*thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for a copy of this eARC in exchange for my review*

When this three-act story about a black female pirate came across my path, I was really excited to read something different. While I’m no stranger to historical fiction, I don’t typically find myself reading in the pirate genre, so I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect.

I had never heard of Jacquotte Delahaye, but I’m fascinated by the fact that she is a legend with no real proof of having ever existed. This debut by Briony Cameron is partly Delahaye’s origin story, partly a pirate epic with tons of hand-to-hand combat and sword fighting, and mostly a story about women and found family.

It was a fresh idea as far as historical fiction is concerned, and at times I really liked what I was reading. But our morally grey heroine felt unsatisfyingly immature to me. Mature enough to captain a band of pirates and trust them with her life, but not mature enough to really open up and trust her best friends with her thoughts. I suppose there is a beauty to imperfect characters, so I can let that slide.

And honestly, the half-baked relationships in the story really let me down. I get that they weren’t center-stage, but I was disappointed at the lack of on-page development. Cameron wrote some really incredible characters, but she missed opportunities to develop their arcs individually as well as in pairings. Do I think she will overcome these issues in the future? I do. It is a debut, after all. But unfortunately, I just didn’t love this story as much as I hoped.

The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye is a very well written historical adventure based on a purported historical pirate written by Briony Cameron. Released 4th June 2024 by Simon & Schuster on their Atria imprint, it's 368 pages and available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.

This is, at the end of the day, a very realistically rendered story about a queer black female pirate from the Caribbean set during the reign of Louis XIV. The racism, sexism, inequality, and danger of daily life during the time period are prevalent and not sugar coated, but it is unquestionably a ripping yarn about pirates, naval battles, looting, pillaging, and mayhem (against a factual historical background which was interesting and immersive).

The story itself is compelling, and the protagonist, 20 year old Jacquotte, is ferociously intelligent, strong-willed, clever, and lucky. She leads her band of ragged adventurers (formerly indentured to a brutish captain) to success for a time, but always fraught with danger and a certain inevitability.

The settings and descriptions are often stunning, the prose adept and honest. The sea battles are on a par with top shelf nautical history adventurers (O'Brian & Cornwell, for example).

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 12 hours 36 minutes and is masterfully narrated by Angel Pean. She has a rich alto voice and does a good job with the disparate characters of both sexes and a range of accents. Sound and production quality are high throughout the read.

Four stars overall, it would be a good choice for public library acquisition, home use, or book club read.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This was an interesting story, based on the possibly real Jacquotte Delahay, there is some debate on whether she really existed or is based on folklore about another female pirate at the time. However, that does not take away from the story, which is interesting. Jacquotte is a young woman living with her father and brother in Yáquimo, Santo Domingo, she had taken over a ship building/repair business after the death of the owner. Unusual for the time that a woman would be in business let alone that type of business. A ship is delivered to her for repairs and she promises they will be done in several days, an almost impossible promise. She gets invited to an event at the Governor's mansion and sees a woman she had previously had a brief interlude with, that woman is married to the Governor. Not much later, Jacquotte is called back to the mansion to translate a letter (she has been schooled and also knows several languages), she recognizes the writing as her father's and claims she doesn't understand the language (she does). Events occur that cause her to leave hastily on the ship that is not quite ready for sailing, taking along a few close associates. They quickly run into a bad pirate, Blackhand and becomes an indentured servant. There is a lot of piracy that occurs and a lot of fighting with others and within their band. Jacquotte is one tough lady though, she takes a beating many times in the story, it's a wonder she's able to continue. I found the fight descriptions to be a bit repetitive, but overall the story was very good with an ending that was satisfying. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Atria Books for the ARC.

Cameron’s debut novel starts strong and I was quickly hooked by this adventurous story, rich setting, and fresh characters. The story is based on a Caribbean legend and Cameron reimagines her Delahaye’s life in great detail. It mostly worked for me, although occasionally anachronistic ideas or dialogue stuck out. Overall, I enjoyed the fast-moving plot, easy-to-follow action scenes and strong-willed heroine.

This was a fun romp of a book! Historical fiction about a bad ass queer female pirate and her adventures to take back her life. I really enjoyed this and thought it was a great debut. Long live Jacquotte!

Beautifully evocative writing of a narrative that is more often emotionally brutal than not. So this may be a personal thing, but when I read pirate books, I expect a certain amount of fun and exciting stakes along with the sinversive and traumatic back stories. In comparison to recent works such as Adventures of Amina Al-Sarafi and Wicked Bargain, both featuring queer and non-cis male pirate captains, this one felt kind of bleak, and dare I say, not a fun ride. Still, an author to look out for in the future.

