Eye Spy by Mercedes Lackey

Eye Spy by Mercedes Lackey ISBN-13: 9780756413200 Hardcover: 336 pages Publisher: Daw Books Released: July 9, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Mags, Herald Spy of Valdemar, and his wife, Amily, the King’s Own Herald, are happily married with three kids. When their daughter, Abidela, senses the imminent collapse of a bridge, she saves many lives. The experience uncovers her unique Gift—an ability to sense the physical strains in objects. Intrigued by the potential of her Gift, the Artificers train her in math and construction techniques. Her Gift may also grant her an advantage as a spy. With the help of her mentors, she must hone her gift to uncover hidden secrets.


My Review:
Eye Spy is a fantasy novel for tweens and teens. While the story works as a stand alone novel, you'll better understand some of the references made in the story if you've read more of the Valdemar series. Frankly, this story felt fragmented--like it was several short stories about Abidela put into one book. She's confronted with a bully but immediately took care of that threat because she's smart and talented. She needed to learn to use her Gift, yet that's more summarized than seen, so not much suspense built up there. Then she helped her dad briefly by working as a spy. So a series of short adventures, and most didn't contain a notable challenge because she's so talented and smart.

The usual underdog fight against dangerous evil people didn't start until the last quarter of the book, so there wasn't a lot of time to develop the conflict, and the ending felt rushed. It was an enjoyable story, there just wasn't a lot of suspense since the problems were resolved so quickly. There was no sex. There was some bad language (including b**ch).


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.