recruited to the CIA or whatever? Yeah, probably. I don't buy into voo-doo this, or psychic that, and this entire book revolved around those concepts, so I'm just not really on board.
Was the book similar to several books or did it seem to have enough unique components? (Uniqueness Score: 2) This entire book is exactly like a million other books except for this whole telepathy/floating in space thing.
Was the writing fluid and coherent? Were there parts of the story that jumped around or felt disconnected from the original thought? (Writing Style Score: 2) This book was written horribly. I wanted to put it down from the first 10 pages, but I feel like if I'm going to spend the money on a book, I should give it at least a quarter of the book. It never got better. The chapters jumped from location to location; character to character; different spaces in time. I even skipped a series of chapters because it was the exact same moment in time told from a different character's perspective.
Was the book packed with a punch or were there more periods of slow paced writing? (Excitement Factor Score: 3) The first half of the book was basically a snooze. The middle chunk of it was fine, and then the last half where they finish off the bad guy was the most exciting part of the book and it lasted about 40 pages.
What was the story about? (Story Line Score: 3) I'm still not really sure on this one... I mean, we know Danny, Opal, and Michael are all teen spies, and then something happens to Opal and Danny is supposed to save the day. All that happens, but it never really made sense. Arms dealers - got it. Teen spies - got it. All the science-y stuff, however, was hard to follow.
Did the title fit in with the story's theme, message, or tone? (Title Relevance Score: 5) All fine and dandy.
Did the artwork on the cover and/or dust jacket fit in with the story's theme, message, or tone? (Artwork Relevance Score: 3) These are supposed to be teen spies and the dude on the front looks like Matt Damon, so I'm not exactly sure how that one works out.
My Opinion:
Did you like the book? Not really. I mean, it was fine and it took up a few hours of my night, so there's that. But, it wasn't like I was all excited about it. It felt more like an obligation.
What was your favorite part of the book? The beginning, honestly. Danny playing games with good cop/bad cop.
Do you have a least favorite part of the book? Mostly everything about Danny gets to the hospital to check on his grandma, which was about page 50.
If you could change something, what would it be? I wouldn't have picked it up at Half Price Books.
My Recommendation:
Would you recommend this book to another person? Not unless it was a hardcore sci-fi fan between the ages of 11 and 14.
Instagram @RainbowReviewsKC
Website: http://rainbowreviews.wix.com/rainbowreviews2018
Facts:
Rating: 3.11✨/5✨
Recommended? Not so much.
Movie Availability: No
Review Points:
Gut Instinct Reaction (Gut Instinct Score: 3)
This book was severely underwhelming. I read it in one sitting, but struggled to get through it from the beginning. I hate writers who rotate through their characters chapter after chapter - and this book did a poor job of it anyways, so it was the biggest force against me.
Characters:
Who were the main characters? (Character Score: 4)
Danny is the main character. He breaks into this supposedly top secret facility (yeah, I know, horrible introduction right?) posing as a house to steal and he gets caught and then is forced to join this top secret group for Britain's CIA to help his grandma get better.
Michael is another teen agent who should have more impact and story time, but doesn't.
Opal is another teen agent who's dad (Sir Rowland) runs the program. She is probably more of the focus of the story despite Danny being the main character.
Were the characters credible? I suppose they are. I mean, Danny seems to be the most authentic because he comes from this and that and he tends to be the most forthcoming with his life. We hardly know a thing about Michael, even though we should know more since he plays such a huge role from the beginning and has some weird thing with Opal. And Opal is fine. I don't feel one way or another towards her because her story is about her actions, not about who she is.
Who was your favorite character? Why? I really didn't feel anything towards any particular character.
Could you relate to any of the characters in the story? I mean, I guess we're back to Danny - he had a shit life before the Project and then he is forced to do it to prevent anything from happening to his grandma. But, I can't really relate to him so much as I can empathize for him.
Was the book believable? (Believability Score: 3) It wasn't super hard to believe - I mean, for as long as I can remember, we've had movies about Spy Kid and Agent Cody Banks and so on. So, do I think there's probably a select number of teenagers being recruited to the CIA or whatever? Yeah, probably. I don't buy into voo-doo this, or psychic that, and this entire book revolved around those concepts, so I'm just not really on board.
Was the book similar to several books or did it seem to have enough unique components? (Uniqueness Score: 2) This entire book is exactly like a million other books except for this whole telepathy/floating in space thing.
Was the writing fluid and coherent? Were there parts of the story that jumped around or felt disconnected from the original thought? (Writing Style Score: 2) This book was written horribly. I wanted to put it down from the first 10 pages, but I feel like if I'm going to spend the money on a book, I should give it at least a quarter of the book. It never got better. The chapters jumped from location to location; character to character; different spaces in time. I even skipped a series of chapters because it was the exact same moment in time told from a different character's perspective.
Was the book packed with a punch or were there more periods of slow paced writing? (Excitement Factor Score: 3) The first half of the book was basically a snooze. The middle chunk of it was fine, and then the last half where they finish off the bad guy was the most exciting part of the book and it lasted about 40 pages.
What was the story about? (Story Line Score: 3) I'm still not really sure on this one... I mean, we know Danny, Opal, and Michael are all teen spies, and then something happens to Opal and Danny is supposed to save the day. All that happens, but it never really made sense. Arms dealers - got it. Teen spies - got it. All the science-y stuff, however, was hard to follow.
Did the title fit in with the story's theme, message, or tone? (Title Relevance Score: 5) All fine and dandy.
Did the artwork on the cover and/or dust jacket fit in with the story's theme, message, or tone? (Artwork Relevance Score: 3) These are supposed to be teen spies and the dude on the front looks like Matt Damon, so I'm not exactly sure how that one works out.
My Opinion:
Did you like the book? Not really. I mean, it was fine and it took up a few hours of my night, so there's that. But, it wasn't like I was all excited about it. It felt more like an obligation.
What was your favorite part of the book? The beginning, honestly. Danny playing games with good cop/bad cop.
Do you have a least favorite part of the book? Mostly everything about Danny gets to the hospital to check on his grandma, which was about page 50.
If you could change something, what would it be? I wouldn't have picked it up at Half Price Books.
My Recommendation:
Would you recommend this book to another person? Not unless it was a hardcore sci-fi fan between the ages of 11 and 14.