About the Book
Title: The Shadow Mission
Author: Shamim Sarif
Series: The Athena Protocol #2
Genre: YA – Thriller – Mystery – LGBTQ
Pages: 281
Edition Read: Hardcover
Dates Read: September 10 – 20, 2024
Blurb: Jessie Archer faced down death to prove her dedication to Athena, the elite organization of female spies she works for. Now she’s back on the team, in time to head to Pakistan to take down the man whose actions spurred Athena’s founders to create the secretive squad.
But his connections spread farther than anyone knew, and when a girls’ school in Mumbai is bombed, a shadowy far-right organization reveals itself—and its evil plans to continue attacks.
When someone close to the investigation turns on Athena, Jessie knows that their time to save everyone is nearly up. Once again, she’ll have to risk everything to protect the vulnerable and prove herself.
Review
I was really excited to read this one. I first read The Athena Protocol back in 2019 for a blog tour when it first came out and really, really enjoyed it. This was very different from what I typically read. Spies! Vigilante justice! International espionage! Not only that, but a team of kick ass women who are out there fighting outside of the law to help their fellow women who are being abused, trafficked, or worse.
This book follows another job that Jessie and the crew are on, this time in Mumbai tracking down a dangerous far right group who are against the young girls of the area being sent to school instead of getting married young. They will stop at nothing to meet their ends, even trying to kill the girls of the school rather than let them get their education. It’s terrifying, especially when you know that there are real people like this in the world. At the same time, there are quite a few breaks in gender stereotypes – Jessie works with a young female police detective, who might be working against them, but who she also just might be developing feelings for.
The book is very fast paced, definitely a story that keeps you turning the pages. While I definitely enjoyed it, I don’t think I enjoyed it quite as much as The Athena Protocol. That one was really captivating to me. This one was too, just slightly less so. I still definitely recommend both books, so be sure to check them out.
Good Reads rating: 4 stars
Categories: Books I've Read
Life With No Plot 
Nice book 🌺
I have book 1 on my tbr for this year and every time you mention the sequel I get more hyped. Glad to know that it was a good follow on, even if it maybe wasn’t as good as the first 🙂
Don’t get me wrong, it was still really good. Definitely worth a read, especially if you read the first one and enjoy it.