I feel conflicted about this story. On the one hand, I appreciate the author’s development of the main character’s recently deceased father – a man who had gained fame from a viral photo of a rescue he performed on 9/11 but who also struggled with complex PTSD and how that led both to alcohol problems and also to an unwillingness to serve others leading to his death from COVID in NYC during the height of the pandemic, separated
from his wife and son who had evacuated the city. The father’s participation in both of these historic events while also having a son the main character’s age proved one of the issues I could not get over. Technically, yes, the time frame could make sense but I could never quite make the pieces fit right. I also struggled with the main character’s goal for the summer, a restitution-based hike through a number of mountains in the New England area as his punishment for kicking over a gravestone. Ultimately, this felt like the author took on too much, thus, unfortunately, shortchanging some of the parts. I would read from her again though.
After a few lackluster reads in a row, I finally had a winner in this one. I really liked the setting Rhodes chose for this story, the Oklahoma settlement race, from the perspective of a young black boy traveling with his father to try to get land. [Due to life circumstances, more time than I’m comfortable has passed between when I read the book and when I wrote the review.] I enjoyed the unique setting and how Rhodes wove together the historical nuances.
Although the main character’s age could categorize this as adult or new adult, I would still categorize this as YA like the first two in the series. In this, likely, conclusion to the series, Stone took on a challenging character and made him human. She did a fantastic job. I appreciate the perspective he contributes.
I liked this slightly outside the normal school set in a world with fully developed spy infrastructure complete with a hotel that serves as the home/temporary safe house for these spies. This would make for an excellent graphic novel as well.
Even though I have read the first book in the series, I read it long enough ago that I did not remember the specifics. Thus, I ended up reading book two like a standalone and enjoyed the mad cap plot and unique characters as well as how they came together as found family.
This book kept me engaged the entire time I read. The story has a quite unique world which did cause some confusion which, thankfully, did not throw me off. The one thing that constantly frustrated me though? The main character’s supposed “friend” and how the main character continued to give her trouble even when she showed her colors. I did not expect to enjoy this story but it now has a place in my library.
