Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - Pirate Latitudes

*Edit* This book has been upped to a 5 star from 4. I thought about it multiple times throughout the year because it was so damn fun.

This book was a finished manuscript discovered after Michael Chrichton, the author, died. I'm not sure if it's intended to be the final draft or not, but the book is extremely straight-forward. What you see is what you get. I had so much damn fun and I'm not even sorry. Yes, it's simple and cliche, but it was a gloriously good time, if you ask me. So, if you want a swarthy, high-seas pirate (excuse me, privateer) story, then this is great fun and the book almost reads itself. Action packed and filled with all the pirate-y goodness you could want, I was never bored and flew through this book. Daring escapes, strategic attacks, ship battles, treasure, betrayal, etc. etc. I'm sad I read this now instead of in the summer. It would only feel more complete with some sand beneath your toes and rum in a glass. If you like stories where all of the characters are of questionable moral content, then this book is fantastic because everyone has an angle and is looking out for themselves. Think Pirates of the Caribbean, but more death and brutality.

Obviously, because this book takes place in Port Royal, an English Colony in Jamaica, in the 1660s (plus a ton of areas in the Caribbean), there is a lot of terrible shit going on. I'm sure there are more violent and graphic books out there, but there are still some scenes that made me shudder. For what it's worth, I would consider myself quite a bit of a wuss when it comes to violence and I was still able to read it, so take that for what you will. I think the rest of it was such fun to read that I was able to overlook some of the less tasteful areas. That, and Chrichton writes violence and unpalatable material in a very matter-of-fact way. Let's be real, it was a violent time period and it's realistic to expect that a lot of these things probably happened on a daily basis. Chrichton doesn't dwell on the violence or turn it into gross torture-porn. It's just part of the scene and then it's done. Nothing is elongated in a way that you'd think was unreasonable. I've left content warnings for the people who would like to know.

Oh! And I almost forgot to mention how great Chrichton is when it comes to researching for his novels. You can tell he spent a decent amount of time gathering information before writing this and despite the straight-forward simplicity of the story, the details he took the care to include made it feel authentic, which goes a long way when it comes to immersion.

All in all, this book is nearly tied with Vicious by V.E. Schwab as a book I've had the most fun reading this year.

Content Warnings

wrensreadingroom's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

Content Warnings

caprivoyant's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Strong character development? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

This book was entertaining enough as an audiobook. I listened to it over the course of a few months with my partner, and it was nice to have a story to enjoy with him; but I don't know that I'd recommend it to others.

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