Ahoy there me mateys! Me blog be over two years old as of January 2018. It originally took several months for me to learn about NetGalley and then attempt to use it. In fact, my first review was submitted to NetGalley on April 3, 2016. Weirdly, I didn’t post a review of that book on me blog at the time. Now, of course, I am a NetGalley junkie and am continuously perusing the loot and raising a celebratory glass whenever I get approved. It hasn’t gotten old. But even this pirate Captain has been declined at times. While recently trying to plan me eArc readin’, I was curious about how often I had been rejected so of course a tally was needed. Turns out that number be currently at 44. Well me scalawags, I feel the need to explore the rejections and see what me thoughts be all these days later. Due to the number, I believe this will be split into several log posts. Hope ye like it. If not sod off cause I be enjoying meself . . .
Side note: all book titles link to Goodreads.
1. a green and ancient light (Frederic S. Durbin) – Well mateys, me first rejection be a surprise. I didn’t remember this book at all. Apparently it is set in a world similar to ours with a parallel WWII. There is a man who knows the real story of Cinderella’s slipper. Goodreads describes it as a “gorgeous fantasy in the spirit of Pan’s Labyrinth and John Connolly’s The Book of Lost Things.” Ummm yes. I adored John Connolly’s book and the sound of the blurb. Plus look at the lovely cover. This book never even made it to the ports for plunder list! That has been remedied and this book be back on the radar. Now I just have to get me a copy! (updated 10/30/19 – review here)
2. roses and rot (Kat Howard) – I do remember this title. This book keep going on and off the ports for plunder list. It has great reviews from me crew so I kept adding it. But it is about the fae so I kept taking it off. I was obsessed with books set in Ireland involving the fae for awhile and then I burned out. Plus the fae seem to all be super gorgeous and rather empty-headed these days. So I have not read it and currently do not plan to. That said, another book by this author called an unkindness of magicians be on me list. I don’t know if it should stay there. Any thoughts from the crew? (updated 10/30/19 – both books have been taken off the ports for plunder list)
3. like a boss (Adam Rakunas) – This is the second book in a series. I bought this one after the NetGalley rejection. I shared me second reflections of book one, windswept, after reading it again. I loved it! This book was a disappointment and I had to abandon ship. The whole sad story can be found here.
4. company town (Madeline Ashby) – I haven’t read this one yet but I still very much like the sound of it – murder mysteries, bio-engineered enhancements, possible other timelines. Plus it has a beautiful cover. I tried to get a copy of this novel because I had read vN and iD, the first two books in her Machine Dynasty series. I very much enjoyed those books but unfortunately read them back in the days before the blog so I have no reviews of them. Hopefully I will get around to this one. Plus there is a book three in the Machine Dynasty series that I have now added to the ports for plunder list. Arrrr! (updated 10/30/19 – I have since tossed book three of the Machine Dynasty overboard because I don’t remember the plots well enough but this rejected book still be on the list)
5. the stars at oktober bend (Glenda Millard) – So this sounds like a contemporary YA based on the blurb. The main character, Alice, has had a traumatic head injury and has problems speaking. She writes poems to express herself and leaves them randomly about town. The blurb says “When he first sees Alice, she is sitting on the rusty roof of her river-house, looking like a carving on an old-fashioned ship sailing through the stars.” Pretty sure that’s the image that captured me fancy. Too bad that it sounds like a contemporary romance. I don’t really do those so it will remain unread.
So out of the five rejections in this set we have:
1 still on the ports for plunder list, 1 visited, and 3 ports quarantined never to be visited again. (updated 10/30/19)
Keep a weathered-eye out for more rejections and always remember:
Q: Why don’t pirates shower before they walk the plank?
A: Because they’ll just wash up on shore later.
Hardy har har!
x The Captain
Moar pirate jokes, please!
As I said in Post 3 (the first of these I read), I love the idea for this post. I’m sad that Like A Boos didn’t live up to the majesty of the first book. That’s a shame. Of all the books on your list A Green and Ancient Light is the only one which really appeals to me. I’m with you on the fae– they are getting overdone. Like YA dystopia. 😉
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I remember Company Town but never did read it. Ack! I’ve never actually requested an ARC although I have a Netgalley account. One of these days!!
