Ink of Blood

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I haven’t read the other books of Captain No-Beard, so I was a bit confused about why there were all of these animals on the ship… though, of course, my niece (who I was reading it with) had absolutely no trouble.

The illustrations were really good… and I thought they were important, too, since they did help me realise that members of the crew were animals. It was good to see that there was a lesson to be learned by the end of the book.

It was really good to have references made to the different types of clouds, but I felt they were big words that children wouldn’t necessarily understand. I did think that the explanations of the different types should have been included in the book itself, rather than in a list at the end of the book.

The prose was almost poetic and it created some really nice visual images in my head, helped along by the illustrations. While I didn’t truly believe the characters were in danger, there were some quite tense moments in the book… especially when Zach is clinging precariously to the flag in the narration and the illustration.

It was good to see that Captain No-Beard was so insistent on following his own path, because it gave me as a reader the chance to see the fact that the other crew members knew what they were doing and were probably better placed to make the decisions Captain No-Beard insisted on making himself.

This book was really easy to read with my niece, who enjoyed it enough to want her mum to read it to her before bed.

I did find the ending a bit confusing at first and I had to read it twice to figure out exactly what had happened, but I thought it was an interesting way of showing the kinds of games children play. My niece was a bit confused by one of the characters who was suddenly named, though, and it took me a moment or two to realise who he was.

I felt this book was an entertaining read for my niece and she did tell me she enjoyed it. I expect she’ll also enjoy other books in the same series.

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

My niece was really excited about reading this book, due to having been learning about Egypt at school.

There were some really good aspects of this book. It was good to see the different pronunciations of various words, though I did feel that some of those weren’t needed, such as the Nile River.

My niece did enjoy reading this book and we were able to notice a particular dish that her mother (now a vegetarian) might have liked to eat… even if it wasn’t something that I personally would have enjoyed.

The formula of this book was the same as the others in this series, which I thought was a good idea. And it was also nice to have the opportunity to learn a few of the words in the Egyptian language, in particular the words for Mum, Dad, Granddad, Grandma… I did feel that the sesame seed butter treat sounded like a good thing to try, but I couldn’t help thinking about how unhealthy it probably was.

I thought it was good to see the position of Egypt on a globe… and whereabouts Cairo was in relation to the rest of Egypt… but my niece didn’t seem that interested by it, especially since she already knew where the country and capitol were.

I did notice some proofreading errors in this book… so I did feel it could have done with an editor looking through it.

The illustrations in this book were done really well and it was nice to be able to look at them with my niece. It was also really good to learn about some of the main areas in Egypt that people who lived there might be likely to visit.

I did feel that the book could have been made a bit longer, since there was a lot more information that could be imparted, even to a child like my niece, who tends to be more active. It was good on a personal level to learn more about the games children might play, even though my niece already knew one of them… and although I knew most of the foods mentioned in the book, it was interesting to see what people in Egypt are more likely to eat in comparison to what people in the UK are likely to eat.

(This review may contain spoilers).

Having read and enjoyed works by this author before, I was really eager to read this particular book.

I enjoyed being able to get to know Andie throughout the storyline. She was a character I found really easy to empathise with and I had a lot of sympathy for her.

I also really appreciated the opportunity to see Nina and David and how they related to the Littles they played with, particularly John. While I might have liked a bit more detail about their lifestyle (and especially more about the Littles they adopted), it was really good to see the nature of their play and the acknowledgement of safe words.

I really liked the fact that, although there were a lot of sexual scenes, the book was as much about the relationship forming between the characters as the erotic parts. It was nice to see that Andie was clearly a submissive and there were also some really nice elements of foreshadowing throughout.

I did like Hal and his relationship with Andie, even though I felt Hal could have made better choices. By the end of the book, I did feel some sympathy for him… and I really couldn’t blame him for his reaction towards Andie at the end.

It was also good to see David and Nina in their lives and jobs outside of their lifestyle. I would have liked to see a bit more of Nina’s work, since I thought it was interesting it fit so well with her and David’s llifestyle.

I would have liked to see a bit more of Andie’s history with Steve and also some more of the secondary characters. Some of them were named, but not really expanded upon, and I would have liked some more depth to the other characters in Steve’s gang.

I found it really easy to see the emotions of each of the characters and there was some really nice buildup. I did also really like Nate’s character and it would have been good to see more of him. And I especially liked Rocky.

I liked the way the book ended and it left me wanting to see more of the characters and their lives. I’d particularly like to see more of Nina and David’s Littles and how Andie might relate to them.

(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).

(This review may contain spoilers).

Ideally, I’d probably give this book 3.5 stars out of 5. I thought that the idea was a good one… even if not entirely unique… but I felt there were some improvements to be made.

It was interesting to see Sidney as a minister thrust into murder cases, but I felt that there was very little shown of his moral struggle. In many ways, Sidney’s youth and inexperience were portrayed well, but I didn’t feel his mental struggles came across all that well.

I did have a strong dislike for Amanda as a character, who I felt led Sidney on and didn’t come across as a very nice person. Even when she was in danger, I couldn’t really care about her safety.

It was good to see the attitudes of people of that time explored, but there were a few parts that seemed a bit too progressive… modern thinking that I felt didn’t necessarily fit with the atmosphere of the book.

It was good to see that the short stories were inter-connected, but I felt that the book could have been expanded into a novel, since the apparent ‘twists’ came at a rush and weren’t foreshadowed as well as they could have been. Or they were just obvious.

I did like the opportunity to see Sidney’s relationship with his family, though I would have liked to see a bit more of him and his parents. I did, however, feel that Sidney didn’t come across as a particularly strong character. He allowed himself to be railroaded too much, which made it difficult to empathise with him as a character.

I did feel there was a bit too much information dumping and summarising in the book, especially when it came to Sidney’s relationship with Keating, his inspector friend. I was disappointed to see that Hildegard didn’t make much of an appearance, since I liked her interactions with Sidney much better.

I felt there was a lot of potential in this book, but it didn’t really live up to that. I would have liked to see the stories and characters expanded upon and a bit more strength in regards to the main character.

I’m not sure I’m interested in reading more books in this series any time soon in the future.