This was my third attempt at this book. The story gets interesting at about halfway through and it’s a little hard to get over the hump to that point. The context is necessary just not as relevant yet.I like how this story subtly switches perspectives between the characters even during group interactions. I actually really enjoyed the humor. The pages where they are giving Nash shit for sleeping with Dominika the first time had my busting out loud in laughter. These glimmers of humor were nice among a relatively dark natured story.The romance was there but not the forefront of the story. Dominka felt slightly unrealistic as PTSD is a thing and she likely would have some kind of trauma response kicking in at times. You don’t really ‘train’ PTSD out of someone like it’s insinuating her training does. However, I liked her independence and the fact that you didn’t always have to like her or her decisions. Why did she agree to even help her uncle in the first place? She even said she could get another job. She already spoke multiple languages and would be primed to be a translator. Her special ability to see colors is a nice detail I wish they would have left in the film. Nate on the other hand feels very real. His motivations and personal conflicts feel relatable and understandable. It did sometimes feel like Nate was easier to write since Matthews was a man himself. Even the sex scenes felt somewhat written with a man’s perspective. Dominika is the only female recruit, only female in the room, etc. If you weren’t being told she was an impossibly beautiful woman at every opportunity, she could essentially have been a male character. The film made some key plot changes which helped really sell the female perspective a bit better.The recipes are a little interesting but their value cheapens a little as you go. You never get ingredient amounts so it’s not like you could actually use the recipes. The necessity to add a meal into each chapter actually feels natural most times, but did feel a little more forced once the action picked up around the end.It was a good cliff hanger ended. One that made me actually ask myself, “That’s it?”. Looking forward to reading the next one.