The First Ten Focus Group Feedback for Brendan Kinneen
Because Brendan Kinneen was Book of the Day, some of our most trusted members have carefully looked over the cover, the description, and other aspects of this book as a part of purchase-intent focus group. We then asked each participant in the focus group if they planned to buy and read the book, and why they planned to buy and read the book or not. Their answer to that question and reasons are displayed below. We call this awesome feature The First Ten Focus Group.
Keep in mind, the responses from the members are not reviews. This is purchase-intent focus group which means the participants are people who have NOT yet bought or read your book. A purchase-intent focus group is an important and extremely useful marketing tool for any product, not just books. For other products, you might walk on the street and show people an item in a package and poll them about whether they would buy if or $X or not. These kind of focus groups are one of the ways big marketing companies find the ideal price points for products and test the effectiveness of different packaging. The focus group can help you identify your market so you how to target ads of your book, and it can (but may not) provide you new useful info about your "packaging" (e.g. your book cover, your book synopsis on Amazon, etc.). The point of the focus group comments is to give you information from people who have not bought or read your book about why they plan to buy your book which will help you in marketing the book. These are not reviews or critiques of your book because they are not from people have read the book. This is a marketing tool, not reviews. The trick of book marketing and book advertising is that you have to convince people who have not read your book yet that your book is worth buying and reading. For marketing, it doesn't matter much if people love your book after reading it if you cannot convince potential buyers before they read it that they will love it.
IMPORTANT: Any score over 10% is considered very good. And any score above 0% is acceptable. This is because we only poll about 20 or so readers, and all readers have to say "no" to almost all books. Over a million books are published each year. Even a very active reader cannot come close to even reading 1% of books out there.
This is also why publishing books is such a tough industry.
Manang Muyang
The cover showing ancient frigates can only mean historical fiction. The blurb confirmed it: the story is about the Irish rebellion in 1798 and the banishment of captured rebels to what is now Australia. The book is the first of a series. I was wary of the effort needed to start a series and to appreciate the related history, too. I wouldn't have sampled the book on my own. The sample was hugely entertaining, though. The author described the characters and settings vividly and employed welcome humor at the right moments. I saw a ton of unnecessary semicolons and other punctuation, and "it's" was used to denote possession (we use "its" for that now). Then I realized that these were the grammar quirks of that century. I wish the author had given a warning at the beginning, though. Nonetheless, I still found errors. Here are some of them: At 20% of the sample, "summoned there by one of the village lads" at the beginning of a sentence should have had "summoned" capitalized. At 21%, "explain to his protegee" should have used the male "protege." At 44%, "roaring with of laughter" didn't need "of." The official OBC reviewer gave the book the perfect rating but noted the slow pace and the long read. These comments confirmed my decision not to read further.
First Ten review added on June 15, 2021, at 4:59 am by Manang Muyang.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Hhannahh
I wouldn't have sampled this based on its cover or title. I may have, however, sampled it based on its genre and the OBC review; I like historical fiction, and the storyline interested me.
I liked the bit of this book that I read, and I want to complete it. The book kicked off at a slow pace and with a reminiscent tone, which I liked. I also liked the little brotherly banter between Oldy James and Brendan.
I didn't notice any errors in this book, and I don't think it needs any improvement.
First Ten review added on June 15, 2021, at 4:58 am by Hhannahh.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
va2016
The title "Brendan Kinneen", and the cover with ships on the sea, do not indicate immediately what the book is about. I had to search the web to find out more about Brendan Kinneen. There are no Amazon customer ratings, so it is difficult for me to decide if I should sample the book or not. The Amazon summary tells that the book is about Irish patriots. As I am not interested in this theme, I would have skipped sampling the book if not for the First Ten program. As I sampled through the book, I found the narration describing Brendan hiking up the hill from the valley. I didn't find the narration very interesting, but the vocabulary was very rich. In any case, since I am not interested in this theme, I am not going to read this book in full. I found the sample professionally edited. I didn't find any grammatical or mechanical errors. I didn't like anything specifically about the book. I don't have any suggestions for the improvement of the book. Although I found one OBC review of the book, my decision to not to read the book in full is based on my own sampling.
