L. A. Meyer (1942–2014)

When we last left the indomitable Jacky, she was on the Lorelei Lee, recently departed from Botany Bay, Australia, and stuck in a typhoon in the South China Sea. Jacky and Ravi are thrown overboard by the winds and are left for dead by their friends and shipmates. They survive (duh) and are marooned on a beach in a strange land called "Burma". After many adventures Jacky eventually finds her way back to England, where she learns that her dear Jaimy Fletcher thinks she died in the typhoon and show more as a result has gone mad and is attacking people on the Portsmouth road. Jacky to the rescue!

Oh Jacky. I have missed her. This definitely is not the best book of the series. The plot is pretty fragmented and not a lot goes on. She also spends a bit too much time with a certain cavalry Captain Sir Richard Allen. (I am staunchly team Jaimy. And sometimes Team Joseph Jared.) But I love Jacky and it was fun anyway. show less

First Line: My name is Jacky Faber and in London I was born, but, no, I wasn't born with that name.

It's 1797 in London, and little Mary Faber's family has just died of the plague. In order to survive, she takes up with a gang of street urchins, but it's a rough, dangerous life, and Mary hopes for something better. She disguises herself as a boy, changes her name to Jacky and signs on as a ship's boy on the HMS Dolphin. Life at sea is adventure indeed, and Jacky has just the voice to tell us show more about it all.

I'm not an audio book fan, but I can see the books in this series being perfect for it because Jacky has such a strong, unique voice. The plot moves right along as Jacky gets herself out of one scrape after another. She tells us what it's like the first time a landlubber finds herself on the open sea; she philosophizes about dresses; she deals with peeing standing up; and she voices her opinion on tattoos:

" I agree with all my heart, thinking about how I'd have some real explainin' to do if I grow up to be a lady and get married and on my wedding night my husband discovers a naked dancing girl tattooed on my tail. Course, I'd rather not get a tattoo at all."

What makes Jacky so different from so many of the other women-disguised-as-men is that she isn't mannish at all. She makes it quite clear that her disguise is a matter of survival and nothing more. She has dreams of wearing dresses, falling in love, getting married, and having children. Me having had a much more tomboyish outlook for most of my life, I found that the only thing that drove me nuts about Jacky was her tendency to screech and cry whenever she got in trouble. Fortunately it drove the captain mad as well; there was a time or two I was ready to throw 'er overboard!

If you or someone you know is in the mood for something fast-paced and fun that gives a real feeling for the time period, by all means give Bloody Jack a try. Chances are you'll be cheering Jacky on just as much as I did. Now I've got to get out me spyglass and find the rest of the books in this series. show less

Readers of the Bloody Jack series love it for its humor, its unflinching danger, and its (at times) over-the-top adventures. How many times have readers said it? When will Jacky Faber finally get to be with her beloved James Emerson Fletcher, after seven novels of thwarted love?

...Well it sure as hell isn't in this novel!

This, along with the almost too fantastical situations, is a great frustration to fans of Bloody Jack. Jacky Faber has been in one too many crazy adventures it seems, and show more her luck can certainly stretch your patience. Oh sure--she's been tarred and feathered, had a cigar burned into her thigh, had friends die and suffer...but has SHE died? Been raped? Lost an arm or suffered some other injury? Been cast into destitution? Not really. No, our Jacky is like a cat with nine lives, and at this point, readers are almost hoping that the series will end at book numero nine, just so that things aren't stretched to their breaking point. After all, there is only so much one can take!

But so far this review has been a bit...self-deprecating? Ironic? I say this because while I personally share in the frustrations faced by many long-time Bloody Jack readers, I have to say...I still love it!

The characters are fresh and strong, and though the plot can be a bit much to take, it's still great fun to read. Isn't that the point of a book? To entertain? L.A. Meyer's eighth addition to the series is filled with laughs and thrills and fun new characters for the loyal reader to enjoy. Its play on history is not the worst I've seen--Mississipi Jack asked for a lot more in the way of suspension of disbelief than the Lorelei Lee--and its very much forgivable. I blasted through this, and was left hungry for more.

So...Really, I don't see myself writing this rant for the sake of a new reader looking to get into Bloody Jack. In fact, I'd warn any new readers from starting here--that'd just be silly. Better to start at the beginning, to experience all the laughs, see where many of the characters come from, and share in us veteran readers everlasting lament! show less

- audiobook - Jacky Faber, formerly of the Royal Navy, is dumped at a girls' boarding school in Boston when it is discovered that she is a girl. She doesn't quite fit in.

This book is the lowest rated in the 8 books of the series (but it's still rated 4.13!), but I thought it was great fun. True, there are no pirates, but boarding school stories are great, and the depiction of Northern US/Southern US/British relations in the very early 1800s is spot on, and Jacky is an awesome character. It's show more like A Great and Terrible Beauty, plus Downton Abbey, plus a Napoleonic Naval adventure, plus Anne of Green Gables, but badass.

Jacky is great because she does whatever the heck she thinks is right. She sees all these stupid rules around her like women have to ride side-saddle, and ladies can't be friends with the serving girls, and women can't show their limbs in public, and she says "screw you, rules!". But she's still fiercely loyal, and kind, and brave. And, most importantly, she knows that she deserves punishment when she breaks the rules. She doesn't hesitate to get in a fight with another "lady in training" who slapped a serving girl, but she fully expects to be whipped for it. Her chivalry and sense of responsibility even extend to her friendships: she fully expects that if she misbehaves, her friends will be mad at her. She always realizes that the pickles she gets into are the result of her own actions, and never blames it on any outside force. I find it extremely refreshing; she's a true hero.

I'm definitely continuing with this series. I'm LOVING them. show less