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Bloody Jack

Being An Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy
Sep 05, 2017jandt_mcmurray rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Mary Faber is orphaned after her parents & sister fall victim to the sickness that has been sweeping across London. She is taken in by a fellow homeless man & taught how to fend for herself. When an opportunity is presented for her to join Her Majesty's royal navy, she decides that having food & shelter in exchange for hard labor on the high seas is a fair trade. There's only one problem --- she's a girl. Girls cannot serve in the navy. Mary, however, does not see a barrier; she's sees a hurdle to be overcome. She makes herself up to look like a young boy & gives herself the name Jacky Faber. As expected, there are constant challenges being a woman among a ship full of men. She manages to keep her secret until one fateful day. She ends up stranded alone on an island, again having to figure out how to fend for herself. Just when things look pretty dire, she sees a ship on the horizon. It isn't the ship she was hoping for, in fact, it's quite the opposite of what she was hoping for. She describes her situation just before death to be the punishment she has so long deserved for all of her crimes. Is this the end of poor Mary "Jacky" Faber? Being book #1 in a series, of course it's not the end. Her fellow ship mates find her dangling from a hangman's noose, rescuing her just before death sets in. Now knowing the full extent of Jacky's situation (being a woman & in love with a fellow crew mate), they feel it's in everybody's best interest to leave her at a lovely finishing school for young women. Here is where we leave her...for now. How could I not love a story about a young woman that overcomes all obstacles, even that of being a woman, to get what she needs/wants. She doesn't try to say she's truly a man, but rather she hides her womanhood out of sheer necessity in order to survive. When the time comes, she'll reveal herself. Of course this revelation comes about sooner than she had planned, but again she finds herself dealing with the situation at hand as best she can. I loved so many of the characters, but I especially loved Jacky. I am anxious to continue the series to see if she is able to reconnect with her true love & live out their lives together. Age recommendation: 14 & up (indecent situations of males taking advantage of younger boys) On a scale of 1-10 stars, I give it 9.