Official Review: Brendan Kinneen by John Worth

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Okafor Prosper
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Official Review: Brendan Kinneen by John Worth

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[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Brendan Kinneen" by John Worth.]
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4 out of 4 stars
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Brendan Kinneen by John Worth is a historical fiction novel that opens a window into the "Irish Rebellion" in 1798 against British rule in the land and the aftermath of this moment in history on the Irish.

The story primarily revolves around Brendan Kinneen, an Irish seminarian who is on his journey to spiritual enlightenment. However, he realizes that this is not his path and leaves the seminary. He spends his time working as a hedgerow teacher and wandering through Ireland with his friend, James Molloy. Unfortunately, they are both beaten up mercilessly by British soldiers, and Molloy is killed. Brendan is nursed to health by Tinkers and joins the rebels fighting against the soldiers that take the law into their hands by committing atrocities. Eventually, Brendan joins a patriotic uprising that failed, and he is captured and taken aboard a convict ship to a British colony in New South Wales, Australia, where most Irish prisoners are taken. The rest of the story details his harsh experiences and how he survives through this period.

The story is written from the third-person perspective, but the focus shifts from Brendan, occasionally, to other characters, like the ambitious Lieutenant George Johnston, who was in the British military and was saved by Brendan at some point. My favorite aspect of this book has to be the interesting characters included in the story. With their stories all connected in some way, the author does well to provide a quick backstory of these characters and help the readers see how the events affected them. From Brendan, who was forced to grow from a naive seminarian due to harsh experiences, to Esther, a Jewish prisoner willing to give her body for the safety of herself and her child, the book did not lack in intriguing characters that kept me engaged in the story throughout.

Love and loyalty are also explored in the story, and romantic relationships between some of the characters add another layer of uncertainty in the book. The book also explored the enmity between Catholic Irishmen and Protestant Irishmen in that time and how it reduced the chances of success in the uprising against the British. The story is a fairly slow-paced read, as John Worth takes his time to allow readers to fully immerse themselves into the characters and the setting of that period, which was perfectly executed. The author does not describe most of the fight scenes, however.

Also, Brendan Kinneen is a professionally edited book. I found a couple of minor errors while reading, and they had no bearing on my reading flow. I cannot think of anything that I disliked about this book. For this reason, Brendan Kinneen deserves the maximum rating of 4 out of 4. Readers who enjoy historical fiction novels will enjoy this book. The pace of the story and length of the book may make this a heavy read, but reading it will be worth your while.

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Brendan Kinneen
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Last edited by gali on 13 Jun 2021, 22:55, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Edited the date of the Irish rebellion
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Yassersultan
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Post by Yassersultan »

I really liked this book, which tells a story that may have happened to many people, especially in the areas where wars occurred. Really, the book is distinguished and the story is told in beautiful sequence that will make you live the moments of the story from beginning to end.
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Sou Hi
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Post by Sou Hi »

Thanks for your review. It looks like Brendan had quite a rough life, journeying through Ireland and surviving his imprisonment in New South Wales.
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Post by Michelle Menezes »

I don't read historical fiction due to all the war, exploitation, and mass murdering, but this seems like an interesting read. As your review mentioned, the characters are well-written, and that is something I always look for in a book. I may give it a try in the future. Thank you for the review.
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Post by AntonelaMaria »

It seems like a fiction book but it feels like a real life story. Glad to hear that characters are well written. Great review.
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Post by Fleurine_t92 »

This book show how the prisoners and British military forces moved in Australia and changed it to Alcatraz. The love and loyalty was the imagination of the author but it was a nice mixture in this book. It didn't show the native Australian.
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Post by Yvonne Monique »

Although this is a very interesting part of Irish history, I will not read this book as I do not read historical fiction.
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Post by Aan Granados »

I like to read more about this era in Ireland. This sounds heavy though, I hope there is a happy ending. Thanks for your review.
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Post by Bertha Jackson »

A book about the Irish rebellion will be of interest to many readers. Your great review reinforces this.
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Alana Rey
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Post by Alana Rey »

I don't usually like war books because of the violence in them but this seems like an interesting book with experience which real people might have dealt with. I might give it a read in future.
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Post by tarafarah7 »

Although today's BOTD isn't the one for me, readers of historical fiction novels with well-developed characters and detailed events will find this enjoyable. In addition, those who appreciate professionally edited novels will find this one to be up there with the best of them. Thank you for your review! :-)
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Post by Harshita Mehra »

I don't like historical fiction but by the review, the story is quite appealing. I would surely recommend this book to one of my friends who like historical fiction novels.
Thanks for the review..
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Post by Kaushiki Parihar »

A historical fiction about the Irish rebellions; slow pace and the length of the book concludes Brendan Kinneen is not my type of book. Although I enjoyed reading your detailed review.
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Post by Anjali Patil »

I have seen Outlander and this book also involves Irish and British history. I think it would be interesting to read the struggle of Brendan while he joined the soldiers of Ireland. I love History Fiction though i have not read it. Thanks for your review, the story seems very interesting. I would love to read it. Hope this book reach out to the most of the audience.
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Post by jaym_tan »

Even though it's historical fiction, the events were written well which means the author put a lot of effort into writing a story centered on this era in Ireland. Congrats on BOTD!
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