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A Star to Sail By
A Star to Sail By
Joy Lynn Fielding | 2023 | LGBTQ+, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
loved being kept on my toes!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

Crispin wanted to be in the Navy, and now he finds himself on a pirate ship, helping them. But these pirates aren't like anything he heard about and Billy, especially, calls to him for reasons he can't figure out. Billy knows though, and it takes a storm to bring them finally to admit to each other what they could be.

What I especially liked about this, was being kept on my toes!

We are aware that something happened to Crispin to mean he is surviving on a merchant ship, and is no longer in the Royal Navy, but not WHY. We know Billy hates Naval officers, but not WHY. And we get the answers to both almost at the same time. Very different reasons, but equally devastating to them. I'm not going to go into it, for spoilers, but difficult reading, Billy's especially. Be mindful of the trigger warnings on this book.

It's not especially explicit, but I didn't mind that here. It's more about the feeling these two men have for each other, and knowing that they can be together, in this time, and be safe.

It is, however, quite violent. These pirates are ...reasonable...in their behaviours, but things happen and then Crispin and Billy are dealt a nasty blow. The level of violence is not graphic, though it does carry some detailed descriptions of punishments and the aftermath. Also, the reason Billy hates Naval officers is described in some detail.

It's not a complicated read, and I found I read it faster than I normally would for a book of this length, some 370 pages.

First I've read of this author, I like the way she spins her tales. I'll certainly read more by this author.

A very enjoyable, 4 star read

*same worded review will appear elsewhere
  
The Sealwoman's Gift
The Sealwoman's Gift
Sally Magnusson | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is set in 17th century Iceland, and based on the true story of the kidnapping and enslavement of 250 Icelanders in Algiers.
We follow a Pastors family, Olafur and his wife Asta, as they and their family are kidnapped by corsairs and pirates, and sold off separately to their owners. Olafur is sent back to Denmark to seek a ransom, but he fails. So we follow the life of Asta, how she lives and adapts in the house of Cilleby, and how she copes with the loss of her children and husband.
The Icelandic Sagas are Asta’s Means of escape and comfort, and in telling them she gets Cilleby onside and makes her own life more comfortable. She refuses to give up her Lutheran belief, and believes that she will be reunited with her family - at least in death - because of this.
This was such a touching novel, and the narrator (I listened on Audible) really did the story justice.
  
Gods Of Egypt (2016)
Gods Of Egypt (2016)
2016 | Action, Sci-Fi
4
5.5 (15 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Entertainingly bad
Let's face it, you know a film with Gerard Butler in it is never going to be good. But at least with Gods of Egypt it's that bad it's vaguely entertaining.

It's take on Egyptian mythology is actually an interesting one and it's just a shame they decided to take some of it too far with over the top and pretty naff CGI. Gerard Butler hams it up and it's quite funny to listen to his accent constantly switching between English, Scottish and American. Nicolaj Coster-Waldau is a good actor but he's given absolutely nothing to work with here other than a terrible cheesy and stilted script. Brenton Thwaites isn't too bad either but he does seem to be playing a very similar character to that of the latest Pirates film.


This is one of those films you watch just to laugh at how bad it is. And fortunately for this, I've seen worse!
  
TA
The Abyss Surrounds Us
Emily Skrutskie | 2016 | Children
10
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
<b><i>I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i></b>
For the last few months, every time the question, "What is your latest favorite read?" popped up on Twitter, I always answered the question with The Abyss Surrounds Us. All anyone needs to know about Skrutskie's lovely debut novel is the combination of sea monsters and pirates. (I personally didn't mind the LBGT element in the book, because it doesn't play a huge part in the story and most certainly doesn't overshadow the main plot.)

Also, cutest sea monster ever – I can't even imagine such cuteness being monstrous. I want one of my own. (So long as I'm not getting eaten. Everyone else is um… fair game.)

<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/mini-reviews-part-1-emily-skrutskie-marie-lu-and-others/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>