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bluebeereads's review
4.0
Istyria book blog ~ A World of Enchanted Books
Well, this didn't turn out the way I expected at all. I'm actually surprised by how much I ended up enjoying this after I got an idea what I was in for with this book.
Blackhearts tells the story of a young Edward "Teach" Drummond, son of one of Bristol's richest merchants. He's just returned from a year at sea and dreams of going back to chase adventures in faraway lands. Instead he finds himself engaged to a girl he doesn't love and sick of the high society he was born into. The only one standing between him and his dream is his father, who will never allow him to leave again. But on his first day home he meets the new maid Anne, who was left broke and with nowhere to go after both her parents passed away. She dreams of leaving Bristol and sailing away to find her mother's family. Together they must decide whether they should follow their heart and dreams and go, or do what's expected of them and stay.
I went into this novel expecting a lot more piracy. Who wouldn't, though? You see the name Blackbeard, you think pirates, right? I thought so. But this is more or a historical fiction. A retelling of Teach's pre-pirate years. The author herself has called it a pre-pirate novel before even though I didn't know that until after I started it. I know the name Blackbeard but I wasn't awfully familiar with his story to be honest. Then again, not much is known about his life before he was a famous pirate. I did like this reimagining of him a lot, though I wanted more piracy and swashbuckling.
I'm not the biggest historical fiction fan, so I really am surprised at how much I loved this book. Most of that is probably the writing, which had me hooked from the start, and the characters. I loved both Anne and Teach and I shipped them furiously all throughout the book. Their romance was done very, very well in my opinion. I also liked the other characters. Though maybe not Teach's father and Patience, Teach's fiance. Yeah I really didn't like Patience. I do however love the fact that this gave us an explanation as to where Blackbeard got the name for his ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge. At least, I get the Queen Anne part. I'm really hoping for a sequel that'll dive more into him as a pirate and maybe also tell us where the Revenge part came from.
Blackhearts is a fascinating and romantic reimagining of a famous pirate's life before he became said famous pirate. I'd recommend it to fans of historical fiction and retellings, or those who are interested in Blackbeard himself. All in all, it was a good first book to read in 2016.
Well, this didn't turn out the way I expected at all. I'm actually surprised by how much I ended up enjoying this after I got an idea what I was in for with this book.
Blackhearts tells the story of a young Edward "Teach" Drummond, son of one of Bristol's richest merchants. He's just returned from a year at sea and dreams of going back to chase adventures in faraway lands. Instead he finds himself engaged to a girl he doesn't love and sick of the high society he was born into. The only one standing between him and his dream is his father, who will never allow him to leave again. But on his first day home he meets the new maid Anne, who was left broke and with nowhere to go after both her parents passed away. She dreams of leaving Bristol and sailing away to find her mother's family. Together they must decide whether they should follow their heart and dreams and go, or do what's expected of them and stay.
I went into this novel expecting a lot more piracy. Who wouldn't, though? You see the name Blackbeard, you think pirates, right? I thought so. But this is more or a historical fiction. A retelling of Teach's pre-pirate years. The author herself has called it a pre-pirate novel before even though I didn't know that until after I started it. I know the name Blackbeard but I wasn't awfully familiar with his story to be honest. Then again, not much is known about his life before he was a famous pirate. I did like this reimagining of him a lot, though I wanted more piracy and swashbuckling.
I'm not the biggest historical fiction fan, so I really am surprised at how much I loved this book. Most of that is probably the writing, which had me hooked from the start, and the characters. I loved both Anne and Teach and I shipped them furiously all throughout the book. Their romance was done very, very well in my opinion. I also liked the other characters. Though maybe not Teach's father and Patience, Teach's fiance. Yeah I really didn't like Patience. I do however love the fact that this gave us an explanation as to where Blackbeard got the name for his ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge. At least, I get the Queen Anne part. I'm really hoping for a sequel that'll dive more into him as a pirate and maybe also tell us where the Revenge part came from.
Blackhearts is a fascinating and romantic reimagining of a famous pirate's life before he became said famous pirate. I'd recommend it to fans of historical fiction and retellings, or those who are interested in Blackbeard himself. All in all, it was a good first book to read in 2016.
colecordium's review
5.0
This review first appeared on Blackbeak Books.
