{"id":3038,"date":"2025-05-27T11:49:24","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T11:49:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=3038"},"modified":"2025-05-27T11:49:24","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T11:49:24","slug":"starred-book-review-simone-lafray-and-the-bishop-of-mumbai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=3038","title":{"rendered":"STARRED Book Review: Simone LaFray and the Bishop of Mumbai"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Simone LaFray and the Bishop of Mumbai<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

by S.P. O\u2019Farrell<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong> Middle Grade Fiction \/ Mystery<\/p>\n

ISBN: <\/strong>9781966369271<\/p>\n

Print Length:<\/strong> 250 pages<\/p>\n

Publisher:<\/strong> Brandylane Publishers, Inc.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Reviewed by Jaylynn Korrell<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>A spy mission, high-stakes competition, and a satisfying story of girlhood<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Simone LaFray is a spy, a singer, a chess player, and the teenage daughter of a world famous chocolatier. Just as she gets settled back into her impressive lifestyle in Paris, Simone and her mother are called in for a new assignment at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.<\/p>\n

The OmniKey, a device of extreme importance to their superior (Eloise), isn\u2019t working properly, and it\u2019s up to Simone to persuade the only person who can fix it.<\/p>\n

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This is the third book in a series following Simone, and it picks up right where book two ends. With an impressive balance of action and drama, S.P. O\u2019Farrell captures the essence of preteen girlhood with flair and expert espionage. It\u2019s what preteen dreams are made of.<\/p>\n

Simone LaFray and the Bishop of Mumbai<\/em> is a winning combination of the Spy Kids series and The Queen\u2019s Gambit<\/em>. Simone is competing for the Junior World Chess Championship while she\u2019s juggling a larger spy mission. Spy teens almost always hit the mark for me, but Simone also leads a fascinating life both in and outside of her missions. You\u2019ll be all in by the time you finish the first chapter.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t think of a single preteen girl who won\u2019t want to be in Simone LaFray\u2019s shoes. She\u2019s practical and successful and hard working, but she also saves time to enjoy herself. Her best friend, known as \u201cthe V,\u201d balances out Simone\u2019s serious nature with fun-loving quips and an endless list of things to talk about. When the V goes on about her first boyfriend, Simone is reminded that they aren\u2019t just little girls anymore. Growing up is closer than it\u2019s ever been.<\/p>\n

Mumbai is the big adventure in this installment. At the Junior World Class Chess Championship, she\u2019s tasked with finding a boy known as the Bishop, whose intelligence can help her superior Eloise get out of a sticky situation.<\/p>\n

But things don\u2019t go to plan when in Mumbai. She soon finds out that the Bishop isn\u2019t anything like she imagined him to be. After talking to him briefly, she begins to question everything she\u2019s ever known and the people she\u2019s supposed to trust. The dynamic between the two is thrilling, and their interactions make up some of the best scenes in the book\u2014a tall feat for a story involving a teen spy! There is so much on the line for both of them. The Bishop desperately wants to find his parents, and Simone feels pressure to complete the mission successfully; combined, their narrative provides a real edge-of-your-seat kind of reading experience.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Farrell succeeds not only in high-tension espionage storytelling but characterization. Simone isn\u2019t only a spy trying to save the day, she\u2019s also a lover of chess and an easy-to-root-for human; her partner on this mission, Harper, is complex and interesting too. Each character is given enough background through intentional dialogue and backstory that you\u2019ll empathize with all of them.<\/p>\n

Simone LaFray and the Bishop of Mumbai<\/em> is a standalone too! Two books come before it and more will come after it (I hope), but readers get an exciting, satisfying story all on its own\u2014along with two previous books to enjoy right after finishing this one.<\/p>\n

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Thank you for reading Jaylynn Korrell\u2019s book review of Simone LaFray and the Bishop of Mumbai <\/em>by S.P. O\u2019Farrell! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.<\/p>\n

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The post STARRED Book Review: Simone LaFray and the Bishop of Mumbai<\/a> appeared first on Independent Book Review<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Simone LaFray and the Bishop of Mumbai by S.P. O\u2019Farrell Genre: Middle Grade Fiction \/ Mystery ISBN: 9781966369271 Print Length: 250 pages Publisher: Brandylane Publishers, Inc. Amazon Bookshop Reviewed by Jaylynn Korrell A spy mission, high-stakes competition, and a satisfying story of girlhood Simone LaFray is a spy, a singer, a chess player, and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3039,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3038"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3038\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}