I don’t know what to make of this book. I didn’t dislike it; I didn’t like it; I’m not neutral about it either. I’m just unsettled. I can’t think of any other way to say it. So here are my thoughts…
The style and vocabulary are wonderful. They give you a real feel for the times and the nautical setting. I appreciate that in a historical novel. This one is very well done. The older vocabulary was used very naturally without making it hard to understand the story. However, there were a few sentences that I didn’t understand at all. Hawes is incredibly accurate, I assume when he describes ships and how to sail them. He uses the technical terms for each rope, sail, mast, and bit of wood. At least, I think that’s what he was talking about. None of those terms were ever defined, so I had to skip short sections of shouted orders because they were indecipherable to me.
Then we get to the plot. It was ploddingly suspenseful, gruesomely realistic, and a bit unbelievable. I assumed that this was written for a young audience because of the hero’s naiveté, age, and clean vocabulary so the first gory killing was a bit of a shock. There is a lot of violence that may not be suitable for younger children.
It’s a pirates’ story. They are the central focus. Their plans, their actions, their subtlety are the driving forces of the story. It’s more the chronicle of a pirate crew’s demise than the hero’s personal story. He’s just along for the ride.
The main character was annoyingly absent. Things happen to him and around him, but he isn’t really a factor until the very end of the book when his actions do actually influence the story. I found that a little odd. For most of the book he just drifts. I kept waiting for the hero to actually make a decision for himself. That was suspenseful part of the book. [SPOILER] Then when he finally does make the right decision, it looks more like self-preservation than anything else. Also, his misplaced loyalty to this band of brutal murderers is really odd considering he ran away from them. It came across that testifying against murderers is worse than robbing, torturing, murdering, and pillaging. He also has the oddest habit of keeping his mouth shut at the wrong moment, or maybe the author just made him too naïve to be believable. I can’t decide which. [END OF SPOILER]
So I loved the writing style but didn’t really care for the story. There is nothing wrong with the book, but there isn’t anything great about it either.
I received this as a free ARC through NetGalley from Dover Publications. No favorable review was required. It was my pleasure to provide my honest opinions.