Review: Merrett's Chase by Ian Mitchell-Gill

Merrett’s Chase

by Ian Mitchell-Gill

Publication Date: February 8^th 2018

Publisher: FriesenPress

Find This Book: Merrett’s Chase

Rating: 5/5

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Now for those of you that have been following my reviews of books one and two, you’ll know that this series is about a kick-ass group of teenage spies. From the east to the west, they’re the best at what they do: hacking, chemical compounds, lock picking, scaling buildings, and strategy/disguise. Being book 3, we’ve already seen them pull a heist at a museum and take down a cult. Their biggest mission yet? Leading the CIA and their teacher, Merrett, on a wild goose chase to buy time for the real issues (sorry, no spoilers!)

It was great to see these teens doing what they do best outside the jurisdiction of their school and the CIA. We really got to see what they were all capable of without rules or expectations to deal with- especially Lydia. The chase was action-packed, and it was great to compare how Merrett and I thought, as well as how the other CIA agents who didn’t know the kids very well. We all worked through the crime scenes in our own ways! Unlike book two where you could pretty much enjoy it as a standalone book, Merrett’s Chase really tied everything together and required knowledge from books 1 and 2 to get the most out of reading it. I loved that it brought in some new characters and also brought back some past characters- I was definitely not expecting a certain someone to make a reappearance!

My favorite part was definitely the last scene. Again, no spoilers about the content, but it made me tear up a bit. It was so heartwarming and it felt like the whole series was leading up to the close relationships of the teens with each other and the teens with Merrett. I didn’t realize how close I had gotten with the characters throughout the series until I was sniffling reading the last couple of pages! This is what bumped the last book from a 4 to a 5 for me!

Review: Merrett's Choice by Ian Mitchell-Gill

Merrett’s Choice

by Ian Mitchell-Gill

Publication Date: January 26^th 2017

Publisher: FriesenPress

Find This Book: Merrett’s Choice

Rating: 4/5

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! This was an action-packed book! It kind of felt like the Animorphs of my childhood- a semi-large group of teens working to each other strengths to get the mission of the book done. The characters were all developed in Merrett’s Gift (which you can read my review about here) so this adventure could focus on the the current task: busting a Senator’s son out of a cult.

This book was a lot more engaging than the first one, pulling the reader into the more plot-focused action. The students and their backstories (particularly Lydia) were all established in book 1, and this novel could really hone in on their talents and their cohesiveness as a unit. The POV occasionally shifts, but primarily stays on Lydia which I loved because I feel like I become better connected to characters when I’m not switching around viewpoints as much. Lydia in particular is wicked smart and analytical- great qualities for a team leader and the analytical quality I could personally identify with. The best part of this book for me, is that while all of the planning of the operation is in front of the reader’s face the plan isn’t obvious until it’s in motion. Sometimes books tell you the plan and then give you an update on whether or not it was successful. With the way Ian Mitchell-Gill writes, I’m figuring out what Lydia’s doing as she’s doing it even though I’ve watched her strategically put pieces in place beforehand.

So like I said, the plot of this book is about infiltrating a cult. It deals with the CIA/FBI’s previous attempts at breaking up cults and seems very well researched. The location of this cult’s base, the physical work and lack of sleep, the leader’s personality, and the shady behind-the-scenes activities felt like watching a fascinating documentary. Sure their leader intentionally misquotes religious texts to manipulate his followers, and has a criminal record, but this novel also captured the nuance of the cult followers finding a place they feel like they belong. I loved this balance and element of reality. All in all it was a quick and exciting read, and while you would get character backgrounds by reading the first book you definitely don’t need to read Merrett’s Gift to thoroughly enjoy Merrett’s Choice!

Review: The Bird and the Blade by Megan Bannen

The Bird and the Blade

by Megan Bannen

Publication Date: June 5^th 2018

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Find This Book: The Bird and the Blade

Rating: 5/5

I was given a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I was *living* for this historical fiction stand-alone book. The Prologue into Part One confused me a bit because of the timeline, but I quickly wrapped my head around the story of the book and once I picked the book up after a good night’s rest I loved the flow Bannen picked. Like I said, the timeline is a little wonky at first, but it fits the story being told perfectly. The Prologue is two character’s meeting for the first time, and the beginning of Part One is the beginning of the climax of the book. The novel then switches between the journey leading up to the climax, and little snippets of the climax. You slowly discover bits of information about the three main characters, the recent history of the empire they live in, and LOTS of fun poetry/riddles. I wouldn’t want the book set up any other way!

What I really love about the novel is how seamlessly the story flows. It feels natural, even though this specific story didn’t occur. The topic is obviously well-researched to make the plot feel so smooth. The Bird and the Blade is actually a retelling of “Prince Khalaf and the Princess of China” a story about how a great king must be a competent warrior and extremely wise. A Princess tells 3 riddles that must be answered in order to be married, a Prince and his slave respond to the call- that’s as vaguely specific as I’m going to get so that I don’t spoil anything not given away at the beginning of the book! Basically, I really enjoyed how this non-mongolian story was able to be transplanted into the chaos of the Mongolian/Song turmoil and was able to use historical East Asian events to portray this new rendition of a Persian story.

Furthermore, the characters and their development in this story felt so natural. It’s amazing what traveling across a continent in close quarters will do to a small group of travelers. Namely, a Khan in exile, a Prince in exile, and their slave. The POV is from the slave, and the father-son dynamic seen from the outside was stellar. Jinghua (the slave) is full of mystery and creates a compelling main character, even for the parts of the story when you know practically nothing about her.

This is definitely one of my favorite books of the year and I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves history, riddles, and intricate relationships (romantically and familial).

Review: Merrett's Gift by Ian Mitchell-Gill

Merrett’s Gift

by Ian Mitchell-Gill

Publication Date: June 3^rd 2016

Publisher: FriesenPress

Find This Book: Merrett’s Gift

Rating: 3.5/5

I was given a copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review. 

I’m not going to lie, this book had a slow start. Why? Because the author tackled the challenging prospect of 6 (quickly down to 5) main characters and Merrett who I assumed was the main character wasn’t actually introduced until like page 80. The slowness comes with the prospect of lots of information getting flung at the reader from all sides about all topics. The POV floated from character to character. It was done in a super cool way format-wise, but this means it takes a lot longer to get attached to the characters since you are not getting to know and bonding strongly with any one character. It was a unique approach which I thought was really cool. Unfortunately, it meant that it took the first 150 pages or so for me to get really into the story. However, once I was into it I was *really* into it!

Imagine some super talented angsty teens with a wholesome mentor-mentee relationship attend a high-tech spy school. That’s this book. It was even more heart-warming finding out that this book was written chapter by chapter for the author’s own students and is now something they are sharing with a larger audience (aka me). I was a bit skeptical with some of the student behavior, as it’s extremely different from how my friends and I acted in middle school and high school, but I’m sure his students know better than I and of course there may be some behavioral differences as well being from different countries.

The most interesting part of the book was the 25-years-later epilogue. As there is a book two, I was pretty shocked! I’m genuinely intrigued as to what book two could possibly be about. There’s currently not a book description on Goodreads and I haven’t read the back cover yet, but I know I’m in for a plot-twist filled adventure! I’m hoping for a bit of improvement in the writing (while the plot was action packed and awesome, this story was a bit of tell-don’t-show) and I will be sure to update you all soon about my read of Book 2: Merrett’s Choice!

*Side note. Pretty sure Lydia is ace? But also it's hard to really get backstory and details about any one character when there are five MC's. My interpretation however is that Lydia is ace and I am I prepared to fight about it.