paperprivateer's reviews
1454 reviews

 I read this book before I found out about the controversy with this author. I would recommend anyone considering this book to research the author themselves to make an informed decision on if this is an author they wish to support.  I agreed to review this book before I was aware of the controversy.

I love pirates. I love academic stories. This book should have been all of my wildest dreams coming true. And while I did enjoy it while I was reading it, the second I finished it and started thinking deeper about it, it fell apart. 

The world-building is weak. There are mentions of religions and pirates and even a historical figure, but it’s not clear how all of those things fit together. Is there magic that can reincarnate someone? That never seems to be clear, even though the main character seems to think it’s possible. I was never certain why things worked the way they did.
The pirates are theoretically the good guys, but their systems seem just as rigid and cruel in some ways as the empire is. It’s supposed to be a democracy where people are equal and free, and yet they don’t seem any safer or free from inappropriate use of power. I also don’t know why the cazadores are the way they are or what life looks like for most people in this world. I couldn’t figure out how the government is run, which seems like a pretty important detail if we’re supposed to discover how bad this regime really is. 

Ximena is an intensely frustrating main character. She’s supposed to change her mind throughout the book, but it is so mind-numbingly slow. She sees example after example of the cazadores being awful and wrong and she flat-out refuses to change her mind. Her character arc of why she wants so badly to become a cazadore also falls flat when her backstory is revealed. It just doesn’t make sense. She’s so hopelessly stubborn until she has to change her mind for plot reasons. She also has a terrible attitude and is awful to people. She also doesn’t really have character growth. 

Similarly, the romance is weak. He’s a nepo baby bully who cares about nothing but somehow decides he’s wildly in love with her, in spite of her aforementioned stubbornness. I have no idea why these two change their mind about each other. I have no idea why Ximena doesn’t stick to her morals and turn him in over and over again. At least Dante shows slightly more of a nuanced character than Ximena even if it doesn’t make a lot of sense. 

I also didn’t like some of the writing itself. The random Spanish felt like it was more for color than anything else. The timeline doesn’t completely make sense (how is she being bullied by Dante the whole time in the same classes if she’s skipping years constantly?) There were descriptions of things that didn’t entirely make sense. There were some issues with how disabilities were portrayed, and I was troubled by the only people who were not white being described as being uncivilized.

Generally, the characters were annoying and irredeemable. The world systems don’t make sense. The writing had some issues. Overall, this book could have used another few drafts before it was fully developed. I wish it had been as fun as the cover had made it look. 

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the copy in exchange for my honest review of the book.

I suspect that this will be the best book I read in 2025. 

This book is like a hug. Not like the kind of hug when everything is great and nobody has any problems, but the kind of hug where life is hard but it's okay because there are people who will love you anyway. And speaking of hugs, I would love one from every character in this book, thank you very much.

The characters are the heart of this book. There's Hurricane, whose name sounds like she should be a force to be reckoned with but is more focused on battling her own inner storms from her mother dying, her difficulty in standing up for herself and having to go live with her aunt instead of with her sister and dog she loves dearly. There's Aunt Claire, a woman who loves Latin mottos and things being orderly although she doesn't entirely know how to make suddenly being responsible for a child an orderly business. Mr. Keats is a man with a warm smile and comfortable-looking boots who struggles with PTSD but has a way with cooking and knowing what Hurricane isn't quite able to say. That's not counting Theo the fish boy who has a way with animals or any of the lovable animals Hurricane encounters in her life. 

All of these characters learn and grow through the book, and each has to adjust how they view people and life. There's so much growth and adjustment as they all deal with their lives changing, and it's all so beautifully done. They grow and adjust just like people do in real life: gradually and as needed, sometimes with difficulty and sometimes with sweetness.

The characters deal with some challenging issues, but it's never too intense. While there are issues of the Great Depression, World War I PTSD, monetary issues, prejudice, and tuberculosis, it is relevant enough to be meaningful but not significant enough to be depressing. 

I truly loved everything about this book. If you want a historical middle grade book that will make you want to move in with the characters or adopt a stray cat, this is the one for you. I wish I'd had a book like this when I was a shy kid trying to figure out how to use my own voice. 

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. 

It’s been a little while since I’ve read Alice in Wonderland, but this book felt like I was dropped right back in the world. Maybe if I’d more recently read the Lewis Carroll original, I wouldn’t have been as delighted. Since it's been a while, though, I found this to be a phenomenal addition to Alice’s adventures.

Instead of feeling like a retelling or loosely based, this book feels like.a true sequel. Alice is back, once again interacting with the characters she met before but this time as a spy. 

The writing is similar to the originals but feels just a little bit more modern. It still has witty moments, and Alice speaks and thinks in the same way we were introduced to her in the originals. I went in with somewhat low expectations, but it surpassed them by being a book that fit very well with the world and characters we already know. I'd say the main difference between this and Lewis Carroll's books is that this one has a more coherent plot.

For me, the book felt like a natural addition to the world of Wonderland, and I think fans of Alice who want more of her adventures are unlikely to be disappointed with this book.

 

I haven’t listened to the podcast, so I approached this book with no expectations or awareness of who the writer was. 

 

I enjoyed the tidbits in general. I like small, interesting tidbits that you might share as a “did you know” quick fact or might spark further research. I liked the assortment of information and the span of topics. I liked the quick, digestible approach to information and the humor imbedded in even some more grisly stories. 

 

However, this isn’t a book I’d probably use as a “did you know” because I wasn’t sure how much I could trust the information. Wikipedia was the primary source for a lot of the book, which… is an interesting choice. Even school children know not to use Wikipedia for a main source without doing more research.  Some of the information felt more like urban legends than verified information, and I didn’t feel like having to research every page to see if the information was verifiable or not. Some items also seemed like a little bit of a stretch, almost more like butterfly effect conclusions rather than verifiable, historically agreed on reasons why something happened in history. 

 

Overall it was a fun book, but I wouldn’t quote any of the information in it or consider it trustworthy even if it was interesting. 

 

This book is loosely based on real events in the early 70s in the southern US. Although I wasn’t around in the 70s and haven’t spent a lot of time in the southern part of the United States, this book felt like being picked up and transported to that time and place. 

 

Josephine is the kind of character that is both lovable and infuriating at the same time — in a good way. I completely understand why the adults around her, especially her mother, and sometimes exasperated by her attitude and antics. She’s grappling with big emotions in a real, relatable way. Her level of understanding of the world around her is age-appropriate, with her sometimes not understanding the complexity of the situations around her. This naivety, however, allows her to accomplish things and make friends in a way that only an eleven-year-old could. She’s angry, judgmental and impulsive — and yet hopeful, determined, and kind. She makes up a beautiful, complicated package that makes her jump off the page like she’s a real person. 

 

The setting too is vivid and complex. There are lots of little mentions about what life in the trailer park or in their nice home before was like. The characters surrounding them mention details that make the world feel lived in with great parts and disappointing or unfair elements. 

 

I had two minor qualms with the book. I’m not sure how many kids are clamoring to read about the 1970s, and the nostalgia elements are likely to be lost on them. That and the darker elements, particularly the author’s note about the real-life events involving children going missing and being murdered, are pretty dark. 

 

Overall, I enjoyed this book because of the vividness of the characters and setting, but sensitive readers should be aware of the subject matter. 

 

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the free copy in exchange for my honest review. The opinions are my own and were not influenced by receiving a copy.