Bury the Living

Written by Jodi McIsaac

Narrated by Alana Kerr Collins

Rebellion has always been in the O’Reilly family’s blood. So when faced with the tragic death of her brother during Northern Ireland’s infamous Troubles, a teenage Nora joined the IRA to fight for her country’s freedom. Now, more than a decade later, Nora is haunted by both her past and vivid dreams of a man she has never met.

When she is given a relic belonging to Brigid of Kildare, patron saint of Ireland, the mystical artifact transports her back eighty years—to the height of Ireland’s brutal civil war. There she meets the alluring stranger from her dreams, who has his own secrets—and agenda. Taken out of her own time, Nora has the chance to alter the fortunes of Ireland and maybe even save the ones she loves. In this captivating and adventurous novel from Jodi McIsaac, history belongs to those with the courage to change it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Sep 6, 2016
• ISBN: 9781511391597

Jodi McIsaac

Jodi McIsaac is the author of several novels, including A Cure for Madness and the Thin Veil series. She grew up in New Brunswick, on Canada's east coast. After abandoning her Olympic speed skating dream, she wrote speeches for a politician, volunteered in a refugee camp, waited tables in Belfast, earned a couple of university degrees, and started a boutique copywriting agency. She loves running, geek culture, and whiskey. Summon the Queen is the second installment in the Revolutionary series, following Bury the Living.

Reviews for Bury the Living

[sarah_gruwell · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A tale filled with Irish folklore, history, and time travel, this book was tailor-made to please my palate. In the beginning, things started a bit slow. A lot of time was spent on building up Nora as a character and the background that developed her. Yet, as the story progresses, things picked up quickly, and the story railroaded to a suspenseful finale that left me on the edge of my seat.I felt the time spent on Nora’s development was ultimately time well spent. The audience gets to see where her motivations come from and see her personality grow from a teen on the rocks to a mature, courageous woman. I felt like I got to know Nora from the inside out, which made the sometimes tragic events that happened feel all the more real.I've been on an Irish history kick lately so this book was right up my alley. Traveling back to the height of the Irish civil war, Nora started her journey with an explosive situation as she experiences the horror of Ballyseedy. From that seminal event, the story takes the audience and Nora on a suspenseful tale of war, tragedy, family, and magic.I love how the author explored the pain the Civil War generated, pitting friend against friend, family against each other. Seeing how women prisoners had it in Kilmainham Goal also made for fascinating reading. Exploring their struggle through disrespect, hunger strikes, and creating what they can of a life in prison resonated with me as I've been to Kilmainham Goal, seen the cells, and can't imagine their life. It gives you respect for these women and their struggle.The hints of Irish folklore and magic added a nice, ethereal spice to the tale. The goddess Brighid is the vehicle for Nora's journey into the past, both as her motivation and the actual medium. Yet, the biggest presence is that of Fionn mac Cumhaill. His legend and struggles drive the story. Nora vows to help him with his curse; in the process, she finds herself growing closer to him on an emotional level. Who he is and his background make for unique challenges to a relationship.As the start of a trilogy, this book stands solid. It gives a strong background in character development and mythology and Irish history. As the book ends, Nora and Fionn are headed even further into the past, embarking on a journey that proves to be interesting to say the least. I love how the author build up every element of the story and feel comfortable in saying that the rest of the trilogy will be as intriguing as well. I look forward to exploring them all.

[celticlady53 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Bury the Living starts off in Belfast Ireland, 1990. A tumultuous time in Irish history. Nora O'Reilly has always believed in the IRA cause. Because of the deaths in her family because of the "Troubles", Nora is now a missionary in Africa, where there is also danger. She comes back to Ireland for another funeral and is brought back into the fight for freedom. She starts having dreams about a man that she has never met, vivid dreams that she can't ignore.Nora is given a historical artifact and is instructed to meet with Bridget of Kildare. This artifact mysteriously sends Nora back to the Irish Civil War in the 1920's. This civil war was between two factions, Irish republicans and Irish nationalists. This is where the book gets really good, her search for Thomas who is the man from her dreams who is actually Fionn mac Cumhaill, a mythical character from Irish legends. He is on a mission also to fight for what he believes in and with Nora's help, they try to change the course of history. Since I am Irish, this book really intrigued me and I also love time travel novels so this book was doubly interesting. The addition of Bridget of Kildare, an Irish patron saint, who was a nun and founder of several monasteries for nuns is interesting.So for Nora to have this ability to go back in time and try to change the outcome of the Civil War is particularly intriguing. I won't tell you whether she accomplished her goals or not, you need to read the book. I think if you love Irish historical fiction mixed with a bit of fantasy, you absolutely need to read this book! I look forward to reading Summon the Queen which takes Nora and Fionn back to 1500's to meet with Granuaile Ni Mhaille or Grace O'Malley and Queen Elizabeth I to continue their quest for Irish freedom.This review is voluntary.

