Get It Now Cutlass (Cutlass Series, #1) Devised By Ashley Nixon Disseminated As Digital Copy
received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review,
Cutlass was a book that I think would have been absolutely perfect for me if it weren't for a few things plotwise that bugged me, Still, I did enjoy it,
Honestly, it would probably take some really huge problems in the book for me to NOT like it, because, well, pirates, Pirates are a wonderful reading treat for me, because I just can't find very many, and they really do make a fascinating story, Maybe there are a ton of pirate books out there just hiding from me, I don't know, The fact is, it's something that I haven't read a lot of even though I would like to, That was a pretty big reason I liked this book,
I really liked Barren, He was daring and fierce at times, sensitive and vulnerable the next, He's the kind of character, basically, that I have a tendency to really, really like, There was one thing, however, that I was not buying about him, He's the most feared pirate of them all, apparently, but yet he's a mere eighteen years old, I can suspend my disbelief for that age, but apparently he's been terrorizing the seas for the past five years or so, . . which would mean that he started at thirteen, I cannot imagine someone that young being such a feared pirate, The other main character, Larkin was not my favorite, but I did like her, I think that her interactions with Barren were what made her so fun to read about, especially when they had just met,
The plot was good, However, I did feel it was slow, which kind of surprised me, I wouldn't expect a pirate story to be as slow as Cutlass was, Still, I thought that as a whole, the plot was well thought out and interesting, Maybe it's simply my inexperience with pirate stories, but I thought it was cool that it was a fantasy,
I still am not sure how I feel about the romance, Yes, Barren and Larkin are good together, But it was a bit too, Stockholm Syndromey That is totally a word, you and the dictionary just haven't heard of it for me, I mean, yes, Barren's nice, But he kidnapped Larkin. Usually people don't fall in love with their captors, I don't care what reason he kidnapped Larkin, I don't care if his brother's a jerk, He still kidnapped her, and it felt a bit weird to me,
Cutlass was a book that I have mixed feelings about, if you couldn't tell, but my reading experience with it was still positive, so I think that it has earned three.
Thanks to Netgalley and Xpresso Book Tours for giving me this book to review,
Pirate Barren Reed has had only one thing on his mind for the lastyears, to get revenge on his brother, William, who murdered their father, He decided that the way to force a fight with William is to kidnap his fiancé, Larkin Lee, however, Larkin is more trouble for him and his crew than they were expecting.
However, Barren discovers that there is more going on than his revenge, and Larkin and him are tasked with finding the powerful gem, the bloodstone before his brother does,
Cutlass is a likeable swashbuckling pirate fantasy story, with action, romance and politics, It has an interesting if predictable story but I was not hooked into the story and did not keep my interest,
Barren is rash and cocky, and is determined and obsessed to get his revenge and not good at listening to advice, but he is very loyal to his crew.
Larkin is tenacious and can hold her own but I found it very hard to connect with her, The character I most liked was Leaf, the Elven prince as he seemed to be the voice of reason,
Some people seem to love this book and I can understand why but it did not capture my interest enough, I would recommend Cutlass to fans of YA pirate books,
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I don't think I've really read many good pirate books, certainly not since I started blogging, so all I really had to compare Cutlass to before I started reading was classics like Treasure Island and Peter Pan, and it turns out Cutlass, is completely different to both of those, but just as fun!
As all good pirate stories should, Cutlass starts with the kidnapping of a beautiful young woman.
The infamousbeyondhisyears pirate Barren Reed and his crew gatecrash his brother William's engagement party to kidnap Larkin the fiancé in an attempt to exact revenge for their father's death, The only problem is that Larkin doesn't seem too keen to marry William anyway, and is not quite the damsel in distress that Barren expected her to be,
I was hooked from the start of this book, despite it taking me a while to warm to Barren himself, I felt like he really came into his own as he got to know Larkin better, Larkin was such a strong, feisty character I really felt like she carried a lot of the book, which is no bad thing,
The relationship between Barren and Leaf was adorable too, Other than Larkin, Leaf seemed to be the only person who could put Barren in his place, without fearing for his life, He's mischievous and funny, and it was easy to believe that they'd been friends forever,
Ashley Nixon did such a great job at worldbuilding, I felt like the history of The Orient was rich and interesting and I just wanted to jump on board and sail along with them,
I did think it took a bit too long to get to the main body of the story the hunt for the mysterious bloodstone but even though the pacing was a bit slow at times, it reminded me of a good
oldfashioned yarn so I was OK with that! I mean, everything about it screams epic adventure, from a chapter entitled Old Salt, to Barren yelling “If the sea had wanted you, I wouldnt have been able to save you.
”
I also devoured it in two sittings OK, so I kind of had to because DEADLINE and I left it to the last minute but that's besides the point!, they were two very enjoyable sittings!
