Jennifer Ellision

The salty air, raw life of pirating, hopes, doubt and dreams comes to life with a massive wave of girl power in this high-seas adventure.

Grace captains the all girl crew of the pirate ship, Lady Luck, where men are simply not allowed aboard. When a battle leaves two men stranded on a shipwreck and their fate will be at the hands of beastly creatures, Grace feels forced to make an exception and brings the two aboard. She plans to drop them off soon, but one of the men knows the location of the map she's been searching for many years. Getting her hands on this map is her greatest desire but it might cost her everything else she holds dear, even her beloved crew.

This is not a sweet, princess like adventure. These are pirates in all of their roughness, strife and dreams. Grace is an amazing captain and holds all of those qualities needed to be a successful pirate, but she has her flaws like everyone else. Her crew and her rub shoulders but fit together like a raw puzzle—it's a pirating crew to adore and cheer for the entire way. The scenes are well done, allowing the moments to come alive, and there's just the right amount of humor thrown in to keep up a little fun.

It's a well paced read, keeping the reader in the pages from start to finish. The action as well as the dialogue is engaging and holds a clever back and forth. There is a romance of sorts, but this is by no means the main driving force. At times, it's almost too subtle and misses a little spark. But this isn't about hearts and love, it's about pirating and Grace.

Grace's past haunts her, and it's this which drives her forward into the adventure. There are so many aspects to love in this. A few stumbles come too. A little background depth as well as character depth is missing at times, which considering it's a fairly short read at 230 or so pages was missing. Still, the adventure is enticing and the characters intriguing, and it's this longing to know them and the circumstances better which show how fresh and interesting the story is. Since this is the beginning of a series, I'm hoping that the information is still to come as well as the chance to dive into some of this really great side characters as well. Because this is a crew to cheer for.

I received a complimentary copy and enjoyed it enough to want to leave my honest thoughts.… (mehr)

Did you like Pirates of the Caribbean? Do you like female protagonists? This book is for you if you answered yes. Jennifer Ellison takes the stories we have all heard of pirates and turns them on their head with an all female crew on her pirate ship. Our main character has grown up on the ship and takes us along on an adventure that she, nor the reader, will likely forget. This book is a Young Adult book, but it does have some coarser language and sexual content that make it a good choice for older readers of YA.

Our main character, Grace Porter, is the quartermaster of the Lady Luck and takes us along as she looks for clues on how to solve what happened to her mother, how to destroy the creatures called the Mordgris who took her mother, and find a map that is all knowing and will help her find her answers. There are fellow pirates, a handsome man, battles at sea, and a crew member with a secret. The story shows us the truth of friendship, the rules of the sea that must be followed, and most of all how far a person will go to seek the truth they are driven towards.

This book is the beginning of the Lady Pirates Series, and as such spends a lot of time giving us background on the characters, building the world, and setting the stage. While the book is a fun read, it did leaving me feeling unfulfilled as nothing was resolved in this book. I will definitely be reading the next book, Through Fathoms Dark and Deep, when it is written because I want to know what happens next, just know that this book leaves the reader with more questions than answers. I felt that the author simply took the behavior of male pirates and applied it to lady pirates. I would have liked to see some more nuances that are particular to women because while we are equal to men, we are also our own creatures and as such would not simply be women pirates acting as men, but instead an invention of its own. Some of the characters seem to be caricatures and felt like they needed to be fleshed out more to go beyond that. Overall, the book is a fun read with creative ideas hidden in the story and the series has a lot of potential. I will be looking forward to book 2!… (mehr)

**I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own**

This book was absolutely amazing!
The cliffhanger at the end though....you can't be doing that to a girls soul.

I love the concept of the Elementals. Even though it's a concept that had been done before, I always love a new perspective on it.

The characters were portrayed extremely well. I loved that the female characters were strong, had their own mind, and never once said anything about wanting/needing a man.
There wasn't a backbone of romance in this book. A lot of books like this tend to have the female needing a male character to help her get through whatever it is that is happening, the women in this book have got it all under control...ish. There is a small hint of romance between some of the main characters, but it doesn't overwhelm the story, which I liked.

I did feel that the beginning of the story moved a little fast. The timeline just seemed to skip forward a lot (mostly when Breena and her father are being taken to the king).

Overall, this book was great! I can't wait for the next one in the series!… (mehr)