Month: August 2018

The Unbinding of Mary Reade | Review

aquapages // eline1 Comment

by Miriam McNamara

Pages: 340

Genre: historical fiction, lgbt

 

 

Synopsis

A romantic novel based on the true story of a girl who disguised herself as a boy to sail with the infamous pirates Anne Bonny and Calico Jack—and fell in love with Anne Bonny.

There’s two parallell stories told, the first in 1717 of Mary Reade trying to please her wealthy grandma, dressing up as a boy to have a claim to be her heir. Her childhood friend and love is Nat. In 1719 we meet her again as she’s on a merchant ship, still passing as a boy, until it’s raided by pirates and she manages to join them. She joins after seeing Anne Bonny, the girl of the captain Jack, and becomes fascinated with this female pirate, with a sword and a gun in her hands. Sailing with a crew on the verge of another mutiny, she has to decide if she wants to reunite with Nat, side with the captain or risk everything by going for Anne.

 

My thoughts

Rating out of five: three stars

tre

This book is a romance, with little action. It has grime and darkness, but it feels like it’s put here obligatory to meet some minimum requirement of being a pirate novel. That said, one thing I found interesting about this book is Anne and Mary returning to Anne’s home, a settlement of religious people where her the husband she escaped from has gathered a lot of influence. Nat – Mary’s childhood crush – also have settled there and the two girls struggle under the mysogynistic principles and ideas of what a woman should be (definitely not a pirate and unmarried). They’re fighting for their independence, realizing they have little to stand up with and that they’re trapped. The hopelessness was so strong in these scenes and broke through the apathy I’d weirdly felt for the characters until that point.

 the characters

Well, I didn’t feel anything for the characters except Anne. Mary first describes her as a independent and fierce girl standing on the deck with a sword and pistol in hand, being the only woman on her crew. She comes soon to realize she’s only there because of Jack’s permission, everyone on the crew apparantly dislikes her for being a woman. Anne doesn’t feel very thought-through as a character, she’s very girly and whiny, it’s like being relatively free on the ship after being beaten by her husband in the town hasn’t changed her at all. There’s no development, she’s uncomplex and flat like many of the other characters. I feel the author adressed this at one point, having Mary notice how Anne was manipulating Jack by being sweet and kissy when Mary was in danger from him.

It’s this weird battle through the book of Anne wanting to be free and independent, not tied to any man, at the same time as she haven’t gathered any skills to make it on her own. Mary is sewing dresses, struggling as the town is considering her an unmarried whore who they need to reform. I so wish Anne had been written as girly, yes, but also a woman of skills and personality. If she was “broken” by her circumstances, make that something that lasts more than a couple paragraphs.

 

the romance

If you want your sapphic Mary and Anne pirate romance, my opinion is that the chemistry is barely there. Sure, it’s a lot of back and forth, proclaiming their love to each other, but I did not feel the romance. Protectiveness sure, towards the end.

 

their struggles

I’m seeing reviews that expected Mary to be trans, which I do not think was the intent of the book. She certainly struggles with her identity, trying to figure out what parts of her was acting. If you should expect anything from that part of the book, it is that Mary feels like something in between a woman and a man. Both she and Anne faces so much discrimination and little freedom, in different ways and I think the fact that they didn’t understand each other struggles were one of the more realistic things. One is claiming the other have it easier, until they realize they need to both escape.

 

The feeling this book gave me: it got an extra star for the fact that it made me shed a tear (it was 3 am and that’s my excuse) when it showed the hopelessness of the situation of Anne and Mary trying to be “correct” women and still being beaten for it. other than that i was bored much of the way through, considering to dnf it several times.

 

Thanks to the publisher for receiving this copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller | Review

aquapages // eline5 Comments

Pages: 320

Genre: fantasy, pirates

 

Synopsis

There will be plenty of time for me to beat him soundly once I’ve gotten what I came for.

Sent on a mission to retrieve an ancient hidden map—the key to a legendary treasure trove—seventeen-year-old pirate captain Alosa deliberately allows herself to be captured by her enemies, giving her the perfect opportunity to search their ship.

More than a match for the ruthless pirate crew, Alosa has only one thing standing between her and the map: her captor, the unexpectedly clever and unfairly attractive first mate, Riden. But not to worry, for Alosa has a few tricks up her sleeve, and no lone pirate can stop the Daughter of the Pirate King.

