Series ✦ Penny’s Take
Octopussy and the Living Daylights
Ian Fleming · 2024
74/100
👍 Worth It
The Living Daylights alone earns this collection a place on the shelf — stripped-down, taut Cold War craft at Fleming's most disciplined. Octopussy carries genuine moral weight that's rare in the Bond canon. The other two stories are lighter, and the 007 in New York sketch is barely worth the pages, but for Bond completists the 2024 illustrated edition is a handsome package. Go in knowing it's a slim volume at a hardback price.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
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Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
Faith & family safety70
Substance / usefulness72
Craft & writing80
Originality70
Evidence & accuracy85
Hype vs delivers72
Age-fit68
👁 Human-eye gut-check78
Penny’s verdict74
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