Literally the first words of this book’s synopsis are “Blackbeard the pirate” but that is not what Blackhearts is about. I kept waiting for pirates to show up! For excitement to happen! For anything other than the flimsy romance that was the focus of this novel. Honestly, I’m quite disappointed. I thought that this was going to be a really exciting, quick read, but I couldn’t really find a point in the early part of the story that was interesting.
When I first started writing, one of my teachers told the class that oft-used phrase: Start in the middle of the action. I’m fairly positive this advice has been given to me every time I had any sort of creative writing class. I wish that Blackhearts had heeded that advice. While Castroman does a good job of setting the scene and giving both Anne and Teach their backgrounds, I thought that there was a bit too much telling instead of showing. I love getting pieces of the setting when it’s mixed in with the story. I love seeing the character of a protagonist when they’re up against adversity. I feel like Castroman should have focused more on showing that as the plot progressed instead of making the first half of the book heavy on the telling side.
What I did like about Blackhearts, however, was the choice of protagonists. Both of their backgrounds were interesting, despite the slow start. I enjoyed seeing how Teach clashed with his father, a man who came from nothing and worked his way up the social ladder. As a result, he was harsher to Teach, but it was only because he didn’t want his son to know how hard it was for him to get the Drummond family to their current position. As for Anne, she’s the daughter of a merchant and a slave in that merchant’s house. The color of Anne’s skin makes her position in Bristol precarious, with members of the city judging her before they even know anything about her. They were really interesting foils to each other, with their similarities pulling them together and driving them apart. It was so well written that despite this book not being for me, I did want to continue reading.
I think that Castroman has a good handle on writing historical fiction in the way that she balances commonly held beliefs of the time and the expectations of society with making this novel fit in the young adult genre. I will likely keep an eye out for more from this author!
Ultimately, I feel like Blackhearts and its sequel, Blacksouls, should have been one book. The end of Blackhearts would have served as a solid middle for a stand alone novel and I would have been more interested in the story. I recommend this one for historical fiction and romance fans, but don’t expect a lot of piracy in the first novel in this series. It looks like there’s more action in the sequel, but I’m not going to be continuing this series.
2.5 stars.
I received a temporary copy of Blackhearts from Riveted Lit. Blackhearts was published in February 2016.
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