Shamim Sarif

Bourne Identity meets Karen McManus in this action-packed series opener about a spy gone rogue, perfect for fans of Ally Carter and Killing Eve. 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. Don’t miss this gripping page-turner that New York Times bestselling author Patrick Ness called “a ferocious, take-no-prisoners thriller that actually thrills!”

The Athena Protocol

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Spy thrillers will never fail to be straight-up cool, and The Athena Protocol is no exception to this. It's a James Bond-esque story starring women and with lots of action and adventure from start to finish.

Here, the spies aren't working for the government, which was an interesting change; instead, it's a small, private, almost vigilante organization called Athena, with three heads and three main agents who work undercover to save women from dangerous situations.

Jessie was a really great main character; she's tough and resourceful, if impulsive and reckless. There were so many tight situations she wormed her way out of that it had me in absolute awe. After a reckless decision early in the book, Jessie finds herself operating without the help of Athena for a lot of the book, and it's really great at showing how clever she really is and how much she cares about the people in her life, even when they've abandoned her.

And a lot of the book focuses on the people in Jessie's life. There's Kit, Jessie's mother, whom she has a very complicated relationship with; her teammates, Hala and Caitlin, and the two other leaders of Athena, Li and Peggy. The Athena Protocol explores all these relationships in depth, but the one that fascinated me most was Jessie and Kit, which is one of the most complex and real mother/daughter relationships I've read in YA. In addition, Jessie and the daughter of the human trafficker Athena is taking down, Paulina, spend a lot of the book flirting. Jessie being queer was so lowkey in the story, but it was nice.

One thing that bothered me, however, was that Jessie didn't seem like a teenager; if the book wasn't YA, I'd have pegged her for twenty-four, minimum, and I don't think the book ever directly says her age but I really can't see her or frankly any of the characters as younger than nineteen. They all seem far too experienced and mature.

The plot made the book practically unputdownable. Jessie gets herself in and out of so many dangerous situations that the book had me on the edge of my seat. The people that Athena go after are wholly evil, human traffickers, corrupted politicians and the like, so the cathartic need to see bad things happen to them also kept me reading. It's tense and packed with action but leaves a lot of moments for emotional beats.

If you like a good, fast-paced story about clever women and justice, definitely pick up The Athena Protocol. It entirely succeeds in being a fun, fast, well-crafted spy thriller, and leaves room for a sequel that I will definitely be hoping for.

content warnings | human trafficking, rape mentions

representation | sapphic main character, characters of colour (arab, black, chinese)

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Author: Shamim Sarif

Book Series: Standalone for now

Rating: 5/5

Publication Date: October 8, 2019

Genre: YA Action

Recommended Age: 17+ (human trafficking, gore, violence)

Publisher: HarperTeen

Synopsis: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.

Review: Holy crap this book was fantastic! Like Kim Possible but more awesome and way more adult. The book does amazing at character development and building relationships between the characters instead of just relying on history. The book has a solid romance and I engulfed it in one sitting!

My only issue is that this is for much more mature audiences and it discusses things that are horrific in real life. The book feels like an adult novel, but I don't think that should deter anyone, especially teens, from reading this.

Verdict: Definitely check this one out!

Karolina

Jessie Archer is a part of the secret organization called Athena Protocol. The organization was found by three women to spread justice and fight evil across the world. One of the founders is Jessie's mother. That's how she found her way to be a member and become one of vigilante.

Being a member of the Athena Protocol isn't easy. Jessie knows about it very well. During one of the missions, lives were unfairly taken. Jessie couldn't stand this injustice and she pulled the trigger. In this way, she was kicked out of the agency right before the important mission in Belgrade.

Even if she was supposed to be completely excluded from any forthcoming mission, she couldn't stop herself and do not involve in one in Serbia. Without anyone knowing, she went to Belgrade to start her own mission. She investigates trafficking there and comes across the information no member of the Athena Protocol knew.

She finds herself in many dangerous situations, but it doesn't stop her from helping the women who are forgotten by the world. She is determined to stop this horror for all of them and the only thing that can stop her is death.

My thoughts: 

Jessie is a very smart and talented young girl. She sacrifices her whole life to help people in big trouble. She may be a little bit annoying from time to time, but she is young, and I think that it just shows how real is this character. She is not perfect, but no one is, and the author showed it perfectly in the book. I think it's the first book where finally the main character can’t fight everyone and win without a problem. It's so unrealistic and I am so happy in this book everything felt so real. Jessie knew her chances in every fight and didn't thrust herself into ones that she knew she will lose.

I think my favorite thing in this book is the message it sends to the reader and I completely agree with it. The story shows us that the world doesn’t need one occasional big hero but a thousand smaller ones every day to change the world. If we all will fight for a better tomorrow instead of waiting for someone to do it, we will achieve it much easier and faster. We need to act not just watching. I really wish the group like Athena Protocol could be real. Someone who is not focused so much on money but on the people that needs our help. This book is the first book in a long time that had such a strong impact on me. I know this is a fiction book but the events like it this book takes place in a real-life and no one will stop them.

The story itself is very interesting and well written. With each end of the chapter, I had to read the next one to find out what will be next. All the scenes of action kept me on the edge of the sit. I honestly felt my heart pounding so many times while reading this book. I love it when the book just makes me feel that I am a part of the book and this one gave me this feeling. The ending of the book was also very good, but I really hoped that the part with Jessie and Paulina will end differently. I liked them together. I mean I liked them together until one of them went completely crazy at the end. Yeah, at least we got a cute love story in the beginning.

Leelynn Brady

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Edelweiss, Fantastic Flying Book Club, and HarperTeen for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.

Content Warning:
Human Trafficking, Death, Violence

Like I was mentioning above, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I got this one, but I am so thankful that I read it. I was in love with this novel from the beginning – you know, besides the bad stuff that happened but it worked so well – and the premise was really enjoyable to read.

This totally gave me Charlie’s Angels vibes, and I was so happy to see that the Athenas were created to save girls from human trafficking, by most means necessary. They are experts in combat and espionage, and that was honestly so hot. I love what their mission is all about, and honestly there needs to be something like that in real life, if there isn’t already. I think this was even cooler than the missions I’ve seen in Charlie’s Angels, but I’m not about to girl on girl hate for a silly reason like that.

I was so upset about what happened with Jessie, our MC, because I feel like it wasn’t really something she should have been faulted for. I understand that the Athenas never kill, but sometimes if they have no choice, can’t they make an exception? I don’t know what that says about the kind of person I am, but if Jessie is able to kill someone to save the lives of so many girls from being trafficked, mistreated, and even murdered, then why should that be punished so harshly?

It always kills me when someone ends up being hunted by those they were initially close to, and they have to think out of the box in order to save their own lives from being snuffed out by their former partners. Those kinds of story-lines hurt me to my core, but it makes me wonder which ones of the former partners will end up doing what is right, versus what their orders are. Is it better to be the good soldier who doesn’t question orders, or to be cognizant of the decisions we have to make, and do what’s actually right.

Decisions, decisions.

I’d totally love to see this as a movie or something. The imagery was just great, and I was so rooting for Jessie to prove herself again in the Athenas’ eyes, even though I knew that she was worth way more than she believed.

Go read this, friends!

Stark Koenig

Zahia Saeed 

Bourne Identity meets Karen McManus in this action-packed series opener about a spy gone rogue, perfect for fans of Ally Carter and Killing Eve. 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. Don't miss this gripping page-turner that New York Times bestselling author Patrick Ness called "a ferocious, take-no-prisoners thriller that actually thrills!"

The Athena Protocol

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