Title: Blackhearts

Author: Nicole Castroman

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Format: Hardback

Pages: 384

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Synopsis (Goodreads):

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:

This book looked and sounded very interesting. And it was, but not as great as I was expecting.

The book is about the early years of Blackbeard, or Edward “Teach” Drummond. While a historical character, the story itself is fictional as we don’t know a lot about Blackbeard’s past. This I thought was exciting and a really cool idea!

The other main character, Anne, is the daughter of a merchant and a slave from the West Indies, and she works in Teach’s home. The two develop a close friendship, and they start to realize that they have a lot more in common than they thought!

It took me a while to get into this book. By about half way I was hooked, and the end left on such a cliffhanger that I really want to read the next one! But this book didn’t wow me the way I wanted it to. Still, the second book may be good so I do really want to read it! Just know going into this book…Teach is not a pirate yet. There’s not a lot of piracy and adventure in this book, so if that’s what you’re hoping for, you’ll be sorely disappointed!

Happy reading!