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jackphoenix's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
Ricca brings this courageous, mostly unknown, and often misunderstood adventurer to life with his attention to detail and gift for narrative nonfiction, recounting her curious (and sometimes brutal) trail through Africa.
teacupsandfirereads's review against another edition
I was so intrigued by this story. I thought it was a fictional novel. When I started reading it, I realized it was a biography/nonfiction of a real individual. I did my own digging and learned that consent was not given for this book. Additionally, even from 20 pages, I could tell the writing was not going to be good. So I am putting it down.
emd_reader's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting history in Africa of colonialism. Told slowly
mxsallybend's review against another edition
3.0
A fantastic adventure with an exceptional protagonist, Olive the Lionheart was a good read, but the narrative style Brad Ricca chose kept it from being a great read.
The best way I can think of to describe this is tentative, as if Ricca chose to write Olive’s story as a novel, but never fully committed to that style, instead feeling compelled to maintain the emotional distance of her journals. The whole thing reads very flat, without the tension or drama that clearly marked so much of her journey. The few attempts to wring some tension out of the story feel forced, as if he put them in just because readers would expect them, not because they fit with the story he was telling. It didn’t help that the story jump backward and forward in time, mixing journal entries, letters, and narrative chapters where the dates sometimes didn’t correlate. It may be an issue with the ARC, and not a reflection of the finished book, but I got confused several times on when things happened.
Stylistic complaints aside, I found Olive to be a fantastic heroine, truly a woman ahead of her time. Her passion, dedication, and courage almost feel anachronistic for the time, especially given her station, but I loved that she never explains or apologizes for it. She is the driving force behind many of the adventures, a leader even in some cases (the search for the waterfalls comes to mind), and while her curiosity gets her into trouble more than once (the narrow escape from the women being kidnapped sticks with me), I loved that fearlessness. She (and her companions) are a product of their time, of course, which leads to some uncomfortable moments of racism, but to gloss over them or eliminate them from the story would be an unfair revision of history.
The journey itself is spectacular, a true travelogue of an Africa of a different age. The landscape, the animals, the civilizations, the people, it’s all fascinating, and the novelty of Olive seeing so much of it for the first time adds to the sense of exploration. While there’s a frustrating distance to the narrative that makes it hard to really appreciate the journey, there are moments of splendor where you can just imagine being there.
In the end, I’m glad I had the chance to meet Olive, and I certainly don’t begrudge the read, I just wish Ricca had been bolder in his narrative choices. Olive the Lionheart wasn’t the thrilling adventure I wanted, but it was still a fascinating read.
https://femledfantasy.home.blog/2020/09/23/book-review-olive-the-lionheart-by-brad-ricca/
The best way I can think of to describe this is tentative, as if Ricca chose to write Olive’s story as a novel, but never fully committed to that style, instead feeling compelled to maintain the emotional distance of her journals. The whole thing reads very flat, without the tension or drama that clearly marked so much of her journey. The few attempts to wring some tension out of the story feel forced, as if he put them in just because readers would expect them, not because they fit with the story he was telling. It didn’t help that the story jump backward and forward in time, mixing journal entries, letters, and narrative chapters where the dates sometimes didn’t correlate. It may be an issue with the ARC, and not a reflection of the finished book, but I got confused several times on when things happened.
Stylistic complaints aside, I found Olive to be a fantastic heroine, truly a woman ahead of her time. Her passion, dedication, and courage almost feel anachronistic for the time, especially given her station, but I loved that she never explains or apologizes for it. She is the driving force behind many of the adventures, a leader even in some cases (the search for the waterfalls comes to mind), and while her curiosity gets her into trouble more than once (the narrow escape from the women being kidnapped sticks with me), I loved that fearlessness. She (and her companions) are a product of their time, of course, which leads to some uncomfortable moments of racism, but to gloss over them or eliminate them from the story would be an unfair revision of history.
The journey itself is spectacular, a true travelogue of an Africa of a different age. The landscape, the animals, the civilizations, the people, it’s all fascinating, and the novelty of Olive seeing so much of it for the first time adds to the sense of exploration. While there’s a frustrating distance to the narrative that makes it hard to really appreciate the journey, there are moments of splendor where you can just imagine being there.
In the end, I’m glad I had the chance to meet Olive, and I certainly don’t begrudge the read, I just wish Ricca had been bolder in his narrative choices. Olive the Lionheart wasn’t the thrilling adventure I wanted, but it was still a fascinating read.
https://femledfantasy.home.blog/2020/09/23/book-review-olive-the-lionheart-by-brad-ricca/
ohemgeebooks's review against another edition
4.0
“A woman,” replied Olive, “is always capable of doing what she wanted to.”
It’s 1910 and Olive MacLeod, a feisty redheaded Scottish aristocrat, has learned that her fiancé, the famous naturalist Boyd Alexander is missing.
