Mini dnf-Review: Ten After Closing and The Unbinding of Mary Reade

Title: Ten After Closing
Author: Jessica Bayliss
Date Published: 4th September 2018
Publisher: Sky Pony
Genre: Young Adult ~ Thriller ~ Contemporary
Stars: Did not finish

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc through Edelweiss and the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. The image header and the quote edits used are my own and the link in the book’s details is to the book’s Goodreads’ page. The summary is my own (well, I summarised the Goodreads description). All opinions expressed are my own.

Note: As I didn’t get far in either book, I don’t know if there’s any intense or troubling/disturbing scenes. But judging from what the books’ are about and looking at some of the reviews; I’m guessing that trigger and/or content warnings are needed.

There’s a cafe. People (Scott, Winsome aka Winny) are in it. Other customers too. They all become hostages.

Listen, I didn’t finish this one, okay? I stopped around, I think, 15%. Therefore I don’t have as an articulate summary as my other reviews (or well, two, excluding this one, as I recently started doing this).

I did want to like this book, as it seemed like a good book – a lot of people on Goodreads liked it. Everyone said it had a good plot, but I sometimes have trouble with the going back and forth of time. But unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me – which is perfectly fine, as not everyone likes the same book.

I think what I didn’t like were the characters – Scott and Winny. I didn’t click with them and if I don’t click with the characters within the first 10 or so percent of a book, I’ll probably not finish it.

Do I recommend this: Since I didn’t finish it, I can’t actually say if it’s good or not. If you read the actual summary (the way more concise one on Goodreads. and you think it’s interesting, definitely go have a read!). 

 

Title: The Unbinding of Mary Reade
Author: Miriam McNamara
Date Published: 19th June 2018
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Genre: ~ Young Adult ~ Historical Fiction ~ LGBT+ ~ Pirates
Stars: did not finish

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc through Edelweiss and the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. The image header and the quote edits used is my own and the link in the book’s details is to the book’s Goodreads’ page and stores to buy the book. All quotes given in the review are from the e-arc and therefore might not be accurate. The summary is my own (well, I summarised the Goodreads description). All opinions expressed are my own.

A girl, disguised as a boy, becomes a pirate and falls in love with the (in)famous pirate, Anne Bonny. Or at least I think that happens. I didn’t finish it.

Apparently I got to 22 % percent while reading this, which probably meant I was a little bit bored reading this. Again, I’m sorry if you read this book and you really liked it, and once again, as mentioned earlier, that’s totally fine. But I didn’t enjoy it.

I’m that kind of reader where I pay attention to the characters, plot, and worldbuilding (if it’s a fantasy-type novel). But more often than not, I’ll focus on the characters. I want to like the characters I read, I want to root for them. I want see them achieve the goals they set for themselves. But for these characters, I could see they had goals and wanted to achieve them; I just didn’t feel the need to root for them.

Do I recommend this: If you’re interested in reading about pirates, f/f relationships or long hauls on the sea, then you might want to pick this up. Also remember that as I didn’t finish this book, I don’t know how the book ends or how specific events unfold.