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The Unkillable Kitty O'Kane
When fiery and idealistic Kitty O’Kane escapes the crushing poverty of Dublin’s tenements, she’s determined that no one should ever suffer like she did. As she sets out to save the world, she finds herself at the forefront of events that shaped the early twentieth century. While working as a maid, she survives the sinking of the Titanic. As a suffragette in New York’s Greenwich Village, she’s jailed for breaking storefront windows. And traveling war-torn Europe as a journalist, she’s at the Winter Palace when it’s stormed by the Bolsheviks. Ultimately she returns to her homeland to serve as a nurse in the Irish Civil War.
During Kitty’s remarkable journey, she reunites with her childhood sweetheart, Tom Doyle, but Tom doesn’t know everything about her past—a past that continues to haunt her. Will Kitty accept that before she can save everyone else, she needs to find a way to save herself? Or will the sins of her past stop her from pursuing her own happiness?
328 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2017
About the author
Colin Falconer
68 books612 followersPart thriller. Part history. All adventure.
Colin Falconer’s popular Epic Adventure series of standalone historical thrillers includes the bestselling SILK ROAD.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08N92GHK4
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ColinFalcone...
Colin Falconer’s popular Epic Adventure series of standalone historical thrillers includes the bestselling SILK ROAD.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08N92GHK4
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ColinFalcone...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 447 reviews
November 10, 2017
*Received this book in a Goodreads giveaway for free*
The title and cover image are terribly misleading. I thought this would be a story about a woman who strengthens and grows over the course of the novel, who triumphs in the end. Instead, Kitty runs away from a horrific home life in Dublin and become a stewardess for White Star Lines. Thus, she is on the Titanic and survives it's sinking. It's on that ship where she meets two men who will influence the next 15 years of her life, in very different ways. One is Jack Finnegan, an Irish gangster from New York who has "sleazy bad guy" written all over him. The other is Lincoln Randolph, a freelance journalist who also happens to be a socialist.
The ending didn't make up for the grimness of the rest of the story. I guess that's how you know it's literature.
The title and cover image are terribly misleading. I thought this would be a story about a woman who strengthens and grows over the course of the novel, who triumphs in the end. Instead, Kitty runs away from a horrific home life in Dublin and become a stewardess for White Star Lines. Thus, she is on the Titanic and survives it's sinking. It's on that ship where she meets two men who will influence the next 15 years of her life, in very different ways. One is Jack Finnegan, an Irish gangster from New York who has "sleazy bad guy" written all over him. The other is Lincoln Randolph, a freelance journalist who also happens to be a socialist.
The ending didn't make up for the grimness of the rest of the story. I guess that's how you know it's literature.
April 2, 2018
Audiobook performed by Alana Kerr Collins 9h 42m
Performance is a 4 star
My listening enjoyment -solid 3 stars.
A sweeping story surrounding a fictional Irishwoman named Kitty O'Kane who had a front row seat during many events in 20th century Europe. Kitty, herself, was a very difficult character to like as she seemed a bit of a whiner. Colin Falconer knows how to set the tone and make sure his situations ring true, but goodness couldn't he have toughened his protagonist up a bit?
Performance is a 4 star
My listening enjoyment -solid 3 stars.
A sweeping story surrounding a fictional Irishwoman named Kitty O'Kane who had a front row seat during many events in 20th century Europe. Kitty, herself, was a very difficult character to like as she seemed a bit of a whiner. Colin Falconer knows how to set the tone and make sure his situations ring true, but goodness couldn't he have toughened his protagonist up a bit?
November 20, 2017
The premise of this novel intrigued me & I was able to purchase a Kindle edition for a few dollars. I was wildly disappointed by the book.
It was featured in an email from Amazon and I wanted a book to read. The summary indicated it would be a story about a strong woman who faced down adversity and went on adventures. Instead it was a strong girl who grows into a woman buffeted about by horrible men. It is exactly what I feared would come of a man writing a strong woman character: it was full of tropes and cliches. Several times when there is hope for Kitty, she is her own undoing, which in some ways is more maddening that the gratuitous use of rape and emotional abuse.
