Review / Spy School: British Invasion

Book: Spy School: British Invasion (2019)
Author: Stuart Gibbs
Genre: MG, Adventure/Espionage

Basic plot: The Spy School kids are on yet another secret mission, this time to London. Their job? To bring down SPYDER. Their only clue is a key. But because they don’t know who to trust, they must go rogue from CIA, and even MI6. And then there’s Murray Hill who’s helping them. Or is he?

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THIS BOOK…

1) This is Book 7 in the series, and while I felt disappointed in the last couple of books, this one brought be right back to the excitement of the first books! Yay! Ben and his friends are back, and to tell you the truth, I’m even okay with Mike being in the mix now. (Note: You’ll see from this review that I initially didn’t like Mike. I mean, I was fine with him as a character, I just preferred it when he wasn’t a spy.)

2) I love Catherine Hale! And, I even really like what Gibbs did with Alexander Hale in this one! (I’m not crazy about bumbling adults that have no redeeming qualities. And that’s the brush Alexander Hale’s been painted with for the last ten books… Yes, I know there haven’t been ten books yet. I’m slightly exaggerating. Anyway, just saying, that I’m glad part of this book was about seeing that everybody brings something to the table, even if we don’t always see it at first.

3) I love the friendship and trust that’s developed between Ben and Erica. And of course, the underlying romantic tension that remains underlying. And I am okay with Zoe misinterpreting a few things. (Like the hand-holding bit. Not what it sounds like.)

4) I loved the setting of this one. London and Paris! The British Museum. Tower Bridge. The Eiffel Tower. Even the Catacombs. All good.

5) This book was quite action-packed. It comes directly on the heels of the book that comes before it. The only breather seems to be the times they’re in the air, flying to their next destination. The climax at the Eiffel Tower was great! I’ve never been to the Eiffel Tower, so I found that part very fun. I’m guessing a lot of the descriptions are true. (Now I want to climb up the Eiffel Tour!)

6) The destruction of museum property and artifacts was slightly (no, very) hard to read about. I was somewhat surprised that Catherine Hale (a museum curator) didn’t cringe a little more often!

FINAL THOUGHTS

The kids from Spy School are back in this rip-roaring adventure. Everything you love about Spy School is here in this one. If you haven’t read the first books in the series, please do. And while, I think some of the middle ones sag a bit, they are kind of necessary to read before you pick this one up.