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onmalsshelf 's review for:
Northern Spy
by Flynn Berry
tense
medium-paced
I hated a Reese's Book Club pick - what a shock to no one.
I finished this and I'm very ashamed to say that up until about 75% in, I was going to give this four stars.
What the author has done here is disgusting. This is a fiction with a smidge of spying.
If you're wondering what the historical fiction aspect is in this is that Berry has made a modern day (2018/2019) Northern Ireland where the Good Friday Agreement didn't happen in the 1990s. Which...the 1990s are not considered historical fiction yet, but she and the publisher think they are.
This takes place in a Belfast where the IRA is conducting all of the violence and the loyalists do nothing. So there you have her completely ignoring actual history...again.
I think it's clear here that her target audience consists of American readers as we do not learn much, if anything at all, about the Troubles in school. We have to seek out the information on our own.
What she has done here is inaccurately portray modern day Northern Ireland as well as come off as an imperialist. Which is weird since she's American.
On that note, you'd think the characters were American considering the only thing that seems Irish about the characters is the slang they use. The main character also has no personality besides being a single mother and a horrible 'spy'.
Also the title is the name of an apple.
I'm mad I kept this on my shelf for so long and will be seeking out books that actually factually and accurately portray the Troubles, Good Friday Agreement, and the aftermath by people from the region - not Americans wanting a extra pay day with help from Reese.
Please check reviews from readers of Northern Ireland and Ireland. Their reviews have much more to say on the issues behind this.
All of this ends with me thinking, how do we as readers hold celebrity book clubs accountable for choosing books that do not accurately portray modern day regions by changing history in a harmful way?
I finished this and I'm very ashamed to say that up until about 75% in, I was going to give this four stars.
What the author has done here is disgusting. This is a fiction with a smidge of spying.
If you're wondering what the historical fiction aspect is in this is that Berry has made a modern day (2018/2019) Northern Ireland where the Good Friday Agreement didn't happen in the 1990s. Which...the 1990s are not considered historical fiction yet, but she and the publisher think they are.
This takes place in a Belfast where the IRA is conducting all of the violence and the loyalists do nothing. So there you have her completely ignoring actual history...again.
I think it's clear here that her target audience consists of American readers as we do not learn much, if anything at all, about the Troubles in school. We have to seek out the information on our own.
What she has done here is inaccurately portray modern day Northern Ireland as well as come off as an imperialist. Which is weird since she's American.
On that note, you'd think the characters were American considering the only thing that seems Irish about the characters is the slang they use. The main character also has no personality besides being a single mother and a horrible 'spy'.
Also the title is the name of an apple.
I'm mad I kept this on my shelf for so long and will be seeking out books that actually factually and accurately portray the Troubles, Good Friday Agreement, and the aftermath by people from the region - not Americans wanting a extra pay day with help from Reese.
Please check reviews from readers of Northern Ireland and Ireland. Their reviews have much more to say on the issues behind this.
All of this ends with me thinking, how do we as readers hold celebrity book clubs accountable for choosing books that do not accurately portray modern day regions by changing history in a harmful way?