Even the (very last minute) happy ending does very little to salvage the book, which for me amounted to a relitigating of gender politics and struggle in a way that was neither constructive nor hopeful. That it was written by a man doesn't make it worse, necessarily, but certainly makes it easier to condemn.
The only thing I appreciated about the book was the obvious hypocrisy of many of the radical men (re: they're misogynists, too!).
In short, I do not recommend this book.
It was featured in an email from Amazon and I wanted a book to read. The summary indicated it would be a story about a strong woman who faced down adversity and went on adventures. Instead it was a strong girl who grows into a woman buffeted about by horrible men. It is exactly what I feared would come of a man writing a strong woman character: it was full of tropes and cliches. Several times when there is hope for Kitty, she is her own undoing, which in some ways is more maddening that the gratuitous use of rape and emotional abuse.
Even the (very last minute) happy ending does very little to salvage the book, which for me amounted to a relitigating of gender politics and struggle in a way that was neither constructive nor hopeful. That it was written by a man doesn't make it worse, necessarily, but certainly makes it easier to condemn.
The only thing I appreciated about the book was the obvious hypocrisy of many of the radical men (re: they're misogynists, too!).
In short, I do not recommend this book.
November 20, 2017
I get really tired of all the authors using bad language. While a good story, I didn’t even want to finish the book due to bad language. Granted, I have been going through kind of a dry spell and finding things to read. As my eyesight fades, I have to think about how I’m going to read. I am always interested in other peoples ideas of what is a good Kindle book.
November 21, 2017
I got the book as a kindle first book of the month. The historical events and time period intrigued me, as did the potential of one character witnessing so many of them.
Kitty is not your typical heroine. She does not have a lot of tools to change her initial situation. She uses the tools that she can to remove herself from the slums and continues to do so throughout the book. Many people find fault with the way she is attached to men who are bad for her throughout the book, yet she uses them also to gain her own advantage. They are the tools she uses in an era when women were not powerful on their own. She tolerates a lot of abuse in the process. Kitty makes decisions that can be unlikeable from a modern perspective. However, I admired her fight. I admired that she refused to give up. I admired her undeniable will to survive.
In addition, reading through the historical events have piqued my curiosity about several of them. I will be following up with some of the historical accounts to become better educated about the events of the time period. I believe one mark of a good story is if it inspires me to dig deeper and learn more. This book did that for me.
Kitty is not your typical heroine. She does not have a lot of tools to change her initial situation. She uses the tools that she can to remove herself from the slums and continues to do so throughout the book. Many people find fault with the way she is attached to men who are bad for her throughout the book, yet she uses them also to gain her own advantage. They are the tools she uses in an era when women were not powerful on their own. She tolerates a lot of abuse in the process. Kitty makes decisions that can be unlikeable from a modern perspective. However, I admired her fight. I admired that she refused to give up. I admired her undeniable will to survive.
In addition, reading through the historical events have piqued my curiosity about several of them. I will be following up with some of the historical accounts to become better educated about the events of the time period. I believe one mark of a good story is if it inspires me to dig deeper and learn more. This book did that for me.
November 7, 2017
What a life!
Bad luck seemed to follow this girl like a shadow. She wanted so badly to leave her mark on the world and she did but just not in the way that she imagined. Her whole life she had all of these near misses, she could never get things to come together the way she wanted it. I admire her gumption to keep pressing forward in situations when someone else would have given up.
Bad luck seemed to follow this girl like a shadow. She wanted so badly to leave her mark on the world and she did but just not in the way that she imagined. Her whole life she had all of these near misses, she could never get things to come together the way she wanted it. I admire her gumption to keep pressing forward in situations when someone else would have given up.
