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Resurgence

A.J. Flower (Goodreads Author)

3.30 · Rating details · 23 ratings · 15 reviews

“We each of us have our own private hell... it's humbling to experience someone else’s.”

In the summer of 1913, Mary committed suicide by crashing a plane into her parents’ house.

Her survival kept secret, she is spared a life sentence in an asylum with the opportunity of a job; as a pilot aboard a mysterious airship. On a mission that takes Mary across entire continents, ...more

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Paperback, 270 pages

Published May 28th 2016 by Alizé Press

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· 23 ratings · 15 reviews

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Jul 08, 2016 Charlie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 3-stars

This can't be a standalone. It can't be. I enjoyed this one so much and I need more adventures from Mary. This was such a fun and action-packed read. There was a heavy case of insta-love, but also not really since Mary doubts she's actually in love with the man. Ugh, the ending was so satisfying, but I also need to know more from this world, airships and Mary and Gresham.

I rated it three stars, because there is some heavy editing needed. A lot of grammatical and spelling errors weren't edited ...more

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Jul 10, 2016 Cristi-Lael rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: adult

2.75 stars

I was sent this book in exchange for an honest review. When I first read the premise and saw the first sentence, I was immediately drawn in. I thought this might be a great thriller with a supernatural twist.
But it isn't. It's more of a spy kind of a book. Maybe something for folks who like James Bond and historical fiction. The book is set in 1913 in England. Mary is the eldest daughter of a respected aristocratic British family, and is therefore expected to act a certain way and 2.75 stars

I was sent this book in exchange for an honest review. When I first read the premise and saw the first sentence, I was immediately drawn in. I thought this might be a great thriller with a supernatural twist.
But it isn't. It's more of a spy kind of a book. Maybe something for folks who like James Bond and historical fiction. The book is set in 1913 in England. Mary is the eldest daughter of a respected aristocratic British family, and is therefore expected to act a certain way and live a specific kind of life. But Mary is a free spirit and what she loves to do most is sneak away and fly airplanes. When it is evident that she will not only never fly again, but will also have to marry the heartless man of her heartless parents' choosing, she decides to end it all by crashing a plane into her parents' house. However, instead of dying in a blaze of glory, she lives and her parents decide to commit her to an asylum. But there are others with a different plan and Mary soon finds herself part of a team of soldiers who are doing amazing things. Things beyond what Mary could even imagine. And they have a new case which they need Mary's help on.
The premise is very good and the story had great potential, but there were some major issues with this book, in my opinion. I think, though, that many of the issues could be chalked up to the fact that it's the author's first published novel.

* The editing errors: There were a ridiculous amount it grammar and spelling errors in this book. So many that I felt the need to check again and again to see if it was an ARC instead of a finished copy. However, there's no marking labeling it as an ARC and it has a bar code, so I'm pretty sure it's a finished copy. If that is the case, then somebody needs to pay much closer attention to spell check. Seriously. It really rips you out of the story every time you come across a misspelled word.

* The insta-love: This is always an issue for me. I hate it in pretty much every book I find it in. In fact, so much of this book was at an unrealistic timeline. Except the beginning, of course. That moved at a snail's pace and made ti hard for me to get into the story because of the info-dumping and slow start. But, really, no one fall *in love* with another person in a day. Maybe in lust, but not in love.

* The lack of character development. Mary had really good character development. Everyone else did not. I cannot become emotionally attached to characters if there's no depth to them.

* The fact that the author told me everything instead of showing me. This was really an issue. There was so much of this book that was like that and it just kept the whole story in 2D instead of letting it go 3D.

All in all, I would be willing to read more from this author in the future. As I said, I think much of the issue is that it was a debut novel and there's always growing pains that go along with the first novel. ...more

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Jul 20, 2017 A.R. Hellbender rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This was sent to me by Alizé Press in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. It was so hard to put down most of the time.
We start off with this great plot about a high society girl who hates that life because it's so empty, and the story was already so good by that point and only got better from there.

My only real complaints, other than the occasional random detail we didn't need, were that I wished we had seen more of Mary's personality, because she is such an interesting ...more

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Jul 13, 2016 Jade Wright rated it liked it · review of another edition

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

I feel I am being generous with a 3 star rating here.
While I feel that this book definitely has potential and the writer IS a good story-teller, this book was extremely raw. It was an actual joke how riddled it was in typos and grammatical errors. The author clearly invested no time or pride in polishing up something that could have actually been pretty good.

Initially, I found this book intriguing and there was I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

I feel I am being generous with a 3 star rating here.
While I feel that this book definitely has potential and the writer IS a good story-teller, this book was extremely raw. It was an actual joke how riddled it was in typos and grammatical errors. The author clearly invested no time or pride in polishing up something that could have actually been pretty good.