I have been obsessed with pirate stuff ever since I was a little girl and… yes, you guessed it right, PIRATES OF CARIBBEAN came out. It was perfect in my 13-yo eyes and I’ve been quietly in love with all things pirates ever since. Yet somehow, Blackbeard just wasn’t on my radar. I don’t know why, he’s one of the most famous pirates ever. I just never checked up on him. But when I heard about Blackhearts, I knew I had to read it and was pleasantly surprised when I got accepted for an early copy of it on Edelweiss. I’ve never imagined falling in love with it so completely. Now if I could just give a justice to this book with my review…
Anne Barrett is a maid at the Drummonds, despite her good upbringing and wealthy fater. The story begins with the household waiting for the arrival of Edward “Teach” Drummond, son of the master after his year at the sea, and preparing for his upcoming marriage to Patience. The book follows through both Teach’s and Anne’s lives, as they go from strangers at the market to lovers planning to run away and return to the sea.
Contrary to the belief, Blackhearts isn’t a pirate novel. It’s so much more than that. It’s the origin of Blackbeard, and how his early years shaped his future. Teach, later known as Blackbeard is actually a kind and loving man, who has his bad qualities too, namely his temper. He may have an easy life with everything served to him on a silver platter, but his heart lies in the deepest of the seas, which his father cannot understand at all. He makes his son do things Teach doesn’t enjoy, thus making his life miserable.
Anne is one of the strongest characters I’ve ever read. She has been dealt with plenty of bad stuff in her life and she came out stronger from all of them. She is loyal and compassionate, a strong woman in a time where women aren’t appreciated for their quick wit and intelligence, but their looks and money. She has a good, but very difficult upbringing, due to her mother being a slave and her being a biracial girl in a white society. We get to know the complexity of her backstory and find out the secrets she’s been hiding.
I think I kind of hate all the other secondary characters, except John. John is a good friend of Teach, who helps him in any way he can. Alas, the other characters, Teach’s betrothed, Patience, all her family, the staff at the Drummond household, they all make Anne’s and Teach’s lives harder than it should be. But despite all of them, they needed in order for the story to work.
The story is told in third person, in dual POV. This is one of the most ideal, because this way, we can see both into Anne’s and Teach’s minds and inner thoughts. It just shows that it’s not only a story about Blackbeard’s young years, but a story about both of our characters. Most importantly, it shows that neither of them is perfect. The romance is such a beautiful slow burn, built on their respect for each other, you cannot help feeling everything with Anne and Teach. Nicole’s writing is something I fell in love while reading this book, as it is very easy to get lost and immerse in it. I cannot praise her enough and I will make my mission to make everyone read her work.
I may be in the minority, but I’m actually not sure if I would like a sequel or not. On one hand, it would be FANTASTIC to read about how Anne and Teach’s lives turned out later on and what have they been up to. On the other hand, it really makes you think. I read Blackhearts in the beginning of January, and now, weeks later, I am still thinking about it every day and even have my theory of what happened. So to me, this story was full and perfect as it is, but if there’ll be a sequel, then SIGN ME UP ALREADY.
All in all, I AM IN LOVE WITH BLACKHEARTS! I cannot wait for my copy to arrive (it should, today) so I can cuddle it, while cry about the sheer perfectness. And also to take a lots of photos of it for my Bookstagram. If you love, historical romances, with complex characters, without insta-love and an original plot, you should definitely pick up Blackhearts.
I have been obsessed with pirate stuff ever since I was a little girl and… yes, you guessed it right, PIRATES OF CARIBBEAN came out. It was perfect in my 13-yo eyes and I’ve been quietly in love with all things pirates ever since. Yet somehow, Blackbeard just wasn’t on my radar. I don’t know why, he’s one of the most famous pirates ever. I just never checked up on him. But when I heard about Blackhearts, I knew I had to read it and was pleasantly surprised when I got accepted for an early copy of it on Edelweiss. I’ve never imagined falling in love with it so completely. Now if I could just give a justice to this book with my review…
Anne Barrett is a maid at the Drummonds, despite her good upbringing and wealthy fater. The story begins with the household waiting for the arrival of Edward “Teach” Drummond, son of the master after his year at the sea, and preparing for his upcoming marriage to Patience. The book follows through both Teach’s and Anne’s lives, as they go from strangers at the market to lovers planning to run away and return to the sea.
Contrary to the belief, Blackhearts isn’t a pirate novel. It’s so much more than that. It’s the origin of Blackbeard, and how his early years shaped his future. Teach, later known as Blackbeard is actually a kind and loving man, who has his bad qualities too, namely his temper. He may have an easy life with everything served to him on a silver platter, but his heart lies in the deepest of the seas, which his father cannot understand at all. He makes his son do things Teach doesn’t enjoy, thus making his life miserable.
