Caramel reviews Spy School At Sea by Stuart Gibbs

Caramel has been reading and reviewing the Spy School books by Stuart Gibbs in order. After Spy School, Spy Camp, Evil Spy School, Spy Ski School, Spy School: Secret Service, Spy School Goes South, Spy School: British Invasion, and Spy School Revolution, he is now talking to Sprinkles about book nine: Spy School At Sea, first published in 2021.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, we are in book nine now. What is this one about?

Caramel: Ben goes on a cruise ship named Emperor of the Seas and stops Jessica Shang’s mom from blowing up the Panama Canal.

S: Ooh, we met Jessica earlier in Spy Ski School, way back in book four, right? And I think you had said that her dad was “an evil dude” but that Jessica was nice.

C: Yeah. Well, at least, she seemed nice.

S: Wait, what are you implying?

C: That’s not foreshadowing.

S: Big word for a little bunny. What do you mean Caramel?

C: She actually is not evil! I just said it to sound mysterious.

S: I see. I’m not sure if I buy that, but okay, I guess I have to read the books to figure out for myself. So back to this book. Ben dealt with Jessica’s dad before. And now it is time for her mom?

C: Yes. And Murray Hill also shows up.

S: Wow! I thought he was done.

C: Yeah, one would think, but apparently not. And Dane Bramage also shows up, which is quite something, because he had fallen down from the Eiffel Tower in an earlier book.

S: Alright, so we see quite a lot of familiar characters. Are there any new characters in the book other than Jessica’s mom?

C: Well, yes, we had heard about Jessica’s mom before, so she is not totally new, but we had not actually seen her, so there is that. But there are also other totally new characters. For example one of them is El Diablo, who is a drug lord.

S: Oh, that sounds really dangerous.

C: Yes, as usual, Ben gets into really dangerous stuff, over and over again.

S: And I guess you like that?

C: Kind of. But it is mainly because he always gets out of trouble in amusing ways.

S: So what did you like most about this book?

C: At some point, Ben manages to trick Murray into telling the truth. That was amusing.

S: Okay, so would amusing be one of the words you’d use to describe this book?

C: Well, I was thinking “hilarious” could do well too.

S: Alright. What other words would you use to complete your description?

C: Action-packed. And fast-paced.

S: Cool. So are we done with this series? Do you think you had enough?

C: No! Are you kidding Sprinkles? I have to read the last two books! And Marshmallow has almost caught up with me. I have to get moving!

S: Okay, you are right. There are two more books in the series. But your reviews for those will need to wait till February 2024.

C: The reviews can wait. But I can’t! I have to read the next book immediately!

S: Okay, okay, so let us wrap up this review, and then you can start the tenth book.

C: Exactly!

S: As we are wrapping this up, then, what would you like to say to our readers?

C: This is my last regular review for 2023. But we will do a recap post on Saturday. So stay tuned for that!