"Evil Spy School" Book Review (Faisal)

 

Introduction

(WARNING: There are some spoilers.)

        Welcome back! Hope you had a great Winter Break, and are having a great start for second semester. This blog post will be about the third book in the Spy School Series, which is Evil Spy School by Stuart Gibbs. The series could be interpreted as mystery, action, (maybe horror) simultaneously. When I first read the title, I had an urge to read it immediately. However, it took some time for me to retrieve it from the library. The good thing about Gibb's writings is that he devotes the first chapter as a refresher of the previous books in the series. I know this could be aggravating and monotonous for some us (even for me when I read the next book right after finishing the last one). I recommend reading the first chapter quickly, and only pay attention to the new events.

        The author's style in this book (actually, in every one of his books) seems to be straightforward and trusting us, readers, by providing personal experiences of the protagonist, Ben Ripely. You could view it, in some ways, like the book If I Ever Get of Here. The narrator's, who is also the protagonist, tone sounds friendly, mysterious, and engaging.

        Subsequently, when I finished reading this book, I began to realize that there is a consistent plot flow that the author follows. For example, you are reading in the middle of a very stressful and agonizing event for the protagonist, then suddenly, he finds a helpful tool, or someone else rescues him. Moreover, you may see the protagonist be in a hopeless period of time, annoyed by how others treat as an inferior spy, then, his mood changes to elated because his friends helped him find ambition and determination. There are several clichés in the series that make the stories a bit predictable to the reader who has deciphered the author's strategy of writing books, especially an author whose writing is simple to comprehend and read between the lines.

Summary & Review

        Thirteen-year-old Benjamin Ripely, commits an undesirable action that leads for his expulsion from Spy School. He was vert frustrated about it, and was obligated to continue his ordinary lifestyle. Most critically, Ben was not supposed to mention Spy School's existence. Later, he gets offered from Evil Spy School owned by SPYDER, and decides to accept the offer reluctantly. He noticed that people there treated him better than Spy School did to him. Ben trained with his classmates just like they did in Spy School, excluding the evil concepts. He finds some great discoveries and secrets about the evil organization that could be used against them.

        In my opinion, this book was the best one, yet, out of what I read from the series. This book is very unique since it gives an inside perspective of the opposing evil organization, in this case SPYDER, instead of the good side. Anyway, I hope you will find this book interesting and enjoyable, too!

        Author: Faisal