Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for The Athena Protocol by Shamim Sarif. This tour is being hosted by Fantastic Flying Book Club. I’ll be sharing my review and quotes. There will also be a giveaway.
The Athena Protocol
by Shamim Sarif
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: October 8th 2019
Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller, LGBT
Jessie Archer is a member of the Athena Protocol, an elite organization of female spies who enact vigilante justice around the world.
Athena operatives are never supposed to shoot to kill—so when Jessie can’t stop herself from pulling the trigger, she gets kicked out of the organization, right before a huge mission to take down a human trafficker in Belgrade.
Jessie needs to right her wrong and prove herself, so she starts her own investigation into the trafficking. But going rogue means she has no one to watch her back as she delves into the horrors she uncovers. Meanwhile, her former teammates have been ordered to bring her down. Jessie must face danger from all sides if she’s to complete her mission—and survive.
BOOK LINKS
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42078793-the-athena-protocol
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2xJh2tx
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-athena-protocol-shamim-sarif/1129616012
iTunes: https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-athena-protocol/id1448686000
Bookdepository: https://www.bookdepository.com/Athena-Protocol-Shamim-Sarif/9780062849601?ref=grid-view&qid=1562937114193&sr=1-1
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-athena-protocol
Google Books: https://books.google.fr/books/about/The_Athena_Protocol.html?id=-cL1wAEACAAJ&redir_esc=y
The Athena Protocol was a surprise for me. It was fast paced and a lot more mature than I expected it to be.
This book covers terrorism and sex trafficking. So right there, you know it’s going to be dark and might not be good if you’re triggered by violence, gore, kidnapping, and sexual abuse/rape. There is also PTSD mentioned. There are talks of harvesting from unwilling girls. There are snipers, talk of military, politics, and revenge. There is talk of past alcohol abuse.
The first line really sets the tone for the book.
“Sometimes I wonder if the world might just look better through a rifflescope. Cripser, clearer, narrowed down. Less messy.”
The Athena is a group of women that came together to save girls. The ones that the government either can’t do anything about or the ones they don’t care about. There is a lot of greed and corruption, so people turn a blind eye. The three older women don’t go into the field. But Jessie, Hala, and Caitlin go on their missions after careful planning. The book starts off on a mission to save girls from a terrorist group run by a man named Ahmed. The Athena has a rule that everyone is taken alive unless absolutely necessary. So when Jessie kills Ahmed in revenge, she gets removed from Athena.
But that doesn’t stop Jessie. She was one of the researchers for their next mission and she wasn’t going to be left out. Jessie graduated high school at 15 and joined a program that taught her defense and other non traditional things. Her mom, Kit, was part of Athena and recruited her. Now Kit is going out into the field so that Caitlin can go steal files in the house of a very rich and powerful man. Athena sneaks some items she needs and heads out to help in secret. She is found by the members and reported, but then she leaves again. Athena meets the daughter of this man and she really comes to care for her. Not only is she attracted to her, but she feels there is something between them. So not only is she helping her team, she is trying to keep everything hidden from Paulina, too.
Everything else is full of action, secrets, and twists. Jessie is sarcastic which I always enjoy. And the pacing was great. This was another one of those books that I just flew through. I have no idea if there will be a sequel (I should look that up), but I hope there is. I enjoyed the characters and their missions.
I gave this book 4 1/2 stars rounded up to 5. Thank you to the publisher and Edelweiss for my review copy.
What is it about late-night hunger that makes you want to devour the kind of food you’d never consider putting in your mother in broad daylight?
Dusty Springfield is belting out “You Don’t Own Me,” which I can’t help but think is somewhat ironic considering where we all are.
It’s embarrassing how bizarre your thoughts get when you’ve had no sleep.
Maybe we need thousands of smaller heroes every day instead of just the occasional big one.
I’m realizing there are no easy answers. The older you get, the messier it gets.
Not being heterosexual is probably the coolest thing I’ve ever done as far as Kit is concerned.
Born in the UK, Shamim is an award-winning novelist, screenwriter, and director.
Her next book, The Athena Protocol, is an all-female YA contemporary action thriller that is published by Harper Teen in September 2019.
Her debut novel, The World Unseen, won a Betty Trask award and the Pendleton May First Novel award.
Shamim has adapted and directed the films of three of her novels including, most recently, Despite the Falling Snow. The book was published by Headline in the UK and St Martin’s Press in the US. The movie stars Rebecca Ferguson and Charles Dance in a story of love and betrayal in cold war Russia. Her films have won 47 awards internationally.
Shamim’s third novel, I Can’t Think Straight, formed the basis of her cult hit film of the same name.
Shamim’s book festival appearances include Hay-on-Wye, Cheltenham and Edinburgh.
An accomplished speaker, Shamim has spoken at TED events worldwide, at the INK Conference in India and DLD in Munich. Corporate speaking events have included Deloitte, Goldman Sachs, Citibank and Disney.
Shamim lives in London with her wife, Hanan, and their two sons
AUTHOR LINKS
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/374437.Shamim_Sarif
Website: https://shamimsarif.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/shamimsarif
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shamimsarif
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/EnlightenmentProds
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shamimsarif/
Prize: Win a copy of The Athena Protocol by Shamim Sarif (US Only)
Starts: 2nd October 2019
Finishes: 16th October 2019
Follow The Tour:
https://fantasticflyingbookclub.blogspot.com/2019/08/tour-schedule-athena-protocol-by-shamim.html
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Confessions of a YA Reader 
I liked this book a lot. It was a better version of the Black Coats. But like the Black Coats I think there are vigilante issues that need addressing.
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I still need to read The Black Coats. I forgot about that one. I’m glad you liked this one, too.
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This sounds good with some heavy subjects being tackled! Glad you enjoyed it. Great review! 😀
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Thank you so much! It was definitely heavy with the trafficking and other things I can’t really mention.
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Oooh! Thrillers are one of my favourite genres and this one sounds fantastic! Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on it. 🙂
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You’re welcome! I’m always excited when there are new ya thrillers or mystery books coming out. I can never get enough. It’s definitely my favorite genre with fantasy becoming a close second.
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Whoa!! That’s a lot of important issues this book covers! 😱😍 I am already intrigued! ❤️❤️ Thanks so much for the review! I will add this one to my tbr! ❤️❤️
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You’re welcome! I hope you enjoy it.
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