 

My thoughts

Rating out of five: four 

fire

This is a fun and enjoyable book. It’s fantastic to have girls who kick ass in fantasy, especially when it’s someone as cunning and dangerous as Alosa. I was hesitant to pick this book up because I noticed how it seemed to be talked about like “this princess isn’t sitting around in her ballgown, she cares about her clothes and appearance AND is a pirate captain who kills a lot of men”. I read this book fast, it was entertaining, but I am certainly a bit worried about why and how people are praising it. There’s not a lot of deeper world-building or truths, for a lack of a better phrase, in this book. It’s pirates, and it’s bloody and it’s fun – and better than a lot of similiar books I’ve read.

the main character Alosa

Alosa seems too overconfident at times as she tells herself over and over that she could get out of the captivity of the other pirate ship anytime, she just needs to get the map first. I mean, she was still in the middle of the fucking ocean. And then there was a revelation that made all of it make sense, she had a plan out, and I was impressed. I saw it coming a couple pages before the reveal, but it still was done in a really clever way. Alosa is the definition of cold, she reminded me of the character Katsa in “Graceling” by Kristin Cashore. Katsa also had an king relative who basically tortured her and gifts that enhanced that coldness. Also she’s one of my all time favs, so of course I would like Alosa.

plot and romance

The plot of this book is simple, but it’s well executed. Alosa is captive to find a map, she’s faced with challenges, both in searching creative hiding spaces, trying to not hook up with Riden and trying not to be tortured by the captain Daxen. The romance with Riden is what it seems, he’s her nicer-than-most guard after she escapes for the hundreth time, a lot of banting and suddenly they’re sharing stories and making out. It wasn’t as exciting as other parts of the book, but it’s obvious that they both have ulterior motives and know what they’re getting themselves into so.

What I was feeling reading this book: entertained and a bit concerned for everyone in Alosa’s path. Also I was laughing when Alosa ended up trashing a particular room and was found drawing octopuses on the maps.

 

a mini rant

I don’t like the reviews saying how “feminist” or girl-empowering this book is. There’s little in this book that I find feminist??? It’s set in a world with very clear patriarchy and where Alosa has carved out her mainly female crew, but we barely see them all book and don’t interact much with them, as she’s held capture on another ship because she’s the daughter of a pirate king. The fact that Alosa has certain skills, and that her father trained her to use them, does not overwin the fact that she has to avoid getting raped throughout this book and is constantly underestimated because she’s a girl, to the point where it’s almost comical because they know she’s the damn pirate princess. Alosa killed three guys without flinching to get her dresses when she was captured, she does not have much of a conscience. And that’s fine, especially as we learn more about her and what she’s been through, but she’s not the good person in this book. None of them are, Alosa and Riden discussed so at one point. They are pirates for a reason. I do think Alosa’s treatment is choices made deliberately by the author, and I don’t have a problem with that, just the way this book seemed to be discussed.

 

Sadie by Courtney Summers | Review

aquapages // eline1 Comment

Pages: 320

Genre: young adult

 

 

Synopsis

Sadie has run away from home, she’s on a mission to get revenge on the death of her sister Mattie. They were very close, as Sadie practically raised her. The details of their difficult childhood are slowly being told as a podcast host is trying to piece their story together. The book follows Sadie on her journey as well as the host West McCray researching, interviewing family and presenting the story in form of a podcast.  

 

My thoughts

Rating out of five:

tre

This book is about very important subjects. Children abuse, drug problems, teenagers running away and how they’re treated. Sadie is trying to get revenge, everyone else is trying to figure out what happened to her and her sister Mattie. Along the journey Sadie uncovers pedophiles and tries to gather as much information about her target as she is able to. The way Sadie keeps going indicates how dark the story will get. We don’t get to know how Mattie died until the end, but it was pretty easy to guess after a while. The few “plot twists” in this book is generally easy to guess, but it’s more a story of how important it is that someone is paying attention to Sadie, Mattie and girls like them.

Turns out a book partly formatted as a podcast might be a bad idea. They’ve really leaned into the idea of “Serial-like podcast” (which it was marketed as) and it’s very noticeable as I read it. I’ve listened to a lot of podcasts, there might be a reason they’re audio. It reads like a very confusing interview. I had problems finding out where the host was talking from, if she was “out in the field” following up leads, if she was interviewing someone or in the studio. It’s written sometimes. Also some weird choices are made in how the story is told, which works for a book, but isn’t usual for actual podcasts. I just got confused at times on what type of story telling they tried to achieve, because it flunctuates between an article written after all the facts are found and a news article being more continually updated. It might be a personal preferance to stick to one style.

But that the podcast isn’t real also seem to limit what kind of story can be told. In real life, awful and weird things happen. In the story, certainly awful things happen, but all the “random” people and actions was placed there to fill out the narrative and give descriptions or accounts of Sadie and her story. It’s an important story to tell, but it was very straight-forward. The story felt somewhere on the edge of having too much information of Sadie’s whereabouts to not knowing anything else than directly what was needed. There were no deeper dive on characters we met, like a “Serial-like” podcast would have, or any other details.

Back to the other half of the story, where we’re following Sadie directly. This was the most interesting parts for me. I admire her drive and the protectiveness over her sister that we get to see and hear about. It’s obviously she’s not thinking right, after the death, but we really don’t get to see just how hard she’s taking it or how she’s feeling. I missed that sometimes. She puts on faces, clearly stated, and it’s amazing to watch how she manages to con her way into information. But I didn’t really feel like I got to know her, or any of the other characters closely. She has a strong personality, but through all the different viewpoints (and trauma) it’s hard to decide what’s really her. Which might not be a wrong choice, it just made it more difficult to connect with the story.

I loved the book “All the rage” by Courtney Summers, this one just didn’t fit me.

 

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for giving this copy in exchange for a honest review.