Welcome to Litsy!

Wonderful history with a fabulous woman at the helm!

https://reecaspieces.com/2024/07/17/the-ballad-of-jacquotte-delahaye-bookreview-...

I love the cover and the idea of this, the execution just fell a bit flat for me.

There were pacing issues, and moments I felt super invested then would hit another chapter and I just didn't care anymore. I also felt that so many points felt utterly unbelievable (including our villains reasoning)

3.5 ⭐

This book follows a young woman in the 1600s as she becomes a pirate. The book moves very slowly in the first third, but the pacing picks up thereafter and has good swashbuckling fun. The messaging is a bit heavy-handed. Overall, this is a fun read with definite evidence of being a first book. And I think the cover is cool.

I made a fun quiz: https://www.autostraddle.com/which-summer-2024-queer-book-should-you-read/. If you take it lmk what book you got!

Books featured are:
Cuckoo, Gretchen Felker-Martin
The Italy Letters, Vi Khi Nao
Not For the Faint of Heart, Lex Croucher
Triple Sec, TJ Alexander
Bluff, Danez Smith
A Thousand Times Before, Asha Thanki
Vera Bushwack, Sig Burwash
The Stardust Grail, Yume Kitasei
The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye, Briony Cameron

Since reading THE TRUE CONFESSIONS OF CHARLOTTE DOYLE, I‘ve been a sucker for a pirate story and this debut novel about a real lady-pirate makes for a fun read! Full of battles, both by sea and by land, fills this adventure with almost nonstop action! There‘s some romance & friendship (sadly no sharks), and vengeance. Some of the dialogue seems more suited to the present day— but maybe pirates were in touch with their emotions more than we think!

"No hair and no teeth, she's covered in scars. No fingers, no leg-"

Well-done if disturbing & violent. They're 17th Century pirates, what you gonna do?

Based on a historical character; god rest her soul. Those were violent times especially for a Black lesbian woman; yet Jacquotte, she fights, she conquers.

You can count this as an #ownvoices by a queer, disabled author. Check, check if you try to keep track of those things. ?‍❤️‍?‍??‍☠️

What lucky! This is my first time winning a Goodreads giveaway, and it was for a book I had on my ARC digital but I didn't get to before it expired.

This sounds so good, love a Lady Pirate!