Book Review: Grey Wolves by Robert Muchamore
Book: Grey Wolves (Book 4 of the Henderson's Boys series)
Author: Robert Muchamore
Summary on the back: Spring 1941. German Submarines are prowling the North Atlantic, sinking ships filled with the food, fuel and weapons that Britain needs to survive. With the Royal Navy losing the war at sea, six young agents must sneak into Nazi-occupied Europe and sabotage a submarine base on France's western coast. If the submarines aren't stopped, the British people will starve. For official purposes, these children do not exist. (Spoilers for Cherub series)
My thoughts:
I am still not too sure why I like Robert Muchamore's books, or rather why I keep on reading them. For a series written for young adults he is a little too graphic and coarse and I feel that even as an adult. Personally I'm not too sure who his audience is supposed to be. But nonetheless, I enjoy historical novels, so I continue reading.
Muchamore closes the gap between the Cherub series and Henderson's Boys in this book (finally). It was hinted at in the third book, but well and truly sealed in this one. Henderson's Boys are now firmly confirmed as the intial CHERUB organisation. I like this, as it adds continuity to the series.
On to the book itself. A plus I find with Muchamore is his willingness to put his characters in danger and due to past stories, its not a guarantee for 'everyone' to make it out ok, so the danger feels more real, because the character might actually die. Like the previous books this one is fairly gritty and hard, like war is in reality. And the multiple plots lines were not too convoluted so as to annoy me when they changed characters. How realistic the portrayal of life in occupied France was, I don't know, but it felt genuine and well researched.
On the whole, I enjoyed the book (as much as I ever do) and will probably read the next. But I certainly don't count them as favourites - Muchamore is just a little too 'hard' for me, and his characters so realistic that too many are a little unlovable.
Author: Robert Muchamore
Summary on the back: Spring 1941. German Submarines are prowling the North Atlantic, sinking ships filled with the food, fuel and weapons that Britain needs to survive. With the Royal Navy losing the war at sea, six young agents must sneak into Nazi-occupied Europe and sabotage a submarine base on France's western coast. If the submarines aren't stopped, the British people will starve. For official purposes, these children do not exist. (Spoilers for Cherub series)
My thoughts:
I am still not too sure why I like Robert Muchamore's books, or rather why I keep on reading them. For a series written for young adults he is a little too graphic and coarse and I feel that even as an adult. Personally I'm not too sure who his audience is supposed to be. But nonetheless, I enjoy historical novels, so I continue reading.
Muchamore closes the gap between the Cherub series and Henderson's Boys in this book (finally). It was hinted at in the third book, but well and truly sealed in this one. Henderson's Boys are now firmly confirmed as the intial CHERUB organisation. I like this, as it adds continuity to the series.
On to the book itself. A plus I find with Muchamore is his willingness to put his characters in danger and due to past stories, its not a guarantee for 'everyone' to make it out ok, so the danger feels more real, because the character might actually die. Like the previous books this one is fairly gritty and hard, like war is in reality. And the multiple plots lines were not too convoluted so as to annoy me when they changed characters. How realistic the portrayal of life in occupied France was, I don't know, but it felt genuine and well researched.
On the whole, I enjoyed the book (as much as I ever do) and will probably read the next. But I certainly don't count them as favourites - Muchamore is just a little too 'hard' for me, and his characters so realistic that too many are a little unlovable.