Orphan Monster Spy

Disclaimer: The author is a former co-worker of mine. I mention this only because I probably wouldn't have read it otherwise, as my type of historical fiction usually involves spooky magic and Victorian outfits. The fact that this is not my typical cup of tea is the only part that will likely effect my review.

My first impression of this book is that it doesn't feel like YA. That doesn't have to do with the darkness of it or the subject matter, but rather the style. From the get-go, it felt distinctly adult. Maybe it's a leftover feeling from reading Holocaust novels in school. I am familiar with Matt Killeen's writing and recognized his stylistic, even experimental at times, prose and it was interesting seeing that applied to this kind of story. It sticks out for YA, but suits this dark and twisted historical novel.

Sarah Goldstein, a clever and talented Jewish girl living in Europe during the rise of Nazi Germany, is orphaned after her mother's failed attempt to get them safely out of Austria. After a fortuitous encounter with a man she discovers is an undercover British operative, she agrees to work for him as a spy at an elite Nazi school. There, she struggles to survive and maintain her humanity in the cruel, stark environment of the school while helping stop the creation of a weapon that could change the war.

Orphan Monster Spy has interesting twist and turns, and while I enjoyed reading it, I can't say it left a particularly strong impression on me. I think what stands out the most is the atmosphere. The prose effectively portrays a world that is cold and ruthless, in which our main character and the people she cares about are never safe. I also appreciated that Killeen portrays the incompetence and inefficiency of the authoritarian Nazi regime, from the sloppy infrastructure to the horrible food at the school. However, I think that same mechanism that is the book's most striking element - the prose - also creates a degree of detachment. It's abstract when it could be more evocative.

Sarah as a character is indistinctly distinct. She has precisely the right kind of skills to be recruited as a teenage spy, and uses some in effective ways and others not so much. She makes friends and enemies. I can't tell you why she never stood out to me, or why I never felt particularly attached to her. I suppose as a spy that's the effect she's supposed to have. Perhaps Killeen did his job a little too well.

This is a tough novel in a lot of ways, I feel the need to make that clear. Its not just the atmosphere of perpetual threat, Sarah is exposed to some awful dangers that she is wholly unprepared for. I am intrigued as to where her character will go, and I am interested in the small spark that exists between Sarah and the Captain, especially considering its a much different kind of relationship than what you might see in YA. For all its high drama and deeply immersive setting, I would have expected this book to have more of an impact on me. As it is, it was not a particularly striking novel to me, but a good one.