“The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye” is technically a historical fiction book by Briony Cameron. I use the word “technically” because there is still a lot of debate over whether Ms. Delahaye actually existed. It’s obvious that Ms. Cameron did as much research as she possibly could about a character who may not exist - and I enjoyed both reading and learning more about this woman. However, I found that there’s a lot of repeated information in this book. The author used a simplistic writing style, which is fine, but this also included some of the dialogue, which I felt was a bit disappointing. However, the action scenes were full of action and made for great reading. I do hope that someone decides to make this into a movie - I think there’s plenty of material in this book for one and I think a visual representation would be fantastic. Overall, a solid book, especially if you enjoy books about pirates! 3.5 star rating overall, bumped up to 4 stars.

The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye was stunning! Briony Cameron emersed me into a world set ages ago, yet there was an undeniable relatability in Jacquotte’s struggles to current social and racial injustices. I felt personally vested in Jacquotte’s pain, struggle, and continuous search for belonging. Friends, family, and self-discovery were huge themes in this incredibly brilliant read. Cameron did an amazing job in making the characters come to life and creating a longing for the story to never end. Great read, and I highly recommend!

The first half of the book I thought was good, maybe even 4 stars good. It had a well written story with good character development so you understood how Jacquotte came to be, and where her story began. The adventure and action had me interested and invested in the story and I enjoyed it up to that point.

Then the second half happened. It was completely far fetched, unbelievable and frustratingly inconsistent with the characters, time period, and setting.

Pirates in general but maybe especially during the “Golden Age of Piracy”, were brutal, violent, commanding and fearsome. Instead, Jacquotte’s character was naive, foolish, and soft. She would not have survived as a pirate but especially a female one where she would have had to prove herself even more so.

There was so much modern gender, racial, emotional awareness, equality, etc, that was not a part of that time period. It felt untrue and really out of place for some of the dialogue and points of view. Most of that never would have even be considered - the disparity and inequality was just commonplace. Women/wives with no experience making up the majority of the crew, running the ship like a democracy….and the constant brutal injuries that didn’t seem to impede anyone at all. It just made it feel like we stepped into a fairy tale.

Again, could have been a great story if the time period and setting had been more realistic and accurate no matter how unfair or unfortunate or brutal it was. If it was divorced from the whole Piracy thing it would have been a fantastic story. But the two concepts opposed each other in reality.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are mine.

This is a great summer read for when the weather has turned and all you want is to escape to the sea. It had all of the charm and excitement of The Pirates of the Caribbean movies with a badass female pirate lead.

The story follows Jacquotte Delahaye, a mixed daughter of a disgraced French noble, growing up in the town of Yáquimo, Santo Domingo. Following the death of her father she begins her life of piracy as an indentured servant to the infamous pirate Blackhand but goes on to become one of the most powerful female pirates in the Caribbean.

I fell in love with Jacquotte and the rest of the characters pretty easily. She especially was bold, brash and at times a ruthless fighter. But there was also the compassionate part that really helped to round out her character. I really enjoyed the love story aspect of the story and how it didn't overshadow the rest of the plot. Her crew was made up of some truly remarkable characters that I was cheering on throughout the story.

While some of the plot was a bit repetitive, both in terms of scenes and sometimes in specific sentences the story was still enjoyable. The time jumps threw me a little as they seemed to be a bit inconsistent but not in a way that it took me out of the story. The fight scenes made up for it however. They were so descriptive and in times of big fight scenes it was easy to place where everyone was which is often hard to do with such a large cast of characters.

This is Briony Cameron's debut novel and I cannot wait to see what other novels she has in store for us!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for access to this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I had high hopes for this book featuring a badass queer Black female pirate, supposedly based on a real person. However, the story was incredibly dull. Even the action scenes lacked excitement. Progress toward Jacquotte’s piracy journey only picked up a third into the book, making the first half a struggle. Though labeled adult, the writing leans towards YA, with simplistic prose that falls short of the lyrical title.

The writing is very inconsistent. The characters use words in the modern sense that had very different definitions back in 1695. Their modern ideals and attitudes took me out of the narrative. Some of the turns of phrase did the same. At one point, a character uses the phrase “God’s pimply ass.”

