ClareR (5726 KP) rated What it Feels Like For a Girl in Books
Nov 9, 2021
Byron becomes a rent boy, meets new friends at a bar who, he discovers, want the same things out of life as him: he wants to be a woman, and he feels that is what he was supposed to have been.
“Hedonistic” is the word that describes Byron’s life at this time. Until, that is, it all comes tumbling down. One very stupid act lands Byron in jail. But it’s what he does with this time in jail that really counts. And he decides to turn his life around.
I loved this. I enjoyed reading it in the Hucknall vernacular (it reminded me of my dad’s accent in Lincolnshire)and the chapter headings were spot on (all titles from songs at that time). And I felt so much for the young Byron - sad that his family didn’t seem to understand or care for him (other than his grandmother); sad that he couldn’t live as he wanted to and had no guidance to keep him safe. In fact he was lucky that he didn’t end up murdered or overdosed. It’s such an emotional book.
Highly recommended.
David McK (3425 KP) rated Northlanders Book 1: The Anglo-Saxon Saga (Northlanders, Book 1) in Books
Jan 30, 2019
Actually a collection of 5 different short stories, I can't say how true to history these are as I'm not a Norse scholar. I also found the vernacular a bit off-putting (were swear-words the same in the early Medieval Period as they are now? Really??), with the art-style (and plot) in some of the stories were better than in others. Talking of stories, this contains the following:
[b]Lindisfarne[/b]: depicting an early Viking raid on the monastery of the same name
[b]The Shield Maidens[/b]: in which three Viking women hold off hordes of the Saxons
[b]Sven the Returned[/b]: in which Sven returns to his homeland to claim his inheritance, having previously run away and joined the Byzantine Varangian Guard
[b]Thor's daughter[/b]: in which a clan leader is murdered and his land sold to a rival leader but his 14 year old daughter takes up his mantle and leads an army against the encroaching Vikings
[b]The Cross & The Hammer[/b]: Set in Ireland, this is more-or-less a murder mystery in which the central character is trying to track down the person(s) responsible for a spate of killings.
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