I liked it; it was good
I found this book—brand new—at a used book store, and since I loved watching The Pirates of the Caribbean so much, I decided to buy it.
Read: June 1 – June 3, 2024
Genre: Fantasy
Audience: Middle-grade, Teen
Book contains: thugs, historical views of women, pirates
Purchase a copy from Amazon.ca
After being left on the doorstep of a children’s home with nothing but a name and a book, Carina Smyth dedicates her life to the study of the stars, believing it to be a destiny set out for her by her father. Despite the world’s prejudiced views on women of science, she endures to find the greatest treasure in The Map No Man Can Read.
This book is written like a bildungsroman (a coming-of-age story) and follows Carina through different ages and phases of her life, from the orphanage to the point where she joins Captain Jack Sparrow and his crew to find a great treasure at sea (as seen in the movie Dead Men Tell No Tales).
The book is told in third person limited—or maybe third person omniscient with a focus on Carina, since there were a few times when it seemed to suffer from head jumping. Nonetheless, the narrative followed Carina entirely, not straying from what she knows.
I read this book the old-fashioned way. The weather was wet and rainy this weekend, perfect for staying inside with a good book and a hot cup of tea.
Carina was obviously the main character, so we follow along with her. As she ages, we are introduced to new people in her life: the children at the orphanage with her, the household staff of her first job, Henry and the pirates in Jack’s crew. I love how, even though the rest of the cast cycles through different people, Carina’s character remains consistent throughout—her stubbornness and strong sense of justice are visible right away and never leave her.
Carina’s stubborn personality sometimes makes her friends, but most often it gets her into trouble—considering the views of women at the time. Her allies are few and far between, but she’s also clever enough to make use of the things and people around her. This especially comes into play about halfway through the book and at the end.
This book isn’t too complex, and there isn’t much to read between the lines. Even children would have an easy time understanding this book. Rusu’s style was quite straightforward, with just enough description to be able to picture the scenes, but also snappy and expressive dialogue.
The first part of this book was a bit slow for me. I kept wondering when we would get to the pirates or the real studying of stars and her journal, but it made sense to begin with Carina’s character and what made her the way she is. Still, the pacing was a bit slow to start out with.
If you were a fan of The Pirates of the Caribbean like I am (and if you especially like the character of Carina Smyth), I highly recommend reading this book. It’s a great piece of backstory for this character.
Villette by Charlotte Brontë
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
Tigerpetal Press is a small book press dedicated to publishing local authors and poets.