The level of injuries sustained by the main character is entirely unrealistic. If anyone suffered the injuries Jacquotte did, I would be amazed if they were still alive, let alone fighting. That these untrained and inexperienced pirates could overtake ships full of soldiers with such ease is also very unbelievable, especially given the short timeline in which all of this supposedly occurred. I couldn’t suspend my sense of disbelief enough to enjoy this one.

Thank you to NetGalley for the e-ARC! What a great book! Thrilling and exciting and all the things a pirate book should be. If you’re a fan of One Piece this is such a great read!

I absolutely loved it and can’t wait to check out Cameron’s other works!

The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye explores the life of a legendary mulatto, queer female pirate who rose from adversity to achieve freedom from the oppressive hands of men.

1655, Santo Domingo: at the age of eleven, Jacquotte begins her apprenticeship on numerous ships as a shipwright. Following the death of her mentor, she takes over the running of the business.

She lives with her father and brother, having lost her mother. An unspoken agreement exists between her and her father: he has no money for her dowry, which suites her perfectly as she has no desire to be subservient to a husband. A portion of her earnings is given to her father for “upkeep” as he terms it, and this arrangement allows her to carve out a semblance of freedom for herself.

Her life takes a turn when she stumbles upon a letter concerning her father’s past, prompting her to question what secrets he might be hiding. Around the same time, she is summoned by the Governor, who asks her to translate a letter, recognizing the handwriting as her father’s. She feigns inability to translate it.

Caught in a web of treason at Governor’s house, she escapes to the sea, where she finds herself working under the command of the notorious Captain Blackhand. Her resilience shines through as she quickly adapts and her leadership skills emerge during a naval battle, making her stand-out as a natural leader.

The adventurous narrative begins on land, introducing Jacquotte and her initial ventures that propel her into the treacherous waters where her journey of exploration continues. The story includes dark scenes not suitable for the faint-hearted and intense moments that keep the reader on the edge of their seat.

While it is debatable whether Jacquotte Delahaye is a historical figure or a legend born from folktales, what remains undeniable is her fascinating legacy as a pirate captain who rose from adversity. She not only made a name for herself but also created a space for women seeking autonomy over their lives.

This plot-driven story is treasure trove for those who relish action and adventure narratives set against a historical background, populated with a crew of captivating vagabonds.

Review originally posted at mysteryandsuspense.com

Wonderful historical fiction book about a bad ass heroine and her remarkable life in a time when women had no power. It is so good and would make a good movie.

The first page of this epic ballad will grab you by the throat! Jacquotte Delahaye is a strong young woman and it is her utter strength that powers her through a series of horrendous obstacles and dangers that all women face - but much more dangerous for a woman of color and a woman who may in fact love other women. Join Jacquotte as she makes her way through the world, working herself up from a mere shipbuilding helper to a feared pirate captain of many ships. This is the kind of tale that we all could have used growing up and I hope you love it as much as I do!

Where's the Disney option? Or at least a TV show? #atriabooks #theballadofjacuuottedelahaye #brionycameron

Special thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy to read and review — this one is coming June 4, 2024! I haven’t seen much about THE BALLAD OF JACQUOTTE DELAHAYE yet, but it scratched an adventure itch I didn’t know I had and you’ll want to put this one on your list!

Jacquotte Delahaye is a young upcoming shipwright when things blow up in her hometown causing her to flee. Now without a home and friends relying on her, Jacquotte must decide what her values are and how far she’ll go to protect those she loves.

A book that centers around the legend of a female pirate?! Sign me up!! While historians have questions about whether or not Jacquotte Delahaye was real, trust me when I tell you this book utterly captured my attention. I read through it in 36-48 hours — quite a feat as a mom of two littles! I loved the themes of grit and family as Jacquotte built a new life for her and her friends. She is a flawed main character, but one you want to see succeed. Added bonus: she has untamable curly red hair, and I relate to that 100%.

I highly recommend this book if you loved the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, tales of adventure, found family, and main characters with a lot of grit and determination.