First Ten review added on June 15, 2021, at 4:49 am by va2016.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Rodel Barnachea
After I went over the book's Amazon page and official OnlineBookClub review, I opted not to purchase the historical fiction title. I didn't find myself interested in the historical event "Irish Rebellion" against the British. I don't think I'll enjoy reading the book since its plot did not appeal to me. Sampling the title did not change my mind. I wouldn't acquire it because nothing in its Amazon sample appealed to my interests, piqued my curiosity, or convinced me to read the remainder of the story. The first ten pages contain the chapters "Brendan Kinneen" and "Great Dreams, Broken Dreams" and some pages of the chapter "Maynooth". What I liked most is when James Molloy teased Brendan Kinneen with his questions and remarks. I couldn't note any errors in the text; the book seems professionally edited to me. I have no advice to offer to the author.
First Ten review added on June 15, 2021, at 4:48 am by Rodel Barnachea.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
smolbird
I would not have sampled this book outside of the program based on its cover and title, as it doesn't give me any indication of what the book would be about. While I saw that its official OBC review gave it a perfect rating, it did not make me want to read the book. I liked the characters that have been introduced, as they have been interesting, especially James Molloy. However, I had difficulties with the author's writing style because it was more on the formal side. I've decided not to read the book in full because it didn't really interest me aside from the well-written characters. I have no suggestions for improvement, as my disinterest stems from the fact that I don't usually read this type of book.
First Ten review added on June 15, 2021, at 4:47 am by smolbird.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Mutai Marshal
The cover page dissuaded me from reading this book. It hinted at sea adventure, a genre I don’t like. This is a slow-paced read based on the pages I sampled. My favorite aspect is the suspense deployed in the first section. My mind was filled with questions about what transpired in Wicklow. The OBC review suggests that this book contains grammatical errors. From the sample, I did not flag any grammatical errors (only missed commas that I feel are subject to the author’s writing style), and it seems exceptionally edited. Since I don’t like historical fiction reads, the OBC review and the sample didn’t change my mind about the book. I will, therefore, not complete reading it. I only suggest breaking down this book into two volumes to stamp out boredom that may creep in due to long hours of reading.
First Ten review added on June 15, 2021, at 4:41 am by Mutai Marshal.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Jeremie Mondejar
I like the stunning artwork of the cover photo, and it really represents a sentimental history. Though I love this genre, I can't easily understand in the style of writing. I will not read this book because I struggle in deciphering about the author's way of describing things. I notice that a lot of words are written in fragments. Like for example, "A fitting accompaniment to his word of bitterness, of hopelessness." I will recommend to the author that if it's possible to lessen or to modify the fragments. I'm not satisfied in the style of writing, but I like the plot. The OBC review is very good at describing this book, but it doesn't convince me.
First Ten review added on June 15, 2021, at 4:38 am by Jeremie Mondejar.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Aubrey Lewis
The overall appearance of the book is interesting, but it's not very eye-catching, in my opinion. When I read through the official OBC review, I felt that I wouldn't be able to appreciate the book since I'm not usually fond of reading historical fiction. If I weren't a part of this program, I wouldn't have read the sample at all since the book's cover, genres, and summary didn't interest me enough to want to check it out willingly.
When I finished sampling the first ten pages, I decided not to read the rest of the book. The contents don't seem to be professionally edited because I noticed an error in 17% of the sample: ['James Molloy, at your service.' He now said abruptly, leaning forward and putting out his hand.] There should be a comma after the dialogue and the word "He" should not be capitalized. There were also a few more mistakes like this one which followed afterwards, and there also seemed to be an unnecessary abundance of semicolons which threw me off a bit.
In terms of the story, on the other hand, I found the author's writing style to be quite descriptive, but slightly bordering on purple prose territory. The premise was honestly dragging for me since I could not fully grasp the imagery, and the dialogues felt like everybody was talking in riddles that I could not understand. When Brendan started telling his story to Molloy, I was confused as to what Father Walsh was trying to tell him from the start. Because of this, I think the genres and the storyline are just not my cup of tea, so I will have to pass on this book.
In terms of improvements, I humbly suggest the author to simplify the descriptions and make the conversations more straightforward. This is only my own personal preference, however.
First Ten review added on June 15, 2021, at 4:28 am by Aubrey Lewis.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Vickie Noel
I wouldn't have read this book outside the program based on its title and cover art; it looks quite plain and boring to me. Reading the sample didn't change my mind. The writing style didn't pull me in, and the narration wasn't spectacular. However, I smiled when I read, "...as the rabbit was adjudged to be as cooked as it was ever going to be..." Sadly, I would say that the book is not professionally edited; the punctuation errors were very distracting. Most of them bordered on the incorrect use of semicolons and the absence of commas where necessary. For example, "Despite this he still felt the raw keenness of the wind." There should be a comma after "this." Also, "it's" should be changed to "its" in the sentence, "The unkind wind tore and tugged at him, working it's way into every crevice of his clothing." I have no recommendations for improvement other than the need for an editor to examine the book. I saw an OBC review, but it didn't affect my decision.
