Was it about Romeo or the future Blackbeard? | Blackhearts

Blackhearts (Blackhearts #1) by Nicole Castroman

Published: February 9th 2016 by Simon Pulse

Genre: young adult, historical, retelling

Goodreads summary: Blackbeard the pirate was known for striking fear in the hearts of the bravest of sailors. But once he was just a young man who dreamed of leaving his rigid life behind to chase adventure in faraway lands. Nothing could stop him—until he met the one girl who would change everything.

Edward "Teach" Drummond, son of one of Bristol's richest merchants, has just returned from a year-long journey on the high seas to find his life in shambles. Betrothed to a girl he doesn’t love and sick of the high society he was born into, Teach dreams only of returning to the vast ocean he’d begun to call home. There's just one problem: convincing his father to let him leave and never come back.

Following her parents' deaths, Anne Barrett is left penniless and soon to be homeless. Though she’s barely worked a day in her life, Anne is forced to take a job as a maid in the home of Master Drummond. Lonely days stretch into weeks, and Anne longs for escape. How will she ever realize her dream of sailing to Curaçao—where her mother was born—when she's stuck in England? 

From the moment Teach and Anne meet, they set the world ablaze. Drawn to each other, they’re trapped by society and their own circumstances. Faced with an impossible choice, they must decide to chase their dreams and go, or follow their hearts and stay.

REVIEW

I was intrigued by Blackhearts because it is a historical fiction novel, but also because it was an origin story for the pirate Blackbeard. I shared my favourite things in books list last week and I was talking about ships. Be warned: all the excitement on ships will take place during the second book (at least I hope), so this one IS NOT a pirate story, it focused on the romance between the main characters.

I really enjoyed the two main characters. Even if their social backgrounds should have kept them apart, they wanted the same thing: to be free. If Teach was bound by an engagement, Anne was trapped because she was a maid and didn’t have money to leave. Anne was sharp-tongued and strong; it was a delight to have her as a lead. She had to face so much racism, but also sexual assault in the beginning, and still she was moved by her desire to get away, for her better life. Teach came from a favoured background, but because he was just coming back from a year at sea, he had already been through his character development, which was interesting, because we had parallels between who he used to be and who he now was.

My feelings on the romance are quite mixed. When Anne and Teach were introduced to each other, I was so disgusted by his comportment and wasn’t happy it would end in a romance. Of course, I totally understand that in the 17^th century, maids were pursued, but still. After that, I still found that the author made some progress and I liked the slow-burn between our two characters. My other problem with this romance was that: ‘they were made for each other, would always find each other’ and it had been weeks. I was like: “wow, slow down guys” and also, I don’t like this “made for each other” trope anymore, so there’s that. It's too cheesy for me, sorry.

The plot wasn’t the main focus on the novel at all, it was mostly the romance. This first book was about the characters trying to get away so it was a little slow in my opinion, even if the beginning gripped me and I didn’t want to let go of the book. The author still managed to keep me interested during the novel, which I applaud. Moreover, at some point, there was a twist I wasn’t expecting at all, which always makes me happy. To be honest, I think that all the fun will be in the second book and it will focus more on the plot. Blackhearts was more of an introduction to this world and I think it would have been a shame if there had never been a second book.

I liked the world-building, even if there wasn’t tons of it. I don’t really remember reading which year it was set in, and at some point they were talking about the end of the Nine War so I figured it out, because I’m a history student. But it’s also very possible I skim read. *hides* I liked the parallels the author made with Blackbeard, for example his ship is “Queen Anne’s Revenge” and his love interest was Anne, so I loved that! Moreover, the last sentence of the book made me have feels, because it’s happening, you guys. The fact that the author explained how she came up with her ideas was also very interesting, because it made sense… But less romance would have been great, thanks!

Overall, this book is more of an historical romance than anything and even if I had been warned of that, I don’t think the romance was enough to carry the whole book, especially when I had issues about it. Nevertheless, I loved Anne and Teach’s characters and I can’t wait to see where their journey will take them. I will definitely read the second book, but I think this one was more of an introduction.

Have you read Blackhearts? What did you think of it? Do you love pirate books (yaaaas!)?

Fantasy or not fantasy? That's the question. | The Glittering Court

The Glittering Court (The Glittering Court #1) by Richelle Mead

Published: April 5th 2016 by Razorbill

Genre: young adult, alternate history (?)