[isisunit · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I would like to thank 47North & NetGalley for an e-ARC of this book to review. Though I received this e-book for free, that has no impact upon the honesty of my review. Goodreads Teaser: "Rebellion has always been in the O’Reilly family’s blood. So when faced with the tragic death of her brother during Northern Ireland’s infamous Troubles, a teenage Nora joined the IRA to fight for her country’s freedom. Now, more than a decade later, Nora is haunted by both her past and vivid dreams of a man she has never met.When she is given a relic belonging to Brigid of Kildare, patron saint of Ireland, the mystical artifact transports her back eighty years—to the height of Ireland’s brutal civil war. Here she meets the alluring stranger from her dreams, who has his own secrets—and agenda. Taken out of her own time, Nora has the chance to alter the fortunes of Ireland and maybe even save the ones she loves. In this captivating and adventurous novel from Jodi McIsaac, history belongs to those with the courage to change it."On the whole I found this book to be mostly setting up the rest of the series, which means it was fairly slow in most places. Aside from Nora actually traveling back in time (not very far back at that), very little took place beyond developing relationships - many of which appear as if they may be transitory at best. I liked Nora for the most part, but really didn't feel as if I got a good sense of who she is beyond her obsession with Ireland and her dreams of righting history so that her family (brother and father) wouldn't die so young. As for the fantasy portions, aside from the initial time travel nothing is revealed until the final chapter of two. And the relationship I was anticipating didn't begin until the end of the book - even then we only get what I hope is the very beginning of it. Subsequently I don't see the comparison to Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series as being even remotely accurate. Aside from that misleading advertising this book appears to be a slow lead into a potentially entertaining series.

[neftzger · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a time travel/ fantasy book that takes place in Ireland and is more historical in nature than sci-fiction or fantasy. While the plot relies heavily on the fact that one character has knowledge of the future, she doesn't know if it can be changed (and at what level? For one person? For an entire country?). The author does a nice job of blending modern and historical concepts to create some interesting situations for the characters, and I like that there are some strong female leads. The time period is one in which women weren't given as much opportunity, but these female characters find ways to make a difference. The book addresses the impact of war on the average person and the sacrifices made for the sake of freedom.Note: I was given a free ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

[bonniemarjorie · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

In 1990, Nora O’Reilly is fifteen years old with an unruly temper that gets her into far more trouble than would be otherwise necessary. Being angry at the poor situation her family finds itself in, a murdered father, a mother that can’t put down the bottle, and a brother that is the sole breadwinner, Nora takes it upon herself to start selling pills in order to make some side cash. Cash that will hopefully one day get her family out of Ireland and away from the ongoing war for freedom. The only thing it does it get her into more trouble than her temper ever did and before long, she’s signed up to be a member of the Irish Republican Army, and won’t manage to leave Ireland for another 10 years. Flash forward to the year 2004, Nora is now thirty years old and has been spending the last several years of her life as a relief worker in various foreign countries. She’s been having strange dreams for many months which feature the same man who never actually says anything to her yet leaves her with a sense of urgency that has her puzzled. When she dreams of him one night and he actually speaks, asking her to go to a town in Ireland because he needs her help, she brushes it off as nothing but a dream but she can’t completely shake off the pull to follow through on his request. When she does as the man in her dream requested, she ends up on an adventure through time itself, ending up in the year 1923.Bury the Living was initially tempting to me because it’s a time travel adventure and marketed to fans of Outlander. It’s an understandable similarity, yet, Living falls undeniably short of living up to the comparison. The writing was enjoyable and kept me reading till the end but the characters themselves really blurred together after a point, except for the main character who seemed to have never grown out of her teenage temper. There’s an extensive focus on the historical detailing of the time as well as a romance, but the confusing aspects of the time travel itself, the inclusion of some puzzling fantasy aspects, and the lack of a logical plot made any positive aspects of this story fall by the wayside.The historical detailing: This was the best part of the story. This is all information I had to take at face value because I knew little to nothing about the history of Ireland and the wars and strife they went through for decades. It was terrible yet fascinating but quite clear that the author did a lot of research for this book.The romance: There isn’t a Claire and Jamie type of love, although, they’re truly incomparable. The building blocks were established for the romance in this first installment of the planned series, but I can’t say I felt any sort of chemistry between our two supposed love birds. I expect that will come later.The time travel: After Nora’s dreams send her to a church in Kildare to find ‘Brigid’, a nun there is prepped and ready because she also had been having dreams warning her of Nora’s impending arrival. With the help of an ancient relic from Saint Brigid herself, Nora is sent back to the year 1923. I don’t know, it was all just a little too methodical for my liking.Bury the Living is an informative time travel adventure through the arduous 1920s of Ireland. It’s evident this is the first installment of a planned series and the ending definitely leaves you hanging whether Nora will ever manage to accomplish her goal of changing the future. Unfortunately, I doubt I’ll be picking up the next book to find out.

[robynelee · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wow! Time travel with a twist. When I first started this book, I assumed it was a modern day history of the troubles in Ireland; however, when the main character is able to go to the year 1923, the story truly takes off. After reading the author's historical notes, I was impressed with the accuracy of the events in the book. To avoid any spoilers, I'll just add that the next book in the series sounds even more exciting. Excellent writing that grabbed my attention and kept me riveted. Thanks to NetGalley for the copy of this wonderful book.