First Ten review added on June 15, 2021, at 3:27 am by Vickie Noel.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Kaitlyn Canedy
I likely would have skipped the sample of Brendan Kinneen if it hadn't been the OnlineBookClub's book of the day. I am not a historical fiction fan, which is why I would not have given it a chance. The scenery when the traveler met his new friend is what I liked the most; it gave a clear picture of how detail-oriented the author is. I did not like that the word "f*ck" was used so early on, but this is a personal preference. Because I am not a history fan, I will be passing on this book. I did not notice any grammatical errors in the sample at all. I did read the official OnlineBookClub review but reading it did not change my mind. Readers who like British history may find entertainment in this book.
First Ten review added on June 15, 2021, at 3:23 am by Kaitlyn Canedy.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Sou Hi
If it's not for this program, I wouldn't read this, since the genre is not my cup of tea. The official review is alright, but there are no ratings on Amazon. The blurb isn't intriguing either. The sample begins with the meeting between the main character, Brendan, and an old man named James Molloy. After sharing a meal, Brendan told Molloy the story of his past.
I like the smooth wording of the book. However, since I found many errors, I would suggest another round of editing. Besides, the story is not really to my taste, so the book can't pique my interest. Thus, I won't buy it.
Error example: The unkind wind tore and tugged at him, working it's way into every crevice of his clothing. -> Unneeded apostrophe, it should be "working its way"
First Ten review added on June 15, 2021, at 2:20 am by Sou Hi.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Justine Ocsebio
I wouldn’t have sampled this book based on the blurb, as I wasn’t intrigued by the premise. The story begins with Brendan Kinneen meeting an old man named James Molloy while climbing up a mountain. I like the lyrical writing. However, I’m not intrigued by the premise, so I’m not going to read the book. The book didn’t seem to have gone through proper editing, as there were a few punctuation errors in the sample. Here’s an example: “The road was leading steadily upwards now from the valley, the country less wooded here; with rocky outcrops; harsh, hard country.” To improve, the author should work with a professional editor. I disliked nothing. The official review did not affect my opinion.
First Ten review added on June 15, 2021, at 12:25 am by Justine Ocsebio.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Annelore Trujillo
I would not have sampled this book based on the genre, blurb, OBC review, cover and title. The time period of the book isn’t for me. After reading the first ten pages, I won’t be finishing this book. I didn’t like the style of writing. It was almost too detailed and dragged quite a bit. For example, the entire first paragraph gave details about the climber and his appearance. I found myself losing interest right away. Also, the editing needs improvement. There were several errors even in the first few paragraphs that told me it wasn’t professionally edited. For example, “it’s” was used instead of “its”. There wasn’t anything specific that I liked so far.
First Ten review added on June 14, 2021, at 11:17 pm by Annelore Trujillo.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Gabrielle Sigaki
Brendan Kinneen by John Worth is a historical fiction book that has Australia's history and identity as its main themes. If I didn't sample this book, I wouldn't read it based on its Official OnlineBookClub review and its genre since I'm not interested in historical fiction books. After sampling it, I didn't change my mind and I won't read the entire book because of the reason I stated before. However, the book seems professionally edited, there's nothing to be improved in it, and I liked the fact that the author adapted the dialogues to the novel's epoch, using some slangs of the era.
First Ten review added on June 14, 2021, at 10:02 pm by Gabrielle Sigaki.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Jorge Leon Salazar
The story begins in the year 1786 and tells about Brendan Kinneen while he is traveling on foot. The first ten pages focus on when he meets another traveler, a seeming vagabond named James Molloy. At some point, Brendan tells Molloy about his experience at the seminary. Through this narrative, readers learn about Brendan's experience at Maynooth. It highlights his religious inclination and his interactions with his mentors, fathers Walsh and Reilly. Ultimately, Brendan abandons his attempt to be a priest. What I read seemed slow-paced. It tends to be a bit heavy. There are many descriptions of landscapes, places, even thoughts, which may be convenient as a background, but it makes reading very slow. The official review is flattering and clarifies that the plot revolves around Brendan joining a failed rebellion by the Irish against British rule.