CW: If you know anything about pirates, you know their lives were brutal. Not only was life at sea rough, but they were less than kind to one another as humans. As a result, if you are squeamish of any kind, I might recommend you skipping this one. Author Briony Cameron spares no detail about how tough life was and the atrocities someone like Jacquotte might have witnessed. This book contains detailed descriptions of graphic violence, torture, war, and death. It also includes slavery, slurs, racism, and sex.

The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye is an absolute gem of a novel that takes readers on a thrilling adventure through the high seas and the life of the infamous pirate, Jacquotte Delahaye. Briony Cameron's masterful storytelling weaves together history, action, and romance, creating an enchanting world that captivates from beginning to end.

This had everything I want in a historical fiction. It had me going down a wiki-rabbit hole upon completion hoping more parts were true! I love this so much. There were a few places were it dragged slightly but overall a super enjoyable read. 4.5 ⭐️

I love historical fiction about skipped over people (especially women!) or time periods, so I was really excited for this one. I had never heard of Jacquotte Delahaye, and even if she likely didn’t really exist, I loved learning about a possible life and start for her.

Historical fiction can often be slow, but if the story is gripping enough it doesn’t feel that way. This story was gripping, I was invested in their lives, but it still dragged on. It’s only 300 and a few pages, but it felt like 400-500 to me; the middle half of the book felt so slow. I loved getting her back story, so it’s not that we should’ve been placed right into her life as a pirate. I loved her friends and brother, so I’m glad we spent time getting to know them (I wish we got more of them, actually, despite saying this felt too long). I needed the back story of the Caribbean during that time period to understand the book. I don’t know what I needed differently to make the middle as great as the first and last 25% were.

Also, FYI, this book gets graphic. It’s a very blunt graphic, too, which fits with reality but felt jarring to me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

3.5 stars! This is how you do a pirate book. It was so gritty!

The book was very descriptive. I could vividly picture all the scenery; it was like I could feel the sea breeze and hear the water against the boat as if I was actually there. I could picture all of the town settings and the fight scenes that happened throughout.

It took too long in my opinion to get to the part where she was finally at sea and being a pirate. I know you need to build the story up, introduce the plot and the characters, but it took about 55% of the book to get to all of the pirate action and the main point of the story. Once she became a pirate I was invested in the story, but that was over halfway through the book.

I love Jacquotte and how fierce and determined she was. She didn’t let anything stop her. Even if she had her moments of why would you do that, you couldn’t deny that she was a fighter. I loved that about her. We need more stories of female pirates! I loved how much she loved her people. She was a great captain and person.

My favorite characters were Francisco and Mbala. Francisco was just so charming and funny and such a good friend to everyone, especially to Jacquotte. And Mbala was such a loving man. His personality and the love and protectiveness he had for everyone was incredible.

I also really loved Lennox. I wasn’t sure if I’d like him at first but he quickly became a favorite of mine. I love where his loyalties lied. He was a fantastic quartermaster.

Miguel’s storyline was really fun and funny to me. He was also a sweetheart!

I wish Marceau was in it more because I loved reading about him and Jacquotte’s sibling relationship and I liked him as a character. It made sense why we didn’t see him as often, but I did enjoy when he was in it. He really saved their skin a lot!

I could have done with a little more of Theresa. I didn’t dislike her, but I wish we got more from her. She was loving and loyal and tough, but I also feel like we didn’t get a lot of personality from her. She wasn’t distinct like the other characters were. It almost seemed like she was just there to be a love interest.

This had a large cast of characters, some more memorable than others, but even people with small rolls had a piece of my heart. It was such a good crew. Especially as more women started to join!

I thought there were solid villains in this story. Blackhand was awful as a pirate and there was the looming threat and emotional connection with Florián, even if it wasn’t good emotions. They both served their purpose in the story.

All the romantic relationships in this book were so precious. I got hooked on the love stories throughout. I thought it was the perfect blend of a touch of romance, but mainly being a pirate story.