November 28, 2017
I've read a number of books lately with intrepid young women in the early 1900's finding their way in the world. I've really enjoyed novels about these pioneering women (Radio Girls, The Secret Life of Violet Gray, Lilac Girls) I expected this book to be similar, but it really isn't. Kitty O'Kane is presented as a feisty, smart, unconventional young woman. I guess she sort of is? She follows around unconventional men. But, she is always with and dependent on a man. She doesn't really even have the courage of her own convictions, she just enters the worlds of these men and adopts their thinking. I kept waiting for her to evolve into an independent, self-reliant person, but she really never does. It's incredibly frustrating. You're following the story of a smart woman with incredible potential let her own fears and self-loathing lead her into a series of bad decisions. It might be realistic, but it isn't very satisfying.
December 13, 2017
I want to be able to say that I loved this book. I want so badly to be able to say that. But I can't. Which is so disappointing.
Here we have a hisfic about an absolutely fascinating idea - a woman who survives not only the Titanic, but also the Lusitania, the whole Bolsheviks situation, and the Irish Civil War. Now, I thought Kitty was a real person. I was wrong, which is also sad. But the book is still really cool in concept.
Unfortunately, there was so much language and so many sex scenes that I can't justify giving this a high rating. Which will probably seem stupid to some people, but I can't recommend this book to anyone for those reasons. Also warnings for domestic/child abuse and the horrors of war (obviously).
I'm so sad that I didn't love this book. Because I absolutely devoured it, but i just /can't/. Ugh.
(BUT I will say that I adore Tom. Tom deserves all the happiness and love. You go, Tom. Be that strong surgeon who's been through so much and is still so kind. Yes.)
Here we have a hisfic about an absolutely fascinating idea - a woman who survives not only the Titanic, but also the Lusitania, the whole Bolsheviks situation, and the Irish Civil War. Now, I thought Kitty was a real person. I was wrong, which is also sad. But the book is still really cool in concept.
Unfortunately, there was so much language and so many sex scenes that I can't justify giving this a high rating. Which will probably seem stupid to some people, but I can't recommend this book to anyone for those reasons. Also warnings for domestic/child abuse and the horrors of war (obviously).
I'm so sad that I didn't love this book. Because I absolutely devoured it, but i just /can't/. Ugh.
(BUT I will say that I adore Tom. Tom deserves all the happiness and love. You go, Tom. Be that strong surgeon who's been through so much and is still so kind. Yes.)
August 22, 2020
По-скоро 3,5*
Много харесвам и уважавам Колин Фалконър. Тази история чисто стилово не изневерява на читателите отново да му се порадваме на таланта му да разказва и да получим една динамична история. Но се усещаше, че тук изграждането на сюжета не беше добре подплатено, имаше повече диалози, кратки обяснения и прескачане на периоди, които не усетих като добре изградени.На места авторът се спираше и доизпипваше нещата, но повечето пъти нахвърляше събитията. Малко за съдържанието:
Бедното,неуко момиче Кити О'Кейн ,бяга от дома си и се качва на Титаник, като камериерка. Когато кораба потъва тя е в спасителната лодка. Когато се връщат за да доизвадят живи хора, разбират че е твърде късно и малцина са оцелели. От водите вадят Линкълн Рандолф, пътуващ журналист, с който Кити вече се е запознала на кораба. От тук нататък той й дава надежда за по-добър свят и събужда в нея революционни идеи. Двамата поемат един опасен път като журналисти ,за да отразяват света, какво се случва в забравените страни Сърбия, Русия, Ирландия.Паралелно с всичко това Кити се бори за правата на жените, опитвайки се да излезе от сянката на Линкъл. Двамата ще преживеят мизерия, студ, престрелки, разочарования,лични конфлики и предателства.Животът й е толкова бурен,че когато се появява Том от детството й, животът който е водила до сега, не се вписва в неговия нормален свят.
Препоръчвам Фалконър за тези, които не са го чели, но с някоя друга негова книга като за начало.