The editing looks adequate although I did notice some details. For example at the beginning of the sentence, “the country less wooded..." there is an unexpected line break before “country.” Plus, there is a repeated use of "it's" in expressions where it appears that it should be "its". For example at location 50 "it's way" and at location 124 "it's tribulations." The cover reflects bygone times as it shows old ships. The title is quite generic since a proper name is mentioned. I think interested readers may be drawn to the cover. Other than the above, I didn't see anything else that I believe could be improved. What I read was interesting. However, it seemed very slow to me, and the principal theme of the Irish rebellion against the British does not appeal to me at all. Therefore, I think I will not read the rest of the book.
First Ten review added on June 14, 2021, at 8:31 pm by Jorge Leon Salazar.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
xsquare
I don’t usually read historical fiction, so I wouldn’t have sampled the book if it hadn’t been part of the First Ten program. The official OBC review did not convince me. I liked the really vivid descriptions of the valley – it is to the author’s credit that I can picture it very clearly. I also liked the creative transition to the exposition and the background of Brendan’s adventure. However, I spotted several typos, such as a full stop instead of a comma after the following line of dialogue: “James Molloy, at your service.” In terms of areas of improvement, there appeared to be some trouble distinguishing between “its” and “it’s”: the first is the possessive form of it, while the second is the contraction of “it is”. There were several instances where the second was used where the first ought to be used instead. I don’t think I will be reading the rest of the book as I find the errors too distracting.
First Ten review added on June 14, 2021, at 7:05 pm by xsquare.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
psychopathycathy
If I had not read the sample, I would not have read the book as I do not really read historical books and from the blurb, I'm not sure I got much information about what this book is about other than that it's based on real historical events and people. After reading the sample, I have not changed my mind. I think the writing style didn't really connect with me and I think some more editing is needed especially when it comes to punctuation around dialogue; there were several instances where a period was used where a comma should have been: "'James Molly, at your service.' he now said abruptly." I also noticed several instances where a semi-colon was used in a way resulting in a sentence fragment or a single word being split up from the sentence. Although I did enjoy how some characters were described, the editing is the main thing I'd change as it is very distracting. The official review did not affect my decision.
First Ten review added on June 14, 2021, at 6:30 pm by psychopathycathy.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
maggi3
From the title, cover, and OnlineBookClub review I read, I would not have read this book, as I am not interested in historical fiction. Based on the first ten pages, I will still not be reading this book because I am not interested in the subject. It does not seem professionally edited, as I noticed an error on the first page. The sentence is written: “The unkind wind tore and tugged at him, working it's way into every crevice of his clothing.” The author should have used “its” here. There was really nothing I enjoyed about the sample. I found the description of Kinneen meeting another traveller and sharing a meal with him to be somewhat boring. I have no advice for the author; I am sure fans of historical fiction will enjoy this book, but I am not the target audience.
First Ten review added on June 14, 2021, at 4:02 pm by maggi3.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
gen_g
Based on the title and cover, it seems like a piece of historical fiction, which I am not in the market for; hence, I would not have sampled the book. I have also come across a positive OBC review of the book, but this would not have changed my mind not to sample, due to the genre mismatch. After sampling, there are a couple of errors present. At 2% in the sample, there are 2 instance of erroneous use of the semicolon: "...less wooded here; with rocky outcrops; harsh, hard country...". Both semicolons used in the previous quote are erroneously used – the first should be replaced by a colon and the second replaced by the conjunction "and"; this is because semicolons are used only to separate independent clauses or more grammatically complicated items in a list, which is not the case in this example. I suggest more editing to improve book quality. However, I like how the author pays attention to describing the landscape of the background setting; it is not commonly seen – this description of the landscape helps readers to better imagine what is going on, resulting in deeper immersion. To illustrate, we learn that Brendan Kinneen is hiking through a valley, and it seems as if he has finally finished/is about to finish tracking past the valley, and the track has now turned stony and becoming more steep. Brendan then meets an older man, James Molloy (whose "long scraggedy grey hair" was blowing about his face), who is trying to roast some rabbit. The wind was strong, so it is obvious that trying to roast the rabbit must not have been easy. To further improve the book, as the story is very clearly stated to be meant as a metaphor for the Irish people during the 1798 rebellion, it would have been good to include a short preface/introduction detailing some historical facts about the 1798 rebellion, in order to give the readers some context as to what will be happening in the story – this will help to increase reader immersion. However, as I am not in the market for historical fiction, I will not be buying the book today.
