What do readers think of The Spy Lover by Kiana Davenport? Write your own review.

The Spy Lover is a captivating story set during the Civil War. I found myself engaged in the characters and curious to see how they all fared by the end of the book. Kiana Davenport writes beautifully, and her book is detailed without being tedious, however the last 60 pages dragged and the ending seemed rushed. A solid book with several themes suitable for book club discussions.

I have read volumes on the Civil War and this novel is by far, one of the most graphic. If you tend to have a queazy stomach, you might want to skip this one. It paints a vivid picture of the atrocities of war and the personal tragedies and abuses suffered by three very interesting main characters. While the characters bring to life the abuses of women and non-whites during this period, the inhumanity of war is much broader. If you enjoy historical fiction, this is well worth reading. The author has based much of the story on her own family history.

I learned alot from this book. Didn't know that Chinese immigrant men were kidnapped to serve in the Confederate army or southern women grew poppies for opium. I enjoyed the story line told from the father's view, Johnny Tom, the daughter's, Era, and the Confederate soldier, Warren. The writing is beautiful. The graphic descriptions of war, abuse toward nonwhites and women might bother some readers. The only reason I didn't rate the book a 5, I thought the ending dragged on. It is a book I will reread.

You will need a strong stomach to finish this one. Excellent, realistic war between the states novel. Removes any idea of the romance of armed conflict. Very interesting and human characters and story line. However, the violence is so strong that I've had to take the reading a little at a time and NOT before bed or with meals.

I liked many aspects of this book, such as the descriptions of the everyday lives of the soldiers and nurses during the Civil War. I think the title is a little misleading as it makes the book sound like a romance, which it really isn't. However, several historical inaccuracies took me out of the story, such as the use of gasoline described in an early scene and gasoline would have been a very unlikely commodity during the Civil War. However, the battle scenes and things like that seemed to be very well researched.

I found the topic of this book very interesting. I had not known of how Chinese immigrants were involved in the Civil War. Unfortunately the use of three main alternating viewpoints (plus that of occasional brief views of more characters) made it hard for me to follow some of the more important pieces of the story.