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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
adventurous
hopeful
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Realized a few chapter in that it felt rather historically inaccurate for a historical fiction inspired by a real person, so I looked it up and there is no primary evidence that Jacquotte Delahaye actually existed and this book is mostly a reimagining her life if the tiny pieces of secondary evidence were true. Lost interest knowing it was really just a fiction book that I wasn't really into.
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was written with so much passion and care. It had one of my favorite reading experiences in a while. I learned so much (plenty of sad but not surprising stuff) — I certainly hope Jacquotte Delahaye was real. If people cared enough to document the lives of anyone who isn’t a cishet white man we would’ve known. It is an epic story and I knew from the prologue.
The characters were the heart of the story. Jacquoette is the epitome of this. For the better or worse, she kept on fighting. She believed so heavily in her goals. She feels so strongly about people around her, thus the reader does too.. The girl she once met in the yellow dress Teresa, I would’ve liked more chemistry and yearning instead of affection between them but I still loved reading about them. There were so many other characters who were crewmates but I admired them all. I’ll also say I hated all those white men as much as Jacquotte did. She realized her dad was a slave owner and her mother was a slave :(.
The writing style was so vivid. It made me smell, touch, taste, hear, and see. Every description of the sea, ships, and people. The author is genuinely so talented that I’d read one of her future books if the plot didn’t hook me at all just for her prose. It's not anything purple prose but not just straightforward either. It’ll make you forget you are reading a book, or living a life.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
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
I really enjoyed this historical fiction. The narrator was fantastic. It was interesting to read about women becoming pirates in the 1700s and see their great mix of cultures in the Caribbean. I enjoyed the LGBTQ and disability representation. Jacquotte is a strong character and her growth and personal discoveries over the course of this book were fun to read.
The found family at sea was another wonderful element. I really enjoyed Francisco especially.
The concepts this book explored around slavery, free blacks, body autonomy, and white men feeling they had ownership over women and people of color were all important.
The violence and injuries, while they may have been accurate to the time, were at times quite gory and difficult to hear. The amount of injuries and harm Jacquotte suffered made me wonder how on earth she was still alive.
In terms of parts I disliked: I know when authors write in this day and in a modern language for a modern audience, historical fiction can only be so accurate but there were a lot of modern terms, ideas, and concepts that felt so 21st century that it didn’t feel historical. Also, were folks in LGBTQ relationships, particularly women, able to be so open? Or is this an idealized version of history? I don’t know but would have appreciated an authors note or more information in that regard.
The found family at sea was another wonderful element. I really enjoyed Francisco especially.
The concepts this book explored around slavery, free blacks, body autonomy, and white men feeling they had ownership over women and people of color were all important.
The violence and injuries, while they may have been accurate to the time, were at times quite gory and difficult to hear. The amount of injuries and harm Jacquotte suffered made me wonder how on earth she was still alive.
In terms of parts I disliked: I know when authors write in this day and in a modern language for a modern audience, historical fiction can only be so accurate but there were a lot of modern terms, ideas, and concepts that felt so 21st century that it didn’t feel historical. Also, were folks in LGBTQ relationships, particularly women, able to be so open? Or is this an idealized version of history? I don’t know but would have appreciated an authors note or more information in that regard.