First Ten review added on June 14, 2021, at 11:40 am by gen_g.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Diana Lowery
The title of the book sounded Scottish, and the cover picture looked historic. The subtitle mentioned Australian history, which did not interest me. The blurb, however, mentioned Irish patriots being sent to a penal colony in Australia, which did sound interesting. The review was favorable, but it did mention that it was a heavy read. I liked the scene where the climber thinks he is alone, but a voice responds to his curse. There was a semi-colon error in the first sentence and a spacing error in the first paragraph. Even though I liked the writing style, I will not finish reading the book at this time as I like to read light, easy novels in the summertime, and this sounds more like a long, winter read.
First Ten review added on June 14, 2021, at 8:19 am by Diana Lowery.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Theresa Moffitt
The cover art of this book caught my attention right away. It looks dramatic and interesting. The title is intriguing. It makes me curious about the man named in the title and what he accomplishes in the book. I would have picked this book up based on the cover alone. The Online Book Club review of this book was very positive and gave the book a rating of 4 out of 4 stars. This increased my interest in the book. I didn’t read an additional customer review of this book. The first ten pages describe Brendan as a traveler on a cold and windy night. He comes across a homeless man who is cooking a rabbit. He joins him and shares his remaining soda bread. I saw some errors in the first ten pages, so I don’t believe the book was professionally edited. For example, on the first page of the book, there is a space in the middle of the sentence where the sentence skips to the next line. Specifically, after “the,” it skips to the next line to finish the sentence with “country less wooded here.” This appears to be a formatting error. I didn’t see any area that the author could improve upon, other than additional editing. I felt the first ten pages were slow and didn’t hold my interest. For this reason, I will not finish reading this book.
First Ten review added on June 14, 2021, at 8:08 am by Theresa Moffitt.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Shrabastee Chakraborty
I love historical fiction, especially those which are centered around real historical events and characters. Based on the genre, premise, blurb, and the official OBC review's highest rating, I decided to read this book. After sampling the first ten pages, I discovered a few errors (location 81: "it's" should be "its," location 103: there shouldn't be a semicolon and an n dash together, location 103: "it's should be "its"). The author described Brendan's journey and his chance meeting with a vagabond. I loved the way the author described the ragged beauty of the land, comparing it with the hopelessness the major character felt. However, I would suggest a thorough proofreading for further improvement. I did find myself interested in Brendan's adventures, so I decided to read the book.
First Ten review added on June 14, 2021, at 3:44 am by Shrabastee Chakraborty.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
J_odoyo
After reading the first ten pages of this book, I have realized that the book seems to have been well written. I didn’t have any problem with the book’s cover page; I think it was well-designed. The book’s title was also okay. There were no errors in the sample I read, and I would wager that the book was professionally edited. The description on the Amazon website was also okay. The book had an official OnlineBookClub review, which gave insight into what the book is all about. Reading this sample didn’t change my mind to finally read this book; I didn’t enjoy the sample. The earlier pages of this book narrate the story of Brendan Kinneen, taking place around the year 1787. Sincerely, I have no recommendation for the improvement of this book; the sample was well written.
First Ten review added on June 14, 2021, at 3:14 am by J_odoyo.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
63tty
After reading the onlinebookclub official review, I had to have this book on my shelves. It sparks my interest in Australian history. It seemed informative and interesting. I will buy and read the book because of my curiosity about Australian history. This seems like the perfect fictional book on that. Reading the first 10 pages shocked me. I did not expect the book to be that well-written. It had perfect grammar, and I also had some grammar lessons while reading. I did not find any errors, and it seemed professionally edited. What I liked most was the book addressing the political aspect of the Church, which was unique. I don't have any comments on what to improve. The book was lovely.