Много харесвам и уважавам Колин Фалконър. Тази история чисто стилово не изневерява на читателите отново да му се порадваме на таланта му да разказва и да получим една динамична история. Но се усещаше, че тук изграждането на сюжета не беше добре подплатено, имаше повече диалози, кратки обяснения и прескачане на периоди, които не усетих като добре изградени.На места авторът се спираше и доизпипваше нещата, но повечето пъти нахвърляше събитията. Малко за съдържанието:
Бедното,неуко момиче Кити О'Кейн ,бяга от дома си и се качва на Титаник, като камериерка. Когато кораба потъва тя е в спасителната лодка. Когато се връщат за да доизвадят живи хора, разбират че е твърде късно и малцина са оцелели. От водите вадят Линкълн Рандолф, пътуващ журналист, с който Кити вече се е запознала на кораба. От тук нататък той й дава надежда за по-добър свят и събужда в нея революционни идеи. Двамата поемат един опасен път като журналисти ,за да отразяват света, какво се случва в забравените страни Сърбия, Русия, Ирландия.Паралелно с всичко това Кити се бори за правата на жените, опитвайки се да излезе от сянката на Линкъл. Двамата ще преживеят мизерия, студ, престрелки, разочарования,лични конфлики и предателства.Животът й е толкова бурен,че когато се появява Том от детството й, животът който е водила до сега, не се вписва в неговия нормален свят.
Препоръчвам Фалконър за тези, които не са го чели, но с някоя друга негова книга като за начало.
January 16, 2019
I love historical fiction. Let me say again, I love historical fiction! I am a free thinker who loves the concept of democratic socialism and appreciated how women's suffrage and revolutions were treated as ideas in the novel. Kitty O'Kane was a very engaging narrator and a delightful conversationalist. Every time she really got into a conversation with another character I knew it was going to be good. The concept of this book is unique in its way and I was excited to read it.
So much about this book was so very interesting, but at times the incongruities got to be too much. Kitty's courage and belief in a better world for women doesn't ever actually extend to herself and that's something I find to be a tragic flaw for this book. The moment she left and decided to go to Ireland I lost all respect for her as a narrator and even more so when she got into the Rolls-Royce. Towards the last half of the novel, she begins to act increasingly in contrast to everything that she said that she believed it in throughout the novel and I just couldn't believe that anyone who had been through the hell that she had been through would continue making those decisions. I'm finishing this book to be able to say that I finished it, but towards the end of the novel, I wish that I hadn't picked it up. It had such a promising start in such a dissatisfying ending.
So much about this book was so very interesting, but at times the incongruities got to be too much. Kitty's courage and belief in a better world for women doesn't ever actually extend to herself and that's something I find to be a tragic flaw for this book. The moment she left and decided to go to Ireland I lost all respect for her as a narrator and even more so when she got into the Rolls-Royce. Towards the last half of the novel, she begins to act increasingly in contrast to everything that she said that she believed it in throughout the novel and I just couldn't believe that anyone who had been through the hell that she had been through would continue making those decisions. I'm finishing this book to be able to say that I finished it, but towards the end of the novel, I wish that I hadn't picked it up. It had such a promising start in such a dissatisfying ending.
December 12, 2017
"Kitty O'Kane dreamed of a kind husband and a just life; what she had was haddock water for supper and a dribble of her own blood, seen at close quarters, on the toe of her father's scuffed boot"
Heartbreaking stuff am I right? It pulled me in and had such high hopes for Kitty, but somewhere around the halfway point it all fell apart for me. From a bright, poverty stricken Irish girl with a simple dream that she could have easily achieved Kitty changed into someone I just didn't like very much. After surviving the sinking of the Titanic it seemed as if Kitty more let herself be manipulated into wanting to become a journalist than actually following her own dreams. Somehow even though she was the girl who wanted to fight for women's rights she let herself be dependent upon and manipulated by men.
I did enjoy the historical references but I had different expectations of this book.