Goodreads summary: Big and sweeping, spanning from the refined palaces of Osfrid to the gold dust and untamed forests of Adoria, The Glittering Court tells the story of Adelaide, an Osfridian countess who poses as her servant to escape an arranged marriage and start a new life in Adoria, the New World. But to do that, she must join the Glittering Court.

Both a school and a business venture, the Glittering Court is designed to transform impoverished girls into upper-class ladies who appear destined for powerful and wealthy marriages in the New World. Adelaide naturally excels in her training, and even makes a few friends: the fiery former laundress Tamsin and the beautiful Sirminican refugee Mira. She manages to keep her true identity hidden from all but one: the intriguing Cedric Thorn, son of the wealthy proprietor of the Glittering Court.

When Adelaide discovers that Cedric is hiding a dangerous secret of his own, together they hatch a scheme to make the best of Adelaide’s deception. Complications soon arise—first as they cross the treacherous seas from Osfrid to Adoria, and then when Adelaide catches the attention of a powerful governor.

But no complication will prove quite as daunting as the potent attraction simmering between Adelaide and Cedric. An attraction that, if acted on, would scandalize the Glittering Court and make them both outcasts in wild, vastly uncharted lands… 

REVIEW

The ratings are already getting downhill for this one, but it was much better than Soundless, Mead’s previous novel, in my opinion. Still, I think this one is misleading, because some people went into it thinking it was fantasy, but it’s not. It would be closer to a historical novel, but it’s not quite this either.

The concept of this book is similar to The Selection, because it’s about educating young women to send them to the New World in order to marry wealthy men. Of course, it focused on fashion and manners, which I really liked. While I was hooked straight away because of the concept, I didn’t understand why a girl escaping an arranged marriage would go to the Glittering Court, where she would have an arranged marriage. I understand that she thought she didn’t have another choice, but it still felt odd and the book was built upon it. So of course, I wasn't surprised when she didn't want to marry. Nevertheless, I really liked Adelaide’s story and Mead managed to write a good standalone, evenly paced and that didn’t bore me. She also gave enough hints about the other characters –this will be a companion series- that I’m excited to read Tamsin’s and Mira’s sides of the story.

This world had weak world-building. Because I knew it was inspired by Elizabethan England, I knew what to expect and what to imagine. Yes, there were some descriptions, but I felt like she could have explained a little more. Sometimes, countries were mentioned and I had no idea what she was talking about. I don’t really understand why the author chose to set this book in another world, because it felt almost identical to Elizabethan England. But, I love Elizabethan England, so I considered it was set in it. Yes, I’m cheating. For example, there were religious conflicts, Natives being chased from their land and so on.

I enjoyed being in Adelaide’s head in this novel. She was a regular nobility character but I thought she was brave, because she chose to go in a foreign land in order to escape her land. She was strong-tempered and stood up for her loved ones. Tamsin and Mira were different from her, but I have to say I loved them all. Moreover, I didn’t expect them to have such a strong friendship, because it was about finding husbands and I thought they would be mean to each other all the time. Cedric was compelling love interest and he had chemistry with Adelaide from the beginning –yes Mead did it again! I liked reading about their love story and I was rooting for them. All the characters had secrets and I’m getting crazy because we don’t know all of them yet. But, I found it disappointing that the main character got to know what it was about and it was a blank in the narration.

Plot-wise, I found that so many things happened, but sometimes it was too much... I felt like I read two novels instead of one! It was a rich story and Mead never stopped too long on each part –the education in the manors wasn’t a really big part of the story- which I didn’t really expect. There were many subplot points and this book went into surprising directions. Moreover, at some point, a character was almost rapped and it literally made no sense. Yes, it's an important issue but I felt it was just used as a plot tool. It wrapped up pretty nicely though, but it was also a new beginning for Adelaide, and I really hope we’ll see glimpses of her future in the next books.  

Overall, it wasn’t Vampire Academy or Bloodlines, because it wasn’t a fantasy book, but I still liked it. I don’t know if this book is for everyone, but it goes much farther than the arranged marriage aspect. I read this book quickly because it was gripping but the world-building was meh. Still, the main characters were strong-minded and I can’t even say which one I liked the more. Adelaide’s story wrapped up nicely, but I’m eager to read more. Typically, this is a case where I'm conflicted on the rating...

Do you love Richelle Mead's books? Have you read this one yet? Do you plan to?