First Ten review added on June 14, 2021, at 3:11 am by 63tty.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Lisa A Rayburn
As I am not into the historical fiction genre, it is unlikely that I would even have run across this book if I had not been a member of this program. Given that, even if I had seen it, the cover, title, and author would have had little to no impact on getting me to pick up the book. The blurb made it clear that the book, though the main character was fictional, had as its basis actual historical facts, people, and places. Although I have somewhat of an interest in Australia, the history element was too 'strong' for me to have become interested in the book. There were no customer reviews on the Amazon site on which to base an opinion, not even one from this program. If I had seen a review from this program on the Amazon site, I would have been interested in what the reviewer had to say. The review on this program's site was complimentary of the book, which gave a good impression going into the sample. I have to admit, I did become fond of Brendan while reading it. Although I cannot personally imagine the desire to go into the priesthood, he certainly seemed to have the purity of heart to do so, despite the doubts that plagued him. He was very naive, and it did not surprise me when he became so distressed to find out he actually had a libido! He didn't seem to have even considered it before then, which made him all the more adorable. (Yes, adorable.) I loved that Malloy turned out to be a 'hedge teacher.' It was a twist I would never have guessed made all the better because he pulled Brendan into it since he could read and write. As the book is based on history and I like the characters, I can think of nothing I would change. However, despite my fondness for Brendan and Malloy, the book remains historical fiction, and a book weighted heavily on the 'historical' side rather than the 'fiction' side. This is simply not one of my favored genres. Given this fact, I have decided not to continue reading the book. The book seemed well-edited. I found no 'countable' errors in the sample.
First Ten review added on June 13, 2021, at 11:31 pm by Lisa A Rayburn.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Dzejn_Crvena
When I saw the cover and title, I would not have sampled the book outside the program because they didn't catch my attention. I decided to sample the book based on the blurb and OBC review because they sounded interesting. In the sample, I liked the character named Molloy. He seemed like an easy-going travel buddy who doesn't judge you for your past. Sadly, the writing style did not keep me interested in the book. The pacing is too slow for my liking, and the book doesn't seem professionally edited. I decided not to continue to read or buy the book because I am not into books with heavy political and religious themes, and I found a lot of errors.
On the first page, this is what I found: "The unkind wind tore and tugged at him, working it's way into every crevice of his clothing." "It's" should be replaced with "its". I highly suggest another round of editing especially on the contraction of "it is" and on the proper usage of apostrophes. I found at least 5 errors on the sample alone.
First Ten review added on June 13, 2021, at 10:48 pm by Dzejn_Crvena.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Ari Martinez
If I hadn't sampled this book for the First Ten program, I wouldn't have sampled it based on its title, cover, or Official OnlineBookClub review because the plot did not seem like something that would interest me. Even after reading the sample, I was still unsure if I would enjoy the rest of the story, so I will not continue to read the book. My favorite part of the sample was the second chapter because that's when I felt I really started to get to know the main character. It also had a lot of cultural and historical information, but without making the story boring. I cannot think of any way to improve the book. On Location 177, there was a missing opening quotation mark (‘The crux of the matter is this,’ the old priest went on, the Catholic Church has long been seen in Britain as a hotbed of sedition...).
First Ten review added on June 13, 2021, at 8:36 pm by Ari Martinez.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Stephanie Runyon
The cover of the book is very tastefully done. I would not have sampled this book because of the historical fiction genre. My initial impression wasn't changed from what I read. The shared meal of rabbit and bread when Brendan meets James was detailed. I liked how the author was able to describe how the cold weather, so I could picture the scenery. The book appears professionally edited, and I have no suggestions for improvement. The OBC review bore no influence on my decision to pass on this book. I lacked interest in the story as it held a lot of historical information about Great Britain and the Catholic Church.
First Ten review added on June 13, 2021, at 6:17 pm by Stephanie Runyon.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Brenda Creech
I would not have checked this book out based on the cover and title because I thought it would not appeal to me. That is until I realized it is historical fiction which happens to be my favorite genre. After reading the official review, I decided to read a sample of this book. Within that sample, I found only a couple of errors. For example, at Kindle location 96, the following sentence: "The next moment to be startled by a nearby voice making a reply." The word 'a' should be after 'making.' I enjoyed the portion I read about Brendan being tutored by the priest, then being chosen to go to seminary to become a priest himself. What I found that I feel needs improvement was the profanity used by the priests. I have difficulty hearing a man or woman who stands before others teaching about God yet using profanity. From the official review, I also noted there are violent scenes in the book. For those two reasons, I don't plan to read the rest of the book.
First Ten review added on June 13, 2021, at 5:15 pm by Brenda Creech.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Sarah_Khan
The cover of this book looks nice and professional. The title is average. After reading the Amazon blurb, I would not have sampled this book because the plot does not sound interesting to me. The first ten pages seem well edited, but I do not know if the author intended to use "if" instead of "of" in the following sentence "Ah, Italy; the warmth if it". I have to say I was unaware of the rules and the political connections regarding Irish priests in this time period. The OBC review was positive, but it did not change my mind. I am not interested in the subject of this book. So, I will not be reading the rest. I do not have any suggestions for the author.
