(4.5 / 5)

Five books in, I’m starting to feel like every time I’m ready to read the next book, I should re-read all the ones before it again to remember the important details. I know some of that is my own memory problems, but there’s just so much happening over the course of these books. It’s hard to keep up with who might be bad, who definitely is bad, and who seemed to be good but double-crossed someone else. Little hints that aren’t followed-up on right away get lost in the greater story. The fact that this bothers me probably means that I’m enjoying the series, though, and I am. I just may have to start taking notes about what’s going on.

Somehow I knew that when, in my review for the previous book, I said that a future book might give me a different look at the Holts than the family of meatheads they’ve been portrayed as so far, it would end up happening soon, and I was right. Though really, it’s only the eldest son, Hamilton Holt who has a bit of character development here. I thought it was weird that after receiving actionable intel, he takes part in some kind of family capture-the-flag game before telling his dad that they need to get moving. Makes little sense. I also didn't really get how the black circle was a big enough deal in the book to be put in the title. But overall, I enjoyed this book and look forward to continuing the series. ( )

This was fast paced and action packed and it was wickedly good. Unlike Alex Rider it's not overly sad and unlike Cherub - I like the main characters. As a reader, I relate to Amy but I love Dan's way of looking at things. They're a great team. Nellie, the au pair, is hilarious. She's laid back and loyal and can speak a seemingly million different languages. The rest of the Cahill family kind of suck, but what's an adventure story without a villain? Or ten? The plot is riveting - the mix of fiction and history is fascinating and I'm flying through the series. They're not particularly long - but then this kind of book never is - or at least never feels like it is. I can't wait to read the rest. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.


Partnership with Hamilton Holt! Didn't see that coming. But it made sense and it was nice that they worked together - and that he didn't turn out to be a jerk at the end of the book like Ian did. Not enough Nellie in this one and noooooooo, don't let her be traitor. I still have so many questions - can't wait to get some answers.
( )

4.5 stars

I loved the Russian setting, the secrets of the Lucien branch, and Amy and Dan's partnership with the Holts, of all people! On the other hand, although Dan called Rasputin a "creep", The Black Circle did sound like it was making a subtle argument for Rasputin's (nonexistent) virtue, crafting an explanation that it was him who helped Anastasia Romanov survive. In reality, Dan is right: Rasputin was no good guy. Still, Rasputin was only mentioned a few times, and this is a series that I'm enjoying!

ೄྀ࿐ Quotes ೄྀ࿐
☐ “Lazy Dan left the building and was replaced by Alarmed Dan.”
☐ “Doesn’t Shep live near Darlinghurst?” Amy asked. “Dude, don’t call me darling,” Dan said. “Ever. That’s an absolute rule.”
☐ “The Road of Bones," said Dan. "That's a little bit unpleasant even by my standards.”
☐ “We push away the bad memories," Irina said. Bleak sadness deadened her voice. "We tell ourselves is better not to remember. It is not better. Better to remember everything, even pain.”

Yeah. Weird book! But Irina's character development is ( )

This book definitely wasn't my least favourite of the series so far - that one would have to be The Sword Thief - but it wasn't great either. I didn't like how Amy and Dan were so completely on their own on this one, especially since they were being trailed by three other teams, and I would have liked it if Nellie had come along (at this point Saladin seems pretty useless to the plot). The reveal of NRR was far too quick and the last two or three chapters probably could have been stretched out a bit more.

I did like how more and more hints towards Irina's backstory are being revealed, however the broken English she has seems kind of cheesy, especially since she was a KGB agent. Ian and Natalie were superfluous in this book and could have been kept entirely off-screen (do we honestly to keep re-hashing the sort-of romance between Amy and Ian two books ago?), and Natalie's fuss about her clothes was too childish for her.

Amy and Dan teaming up with Hamilton was a plot twist I didn't see coming, and I like the way the entire Holt family was humanized more. They're still over-competitive and a bit violent, but they're getting deeper as characters and I enjoyed it. I do think there was a bit more potential for the whole Road of Bones scene, especially since not a lot of people know about that part of Russia's history and it is very entertaining.

In the end, this book was fairly interesting and the writing wasn't terrible, however there were issues with characters, inconsequential plot points, and unrealistic storylines. (Do you have to make everyone other than Amy and Dan super-geniuses? Can't you just have Amy and Dan screw up once in a while instead of everyone else having unbelievably good tech or equipment?) ( )

Children's fiction; Adventure. The fifth installment in the series delves a little deeper into Hamilton "Hammer" Holt, as the two orphans develop another temporary alliance with one of their competitors. ( )