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3.32 AVERAGE
3.32 AVERAGE
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
After reading Daughter of the Pirate King last year, I needed more novels featuring women pirates. So when I heard about The Unbinding of Mary Reade I knew I had to read it, and thankfully I was able to. Below I am going to discuss some things in the review that may be spoilerish, so be warned.
So Mary Reade is a young lady who learns to disguise herself as a boy as she joins a ship crew. During her time at sea her ship is attacked by pirates, and being so impressed by a lady in the pirate crew, she takes out her own crew's captain with a single shot. She is taken as part of the pirate crew still under the guise of a man. She becomes fond of the lady, Anne, she was impressed with while she still yearns for the boy she loved back home.
Throughout the book, every chapter or two, we get a look back at Mary's past and why she even disguised herself in the first place. Her mom was a poor, drunk woman who used Mary by dressing her up as Mark, a son who passed. By doing this, Mary was forced in to deceiving her Grandma in to seeing her as her heir. This was a nice way to keep the reader engaged with the present while letting them in on Mary's background, without the massive information dump that hinders many other books.
Mary is a girl who yearns to be what she believes is right. She wants to be a woman and with her childhood love. She is tired of deceit, and yet when she is outed, everything changes. She realizes those who considered her opinion as one of a man's now cares not about hers as a woman. We also see how Mary is divided within herself over who she loves, and whether it is acceptable or not within herself. You can feel her pain as she can't seem to understand her, just as much as Anne is in the same predicament. What I loved about this was in the end she realizes it is okay to love whom you want, regardless of what anyone else may think.
This book made me think about a lot of social issues when it came to love, the lack of equal standing with men and women, and how people are looked down upon for being outside of the norms. I thought about how much things have changed since the 1700s, and yet how much things haven't in many ways. I can look at current politics in the U.S. and see how many wish we were headed back to the way many think and lead back then.
My only significant gripe about this book was the lack of Pirate adventure and action. It had some, but kind of leaves that desire a bit unfulfilled in the grand scheme of everything that happens. The way some of the early moments of this book play out, you almost expect a bit more, but it never comes. Overall I really enjoyed The Unbinding of Mary Reade and how it touches upon social aspects like feminism and LGBTQ in an older setting. Any book that has me sitting back in and giving serious thought to topics present after I'm finished is doing a good job.
Cover Thoughts: While it definitely a beautiful cover and sets the tone for the overall Pirate theme, I feel like the cover promises more of a pirate adventure than what is actually had.
Rating: 4 out of 5
You can check out this review and other reviews of books, games, and see my K-Pop fangasming over at g-nitro.com
After reading Daughter of the Pirate King last year, I needed more novels featuring women pirates. So when I heard about The Unbinding of Mary Reade I knew I had to read it, and thankfully I was able to. Below I am going to discuss some things in the review that may be spoilerish, so be warned.
So Mary Reade is a young lady who learns to disguise herself as a boy as she joins a ship crew. During her time at sea her ship is attacked by pirates, and being so impressed by a lady in the pirate crew, she takes out her own crew's captain with a single shot. She is taken as part of the pirate crew still under the guise of a man. She becomes fond of the lady, Anne, she was impressed with while she still yearns for the boy she loved back home.
Throughout the book, every chapter or two, we get a look back at Mary's past and why she even disguised herself in the first place. Her mom was a poor, drunk woman who used Mary by dressing her up as Mark, a son who passed. By doing this, Mary was forced in to deceiving her Grandma in to seeing her as her heir. This was a nice way to keep the reader engaged with the present while letting them in on Mary's background, without the massive information dump that hinders many other books.
Mary is a girl who yearns to be what she believes is right. She wants to be a woman and with her childhood love. She is tired of deceit, and yet when she is outed, everything changes. She realizes those who considered her opinion as one of a man's now cares not about hers as a woman. We also see how Mary is divided within herself over who she loves, and whether it is acceptable or not within herself. You can feel her pain as she can't seem to understand her, just as much as Anne is in the same predicament. What I loved about this was in the end she realizes it is okay to love whom you want, regardless of what anyone else may think.
This book made me think about a lot of social issues when it came to love, the lack of equal standing with men and women, and how people are looked down upon for being outside of the norms. I thought about how much things have changed since the 1700s, and yet how much things haven't in many ways. I can look at current politics in the U.S. and see how many wish we were headed back to the way many think and lead back then.
