The Man From St. Petersburg

The Book in 1 Sentence

A tale that winds everything together to create a coming of age story, rather than one full of espionage.

Brief Review

This book is well written, but full of things that do not fit a spy story. There isn't even a spy in it, which really is frustrating when the description on the book is "espionage." There is an anarchist who commandeers the story even being a single threaded and dumbly written character. The one you would expect to follow, that would have a chance to be the spy master working for Churchill, is relegated to the sidelines unless chance gets in the way.

Why I Read this book

I thought this was a different book, plus it said "Espionage" and that is interesting.

In-Depth Review (Favorite Quotes)

I have been hard on the book above, but that is more out of my frustration of what it is compared to how it is described and what I was expecting. There is so much time spent on things that would matter if it were a story about Women's Suffrage rather than a story about a spy or even an anarchist. We spend so much time with Charlotte who has been sheltered from the world and doesn't know things that is common knowledge now, and would be then, but high society has kept it from her.

I also really didn't like this weaving that all the characters were tied together from time before. It felt like a crutch rather than an actual support element that made the story better. For this weave to work, that means one of the most educated men in the story, a man trusted with getting the Russians to support Great Britain in what will be WWI, didn't do simple math and realize that 7 doesn't equal 9.

The book is well written, I never had an issue with the style or the function of the writing. The items that were described, were described brilliantly, and I felt like I could see these places. The characters themselves were very much in line with who they were from the beginning with only minor growing up which was bound to happen at that time anyway.

Rating

I cannot stress how disappointed I was in this book when I am about 30% of the way through, and I realize it isn't the book I thought it was. Not sure where I got this title in my head, but it wasn't the right one. It tells a good story overall, but there is a lot in it that take away from the central narrative and for me, the most interesting parts. I was able to see the town as they described it fairly well for the time, but part of that was me playing Assassin's Creed Syndicate which takes place about 30 years prior in London as well. So how fortuitous. If I take out my disappointment and look at the book, I think my major issue is that there is no character growth and the circles are too perfect at the end. Everyone gets what they want, the right people die, and the items are never talked about again. Its just a boring ending. This is a 7.

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