Jacquotte is an up and coming shipwright in her town of Yáquimo, Santo Domingo. But things quickly change and she is forced to flee. She and her band of ragamuffins end up servants to the infamous pirate, Blackhand. This just makes her stronger and smarter and leads to her rise and her fall!

Jacquotte is an amazing character! She has so much stacked against her. But she truly makes her mark as a shipwright and then, due to circumstances beyond her control, a pirate…yes I said pirate! Jacquotte is not only strong in mind and body, her heart is her best feature. She truly is an advocate for women and does everything in her power to help anyone that comes across her path.

This story has a unique setting and unique characters. It is a bit long and has some monotonous scenes. But, it has great intensity and y’all…the last 50 pages are amazing!

Need a great pirate story with a female at the helm…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

I knew that picking this book up was risky to me, considering my tastes in books, but I wanted to get out of my comfort zone.
Sadly, it didn't work. Pirate stories are not me. Even though I was curious about the protagonist's background, everything else failed to hold my attention. And I'm the one to blame.
I'm sure other readers will enjoy this book, especially the ones who like pirates stories and historical fiction.

As rousing and exciting as it is heartfelt, this is an immersive portrait of a life lived dangerously but with honor, and an attempt to shine the spotlight on an overlooked legend from the golden age of piracy.

Full review posted at BookBrowse: https://www.bookbrowse.com/mag/reviews/index.cfm/ref/pr309568

Thank you Atria Books for my #gifted copy of The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye!

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐪𝐮𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐲𝐞
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐧
𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫: 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐏𝐞𝐚𝐧
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟒, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

𝟰.𝟱★

This was such a unique historical fiction novel based on true events and the life of Jacquotte Delahaye. While I do not usually read historical fiction novels set in this time period, I truly loved this one. Jacquotte was such an interesting person and truly fought through so much adversity in her life. As an up-and-coming shipwright, her dreams ambitious but also restricted by her father. Forced to flee, Jacquotte, along with a crew of refugees and a woman named Teresa become indentured servants to the infamous Blackhand, a pirate who his ship with an iron first. Jacquotte must rely on her own skills, her resources, and herself to survive.

This book was such a page turner. It was broken up into three parts and I loved how it flowed so well together. There were beautiful themes of friendship, love, and freedom and I truly loved this book. It was such an unexpected surprise for me and I’m so glad I gave this one a chance!

🎧I alternated between the physical book and the audiobook, which was narrated by Angel Pean. I loved my time listening to Pean narrate this book. I found myself getting lost in her narration and I just loved the emotions she brought and felt like she was so perfectly cast for this role. I’ve listened to her narrate a few book now and I’ve always enjoyed listening to her. I highly recommend the audiobook if that option is available for you!

Posted on Goodreads on July 11, 2024: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144922955?ref=nav_profile_l
**Posted on Instagram - Full Review- on or around July 12, 2024: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
**Posted on Amazon on July 11, 2024
**-will post on designated date

I love pirates. I love historical novels. A pirate historical novel about a famous female pirate who may or may not have exited was right up my alley. And it was thrilling, engaging and everything I wanted

A gritty, gripping, richly immersive story inspired by a 17th century pirate legend, Briony Cameron’s The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye rekindled an old love for adventure stories that I’ve sorely missed.

The story opens on the high seas, where our eponymous intrepid shipwright has found herself bound, wounded, and taken captive while in pursuit of her own fierce vision of freedom. It then dips back in time to show us how she got there, in the process building both a colorful portrait of the seventeenth-century Caribbean islands and a Django-esque revenge story that retains all the visceral, bloody violence of the films while adding rich dimension through a strong, fleshed-out focus on Jacquotte’s relationships with and care for her friends, crew-mates, and lovers.

You can tell how much care Cameron puts into her characters, their personalities seamlessly woven into the path of the plot and coming into focus in their interactions with others. There are no lone wolves here, no lone heroes. It takes a village to run a ship, and Jacquotte’s ascension from indentured shipwright to formidable captain is made all the sweeter by all the people she brings up with her. Honestly, this book is probably a better treatise on leadership than anything with that word in the title.

I am absolutely living for this new trend of stories that take the thrills and trappings of old-school adventure stories and repurpose those imperialist motifs and language to create detailed stories about queer women of color who’ve been kicking around and exploring this part of the world just as long as—if not longer—than the looters whose puffed-up legends formed a sizeable bit of my Early U.S. History curriculum back in high school (which was, incidentally, when I first saw the Indiana Jones movies).

Readers who want (sapphic) high-stakes adventure novels or heist stories filled with action, tension, visceral fight scenes and tender camaraderie will find a perfect text here. The care Jacquotte has for her crew and fellow downtrodden is wonderful and make the story so much more complex and emotional. I truly felt for the characters and their losses and pain, which is no small feat with such a sizeable cast and less than 400 pages.