I thought the use of elves, magic in a story centered around a pirates was unique and clever, and the myth of the bloodstone was intriguing.
And yes I admit it, I was totally in love with Barren by the end of the book, I look forward to reading more of his and Larkin's adventures,
“I am a pirate, I always follow my heart, It is the only thing I am loyal to, ”
sitelink Notorious pirate Barren Reed has one thing on his mind: Revenge against the man who killed his father, So kidnapping his enemy's fiancé seems a perfect planuntil he actually does it,
Larkin Lee is more than a pretty face and fiancé to a powerful man, Her fierce personality is enough to make any pirate want to push her overboard,
But when the King of the Orient comes to Barren with a taskto find the Bloodstone, a powerful gem thought only to exist in legend, Barren sees another opportunity to destroy his enemy.
Together, Barren, Larkin and a crew of pirates set off to find the stone, only to discover it caused the death of Barrens own mother and Larkins, too, As his strongest allies turn into his greatest enemies, and the life of the girl he kidnapped becomes more important than he ever dreamed, Barrens quest for revenge becomes a fight to save the Orient.
./Round to
First off, let me just remind everyone how much I adore pirates, I have always, and will always, love me some swashbuckling high seas action, But it is hard to find a good pirate book that has plenty of action AND romance to keep me interested for long, I am happy to report that the book had ample action and enough romance to keep me turning the pages, And as if pirates and romance were not enough to keep me busy, there were also ELVES, Are you freaking kidding me I LOVE elves, And with elves, comes magic, dances with glee A pirate romance with fantasy elements Freaking yes! And the sword fights, . did I mention the sword fights :D I love sword fights! calm down, Ryan,
The book follows the journey of Barren in his quest for revenge on his brother, William, For five years, he has been waiting for his chance to fight his brother and avenge the death of his beloved father and pirate lord, Jess Reed who died at his brothers hands.
Larkin is a high born lady and is marrying William to make her father happy, Barron decides his best chance at luring his brother into their long awaited final duel is to kidnap Larkin from their engagement party and draw William out to sea where Barren has the upperhand.
Only Larkin turns out to be more trouble than he or his crew bargained for and there may be more important things at stake than his petty revenge, Political Intrigue, spies, and prejudice follow Barren wherever he goes and he is soon on a quest far more important than any he had been on before with Larkin at his side.
Cutlass is the sort of book where you can never tell who all the bad guys are and betrayal, politics, and revealed secrets are constantly shaking the plot and causing problems for our hero and heroine.
The villains were plenty and they were pretty hardcore if we are rating in terms of skill with a sword, wiggles eyebrows. Some were more complex and I could empathize with, The others were straightforward and I could understand their motives, One, however, baffles me. I wonder if the second book will expound further on his motives, So the villains were okay,
Larkin was an interesting character, She grew up believing in the system she was raised in by her father, She lived a life of privilege and is stubborn to recognize the hard truths she has to face about the system and people she has known all her life, I liked that she was badass and could hold her own against Barren, I also liked that she had morals and convictions that guided her actions, Some of her actions are foolish as some heroines often are but her heart was in the right place and she can admit when she is wrong, so I forgive her.
I did not get as deep of a connection to her as I did to Barren, but hopefully I can bridge that small gap in the next book!
Barren.
Barren, Barren, Barren. What to say about Barren, . The nineteen year old pirate lord with an entire crew at his every command, . and he has them chasing after his petty whims, He is rash and immature, constantly getting everyone in trouble everything you would expect in a typical nineteen year old, He is also cocky, hot, bad ass, and loyal everything you would expect in a pirate lord, I love that out of all the characters you see a growth in him and his mindset throughout the story, I am very impressed that he grew up and shifted as the story progressed, Every character should change for the better throughout a story and Barren's change was both necessary and interesting, He was a very human character and I feel like a lot of people can relate to his rash nineteen year old side, He is after all human, And to be human is to make mistakes and be ruled by your emotions, I am glad he changed, because I sort of wanted to smack him for a few of his choices,
Speaking of smacking Barren for his choices that reminds me Leaf!
Leaf was a secondary character, but I just felt the need to mention him and praise him for his sexy elfed.
. ness. : He was charming and funny, Ah. . Leaf. He was the perfect first mate trying to get his idiot captain to see reason, while still trying to see the laughter in bad situations, You, my dear Elf, are awesome and the story would have had a sad gap without you to provide your warmth to the story in the light of our two serious main characters.
lt
All in all Cutlass was an entertaining read, It was full of violence, political upheaval, betrayal, romance, mystery, adventure, secrets, pirates, a sexy elf, a pirate lord with a grudge, a lady with a choice to make, and most important of all.
. sword fights. :D I loved it.