Reviews

The Ghost Ship by Kate Mosse

Only show reviews with written explanations

alexwissink_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

outersgrace's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I love this series, I love this family, I love this book. Family legacy stories just hit so hard I get so invested. Even though I’m sad that the founders died because they were my absolute faves I do love Louise and I love any book about sailing lol so I was hooked. Took me a long time to read but it was purely because this has been the busiest time of my life, ever. I CANT WAIT until the next one and can only assume it will be the last????

charlottereadshistory's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

The Ghost Ship tells the story of Louise and Gilles, two lost & restless souls thrown together by tragedy and fate who find solace on the ocean.

This is the third book in the Joubert family series - it absolutely works as a standalone but I’d urge everyone to read the Burning Chambers and City of Tears too as they are fascinating stories that follow Minou and Piet as they try to navigate the tumultuous religious civil wars between Catholics and Huguenots in France in the 16th Century - which led them (like many families) to flee as refugees to the Dutch Republic.

The story picks up with Louise, Minou and Piet’s granddaughter. Tragedy from her childhood continues to haunt Louise both psychologically and physically, whilst Gilles’ complicated relationship with his abusive and manipulative mother alongside his secret identity weigh heavily on his soul.

I have always loved Mosse’s unrivalled ability to create such believable characters and relationships that are deep, complicated and often flawed - that reflection of the human condition is key to the huge investment I often feel for her protagonists and peripheral characters - and it’s no different for me in The Ghost Ship.

Somewhat heavy themes of grief, guilt, loss, enslaved peoples and empire, gender identity and sexuality were so sensitively handled and explored by Mosse, who also didn’t shy away from exploring contemporary attitudes at the time whilst still centring acceptance and kindness within the characters that mattered most.

I thoroughly enjoyed Louise and Gilles on their quest to find their purposes in life and peace from their pasts - with a huge amount of action and adventure along the way.

The Ghost Ship by @katemossewriter is out in paperback now - thanks to @panmacmillan and @randomthingstours for a #gifted advanced copy in return for a review.

mymidnightbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

amothersmusings1's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Kate Mosse returns with “The Ghost Ship” the third novel in the number one Sunday Times bestselling ‘Joubert Family Chronicles’ - a sweeping historical epic about love on the high seas in a time of war.

I must start by saying I haven’t personally read any of the previous books in the series and I never once felt at a disadvantage, this book read like a stand-alone and although reading the previous books would have been pleasurable, there’s no need for story continuity.

I’ve always liked learning about female pirates and recently enjoyed reading a novel about Mary Read and Anne Bonny - real life, high sea pirates of the ‘golden age of piracy’ and although “The Ghost Ship” is set a lot of years earlier, Louise and Gilles did remind me of the fiery real life Mary and Anne with their rumours of a romantic connection. Gilles was a great character and my heart bled for his life and the secret he was destined to keep all his life.

This is quite a lengthy novel and I found the first half a slow burn, getting acquainted with the characters and the era but the second half really sped up with tension and excitement and had me engrossed till the cliff hanging ending, definitely leaving me wanting to read the next one! Being at sea in a merchant ship with the real risk of being attacked by corsairs who raided the coastal towns and villages for the slave trade, was a genuine fear and together with the plight of contagion, mutiny and inclement weather, made the journeys dangerous and life threatening.

The descriptions of France, Amsterdam, Las Palmas and life at sea, were incredibly detailed and set the atmospheric scenes perfectly. I loved this book and I am keen to read the first two books, as well as any future books featuring the ‘Joubert’ family. Kate Mosse is a terrifically talented author and a pleasure to read and if buccaneering, historical fiction novels with romance and adventure interest you, then you’ll love “The Ghost Ship” too.

#TheGhostShip - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

annrhub's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

benehime's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No

3.0

Fun read, even though aim not that interested in maritime stories and could not quite connect to Louise easily.
But I really liked Gilles!

rhosynmd's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the others in the series. It took a long time to get going, and the jumps in time felt overused, making it feel disjointed in places.

The exploration of gender and sexuality was interesting but felt a bit halfhearted, used as an interesting plot point as opposed to being intrinsic parts of 3 dimensional characters. It could have been taken so much further and the book would have been much more powerful.

Content Warnings

drjoannehill's review against another edition

Go to review page

inspiring tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

I was a bit disappointed with this ... The blurb on the back is about such a small part of the book and the build up is so long, the ending abrupt and surprising. It was extremely tense throughout and I was sure everything was going to end badly. But, we get Mosse's trademark criticisms of the Catholic Church, excellent research on the 17th century, and some cool characters including the main character Louise Reydon-Joubert the capitana of a merchant/pirate ship.

Content Warnings

patiolinguist's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Thoroughly enjoyed this swashbuckling adventure. A historical romance featuring lesbian pirates just hits the spot like few other things. Watch out for exciting wrist grazes and ankle sightings!

More...