Plot: Everything has gone horrible wrong for Sangfroid. Her crew are dying and her chances of escape from the giant space squid that has attached itself to their ship are becoming increasingly slender.
Until a mysterious woman appears. When the first rescue goes wrong, Sangfroid experiences it again so she can escape safely. But she lands on a strange planet called Earth in completely the wrong era and no one seems to want to explain what is going on. Rather finding answers, Sangfroid finds herself mistaken for a man and trapped with the enchanting stranger. Who said life was simple?
Quote: `”Let’s try this again, shall we?” The woman grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her away. “Run!”
Opinion: I have no idea what The Tea Machine is about. I received a copy from Netgalley and that is the only reason why I am writing this review. For the entire length of the book, I was completely confused about what was going on. And not in a good way such as seeing things through the character’s eyes. It was just sheer confusion.
Then, just as it may appear that answers could emerge, the book cut off with a message to buy it if you wish to know more. There was nothing in the synopsis to indicate this was not the complete book and considering my level of confusion, I really don’t think I will be investing, even if that means finding out what was going on.
Time-travel is always a difficult thing to write, especially if the characters are not aware of the possibilities. Add in spaceships and giant space squids, a woman who looks like a man who has no knowledge of Earth yet curses using Hades name and the result is honestly rather a mess.
To find some positive things, the pace was fast and the tension during the battles high. The characters could have been enigmatic if they were given the chance to develop and there was a few humorous lines inserted. But that is being generous as when you get to the end of the book and realise you can’t describe the plot, there is a problem.
A snippet of a book works if the reader’s attention is grabbed. There should be enough mystery that they are drawn in and desire the answers. It should not leave them so befuddled that they want to forget what they have just read.
I’d be prepared to give Gill McKnight another chance if I knew I had the whole book there, but not like this.
I have read bad books from netgalley before. But this is the first to disappoint me in regards as to how it has been handled such as not making it clear this was not the entire book. Planning to read a book and have it finished in half an hour was not what I was hoping for, nor did I get any enjoyment out of it and I hope it doesn’t happen again.
A Rambling Reviewer 