I won this book through Goodreads First Reads and received the first book, Money, in exchange for an honest review of Power.
This book picks up right where Money leaves off. Because I already knew a lot of the characters from the first novel, it was easy to jump right back into their complicated relationships and plots. I found myself more invested in the story of Power than I did in Money because I was less confused and I had a good amount of background information. Power also had a lot more action than the first novel, but had just as much political turmoil and deceit.
Mahler continues using a nonlinear narrative technique to tell us Betty’s story. I was very appreciative of the added dates to help keep track of the timeline of events. I was a little confused during the first book, especially because the sequence of events is so intricate and subtle differences in time are crucial to understand. The simple addition of the dates really made a positive difference for me.
The writing style is a little hard to follow at times and some of the descriptions and details were distracting. Additionally, while the characters developed more in this novel, I think Betty is at times unbelievable as a person. Even though she is an undercover spy described as “hyper-sexual”, I find her to be too innocent and “goody-goody.” When she’s in spy-mode, she’s perfect. But it is her “normal” interactions and decisions about her personal life that seem off. Betty seems too stiff and doesn’t act like a real woman would; she feels like somebody else’s ideal model of a woman (well behaved, selfless, and quiet with a secret undercover spy career where she’s sexualized by everyone and everything).
Overall, 2.5/5 stars.