Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

First, a positive. The idea for the plot is great. That being said, I'm struggling to understand how this book has so many positive reviews. My best guess is that it has mostly been read by young readers, because I found this book extremely difficult to read for several reasons: Unnecessary plot developments - The book goes back and forth with little episodes that have absolutely no meaning to the overall plot. This book could have been cut in half and still retained everything needed to tell the story. Shallow characters that are introduced frequently and then disappear. Let's introduce an assassin here, a religious freak there, a mean teacher who gets sick, so the spy can be the substitute teacher, etc. Way too many characters. Poor conversations - The conversations are so poorly written, that I pretty much word-scanned them just to continue. Several "jumping the shark" moments. Spies come to find out more about the main antagonist and just happen to befriend the parents of some of the main characters. Ridiculous. Kids' spy plane is placed on the antagonist's shelf. About as realistic as a cheesy soap opera. Unreadable for me. I wish I could get my money back. I do not recommend this book, and I will not be reading the sequels. Should be sold as a book for young readers.