Several people had recommended I read this book, but for some reason I’d never gotten around to it until this week. And I so wish I had picked it up sooner! I’m now on the second in the series.

When Mary Faber’s parents and sister all die one after the other, she is left with no one and nothing, and so falls into the life of a street urchin in London near the turn of the century (1800 or so). She grows tired of it all, though, of the death and danger and starvation, and when the leader of her little gang of orphans dies, Mary dresses in his clothes, adopts the name “Jack,” and sets off to make her own way in the world.

Dressed as a boy, she is able to get work on a ship, as a ship’s boy, and is clever enough to keep up the Deception, because she enjoys life at sea and the companionship of the other boys and some of the older sailors, and, really, could a street urchin say no to three square meals and a place to sleep at night?

And so begins the life of Bloody Jack, ship’s boy, adventurer, semi-reluctant pirate hunter, and world traveller.

Bloody Jack is, I believe, L.A. Meyer‘s first novel, and the first in this series, which currently stands at five books with another on the way this fall. It is quite a captivating tale! There’s adventure and romance and interesting history and so much wonderfulness! I enjoyed the characters, the story itself, everything, really. I loved Jacky’s very distinctive voice, and Jacky herself was just so fantastic and bold and entertaining. L.A. Meyer is a talented author, and I expect to be devouring this entire series within a very short period of time. It’d be shorter if I didn’t keep getting distracted by things like studying for exams (which start May 5 and which explain my lack of recent posting). Anyway, I can’t recommend this book enough, so go and get a copy today!