I received a complimentary copy for review
Heartbreaking stuff am I right? It pulled me in and had such high hopes for Kitty, but somewhere around the halfway point it all fell apart for me. From a bright, poverty stricken Irish girl with a simple dream that she could have easily achieved Kitty changed into someone I just didn't like very much. After surviving the sinking of the Titanic it seemed as if Kitty more let herself be manipulated into wanting to become a journalist than actually following her own dreams. Somehow even though she was the girl who wanted to fight for women's rights she let herself be dependent upon and manipulated by men.
I did enjoy the historical references but I had different expectations of this book.
I received a complimentary copy for review
November 4, 2017
Five stars
This book has been an adventure, from the beginning, to the end. From the terrible poverty and abusive father in the Irish Slums of Dublin, to working for the White Star line aboard the Titanic, Kitty O'Kane lead a whale of a life. Colin Falconer does a good job leading us through trauma, and terror of her life. Of course, the silver lining we all hope for is there for rescue, if she will only grab for it... Well written and well edited!
This book has been an adventure, from the beginning, to the end. From the terrible poverty and abusive father in the Irish Slums of Dublin, to working for the White Star line aboard the Titanic, Kitty O'Kane lead a whale of a life. Colin Falconer does a good job leading us through trauma, and terror of her life. Of course, the silver lining we all hope for is there for rescue, if she will only grab for it... Well written and well edited!
February 25, 2018
I could not put this book down!
I loved this story from the very beginning! Especially from the perspective of a woman and her life on the early 1900’s. Kitty O’Kane is a woman we can all look up to for her bravery, her adventures and her outspoken mouth!
I loved this story from the very beginning! Especially from the perspective of a woman and her life on the early 1900’s. Kitty O’Kane is a woman we can all look up to for her bravery, her adventures and her outspoken mouth!
April 16, 2018
I never actually finished this. I became bored and frankly, forgot about it until I realized id never cleared it out on Goodreads. I suppose that says something.
January 22, 2018
Every month, Amazon sends out it's "kindlefirst" books, and most months they're pretty disappointing. I can't actually remember what the other options were the month that this one found its way into my library, but it ended up being a decent read.
Kitty O'Kane is unkillable--not untouchable. She finds herself in one bad situation after another, many by circumstance, some by her own decisions. Careening from disaster to disaster, she finds handholds where she can, often in bad men who bring their own difficulties to the table.
(I'd like to point out that this book also has the most well-developed depiction of a narcissistic personality that I've ever read. It's hard to convincingly write a person so self-absorbed that they believe their selfish actions are for another character's benefit, but Falconer pulls it off.)
In the end, though, this book is about Kitty learning that--despite everything she's been through; despite everything she's seen, and experienced, and done; despite the limitations of her sex and the time in which she lives--she is deserving of a happy ending. It's about survival and recovery in the face of a life filled more with trauma than stability, and it does that very well.
Before I go, I will say that the writing tends to be a bit jarring. Falconer has a tendency to skip over "filler," which--while cutting out unnecessary events is good--creates some abrupt transitions in Kitty's timeline. YMMV with this. Overall, I thought it was fine--in some respects quite good--but not amazing.
Kitty O'Kane is unkillable--not untouchable. She finds herself in one bad situation after another, many by circumstance, some by her own decisions. Careening from disaster to disaster, she finds handholds where she can, often in bad men who bring their own difficulties to the table.
(I'd like to point out that this book also has the most well-developed depiction of a narcissistic personality that I've ever read. It's hard to convincingly write a person so self-absorbed that they believe their selfish actions are for another character's benefit, but Falconer pulls it off.)
In the end, though, this book is about Kitty learning that--despite everything she's been through; despite everything she's seen, and experienced, and done; despite the limitations of her sex and the time in which she lives--she is deserving of a happy ending. It's about survival and recovery in the face of a life filled more with trauma than stability, and it does that very well.
