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readingunderthewillowtree

Reading Under the Willow Tree

Environmental Science student, book reader, big dreamer, Sailing/Kayak/Surf instructor, Film buff, Adventurer, Girl.

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A Spy To Die For - Kris DeLake, Kristine Kathryn Rusch


For this review and more visit my blog


A Spy to Die for is one of those books that started well and ended well but lost its way in the middle. When I started this I was sure I was onto a winner but the whole middle section bored me slightly which was a real shame as it had the potential to be a really amazing book.

There were lots of strong elements to this. Firstly the writing and world building was excellent. This book is set in space so every scene is on a new and interesting planet or a space ship. Kris Delake did really well at bringing everything to life and I had no problem envisioning anything. I loved that there was nowhere clean or savoury in this book. Everything was dingy, dark and a little dangerous. It really added to the whole feel of the book.

I really loved the beginning and straight away I was interested. The two main characters Jack and Skye meet within the first few pages and there is no real build up to their relationship. They are attracted to each other and have the opportunity to test that attraction. Normally I don’t like it when relationships move to quickly but this worked for me. I really enjoyed the action after they got together as they were trying to safely get off the planet they were on. It was exciting and I thought I was in for a romantic action packed thrill ride but then everything slowed down.

Not much seemed to happen in the whole middle section which was a bit bizarre. They travelled through space having a lot of sex and not really knowing if they should trust each other but that was really it. I didn’t need every page to be full of action but would have liked something a little more exciting to have happened. It was like this book crawled to a stop and I struggled to get through it as it just didn’t hold my interest any more. Then all of a sudden it all clicked back into place and I was enjoying it again. The ending maybe could have been a little more thrilling but I liked it.

The characters were likeable but I didn’t fall in love with them. Both Jack and Skye seemed to have the exact same problems and a lot of the same feelings about a lot of stuff. If I had to pick I would have to say he was better because he was more open and honest about the way he felt about Skye, whereas she did the whole denial thing and only realised what she had when it was nearly too late.

Overall A Spy to Die for was an enjoyable read with some great world building and good chemistry. The middle dragged which was a shame but it was good enough for me to actively look at other books in the series.




The publisher provided me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review