Anne is one of the strongest characters I’ve ever read. She has been dealt with plenty of bad stuff in her life and she came out stronger from all of them. She is loyal and compassionate, a strong woman in a time where women aren’t appreciated for their quick wit and intelligence, but their looks and money. She has a good, but very difficult upbringing, due to her mother being a slave and her being a biracial girl in a white society. We get to know the complexity of her backstory and find out the secrets she’s been hiding.
I think I kind of hate all the other secondary characters, except John. John is a good friend of Teach, who helps him in any way he can. Alas, the other characters, Teach’s betrothed, Patience, all her family, the staff at the Drummond household, they all make Anne’s and Teach’s lives harder than it should be. But despite all of them, they needed in order for the story to work.
The story is told in third person, in dual POV. This is one of the most ideal, because this way, we can see both into Anne’s and Teach’s minds and inner thoughts. It just shows that it’s not only a story about Blackbeard’s young years, but a story about both of our characters. Most importantly, it shows that neither of them is perfect. The romance is such a beautiful slow burn, built on their respect for each other, you cannot help feeling everything with Anne and Teach. Nicole’s writing is something I fell in love while reading this book, as it is very easy to get lost and immerse in it. I cannot praise her enough and I will make my mission to make everyone read her work.
I may be in the minority, but I’m actually not sure if I would like a sequel or not. On one hand, it would be FANTASTIC to read about how Anne and Teach’s lives turned out later on and what have they been up to. On the other hand, it really makes you think. I read Blackhearts in the beginning of January, and now, weeks later, I am still thinking about it every day and even have my theory of what happened. So to me, this story was full and perfect as it is, but if there’ll be a sequel, then SIGN ME UP ALREADY.
All in all, I AM IN LOVE WITH BLACKHEARTS! I cannot wait for my copy to arrive (it should, today) so I can cuddle it, while cry about the sheer perfectness. And also to take a lots of photos of it for my Bookstagram. If you love, historical romances, with complex characters, without insta-love and an original plot, you should definitely pick up Blackhearts.
photogcourt's review
3.0
Blackhearts was among one of my top anticipated novels for 2016. I was very excited when given an advanced reader's copy, from the publishers through Edeweiss.
I'm actually surprised by how lackluster I found Blackhearts to be. The description promises to "set the world ablaze" and yet I kept waiting...and waiting...and waiting for something other than the typical historical romance fair. I will admit that the whole "prologue" idea to famous pirate Blackbeard's life was a splendid one but it was not as red hot as I was promised. Nothing in this book was anything other than standard, maybe even cliche. The "maid" who is not really a maid, falling in love with the employer's son - who is engaged to be married to someone else. There have been many romance novels written with this similar plot-line. In fact the only reason I knew this wasn't published by Harlequin Romance was that there was entirely no sex in the book at all - just a few kisses here and there.
I question that this is marketed as a young adult novel. Although the female protagonist is 16, I think a lot of teenagers would be bored with this. In the time of deeply thought provoking contemporaries, cute romances, and action packed dystopians, this hardly seems alluring. Perhaps that is why the description is overdone.
The most redeeming quality is that Nicole Castroman really is a very good writer. It is just too bad that her original idea couldn't have been made into something more vibrant. Instead it's fairly normal. Although I wasn't bored, and I liked reading it, I didn't love it. I was not impressed, and I hoped for something more but it never came, sadly. If you like reading historical romances, you probably will enjoy this quite a bit. If you want something a bit more grand, and adventurous - turn elsewhere.
I'm actually surprised by how lackluster I found Blackhearts to be. The description promises to "set the world ablaze" and yet I kept waiting...and waiting...and waiting for something other than the typical historical romance fair. I will admit that the whole "prologue" idea to famous pirate Blackbeard's life was a splendid one but it was not as red hot as I was promised. Nothing in this book was anything other than standard, maybe even cliche. The "maid" who is not really a maid, falling in love with the employer's son - who is engaged to be married to someone else. There have been many romance novels written with this similar plot-line. In fact the only reason I knew this wasn't published by Harlequin Romance was that there was entirely no sex in the book at all - just a few kisses here and there.
I question that this is marketed as a young adult novel. Although the female protagonist is 16, I think a lot of teenagers would be bored with this. In the time of deeply thought provoking contemporaries, cute romances, and action packed dystopians, this hardly seems alluring. Perhaps that is why the description is overdone.
The most redeeming quality is that Nicole Castroman really is a very good writer. It is just too bad that her original idea couldn't have been made into something more vibrant. Instead it's fairly normal. Although I wasn't bored, and I liked reading it, I didn't love it. I was not impressed, and I hoped for something more but it never came, sadly. If you like reading historical romances, you probably will enjoy this quite a bit. If you want something a bit more grand, and adventurous - turn elsewhere.
thebookferret's review
5.0
I have always been a fan of pirates in literature. I've always been particularly intrigued as to why a person would choose to be a pirate. Nicole Castroman is right on my level.