Before I go, I will say that the writing tends to be a bit jarring. Falconer has a tendency to skip over "filler," which--while cutting out unnecessary events is good--creates some abrupt transitions in Kitty's timeline. YMMV with this. Overall, I thought it was fine--in some respects quite good--but not amazing.
February 26, 2020
kinda long but was really good, better than expected!! lol actually liked how it ended too! :)
January 11, 2019
A little far fetched, and so I actually give it a 3.8.
December 5, 2017
This is one book I sincerely wish I had read the end before the beginning. I simply could not find Kitty O'Kane believable. Out the slums of Ireland, survived the Titantic sinking, met a man who took her all over the world during a time when the world was truly in Revolution.
She survived wars, both military and personal, while developing the ambition to be a writer because her lover and mentor (of sorts) both encouraged and discouraged her. And she did write, no thanks to him. At one point she came back to Ireland with Lincoln to join a 'Revolutionary' group for their short-lived war in her own home city.
As if all this weren't enough, back at home there was the nice boy from the neighborhood who had made good by becoming a doctor and he never stopped loving her. I thought it both too raw and too warm and fuzzy at the same time.
I now say I would have had a somewhat altered view of this if I had read Mr. Falconer's Afterword first. He said these characters were based loosely on two real people who apparently lived a lot of this drama in real life. John Reed, a journalist who detailed the Russian Revoluation and his wife, feminist Louise Bryant. Most of the book's 'unbelievable' events were based on real-life times and experiences.
I now have an expanded reading list for I want see if the real-life John Reed and Louise Bryant's first hand experiences were as interesting as Kitty O'Kane's should have been.
She survived wars, both military and personal, while developing the ambition to be a writer because her lover and mentor (of sorts) both encouraged and discouraged her. And she did write, no thanks to him. At one point she came back to Ireland with Lincoln to join a 'Revolutionary' group for their short-lived war in her own home city.
As if all this weren't enough, back at home there was the nice boy from the neighborhood who had made good by becoming a doctor and he never stopped loving her. I thought it both too raw and too warm and fuzzy at the same time.
I now say I would have had a somewhat altered view of this if I had read Mr. Falconer's Afterword first. He said these characters were based loosely on two real people who apparently lived a lot of this drama in real life. John Reed, a journalist who detailed the Russian Revoluation and his wife, feminist Louise Bryant. Most of the book's 'unbelievable' events were based on real-life times and experiences.
I now have an expanded reading list for I want see if the real-life John Reed and Louise Bryant's first hand experiences were as interesting as Kitty O'Kane's should have been.
November 14, 2017
A takeoff about two real journalists who wrote about wars in the early 1900's, this book was extremely interesting in so many ways. Kitty O'Kane grew up in an Irish household with an alcoholic, abusive father and all she ever wanted was to get away, and this she did. She worked as a maid on the Titanic where she met a journalist who asked her to join him as he covered different wars of the time. This led her to faraway places and unbelievable living conditions. I enjoyed reading about the European history and the life of this unorthodox woman.
December 28, 2017
Amazing Kitty
Kitty O'Kane is born in a shanty neighborhood of Dublin and has to put up with an abusive father. Tired of it, she escapes with a sailor and finds her way into a stewardess job on board the Titanic. From there, she goes unscathed through two ship sinking , and follows a war correspondent all over eastern Europe, pursuing the ideal of a new world order that would bring justice and equality to women. But she takes time to realise that changing the world and finding truce love is not an easy task. Lots of good writing on this book..
Kitty O'Kane is born in a shanty neighborhood of Dublin and has to put up with an abusive father. Tired of it, she escapes with a sailor and finds her way into a stewardess job on board the Titanic. From there, she goes unscathed through two ship sinking , and follows a war correspondent all over eastern Europe, pursuing the ideal of a new world order that would bring justice and equality to women. But she takes time to realise that changing the world and finding truce love is not an easy task. Lots of good writing on this book..
