Skip to main content

Review: The Spy with the Red Balloon

THE SPY WITH THE RED BALLOON
Katherine Locke
Balloonmakers #2 (companion series)
368 pages
Albert Whitman Company, October 2, 2018
Diversity: both main characters are queer and Jewish; major characters include queer, Jewish, and black characters
★★★★★

I had pretty high hopes for this book. I really enjoyed the companion novel, THE GIRL WITH THE RED BALLOON, and the synopsis for this one seemed even more interesting. THE SPY WITH THE RED BALLOON exceeded all of my expectations, and then some. I'm going to be recommending this at every opportunity for the foreseeable future, because it absolutely deserves it.

 I liked Ilse and Wolf from page one. They make such a great team, and even though (very slight spoiler) they spend most of the book separated from each other, their connection is really what drives this book forward. I love good sibling relationships in books, and I think this one took it to a whole other level.

 And the representation in this book! So many Jewish characters! And queer Jewish characters, which is pretty much all I ever ask for. The Jewish characters have varying degrees of faith, which is a really great thing to explore, especially in the context of a war, and it meant so much to me to see all of these things explored without having one presented as the right answer.

 As if I wasn't in love with this book enough already, it was an emotional roller coaster. I was full-out sobbing at least twice, and, somewhat more surprisingly based on the book's setting, I laughed out loud a lot too. These characters are going to stay in my head and in my heart for a long time.

 All in all, this is definitely a new favorite. I can't wait to read more from Katherine Locke!
Siblings Ilse and Wolf hide a deep secret in their blood: with it, they can work magic. And the government just found out.Blackmailed into service during World War II, Ilse lends her magic to America’s newest weapon, the atom bomb, while Wolf goes behind enemy lines to sabotage Germany’s nuclear program. It’s a dangerous mission, but if Hitler were to create the bomb first, the results would be catastrophic.

When Wolf’s plane is shot down, his entire mission is thrown into jeopardy. Wolf needs Ilse’s help to develop the magic that will keep him alive, but with a spy afoot in Ilse’s laboratory, the letters she sends to Wolf begin to look treasonous. Can Ilse prove her loyalty—and find a way to help her brother—before their time runs out?
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ten Books I Need More People to Love

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature at The Broke and Bookish. This week's theme: Top Ten Underrated/Hidden Gem Books You've Read in the Past Year or So. One of my favorite things to do is get other people to read books I love. That way, I can discuss the boo ks with them, and if I know their tastes well enough, I know I'm givin g them something that they'll love! Unfortunately, I can't do this with the entire world. And that means that there are books that I've really enjoyed t hat just aren't widely loved. Why ? I don't know. And that's why I spend so much time trying to get other people to read them. Here are ten books I've read some what recently that I think really deserve some m ore lo ve. IRON CAST by Destiny Soria: I'll never get tired of diverse books, I 'll never get tired of historical fiction, and I'll never get tired of positive female friendships. When you pu t those all together, they ma ke a book tha...
24 comments
Read more

Ten Books I Wouldn't Mind Getting for Chanukah

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature at The Broke and the Bookish. This week's theme: Top Ten Books You Wouldn't Mind Santa Leaving Under Your Tree (with a slight alteration). I'm probably one of the easiest people to shop for. If you have the link to my Goodreads, you're basically guaranteed to get me something I'll like. (And even if you don't, I'm really not hard to please.) But, of course, there are some books that I'm more excited for than others. Here are ten that I would be absolutely thrilled to get as gifts this year. GEMINA by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff: The more I think about how great this book is going to be, the more I want it. And it's so pretty! P.S. I LIKE YOU by Kasie West: I love Kasie West! Her contemporaries are all so adorable - I can't believe I haven't read this one yet. THE SECRET KEEPERS by Trenton Lee Stewart: Finally, another book from the author of my favorite middle grade series ever! I...
12 comments
Read more

ARC Dilemmas

One thing I'm usually pretty good at is pretending that I know what I'm doing. It's probably one of the most important things I learned in school! (Don't worry, my education wasn't that bad - that doesn't mean that faking it isn't a life skill.) But there are still a lot of times that I don't actually know what I'm doing. And that extends to blogging. Actually, it's especially true of blogging. Most of the time, I figure "my blog, my rules" and do what I want, which is usually making things up as I go along, but there are things I actually don't know. (For example: does this count as a discussion post when it's basically just me asking for he lp and advice and not really offering anything ? Who knows? Not me. But we're gonna call it a discussion for tagging pu rposes anyway.) Lately, I've been thinking a lot about two dilemmas posed by ARCs. I'm pretty new to the world of ARCs - I've known what they are...
12 comments
Read more