This historical fiction novel begins with a bang as we focus on stranded slaves/prisoners caught in a supernatural storm on a pirate ship. The stakes of the story are established early on: diamonds are the prize and multiple parties are after them. A lot of the cast are ruthless and will stop at nothing to get those diamonds.
There is a big cast of characters ranging from cunning but mostly benevolent like Captain James the Swift, and then there are cruel killers like Captain Tylor, or more morally ambiguous characters like Daisy. However, the true hidden gem in the story is Savannah, daughter of Craig. She is talented and resourceful, and more than once she saves her party with her sailing skills and quick wit. As an innocent character, she quickly finds herself embroiled in the bad pirates’ schemes yet she manages to give them a wild ride as she tries to evade them.
It was easy to root for certain characters, and it was easy to hate certain characters too. There is no shortage of betrayal in this book; it was surprising seeing how characters turned on each other and how long they’d had hidden motives all along. It was a huge cast and for the most part it was easy to follow; however, after a while everyone’s dialogue started to sound the same and it became confusing when starting a new chapter as to whom we were following. There is a lot of head hopping in this book, which at times makes it hard to delve deep into a character and truly empathize with their decisions and motives. However, the intricate plot needs a large cast, as it makes all the separate intrigues/betrayals all the more interesting and heart-stopping.
The pacing was quick and wasted no time. I was invested from beginning to end to see what would happen with these diamonds. The scenes moved smoothly and subplot after sublot kept unravelling. It was one of the definite strengths of this book. However, I do feel like the priority of plot over characters gave us a somewhat superficial feel as to certain characters, even as some of them died in pretty tragic ways. The world building was solid, and felt authentic to the times. The ending ends somewhat abruptly, though it isn’t difficult to guess what the author’s message is: being a pirate doesn’t mean you’ll be rich and live forever…
I award this book 3.5 stars.
Not Available to Buy at The Book Dragon