February 5, 2018
This book had a great start and then it just dragged and dragged. I realize the author fashioned the book after a couple of real people, but I had a hard time reading her perspective of how they behaved. I didn't find the protagonist compelling or uplifting. I found her life to be somewhat depressing, and for someone who was fighting against being a certain kind of person, she was that person except in the very end.
February 10, 2018
Everything about this book is awkward, from the abrupt dialogue to the spastic plot. Does the author want us to relive choppy segments of history, feel compassion for the many randomly inserted references to the suffrage movement, or the illusions to the plight of the lower class, or are we to cheer on Kitty’s resilience through her many self inflicted hardships? The characters are neither endearing or villainous. I won’t be recommending this one to anyone.
April 17, 2018
This book gave me lots of information about controversial times through out history. The author took you through many time periods as you learned about Kitty O'Kane and how she tried to change the world. A must read if you like history.
April 22, 2019
It started out interesting but quickly went south. I read the whole thing to see how it ended. I think by trying to fit in a bunch of historical events the main character became very one dimensional.
December 6, 2017
Not what I expected in a survivor story. It was just okay...... not some thing I would recommend to put on your to read list.
October 30, 2020
From a technical standpoint, this book was well-written. The author knows how to put words together and tell a compelling story. I love that I learned a lot of new words, both slang and out-of-daily-use. The pace and the history kept me interested.
However. This is a misogynistic book masquerading as something progressive. The lady character outlives every bad guy, sure, but it's clear the author doesn't actually think much of her. It isn't her actions or the plot (which I enjoyed); it's how he presents them. For one, the book literally starts with her being brutally beaten by a man. You know it's gonna be a really great book for female characters when that's the first scene, lol. And I have two dozen highlights of moments just tagged 'this book was written by a dude'.
- 'Lincoln had taught her about how wars were just about profit. Elsie wouldn’t understand.' (None of the other female characters ever understand anything)
- 'It was impossible not to believe when she looked into those eyes' (women join life-threatening political fights because dudes look at them, apparently)
- 'if the unkillable Kitty O’Kane could survive two shipwrecks, she could endure one overenthusiastic lover.' (bonus recurring theme of rape being totally okay!)
- 'She thought she was Bohemian, like Netty and all the other young women from the Village, didn’t need a man to take care of her. But love, now. Well in the end, everyone wanted to be loved, didn’t they?' (because love obviously equals a man taking care of her)
I'll stop there, lol.
The author did okay at making the 2 notable female friendships a good mix of affection and tension, but making a quarter of the book a superficial slut-shaming of the remaining female character was deeply unpleasant.
And this was all reinforced by the author's note to (presumably) his wife: 'No one will ever know how much work you did, but I will. Thanks, sweetheart.' Holy condescending gaslighting, batman. If she did so much work, give her actual author credit, don't 'affectionately' explain how she will never actually get it.
This is called the Male Gaze, and it is why we can't have nice things.
However. This is a misogynistic book masquerading as something progressive. The lady character outlives every bad guy, sure, but it's clear the author doesn't actually think much of her. It isn't her actions or the plot (which I enjoyed); it's how he presents them. For one, the book literally starts with her being brutally beaten by a man. You know it's gonna be a really great book for female characters when that's the first scene, lol. And I have two dozen highlights of moments just tagged 'this book was written by a dude'.
- 'Lincoln had taught her about how wars were just about profit. Elsie wouldn’t understand.' (None of the other female characters ever understand anything)
- 'It was impossible not to believe when she looked into those eyes' (women join life-threatening political fights because dudes look at them, apparently)
- 'if the unkillable Kitty O’Kane could survive two shipwrecks, she could endure one overenthusiastic lover.' (bonus recurring theme of rape being totally okay!)
- 'She thought she was Bohemian, like Netty and all the other young women from the Village, didn’t need a man to take care of her. But love, now. Well in the end, everyone wanted to be loved, didn’t they?' (because love obviously equals a man taking care of her)
I'll stop there, lol.