First Ten review added on June 13, 2021, at 5:08 pm by Sarah_Khan.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Verna Coy
The cover of this book got my attention right away. It speaks of adventure and history. What I loved best about what I read today was the era that the author chose to write in. The 1700s are such a great time in history for adventure stories. As far as improvements to it, I only have a suggestion that comes from a more personal preference than anything. Less profanity would be good. But that’s just my personal preference. I’m not purchasing the book for that reason, but there are many readers who won’t mind that aspect. I know this book will draw fans of history and adventure. It seems professionally edited to me. No errors jumped out at me while I was reading. I enjoyed reading the thoughts by the reviewer in the Online Book Club review. A 4-star review is great work!
First Ten review added on June 13, 2021, at 4:36 pm by Verna Coy.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Kajori Sheryl Paul
'Brendan Kinneen' is written by John Worth. Brendan Kinneen had a story to tell. He came across James Molloy in the Wicklow Mountains. I like the vivid way the author describes the weather and the environment. The editing was professional. There was nothing in need of an improvement. Based on the cover, title, genre, blurb, editorial reviews, and customer reviews, I would give this book a try as I like the genre. The first ten pages and the OBC review were interesting. I will give this book a try as I wish to know how Brendan plays a part in the Irish Revolution.
First Ten review added on June 13, 2021, at 3:46 pm by Kajori Sheryl Paul.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Odette Chace
I like the name of the book. However, the cover is very bland. The synopsis on Amazon didn't interest me. It also contained multiple errors. I would not normally sample this book. The official review gave the work a perfect rating of 4 out of 4 stars, but the reviewer even stated that the work is slow-paced and very long. It didn't make me want to read the book. "All in a Day[']s Business" (loc. 11). "Despite this[,] he still felt the raw keenness of the wind" (loc. 41). I noticed multiple errors and don't believe the work was professionally edited. The opening chapter didn't seem very necessary. I suppose that Kinneen will tell his story and then the work will come back to the present moment, but I wish that the story just started in the middle of the action. "It had been a great adventure, to be sure" would make a wonderful opening line of a book, though (loc 92). I didn't like that the narrator used the word "shit" (loc 117). It's one thing for characters to swear, but I wasn't expecting it from the narrator. I didn't enjoy sampling the book. I found it boring and don't plan to finish reading it.
First Ten review added on June 13, 2021, at 3:27 pm by Odette Chace.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Kirsi Cultrera
Historical Fiction is one of my favorite genres, and therefore, I would have sampled this book in any case. I also found the title interesting and the cover picture inviting. The story was written in a capturing manner. I truly enjoyed getting to know the two characters, Brendan and Molloy. Their paths crossed coincidentally. However, it soon became clear that the friendship of these two was a match made in heaven. Unfortunately, reading the Official OnlineBookClub revealed that Molloy would later get killed. This book seemed professionally edited to me. Apart from killing Molloy, I did not find anything to dislike from this book. I found the historical period handled in this story very absorbing. Since I also wanted to find out how the events would unfold for Brendan, I decided to read the whole book.
First Ten review added on June 13, 2021, at 3:01 pm by Kirsi Cultrera.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda
The cover appears lackluster, but I appreciate the subtitle, which allowed me to know at first glance what to expect from the book. I like historical fiction and I liked the blurb (although I don't love that the author named his hero after himself), but without ratings or knowing the author, I wouldn't have bought the book based just on my first impressions.
What I liked the most about the first ten pages were the vivid descriptions which are, surprisingly, not trite. For example, "The checkerboard of fields, hedgerows and lanes seemed almost to writhe, to come alive, as the cloud shadows played across their contours." What I didn't like was that I felt lost. I didn't know the main character, or the vagabond, or not even a time and place. I have clues (the oilcloth, the clay pipe, etc.), but I shouldn't be doing detective work in a book that's not a mystery.
I found a couple of minor mistakes. The first one is in position 87 where there shouldn't be an apostrophe on "its": "working it's way into every crevice of his clothing." I would suggest fixing these minor mistakes and adding a little tag with time and place at the beginning of chapters or a brief prologue. I know the date is in the blurb, but readers regularly just put books on their wish lists and never come back to the blurb and even so, authors often play with timelines. What made me decide to read the book because it makes a much better summary than the Amazon blurb, was the official review.