And she decides to go find him.
The author, Brad Ricca, uses Olive’s own letters and secret diaries to piece together this epic journey through Africa where she encounters cannibals, haunted forests, and warlords.
Wow! What a story! I can not even imagine traveling through Africa, basically solo, in 1910. Olive is fierce and determined- and what luck for Ricca to have been given these letters and journals (which is another fascinating part of the story). It is marketed as Indiana Jones meets Jane Eyre. But this is only true of Indiana Jones wore dresses...in swamps...filled with hippos.
It’s 1910 and Olive MacLeod, a feisty redheaded Scottish aristocrat, has learned that her fiancé, the famous naturalist Boyd Alexander is missing.
And she decides to go find him.
The author, Brad Ricca, uses Olive’s own letters and secret diaries to piece together this epic journey through Africa where she encounters cannibals, haunted forests, and warlords.
Wow! What a story! I can not even imagine traveling through Africa, basically solo, in 1910. Olive is fierce and determined- and what luck for Ricca to have been given these letters and journals (which is another fascinating part of the story). It is marketed as Indiana Jones meets Jane Eyre. But this is only true of Indiana Jones wore dresses...in swamps...filled with hippos.
doomtoboggan's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
4.0
tinamayreads's review against another edition
3.0
OLIVE THE LIONHEART by Brad Ricca is an interesting biography full of lost love, imperial spies, and one woman’s journey into the heart of Africa. I’d never heard of Olive MacLeod before so it was great to read about such a brave and adventurous woman. I’ve also never been to Africa so it was really interesting to read about her experiences there especially since she’s a white woman traveling in 1910. I really enjoyed the inclusion of some of her personal letters but at times I found the timeline confusing as it would jump back and forth. I really liked how the writing transported you to her time and place. It really felt as if Olive was telling her own story in this book.
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Thank you St. Martin’s Press for my advance readers’ edition!
.
Thank you St. Martin’s Press for my advance readers’ edition!
melhara's review
1.0
I somehow finished this audiobook even though it bored me to death. I would have DNF'ed it but I kept it playing while working and next thing I knew, it was finally over!
The premise of this book (and the title) was interesting - based on actual letters and journals written by Olive MacLeod, this book is supposed to tell the story of Olive's adventures in Africa as she searched for her missing fiancé, Boyd Alexander.
I think it's important to note that this is a fictional novel, inspired by true events and letters written by Olive MacLeod. The title of the book promises an emotional and adventurous journey but failed to deliver on both accounts.
Unfortunately, I thought the characters were flat and dull. I couldn't connect with Olive and honestly didn't understand why she was writing love letters to her dead fiancé whom she didn't know and didn't want to marry in the first place. It was never clearly explained why she suddenly fell in love with the idea of Boyd and felt the need to travel to Africa.
The story was also all over the place and difficult to follow, especially in audiobook format. One second she's still in Scotland, the next she's in Africa, then we're reading letters between Olive and Boyd (from before her journey? during? after? I don't even know - it seemed like nothing was in chronological order), and then back to her journey in Africa, some more letters to her dead fiancé, more travelling, life in Scotland, and finally updates on the situation in Africa... It was all so disjointed, it left me feeling lost and uninterested.
The premise of this book (and the title) was interesting - based on actual letters and journals written by Olive MacLeod, this book is supposed to tell the story of Olive's adventures in Africa as she searched for her missing fiancé, Boyd Alexander.
I think it's important to note that this is a fictional novel, inspired by true events and letters written by Olive MacLeod. The title of the book promises an emotional and adventurous journey but failed to deliver on both accounts.
Unfortunately, I thought the characters were flat and dull. I couldn't connect with Olive and honestly didn't understand why she was writing love letters to her dead fiancé whom she didn't know and didn't want to marry in the first place. It was never clearly explained why she suddenly fell in love with the idea of Boyd and felt the need to travel to Africa.
The story was also all over the place and difficult to follow, especially in audiobook format. One second she's still in Scotland, the next she's in Africa, then we're reading letters between Olive and Boyd (from before her journey? during? after? I don't even know - it seemed like nothing was in chronological order), and then back to her journey in Africa, some more letters to her dead fiancé, more travelling, life in Scotland, and finally updates on the situation in Africa... It was all so disjointed, it left me feeling lost and uninterested.
tinybibliophile's review
2.0
Oh, how I wanted to love this book. The cover is beautiful... and the idea of a woman in the early 1900's exploring Africa and doing things on her own. I read about 20% and could not go on any longer. The family history was great, but the writing style was hard to read. It could not quite keep my attention.... it went from a letter entry to another random thought... and then a different style of writing then. It did not seem cohesive and perhaps I would have enjoyed reading about Olive if written by someone else?
Thank you to netgalley and St Martins press for my advanced copy for my honest review.
Thank you to netgalley and St Martins press for my advanced copy for my honest review.