Audiobook Review – Agent 355 by Marie Benedict, Narrated by Emily Rankin (3/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Historical Fiction
Length: 2 hours and 7 minutes
Publisher: Audible Original
Release Date: 02 July 2020
ASIN: B08BDN7W68
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Free Audible Originals audiobook through Audible Membership
Rating: 3/5 stars
“The tide is turning against the colonists in the Revolutionary War, and 18-year-old Elizabeth Morris cannot sit by idly. Quietly disdainful of her Tory parents, who drag her along to society events and welcome a British soldier into their home during their occupation of New York City, Elizabeth decides to take matters into her own hands. She realizes that, as a young woman, no one around her believes that she can comprehend the profound implications of being a nation at war – she is, effectively, invisible. And she can use this invisibility to her advantage. Her unique access to British society leads her to a role with General George Washington’s own network of spies: the Culper Ring.”
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone audiobook novella. I got this book as a free Audible Originals audiobook with my Audible membership.
Audiobook Quality (4/5): The audiobook was well narrated, nothing too special but decent to listen to.
Story (3/5): I think the idea behind this story is a good one, the author is trying to highlight women in history who have been overlooked. I found it interesting to learn about Agent 355 (Elizabeth),although this story is more speculation than history. The story itself was pretty lackluster. Many parts of this are very unbelievable; Elizabeth being accepted as a spy so quickly and being thrown on the prison ship both seemed pretty unrealistic for the time. Way too much time is spent on the romance between Elizabeth and Townsend.
Characters (2/5): The characters lacked depth and just seemed to accept each other too quickly given they were working as spies. I also found it irritating that initially Elizabeth is shown as a woman who wants to be independent and then for most of the story she is trying to cater to Townsend. I was just in general not very impressed with the characters here.
Setting (3/5): The majority of this book takes place in New York City during the revolutionary war. It’s an interesting setting but not a lot of emphasis was placed on the setting. The story focused more on the events happening at the time and on the romance between Elizabeth and Townsend.
Writing Style (3/5): I felt like this story was written at a pretty low reading level and the author told us stuff rather than told a story. The language is pretty stark and the story doesn’t flow well. Technically there weren’t really any issues here but it wasn’t a writing style I enjoyed.
My Summary (3/5): Overall, while I love the idea of what the author is trying to do here, the writing style and storytelling leave a lot to be desired. This was a freebie for Audible so I can’t complain too much and the audiobook was well narrated. However, I wouldn’t listen to it again and don’t plan on picking up any other works by this author.