Initially, I found this book intriguing and there was definitely an element to it that kept me turning the pages but to find typos and grammatical errors within the first few pages is inexcusable. When you send your book to a literary agent it's usually the first 3 chapters you send and if they aren't polished the absolute perfection your manuscript will be chucked into the slush pile and never seen again. When I found such mistakes in the first few PAGES let alone CHAPTERS, I was baffled. What author / writer would DO that to their work??? It really upset me because as a whole I think this book does have something special. It isn't a book I would have picked up from a bookshelf personally, but it was given to me and I was pleasantly surprised by how taken I was with the storyline. The author just has A LOT of work to do before it is ready to be kicked out of its nest. I started writing my novel, The Other Woman, in 2012. I am still editing it to this day. A novel takes time. A novel takes patience and love and tenderness. Give this book that and you may just have something here, A. J. Flower.

*

Premise:

In the early 1900's, Mary longs to be free from her wealthy family and luxurious lifestyle. She's obsessed with planes and flying - not even boys can distract her from her one true passion. As the eldest sister in her family, Mary is forced to attend a function to meet another suitor that she is intended to marry. Feeling trapped and horrified, Mary decides to end her own life by stealing a plane and crashing it at the party. Her plan backfires however when she survives the crash and wakes up in a hospital. Her family, having had enough of her wild ways, decide it best that she lives out the rest of her life in an asylum but just before she is about to be sent there, a mysterious woman invites her for lunch. This lunch changes her entire life and sets her on an adventure she could never have imagined, traveling, flying and fighting for her country.
This is a story of a girls life starting over, falling in love for the first time, discovering friendships - only to discover these relationships could be bitter sweet as the people she now associates herself with are assassins and murderers.

*
...more

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Jun 30, 2016 Nadine rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: arcs

Resurgence follows Mary; a rebellious girl in 1913 who believes her life is destined for more than domestic life. After a disastrous argument with her mother, Mary attempts to crash a plane into her parents’ house. She wakes up in a hospital and is given the choice to accept a secret job opportunity or live the rest of her life in an asylum. Mary is thrown into a world of mysteries and excitement, but she quickly learns that her new life comes at a price: life or death.

Unfortunately, I didn’t Resurgence follows Mary; a rebellious girl in 1913 who believes her life is destined for more than domestic life. After a disastrous argument with her mother, Mary attempts to crash a plane into her parents’ house. She wakes up in a hospital and is given the choice to accept a secret job opportunity or live the rest of her life in an asylum. Mary is thrown into a world of mysteries and excitement, but she quickly learns that her new life comes at a price: life or death.

Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy Resurgence as much as I thought I would. I thought the story itself was interesting and intriguing; however the pacing and characters development left much to be desired.

The first 100 pages were long and drawn out with a lot of info dump. The reader is grounded in the time period. Mary’s restrictions are clear and are a large pert of what drives her. She’s presented as a rebellious girl who does what she wants regardless of the consequences. She’s intelligent in her deceptions and is successful every time. However, as the book progresses her character regresses. She isn’t as surefooted as she was at the beginning. She walks around with no idea what to do most of the time and defers to everyone around her to solve the problems. She quickly dissolved into an ornament on the wall in the room.

The romance (for lack of a better word) in this story was instalove at best. The love interest, Gresham, is a two dimensional cardboard cutout of a character. He isn’t developed enough to stand on his own. The romance between Mary and Gresham is nonexistent. There is zero chemistry between them making their romantic scenes difficult to read because they are unbelievable.

The main plot of the story wasn’t introduced until around the 100-page mark, which was frustrating because once the mystery was explained I was intrigued. An Indiana Jones type mystery chock full of adventure? Yes please! Unfortunately, the story felt disconnected and moved from one plot point to another as if it was checking off items on a list.

Overall, Resurgence has a strong premise but fell short with the pacing and character development. I wish I could have enjoyed this book more than I did, but I felt disconnected from the characters and the story.

**I received this book in exchange for an honest review. ...more

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Dec 18, 2017 Melissa Jacobson rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: action, drool-worthy-cover, fiction, historical-fiction, mystery, romance, stand-alone-books, three-stars

Actual Rating 3.75

This was a really engaging and fun historical fiction read. I enjoyed all of the characters and the writing was compulsively readable. The only reason this isn't rated higher is because the beginning felt ta tiny bit rushed and the historic aspect of this story felt sparse. The thin historical fiction aspect is the real reason this isn't rated higher, especially seeing as it is set in one of my favorite time periods. So the lack of any really solid historical context bummed me ...more

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Sep 09, 2017 Camille Dent rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction

**3.5**

The story is very interesting, but the writing is extremely unpolished and unedited. I really enjoyed the characters most of the time, but their tropyness can also get irritating. Mary is the outspoken strong female and Gresham is the emotionally walled-in male. Mary constantly interjects her own ideas into conversations of her superiors, which is both admirable and also unbelievable that they never challenge her about it. I LOVE the premise of the story and am impressed with how well it ...more

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Sep 15, 2016 Katie Lumsden rated it liked it

An enjoyable read. This was a little overwritten at times, and lacked the strong 1913 feel I was hoping for - but the plot itself is strong and engaging, and an exciting adventurous premise throughout.