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Ye have an account and NEVER used it! Ye be a odd duck me friend. But better late then never I suppose.
x The Captain
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I also wanted Company Town but was rejected… and if it makes you feel better – I regularly request Brit books and STILL get rejected and I’m from the UK! And my current feedback ratio is 93%…
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Ah we be in good company in our rejections then! And 93 be an excellent ratio! I know that a local library has company town. I just haven’t gotten around to reading it yet. And no that doesn’t make me feel better that Brits reject ye too! Me and me crew should of course get preferential treatment 😉
x The Captain
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Lol… Of course you should, Cap! Apologies for getting that cast-iron fact – you and your crew should indeed be getting preferential treatment:)
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I don’t do NetGalley because I don’t read many ebooks… but it would be great for my wallet if I did. However lately I had to turn down two books I really wanted to read as they were only available via PDF – it’s making me wish my e-reading list was shorter!
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Ah I have one book on pdf that is making me crazy because none of me devices want to let me read it. But it has dragons and I be determined. I wasn’t an ebook fan in the beginning but I have to admit that I like being able to read in the dark.
x The Captain
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Ahhh, you make me laugh. I’ve had more than a few rejections myself. Just gotta keep on keepin on. 😖😃🤗
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Glad to make ye smile. I have to admit that occasionally I be excited over a rejection because me eArc pile be so massive. Though right now I am caught up so there is that.
x The Captain
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Good for you! I still have like 30 books I have to read, yikes. 😬
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Such a cool feature honestly! It’s sort of like looking back at your TBR after a while. I am curious about A Green and Ancient Light and Company Town though! They sound like fun. Looking forward to more of this feature! 😀
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Well I plan on doing this feature until the rejections run out. Not sure when the next one will be because they are time consuming to write. But I enjoy writing them so they will continue. Glad ye like this one too!
x The Captain
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You got me wondering how many NetGalley rejections I had – so I went and investigated. The grand total is 80 rejections! On the high note however I have been approved for 330 titles so I’m still winning. I realize that a lot of the 80 rejections were because I live out of region. It seems all the titles that really appeal to me are UK based and I live in Canada…
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I also have a problem with requesting lots of UK based novels. I wish they would make it to this side of the pond more quickly. It seems like such a tease to get excited, request, and then get rejected when it is a UK book. 330 is a lot of books! How long have ye been on NetGalley?
x The Captain
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I’ve had a few rejections! Most of the times I realized afterwards it was my own silly fault, requesting a book that wasn’t available in my geographic area. Sometimes I just get too excited and press the request button without reading everything through 🙂
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I have certainly done that! I always want the books published in GB and that haven’t come out in the US yet!
x The Captain
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Where on NetGally do you go to see how many rejections you have had?
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Go to your shelf then click on not active. There is a link for pending requests and then next to it one for “declined requests” as they call it. Hope that helps!
x The Captain
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Thanks Captain.
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Very welcome.
x The Captain
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Lol, pirate jokes. 🙂
I didn’t realize we could get rejected on NetGalley until it happened to me. I forgot what book I was trying to request. I don’t request much books through there, but there has been an uptick in my use of the website since late last year. It does get a little addictive.
I actually own A Green and Ancient Light. It does sound like it’ll be a good read. I got my copy on Book Outlet, you can check there to see if it’s available.
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I don’t think I have ever heard of Book Outlet. I will have to check it out.
x The Captain
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It has a variety of books at low prices.
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I checked it out and me hoard of loot is going to get smaller because of this site!
x The Captain
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Congrats on two years!! ❤ I haven't requested anything from Netgalley in a long time and won't until I get caught up. I do want to read the stars at oktober bend though! ❤ Great post.
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Thanks matey! I do admire yer self control. I cannot stop requesting things. Though I am currently up to date on me NetGalley reads so there is that.
x The Captain
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Never mind the NetGalley talley ;-). We enjoy reading your reviews of the books! Keep on writing Captain! Congrats on your two year anniversary!
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Even though I have been rejected for some, I have been accepted to review over 100 books. So I be not too worried 🙂 Thanks for being one of me crew that actually reads me silly scribbles.
x The Captain
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I’ve only recently started looking into the NetGalley thing. To be honest, I didn’t really understand what it was when I first learned about it. Some of those books sound really interesting. There’s 3-4 more to add to my ever growing TBR list.
Congrats on 2 years of blogging! Keep it up! I love your blog.
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Thanks for the comment matey. Just be careful with the NetGalley thing. It is addicting and causes the list to balloon.
x The Captain
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That’s what I’m afraid of!
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