A noir spy story with a queer woman protagonist? Count me in. I’m always excited to find LGBT characters whose sexuality is part of their story and not the sole focus. There’s only so many coming out narratives I can read before they all blur.

I liked Vera’s characterisation, especially the flashbacks to her youth which interspersed the main plot. Unfortunately, however, I found the pacing a little off and wasn’t wrapped up in the suspense of it all as I’d hoped. I also wished that there had been more criticism of the CIA and their actions throughout - it felt uncomfortable rooting for foreign intervention in the politics of a sovereign nation.

A solid three stars from me, I enjoyed the novel but felt it didn’t quite reach its potential.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received this ARC from netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

What a rollercoaster of emotions and what a well written tale. This.book is one of my favourite novel. A heartwarming story. Would love to add it to my library, provided I get it in India,

This is a great read. I would read more by this author because she is adept at weaving a compelling story that feels real.

What has drawn me first to Rosalie Knecht’s ‘Who is Vera Kelly?’ was the cover – retro and atmospheric with the catchy title made me want to read this book, and I wasn’t disappointed.

Set in the 1960s, ‘Who is Vera Kelly?’ follows young Vera, a woman in her twenties, who after many wrong choices and messy events, gets recruited by CIA and sent on a mission to Argentina, in the middle of political upheaval. She is tasked with befriending and spying on a group of students in Buenos Aires, who presumably are being recruited for KGB.

‘Who is Vera Kelly?’ has double-narrative – we follow Vera both on her assignment, but w also get short glimpses into Vera’s background. While interesting, I didn’t necessarily feel like I needed that much of Vera’s backstory, at least not in this form, but on overall, I have enjoyed the writing style a lot.

What I liked the most about Rosalie Knecht’s book was how character-driven it was. Most thrillers and mysteries are fast-paced narratives focusing predominantly on the action. ‘Who is Vera Kelly?’ though full of events and often extremely dangerous and stressful situations for the main character, is slower, more focused on Vera herself – exploring her journey, her thoughts and feelings. In many ways, Rosalie Knecht’s is more literary than most books from the genre, but it is something I have enjoyed here very much. It has added another layer to the atmosphere of the book – both the setting and the character had felt more alive as a result.

Thanks to Tin House Books (the publisher of this novel) for providing me with an ARC copy for an honest review.

Slow Burn. Seriously. It’s slow. That snail in your garden? A speedy comparison to this.

So why did I rate it 4 (3.5) stars? Because, a thriller and suspenseful spy novel it’s not. But an interesting look into spy occupation and LGBT+ lives in the 50s/60s? It really is.

Seriously, I was never sure what to think of this book. I went in expecting a Bosch esque spy thriller and ended up with a fairly vivid account of lgbt+ life and a girl who for a long time got nothing right in a life that wasn’t going her way. And I loved it. I loved that she was so normal, and that we got to see into her background, but I couldn’t quite shake the feeling of this isn’t what I was expecting - at all - from the blurb.

If you love suspenseful spy novels, this probably isn’t for you. However if you like slower plot lines, with a historical depth, this may well be the book for you. It’s certainly an intriguing read for LGBT+ folk, and as a queer gal myself, I really enjoyed reading a plot so far from the normal tropes of lgbt+ story lines.