Pirate origin story? Check. Feisty Female lead? Check. Blush-worthy love story and some serious sexual tension? Check and Check. If you're a fan of any of these aspects, I highly recommend picking up Blackhearts!
Pirate origin story? Check. Feisty Female lead? Check. Blush-worthy love story and some serious sexual tension? Check and Check. If you're a fan of any of these aspects, I highly recommend picking up Blackhearts!
trisha_thomas's review
1.0
I agree with others who have categorized this as a bodice ripper for YA. The first ten chapters were good and interesting but, for me, it seemed to go down hill for there. I didn't find Teach to be romantic or sweet. I thought he was a bully and clearly didn't understand Anne's place or his time period - every time he attempted to force her into spending time with him or any other thing she wasn't supposed to do, he risked her life and her job. He seemed like a silly boy making big decisions and forcing someone else to bend to his will.
The rest was just silly. The betrothal, Patience, John and Mary. Even the surprise with Henry and the money just felt contrived and forced to even the playing field. I'm so sad because there are so few pirate books out there for YA - but this one wasn't a pirate story....Maybe the next one will be, but this one was just all about setting the stage.
The rest was just silly. The betrothal, Patience, John and Mary. Even the surprise with Henry and the money just felt contrived and forced to even the playing field. I'm so sad because there are so few pirate books out there for YA - but this one wasn't a pirate story....Maybe the next one will be, but this one was just all about setting the stage.
booksandladders's review
5.0
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Just as an fyi, the events in this book all make for totally valid reasons to become a pirate. This is wonderful. I can't wait to read it again.
I can't express with words how much I loved this story. This book is the perfect combination of romance and heartbreak and I feel as though my soul has been ripped in two. I know the general story of Blackbeard but not in depth, so it was really interesting for me to see parts of what I know overlap with the story's plot.
Anne and Teach have such a wonderful rapport and I just loved seeing them go from being weary of one another to understanding that they have more in common than they first thought possible. I loved seeing Anne grow into herself and be more willing to accept that she was not as lowborn as once believed. My heart ACHED for Anne and teach throughout this whole novel and then was RIPPED from me at the ending. I need more of their story.
This was a heavily character driven novel and it was so well done. Even the side characters, like Sara and Elizabeth were wonderfully written. They had such character and spunk and I would even be okay if there was more to the story just about them. I want Nicole Castroman to write me anything and everything about this time period.
If you are looking for your next epic romance, I am directing you to this novel. Anne and Teach and their love for each other and to be free in Castroman's hand made for an excellent read.
Books and Ladders | Queen of the Bookshelves | Books Are My Fandom | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin'
Just as an fyi, the events in this book all make for totally valid reasons to become a pirate. This is wonderful. I can't wait to read it again.
I can't express with words how much I loved this story. This book is the perfect combination of romance and heartbreak and I feel as though my soul has been ripped in two. I know the general story of Blackbeard but not in depth, so it was really interesting for me to see parts of what I know overlap with the story's plot.
Anne and Teach have such a wonderful rapport and I just loved seeing them go from being weary of one another to understanding that they have more in common than they first thought possible. I loved seeing Anne grow into herself and be more willing to accept that she was not as lowborn as once believed. My heart ACHED for Anne and teach throughout this whole novel and then was RIPPED from me at the ending. I need more of their story.
This was a heavily character driven novel and it was so well done. Even the side characters, like Sara and Elizabeth were wonderfully written. They had such character and spunk and I would even be okay if there was more to the story just about them. I want Nicole Castroman to write me anything and everything about this time period.
If you are looking for your next epic romance, I am directing you to this novel. Anne and Teach and their love for each other and to be free in Castroman's hand made for an excellent read.
Books and Ladders | Queen of the Bookshelves | Books Are My Fandom | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin'
lisamparkin's review
3.0
Blackhearts falls more into the romance category than historical fiction. And while I enjoyed that romance, for it being the main focus, I hoped for a more satisfying ending.
emmirosereads's review
DNFed at 38%. Not the most terrible book by any means but I'm just not feeling it. The writing feels off to me as well. I might be in a weird reading slump so that could be it. Maybe if I read this at another time I would love it but who knows. 🤷🏻♀️ I'm probably going to get rid of it and the sequel because even if I did enjoy it I know for sure it's not going to be a 5 star or some mind blowing novel so might as well cut my losses and start one of the million other books on my TBR. 😂