Jacquotte is a survivor, and Cameron’s writing of her perspective is as singular and incisive as a skillfully handcrafted blade. But all her triumphs come with costs, often heavy ones.

I would caution readers about the prominence of period-specific racism in this book, though. While it always adds to the texture of the worldbuilding and serves to underscore and drive action, Cameron pulls no punches in either the language or its impact on the characters it is addressed towards.

Jacquotte Delahaye is a skilled shipwright living on the island of Yáquimo. She is content with the life she is living with the knowledge that she will not be forced to marry since her father has allowed her to obtain a man’s job that she loves, and she gets to work alongside her friends. But when Jacquotte discovers a horrible secret her father has been hiding that could jeopardize life as she knows it, She flees Yáquimo to begin a life at sea.

An adventurous, riveting account of a Black sapphic pirate captain from the 17th century. Cameron has done a lovely job of sharing Jacquotte’s story in this action-packed novel full of heists, sword fights, and found family.

This book had me in a *choke hold*

I was all in. 🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️

Cameron explains that Captain Jacquotte Delahaye may have been real or she may have been pieced together from folklore and legends. Nonetheless, there a folktales about a tough, woman pirate with bright red hair and this book is a fictional reimagining of her story.

As someone with absolutely no knowledge about pirates outside of what Disney taught me, I had no expectations going into Jacquoette’s journey.

It was interesting to see what would push her to piracy after growing up in a somewhat comfortable position.

It was inspiring to see how she took on a leadership role as a captain of a pirate ship amongst mostly men.

I saw other reviewers complain about the story being unrealistic at certain points throughout the book.

And maybe they’re right. But I LOVED it. I really enjoyed a young, badass woman showing up and beating up some old pirate men. Yes, she was a pirate and a killer but she helped other women and marginalized people along the way and that helped the reader empathize with her.

I thought some of the crew members were hard to keep straight throughout the book but other than that it was a win. 🏆

If this is the only pirate book I ever read I’ll be okay with that. I’m still living in Jacquotte’s world and won’t stop recommending this book!!

Thanks to #netgalley, the publisher and the author for this e-arc! Out now!!

DNF'd this book. The description sounded great, and I was really looking forward to this novel, but I juts couldn't get into the plot.

Feeling very neutral about this one. Clearly, I was interested in the premise of this but it didn't grip me the way that I thought it would. I think if I had the physical copy or tried the audio, I would enjoy. Definitely still read if you're interested!

The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye is a historical fiction story based on the legend of a Black female pirate known for her fiery red hair in the 1600s. Betrayed by those close to her Jacquotte is forced to flee her home. A well trained shipwright Jacquotte and her ragtag crew are forced into a life of piracy when they become indentured to a ruthless pirate captain Blackhand. Jacquotte struggles to protect those around her and dreams of freedom for her and her friends, family and a place of their own to call home. Jacquotte is brave, unrelenting in her struggle to free her and her crew to become a captain that gains a following of men and women alike. I enjoyed the action in this novel. The fight scenes were bloody, gory, epic. There is a forbidden love affair, queer representation, sapphic romance, friendship, family, love, sacrifice, revenge, and pirates! Jacquotte had me so stressed at the end of the novel because why would you lie to your friends, family like that. But in the end your people show up for you no matter what. Just so much action and immersive storytelling. The ending was not enough I could have read so much more of this story but the epilogue made up for it. Thoroughly enjoyed it. The Black queer female led pirate story I didn't know I needed. This needs to be a movie.

This book….

I read the synopsis and thought it would be a fun pirate adventure, what I got instead was a robust world with rich characters.

Jacquotte “Red” is a young woman who finds herself thrust into a world that she didn’t know she’d love in piracy.

I couldn’t put this down once I started and can’t believe it only has less than 400 reviews!! Go out and buy it now!

The legendary biracial, queer, disabled, female pirate Jacquotte Delahaye may or may not have actually existed. Regardless, I very much enjoyed reading this historical fiction about Jacquotte's struggle to create an inclusive home for herself and the people she loves. Jacquotte's skill as a shipwright, knowledge of multiple languages, and keen intellect make her pirate you'll want to root for against the many challenges she faces. With the word "ballad" in the title, I was bracing myself for a tragic ending but I'm happy to report Jacquotte's tale ends happily. I'd recommend this book to readers looking for diverse and intersectional historical fiction.

This book was kind of a lot but had me at the edge of my seat. There were SO many fight scenes, I wish we got more of the conflict toward the end because it felt a bit rushed. Loved the criticism of the dehumanization and brutality of slavery and the idea of owning anyone.