The ending had my heart so full. It was perfect! Despite it taking me a long time to get through the beginning of the book, I was soaking up the final moments. Something like nostalgia ran through me as I was finishing it. I didn’t want it to end. I wanted to follow this crew on their future adventures and dive more into the relationships.

As much as this is a pirate book, I would be remiss to not mention this aspect of the book. So many sad things happened. Not only deaths of characters, but the worst of it was reading about the slaves and seeing what they went through. It was really hard to read and made me sick to my stomach, so I cannot even begin to imagine what it was like actually going through it. How the people of color in this book were treated was so terrible. What they all went through is so horrific. This was a somewhat fictional book, but these things happened in real life. There was a horrifying scene with slaves on one of the ships. How the characters reacted to it is exactly how I felt. It is just awful to read about. Knowing that this is our history makes me so angry and sad. It is a very large part of the book.

If you like pirates, you will like this book. Just be prepared for it to take a while to get to that point.

I thought this was well written and had a lot of interesting details. I would recommend to anyone that enjoys a swashbuckling adventure.

This book has everything you could ever want in an action/adventure/fantasy/historical fiction book! Seriously, this book covered all of the bases. I especially loved that it is based on a real person, despite Jacquotte lost to time. The entire cast was really wonderful to learn about and that fact that there are queer and disabled characters makes this even better. I do kind of wish there was more foul language - maybe a strange request - but the banter at times felt too pure or the characters sounded too one-dimensional. These are pirates! And they take no prisoners! The action scenes, the descriptions of the islands and nature were really great, too. I think what I enjoyed the most is that the story felt very akin to SIX OF CROWS and the friendships and relationships were the strongest parts. I teared up at some parts when friends fell and I really cared for all of the characters. Loved this book. I hope there are more!

This is a swashbuckling, fast paced book packed with adventures on both the high seas and various points of land in the Carribean. Briony Cameron has brought the legendary, mythical Jacquotte Delahaye vividly to life. She has woven a tale with memorable, at times, despicable characters, and the harsh realities of life in the 1600's. The book is a gripping, graphic account of piracy, with all of its brutality, injury and death. The action in the latter part of the book is nonstop and stretches credibility a bit but is so exciting to read! It kept me turning pages and reading late into the night. And while there is considerable violence throughout the book, it is also a book filled with hope, love of all kinds, and triumph over impossible odds. I thoroughly enjoyed it! A thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of the book. The opinions of this review are my own.

This epic, dazzling tale based on true events illuminates a woman of color’s rise to power as one of the few purported female pirate captains to sail the Caribbean, and the forbidden love story that will shape the course of history.

This was fascinating! Well-written with great characters and a wonderful love story!

This was the swashbuckling, queer pirate romp I expected, but not quite as fun to read as I expected. Not that that's a bad thing, just that there was a lot of reality in this book about lots of actual terrible things that we should all know about, but that made it not quite the *fun* read I had hoped! I seek out vibes and escapes in much of my reading, so I was surprised to learn so much historical aspects of this time (circa 1650s) and place (Carribean, around Hispaniola and Tortuga, where Portuguese, French, English, and Spanish were all conquering and enslaving and warring for land and resources).

The book began a bit slowly, to the point where I wondered if this was actually a "pirate" book, until I learned that the author breaks it into sections. So, the first section we learn backstory and how Jacquotte came to be so (absolutely rightfully) enraged by life as to become a pirate I guess; then she joins a terrible pirate, Blackhand, (lets be real, actual pirates were brutal, terrible monsters of the sea who killed everyone, no holds barred, but we suspend belief for fiction!) who treats her terribly (duh); then she becomes a pirate of her own making (ruling with equanimity and fairness and love, ha, we suspend belief for fiction!), etc. There's a prologue that actually made me question why I was reading this if it ended the way it started, but it was fine. Also, I do have a tough time believe how injured she was and continued moving, let alone not dying from infection at any given moment from the crazy damage her body received, but -- we suspend belief for fiction!

All in all, a fascinating read that made me seek out info about the actual legend (which is likely not true, but still interesting!).

It’s not often you read a book about a black female pirate especially one that is also queer. This book spins a brilliant tale of love lose and found family. I loved every minute of it.