A review by withbdp
The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye by Briony Cameron

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

3.5

"Jacquotte, you in danger girl!" -me most of the book. 

Thank you to Atria Books for an advanced readers copy of, "The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye" in exchange for my independent thoughts and feedback.

Literally, from pretty much the beginning of this harrowing epic odyssey Jacquotte finds her self in mess after mess, by no fault of her own may I add. You see, there is this running theme throughout life about women's place in history and our society and well as hard she may or may not try Jacquotte will not have it and I lived for every second of it. Of her defying what was expected of her during the time of this story. She will do what she wants, live how she wants, and so be it.  Now no one said it would be easy. But if Jacquotte has anything to do with it, it will be done! 

This tale is set in the islands, seas and coasts of the Caribbean during the 17th century. You quickly learn about the different caste systems during this period and that between the Spaniards, French, and English, if you aren't European you don't have much of a say in the way of life. 

I loved the premise of this book and the author did an amazing job with the Character development.  Though as expected some artistic liberties appear to have been used overall it was a fun ride.  For me the mark of a great book is when you can get lost and immersed in not just the story but the setting, the characters and for me I got that while reading TBOJD. I basically timetraveled to witness what a pirates life may have been and most importantly felt like. The narrative also provides a humanization of them that helps to maybe explain some of the reasons why some may have turned to this life of "crime." 

I recommend this book to anyone who would like to try something different. I enjoyed it and felt like I learned something new. There are elements of history, suspense, adventure and romance.  I would like to caution there are some gore elements as there are amazing fight sequences illustrated through the writing.