First Ten review added on June 13, 2021, at 2:57 pm by María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Laura Ungureanu
The cover looks very serious. I'm usually all in for historical fiction, so I was willing to at least give this book a chance. The OBC review didn't have any effect on me, unfortunately. I noticed the writing style is rather elegant. It was a nice tactic to make Brendan tell his "sorry story" to a stranger, but the book feels too slow-paced, thus making me rapidly lose all my interest. That is quite common for historical fiction, but I currently lack the patience, so I don't want to continue reading this book. A faster pace could be an improvement, but it is not necessary, since historical fiction is known for its long passages. There is an error in "Despite it's rather ash-smeared, grubby appearance," as it is supposed to be "its."
First Ten review added on June 13, 2021, at 2:26 pm by Laura Ungureanu.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Chelsy Scherba
I really enjoyed the setup of the first chapter. The scene setting and the characters of Malloy and Brendan were reminiscent of Tolkien, so I quite enjoyed that. I also really like the cover image with the old ship, that time period has always interested me. The review mentioned Brendan eventually gets captured and basically enslaved by Australians, so I’m curious to see how he escaped from that. The book is very well-edited without any noticeable errors. I have no suggestions for improvements. I don’t read a lot of historical novels, so I wouldn’t have come across this book outside of the program. I would be interested in reading and reviewing this book.
First Ten review added on June 13, 2021, at 1:42 pm by Chelsy Scherba.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Emy Katherine
The story is set in 1798 and follows an Irish man named Brendan Kinneen, who embarks on a journey of survival after being convicted and transported to a penal colony in New South Wales, Australia. As I am not interested in reading historical fiction novels, I would not have read the book based on the genre. Unsurprisingly, reading both the sample and the OBC review did not convince me to read the whole book. I appreciated the realistic dialogues, though, and I also found Brendan's character quite relatable. Sadly, as the book had formatting and editing issues, I would suggest another round of editing. For example, it should be written "its way" in the following sentence: "The unkind wind tore and tugged at him, working it's way into every crevice of his clothing." (location 81 of 753 • 11%) It should be written "King's Ministers" in the following sentence: "I want you to understand that the King’s Minister’s are not doing the Catholic Church a favour." (location 186 of 753 • 25%) It should also be written "The Church had its own agenda" instead of "The Church had it's own agenda." (location 751 of 753 • 100%)
First Ten review added on June 13, 2021, at 1:12 pm by Emy Katherine.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Bertha Jackson
I would have checked out this book based on the book cover, title, and genre because I enjoy reading historical fiction. The blurb and OnlineBookClub review were positive for this book; however, there were no customer or editorial reviews to influence my decision one way or the other. I enjoy reading books about the Irish rebellion, and the character development in the first ten pages was excellent. Unfortunately, I was not too fond of the slow pace of the plot. For this reason, I will not be purchasing and reading this book. I did notice a couple of formatting errors in the first ten pages where there are paragraph breaks in the middle of a sentence. The first occurrence was in the middle of the third sentence. The only recommendation I have for the author to make this a better book is to increase the pace. Due to the nature of this book, there should be a lot of action.
First Ten review added on June 13, 2021, at 10:53 am by Bertha Jackson.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Yvonne Monique
The book cover typically depicts a historical novel scenery. I would not pick this book up if I would see it in a book store because I normally do not read historical fiction. Although the subtitle indicates that this story is about Australia, it omits to mention that it all starts in Ireland. This is explained by the blurb and OBC review. As an improvement, I would suggest to mention on the book cover that the story starts in Ireland in order to attract a wider audience. The sample seems to be professionally edited, but on the first page (2% of the sample) there is an unnecessary hard return in the sentence : "The road was leading steadily upwards now from the valley, the
country less wooded here..."
The first chapters introduce the protagonist, Brendan Kinneen, but I did not find the beginning interesting enough to buy the book and carry on reading.
First Ten review added on June 13, 2021, at 10:53 am by Yvonne Monique.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Total ~ 18%
Brendan Kinneen earned a score of 18%.
In other words, out of the top-level reviewers who read at least the first 10 pages of this book, 18% plan to read the whole book.
IMPORTANT: Any score over 10% is considered very good. And any score above 0% is acceptable.
Over a million books are published each year. Any given person could not even read .0001% of the books out there. This means readers have to be very selective. Even taking the time to look over reviews and blurbs, let alone read samples, is more time than most readers can afford for most books. The First Ten is a powerful focus group that addresses those issues. It creates a helpful tool for authors, publishers, and other readers.
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