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Jun 18, 2017 Catherine rated it liked it · review of another edition

So I was lucky to get a signed copy from the Goodreads giveaway contest Thank you very much for it!
........................

I want to say the character Mary was such a, well character. From the first chapter to the last she develops into her own person and I cheered her with every new discovery she made along the way.
The story was pretty interesting too. I was cursing having to go to work rather than find out what was going to happen and how it all came together.
Why the 3-star rating then?
Two ...more

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Jun 19, 2017 Chris rated it it was ok

Well l had to persevere with this book in order to read it to the end. l was very disappointed with it overall, a rather nonsensical boys own adventure story with a woman as its hero.

Most of the reviews are good to glowing but l beg to differ.

l will not be seeking out any more books by this author.

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Jul 16, 2017 Sophie Payne rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2017

2.25 stars. This novel has a great premise and I loved the writing. However the first half was extremely slow and this needs some serious editing. Spelling and grammar mistakes really made it hard to take this novel seriously.

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Jul 03, 2017 TAMMIE NGUYEN rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2017

a solid 2.5 read; rtc

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Jul 19, 2016 Ashley rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016

Resurgence by A.J. Flower (3.5 stars) — First off I just wanted to say that I received this book in return for an honest review.

I have to say that the premise of this book really hooked me and I was so glad I got the opportunity to read this book. There was a strong female character a cool flying ship and secret government missions. What's not to love, am I right. Also, I had just finished reading The Rook and this book seemed like a book to read after that.

So let me tell a little more about the Resurgence by A.J. Flower (3.5 stars) — First off I just wanted to say that I received this book in return for an honest review.

I have to say that the premise of this book really hooked me and I was so glad I got the opportunity to read this book. There was a strong female character a cool flying ship and secret government missions. What's not to love, am I right. Also, I had just finished reading The Rook and this book seemed like a book to read after that. 

So let me tell a little more about the story. The book takes place in England in 1913 and we follow a 19 year old girl, Mary, who lives with her parents it this beautiful fancy estate. Her life is destined to be the same as most of the females of this time: she’s going to marry a young, rich bachelor and take over the household duties of planning lavish parties. But Mary isn’t really interested in this kind of life. She enjoys activities like flying planes. After her parents get tired of her rebellious ways they decided to commit her to an asylum, but she is contacted by a secret division in the King’s Army to join in completing secret missions aboard an airship.  

I liked Mary’s character she was very motivated in her dreams and a very dependent person. I also liked the setting of the airship. This story was something entirely different from what I normally read. There was a good mix of characters from the spunky female mechanic, to the young reserved Colonel.  
There is also a touch of mystery in the mission they’re assigned to and a touch of fantasy that really meshed well with the other parts of the story.  

My biggest concern with the book and the reason why I couldn’t give a higher rating was the pacing. The book goes by really fast and a lot of the traveling time is cut out. For example, in the end of one chapter they’re getting ready to go to a different location and in the next chapter they’re already there. I think those missed gaps would have been valuable in really fleshing out the characters more. There are a lot of descriptions on the back of the book about the characters that I don’t think are really justified yet because I didn’t really get a chance to know the characters.

The book follows Mary for most of the book until a few sections at the end where we follow a different character, and I would have liked if we could have had more of that. I wanted to know what was going on the airship while Mary and Gresham were out investigating. I also wanted more time on the airship or of Mary flying planes.
 
It seems like there might be a sequel because the book ends in a way that leaves potential for more books. I would be interested in continuing with the series because I really want to know more about the characters and the other types of missions this team handles.

Overall the book was really intriguing; there is something about the plot that kept me reading. I just wanted more. Watch my video review here: https://youtu.be/rcgrlyZ8prc ...more

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Jun 05, 2016 MarthaBookDragon rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Enjoyable novel set in 1913, with overtones of classic spy adventure. A female protagonist you can warm to as the story jogs along and an intriguing love interest. Recommended.

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Aug 06, 2017 Daniel Smith added it

Won in the Goodreads Giveaways - passed to my Mam to read.

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About A.J. Flower

A.J. Flower

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Alan is a writer, blogger and Museum Educator. He was born in York, England and after many ‘character building’ years away from that great medieval city, he returned in 2011 with a beautiful woman, a Steamer Trunk drinks cabinet and an MA in Modern History.

Alan is an intense introvert, enriched by the solitude of imagined worlds and the stories he creates within them. As a child, these worlds were ...more

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