The author did okay at making the 2 notable female friendships a good mix of affection and tension, but making a quarter of the book a superficial slut-shaming of the remaining female character was deeply unpleasant.
And this was all reinforced by the author's note to (presumably) his wife: 'No one will ever know how much work you did, but I will. Thanks, sweetheart.' Holy condescending gaslighting, batman. If she did so much work, give her actual author credit, don't 'affectionately' explain how she will never actually get it.
This is called the Male Gaze, and it is why we can't have nice things.
June 1, 2018
Writing was flat, characters didn't have a distinguishable voice. There was potential, and it never quite got there. I kept thinking it was mediocre YA lit (not that YA lit is mediocre by any means, just that this book was) until there was some graphic-ish sex. (pseudo spoiler: the sex scenes are also not very good. Don't read it for that.)
February 19, 2020
I give this one a solid 3 1/2.
So much going on with Kitty O'Kane and almost a little unbelievable but someone had to write the story. Along the adventures of Kitty O'Kane I got a history lesson. The sinking of the Titanic, Lusatania (I think), women's right to vote, the Russian Revolution, and more. A pretty full life for this woman.
At times I liked Kitty and felt the pain but, sometimes she was so whiney.
Interesting, but so much made the story rushed and I didn't relate with the characters at times throughout the story, so that is why I gave it a 3 1/2 instead of a 4.
So much going on with Kitty O'Kane and almost a little unbelievable but someone had to write the story. Along the adventures of Kitty O'Kane I got a history lesson. The sinking of the Titanic, Lusatania (I think), women's right to vote, the Russian Revolution, and more. A pretty full life for this woman.
At times I liked Kitty and felt the pain but, sometimes she was so whiney.
Interesting, but so much made the story rushed and I didn't relate with the characters at times throughout the story, so that is why I gave it a 3 1/2 instead of a 4.
January 9, 2018
Kitty O'Kane had the potential to be a very strong female character, but sadly the author didn't chose to allow her growth to occur. Instead, she followed her war correspondent boyfriend all over Eastern Europe. Was it because she loved him? No. It was because she wanted to be a part of the movement to help establish rights for women. Yet, she only seemed to dabble at writing newspaper articles to help that cause.
Spoiler Alert:
Her survival instincts helped her overcome childhood abuse, two ships sinking, war, prison, and more abuse. Her character should have been portrayed as a stronger influence to, not only her own circumstances, but the circumstances of the world around her. I was disappointed to read how she put up with the treatment she received from Lincoln. His womanizing and his sometimes lack of care and consideration sexually for Kitty were hard to read about but obviously made his character more complex. Her putting up with this made her character seem weak and very flawed.
I enjoyed parts of the story and enjoyed the historical glimpses throughout the book. I kept rooting for Kitty to find love (real love) and well, to find and keep her backbone. Her reactions to crisis kept her alive and showed her strength but in the day to day portions of her life, she deferred to the men around her. I enjoyed portions of the book and would recommend it to others. Sadly, it didn't live up to the book it could have been which is why I gave it 3 stars.
Spoiler Alert:
Her survival instincts helped her overcome childhood abuse, two ships sinking, war, prison, and more abuse. Her character should have been portrayed as a stronger influence to, not only her own circumstances, but the circumstances of the world around her. I was disappointed to read how she put up with the treatment she received from Lincoln. His womanizing and his sometimes lack of care and consideration sexually for Kitty were hard to read about but obviously made his character more complex. Her putting up with this made her character seem weak and very flawed.
I enjoyed parts of the story and enjoyed the historical glimpses throughout the book. I kept rooting for Kitty to find love (real love) and well, to find and keep her backbone. Her reactions to crisis kept her alive and showed her strength but in the day to day portions of her life, she deferred to the men around her. I enjoyed portions of the book and would recommend it to others. Sadly, it didn't live up to the book it could have been which is why I gave it 3 stars.
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