My only significant gripe about this book was the lack of Pirate adventure and action. It had some, but kind of leaves that desire a bit unfulfilled in the grand scheme of everything that happens. The way some of the early moments of this book play out, you almost expect a bit more, but it never comes. Overall I really enjoyed The Unbinding of Mary Reade and how it touches upon social aspects like feminism and LGBTQ in an older setting. Any book that has me sitting back in and giving serious thought to topics present after I'm finished is doing a good job.
Cover Thoughts: While it definitely a beautiful cover and sets the tone for the overall Pirate theme, I feel like the cover promises more of a pirate adventure than what is actually had.
Rating: 4 out of 5
You can check out this review and other reviews of books, games, and see my K-Pop fangasming over at g-nitro.com
Gay lady pirates! An intriguing concept with a decent execution. There is somehow not quite enough pirating for my taste, nor quite enough romance. Mary is a great, albeit confused, character and her journey is authentic and interesting. Anne on the other hand is a rather disappointing character. I would have loved to see more of her individual story fleshed out a bit; I felt like I knew more about her relationships with Jimmy and Jack than anything else about her as a person. Considering this is based on a true story and real people, I expected a bit more backstory. I did like the ending a lot though.
I was hoping for a lot more in this book. What I will say is that this book is a constantly teasing Mary's discovery. It's stressful and unpleasant throughout the whole book and I honestly didn't know where the story was going from one moment to the next. Disappointing.
The ocean was big. Big enough to hold her and hide her, no one down in its depths to deny her.
tw: sexual assault, time period typical homophobic violence
this is definitely limited in scope because of the intended audience, and i'm not crazy about the way anne & jack were characterized (which is, like everything in my life right now, a black sails-related dilemma lol), but i ended up liking this WAY more than the first 30% led me to believe i would.
tw: sexual assault, time period typical homophobic violence
this is definitely limited in scope because of the intended audience, and i'm not crazy about the way anne & jack were characterized (which is, like everything in my life right now, a black sails-related dilemma lol), but i ended up liking this WAY more than the first 30% led me to believe i would.
At first look, an attractive YA read. It is a great idea to write a fictionalized account of Mary Reade's life, but sadly the story came across more fan-fic than historical fiction. Maudlin, superficial, but with great characters in Mary and Anne. The short chapters and jumping back and forth through time left an unresolved feeling after I finished the book.
*eARC Netgalley*
ATW 2018 The Netherlands, Bahamas, Cuba
RTC 2018 The Netherlands
*eARC Netgalley*
ATW 2018 The Netherlands, Bahamas, Cuba
RTC 2018 The Netherlands
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
TW: Homophobia, transphobia, sexual assault, abuse
I'd probably give this about 3.5 stars.
I was nervous going into this because it hasn't been getting the best reviews, so maybe that just lowered my expectations, but I ended up enjoying this a lot more than most people it would seem. It's not the best book I've ever read, but it entertained me. I know a lot of people said it was too slow for a pirate book, and it was, but that didn't really bother me. I was invested enough into the character and the story going on. I also really liked the relationship of Mary and Anne and I really loved how the story ended. I just wish we could have gotten more of their relationship and less of Mary pining over someone else.
One thing that I'm not really sure about how to feel was Mary's gender. I'm cis so I can't claim any authority, but Mary read more like genderqueer to me and I'm not really sure how well it was handled. Like there were several passages where I felt unsure how someone who is not cis would feel reading.
Overall, I feel mixed after reading this. Like I has my issues, but overall I would say that I was engaged and entertained by it. Also, I really do love that this book exists and I really hope we can get more queer historical fiction in the future.
I'd probably give this about 3.5 stars.
I was nervous going into this because it hasn't been getting the best reviews, so maybe that just lowered my expectations, but I ended up enjoying this a lot more than most people it would seem. It's not the best book I've ever read, but it entertained me. I know a lot of people said it was too slow for a pirate book, and it was, but that didn't really bother me. I was invested enough into the character and the story going on. I also really liked the relationship of Mary and Anne and I really loved how the story ended. I just wish we could have gotten more of their relationship and less of Mary pining over someone else.
One thing that I'm not really sure about how to feel was Mary's gender. I'm cis so I can't claim any authority, but Mary read more like genderqueer to me and I'm not really sure how well it was handled. Like there were several passages where I felt unsure how someone who is not cis would feel reading.
Overall, I feel mixed after reading this. Like I has my issues, but overall I would say that I was engaged and entertained by it. Also, I really do love that this book exists and I really hope we can get more queer historical fiction in the future.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes