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life_full_ofbooks 's review for:
The Uncharted Flight of Olivia West
by Sara Ackerman
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
3.25- Being a huge fan of historical fiction I always get excited when a book of that genre takes place outside of WW2. Because of that. And having just finished The Aviator’s Wife, I was really looking forward to reading this one.
In 1927, Olivia West is a rarity at the air field in San Diego since she is the only female pilot amongst all the men. Becoming of her growing up on her father’s fishing boat, she also processes a keen sense of the weather and is a stellar navigator. When she hears that James Dole is hosting an air race from Oakland, CA to Maui with prizes for first and second places, she jumps to enter. The only problem is as a woman she isn’t allowed to pilot a plane in the race and none of the male pilots will even consider her, except for her ex-boyfriend with whom she refuses to fly. When Felix Harding hears she’s a navigator, he invites her to fly with him and while she has her doubts, she agrees. In 1988 on the island of Oahu, Wren Summers’ life is not going as planned. She’s lost her boyfriend, her apartment, and her job all at once and she’s not sure where she’s meant to start picking up the pieces. When she gets a phone call that an obscure relative of her father’s on Hawai’i (The Big Island) has left her land and a barn, she figures that’s a good place to start. Never having known her father or any of his relatives, Wren is clueless as to why she’s been left this and what it all means, but she moves herself to The Big Island just the same. She’s intrigued when she finds two very old planes in the barn and goes on a mission to find out who this relative is and why the planes were left to her.
While I enjoyed parts of this book, I wasn’t as wowed as I was hoping to be. I loved the parts of Olivia and Felix flying over the Pacific. Sara Ackerman’s writing had my heart in my mouth and kept me at the edge of my seat. Unfortunately, the rest of it was just meh. I didn’t really care for Wren’s storyline until the end and I felt like it wasn’t needed at all. This book could have been told solely in Olivia’s timeline.
I love how it was based on the real event of The Dole Derby. I had never heard of this before even though this was the event that led to flights to Hawaii becoming a thing. I went down the Google rabbit hole learning about this race and the entrants and it truly is fascinating. I greatly appreciated that while Felix, Olivia, and their plane are fictional, they represent real people who took part in the race.
While I wasn’t 100% happy with this I am glad I read it. Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an advanced copy of this. The Uncharted Flight of Olivia West hit the shelves on February 6th.
In 1927, Olivia West is a rarity at the air field in San Diego since she is the only female pilot amongst all the men. Becoming of her growing up on her father’s fishing boat, she also processes a keen sense of the weather and is a stellar navigator. When she hears that James Dole is hosting an air race from Oakland, CA to Maui with prizes for first and second places, she jumps to enter. The only problem is as a woman she isn’t allowed to pilot a plane in the race and none of the male pilots will even consider her, except for her ex-boyfriend with whom she refuses to fly. When Felix Harding hears she’s a navigator, he invites her to fly with him and while she has her doubts, she agrees. In 1988 on the island of Oahu, Wren Summers’ life is not going as planned. She’s lost her boyfriend, her apartment, and her job all at once and she’s not sure where she’s meant to start picking up the pieces. When she gets a phone call that an obscure relative of her father’s on Hawai’i (The Big Island) has left her land and a barn, she figures that’s a good place to start. Never having known her father or any of his relatives, Wren is clueless as to why she’s been left this and what it all means, but she moves herself to The Big Island just the same. She’s intrigued when she finds two very old planes in the barn and goes on a mission to find out who this relative is and why the planes were left to her.
While I enjoyed parts of this book, I wasn’t as wowed as I was hoping to be. I loved the parts of Olivia and Felix flying over the Pacific. Sara Ackerman’s writing had my heart in my mouth and kept me at the edge of my seat. Unfortunately, the rest of it was just meh. I didn’t really care for Wren’s storyline until the end and I felt like it wasn’t needed at all. This book could have been told solely in Olivia’s timeline.
I love how it was based on the real event of The Dole Derby. I had never heard of this before even though this was the event that led to flights to Hawaii becoming a thing. I went down the Google rabbit hole learning about this race and the entrants and it truly is fascinating. I greatly appreciated that while Felix, Olivia, and their plane are fictional, they represent real people who took part in the race.
While I wasn’t 100% happy with this I am glad I read it. Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an advanced copy of this. The Uncharted Flight of Olivia West hit the shelves on February 6th.