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bookish_jeanie's review against another edition
2.0
Olive the Lionheart reads like a narration on a History Channel documentary. It’s quite simple at times but the charm far outweighs the simplicity of the “narration”.
The characters are likable enough if you can get past the narration.
Thanks to goodreads and the publishers for an advanced copy.
The characters are likable enough if you can get past the narration.
Thanks to goodreads and the publishers for an advanced copy.
tinybiblio'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.
curlyjessreads's review
2.0
I was provided a free copy of this book by Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
I'll start out with letting you know I lived in Africa for four years growing up (Zimbabwe and Ethiopia). So I love stories about Africa, and even enjoy hearing about the colonial days. So obviously when I saw this book available on NetGalley I jumped on it and was very excited to read it. I had never heard about Olive MacLeod. However, as you can see by my rating, this book was a big disappoint. I struggled through it, and only made myself finish because it is an ARC and I feel obligated to give it full review.
The writing style was off. Very simplistic. Trying to create more drama. I don't know if it was just my copy or the finalized version too, but from one paragraph to the next there were frequently huge jumps in topic/location/time that often made it confusing to follow. Literally at the zoo talking about a lion, period, next paragraph (no extra spacing) intently studying the Rosetta Stone at the British museum.
I'll start out with letting you know I lived in Africa for four years growing up (Zimbabwe and Ethiopia). So I love stories about Africa, and even enjoy hearing about the colonial days. So obviously when I saw this book available on NetGalley I jumped on it and was very excited to read it. I had never heard about Olive MacLeod. However, as you can see by my rating, this book was a big disappoint. I struggled through it, and only made myself finish because it is an ARC and I feel obligated to give it full review.
The writing style was off. Very simplistic. Trying to create more drama. I don't know if it was just my copy or the finalized version too, but from one paragraph to the next there were frequently huge jumps in topic/location/time that often made it confusing to follow. Literally at the zoo talking about a lion, period, next paragraph (no extra spacing) intently studying the Rosetta Stone at the British museum.
foxandbooks's review
4.0
1910 Olive finds out her fiance Boyd Alexander was killed on an expedition in Africa. Olive decides to go find out for herself what is going on. How did he die, or is he even dead??
I found that the first part of this book moved a little slow, but then the story starts to piece together, and the story picks up about half way into the book. The author was able to describe Africa in 1910 with such clarity that you could almost taste the dust in the air. Olive's story is just amazing! Not many men could handle what Olive did and because of the time period she wasn't taken very seriously. She saw more, did more, experienced more than any woman in 1910 could even hope of doing.
There was an underlying theme in this book that was very subtle, but maybe could have been even more to the forefront. Olive obviously was suffering with depression, or some sort of mental illness. I won't say more than that. But since this story was told from Olives diary, I'm not sure how the author could have changed this one aspect of the book.
Thank you to St. Martins Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. And a huge thanks to the author, Brad Ricca for such an interesting book!
I found that the first part of this book moved a little slow, but then the story starts to piece together, and the story picks up about half way into the book. The author was able to describe Africa in 1910 with such clarity that you could almost taste the dust in the air. Olive's story is just amazing! Not many men could handle what Olive did and because of the time period she wasn't taken very seriously. She saw more, did more, experienced more than any woman in 1910 could even hope of doing.
There was an underlying theme in this book that was very subtle, but maybe could have been even more to the forefront. Olive obviously was suffering with depression, or some sort of mental illness. I won't say more than that. But since this story was told from Olives diary, I'm not sure how the author could have changed this one aspect of the book.
Thank you to St. Martins Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. And a huge thanks to the author, Brad Ricca for such an interesting book!
debyc's review against another edition
3.0
Olive MacLeod is a Scottish woman with an aristocratic background. She falls in love and considers herself engaged to a scientist that she meets before his year-long trip to study more about Africa. It's obviously not a spoiler here, but he never comes back. Devastated, Olive decides to make the trip to Africa herself as a trip in loving memory of him.
As a premise, "Olive the Lionheart" is a good book. I really disliked the point of view that the author used to narrate the story. The story is told as if we are watching Olive's life unfold while in Africa and before her trip to Africa. There are so many sentences that start with sentences like "Olive decides... Olive goes... Olive does this... Olive does that... Olive saw this! She saw that! " which I felt really detracted from the overall telling of the story. (Also, there is something about the excessive use of exclamation points in narration that makes the writing feel 'off'.)
I like that Olive's life story has been told, but I almost felt that I could get more out of it as a long, but precise news article. I wasn't personally interested or invested in much of Olive's trip. The history lessons and fights between natives were difficult to follow because the writing style made it feel very removed from Olive's story.
Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
As a premise, "Olive the Lionheart" is a good book. I really disliked the point of view that the author used to narrate the story. The story is told as if we are watching Olive's life unfold while in Africa and before her trip to Africa. There are so many sentences that start with sentences like "Olive decides... Olive goes... Olive does this... Olive does that... Olive saw this! She saw that! " which I felt really detracted from the overall telling of the story. (Also, there is something about the excessive use of exclamation points in narration that makes the writing feel 'off'.)
I like that Olive's life story has been told, but I almost felt that I could get more out of it as a long, but precise news article. I wasn't personally interested or invested in much of Olive's trip. The history lessons and fights between natives were difficult to follow because the writing style made it feel very removed from Olive's story.
Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
vhp's review against another edition
1.0
did not finish.
There were a great many grammatical errors that kept taking me out of the story. The writing is also extremely inept.
This book was received as an ARC and I hope the manuscript was corrected before it went to final publication.
There were a great many grammatical errors that kept taking me out of the story. The writing is also extremely inept.
This book was received as an ARC and I hope the manuscript was corrected before it went to final publication.
lucyshena's review against another edition
1.0
Brad Ricca took advantage of Olive MacLeod’s family and published her private letters and diaries without permission for his own financial gain. Her papers are all under copyright in the UK! They are private and not his to sell. Shame on him.
plays_in_traffic518's review
I think the parts I didn't like were when the author tried to make Olive more palatable as a British woman adventuring through Africa during a period of oppressive British rule. I think I would prefer reading a book written directly by her even with the outright racism than this white washed 'she felt bad for the prisoners but of course didn't say anything'. She's not a sympathetic character, and it would have almost have been better if the author didn't try to paint her as one so early on.