Thursday 12 February 2009

Pirates by Celia Rees


Pirates by Celia Rees
Pages 380
Challenges - 100+ books, Young Adult and A to Z titles.
'Land ahoy, me hearties! It's a pirate's life for me!
After reading this book, I could really understand why men became pirates. I am not saying that the life wasn't dangerous, because it most definitely was, but I like the sound of it.

This book is fantastic and may be one of my top ten books for the end of the year. I absolutely loved it. The book tells the story of Nancy Kington and her former slave girl Minerva Sharpe who traded their normal lives to become female pirates. Nancy began her life in Bristol. After her father's death, she is shipped off for Jamaica, where her brothers have made secret plans for her to marry, an evil Portuguese former pirate, Bartholome. She is shocked when she finds out on her sixteenth birthday held at his house and vows to find a way out of it. When she returns home, she finds out that her friend, her slave girl, Minerva is about to be raped by the plantation foreman. Nancy kills the foreman in order to save Minerva. They both decide they need to leave Jamaica that night as both their lives will now be in danger and end up joining a pirate ship. The story then revolves around their life as pirates and how they keep sailing in order to escape Bartholome.
I am giving you a very brief description of the story because it is full of unexpected twists and turns and I really don't want to spoil it by giving it away. I would definitely recommend you reading it. I have read quite a few Celia Rees books in the last couple of years and I do enjoy them.
There is only one thing that bothers me, which I have discovered in all her books. She seems to rush her climatic endings. Perhaps it is me, but when a book is full of action and drama, I expect the ending to have me on the edge of my seat and to keep me hanging on and build to a fantastic ending. With Celia's books, they are full of drama and are real page turners until you get to the end and each climatic scene leaves me feeling that something is missing, as if it has been rushed. I wish her endings were more dramatic, however that is my personal choice.

Please don't let that stop you reading it, because the rest of the story had me on the edge of my seat. I really enjoyed it, I just expected the last dramatic scene to be a bit more tense and gory for my liking.

I will still carry on reading Celia Rees books as I do like the topics she picks to write about. Her heroines are usually very strong willed characters and I like that. They always faced with real difficulties which they always manage to overcome.

Have you read any Celia Rees books? If you did, what did you think of the endings in her books?

5 comments:

  1. I've never read Celia Rees but I've looked at this one a thousand times and *almost* picked it up - now I definitely will!

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  2. I listened to Pirates on audio a couple years ago and absolutely loved it - gave it 5 stars. I can't remember not liking the ending, but it's been a while. I haven't read anything else by her yet.

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  3. I've never read anything by Celia Rees, though I do like YA novels with strong female characters.

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  4. I haven't read this author before, but this does sound good.
    great review! Glad you liked it so much.
    http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/

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  5. I've never read her before, but I've read some great reviews of this book! It sounds like something I'd love.

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