I remember when i was in middle school and my mom made me read the first book in the Bloody Jack series. Back then i think there was only 4 books in the series. The Wake is now the eighth book in the series and is as spectacular and fantastic as all other seven books. Truly, this is one of my favourite series' ever. It's remarkable consistent. The books are pretty fast reads. The writing is excellent (any qualms taken against it should note that it is in character and hardly needs to be pristine.) Jacky Faber's adventures are truly a joy to read and I have enjoyed each and every instalment thus far.To be quite honest, i think this was my favourite one since Under the Jolly Rodger. (I'm kind of in love with pirates, you know. Kind of in love) Now, these books seem to have a rule. Something really really bad happens either in the beginning, or right at the very last few pages, or both. I'm not going to really divulge all about wherein these things take part in this particular book. However, once again, our dear Jacky does find herself arrested and nearly hanged. The girl has escaped the noose more times than Jack Sparrow, i swear. In this book we have a floating brothel, a whole lot of people arrested, transportation to Australia, Chinese pirates, a few certain characters FINALLY going pirate (FINALLY) and all of the usual beautiful raucous rampaging that the Bloody Jack books are known for. The thing i adore so much about these books are that not only are they fun to read and incredibly enjoyable, the characters are always consistent, (Jacky is simply one of the GREATEST female protagonists ever) the stories are always slightly outrageous, and yet they always retain their historic accuracy. L.A. Meyer is simply spot on with all the little intricate historic details that this book requires, from the events of the time period, to the parts of the ship. Really, this is one of the only books i've read where the parts of the ship are always called by their sea faring names because the author obviously knows what they are.I also love how these books are written. One could argue that the style is too simplistic, however they have such life in energy because they're written in Jacky's point of view. And really, if you know Jacky Faber's personality, the stories are written exactly the way she'd like them. Which is just showing how perfectly written they are, because they match the character narrating to a T. Everything in the book you can see Jacky writing down herself. Unlike some first person books where the writing style does not quite match with the character narrating, these books are always so Jacky, and Jacky is such a distinctive character that to write them any other way would be odd.I won't reveal what occurs on the romantic ends of this particular instalment, because anyone who has read any of the books is aware that they are a never ending story of Jacky and Jaimy ALMOST FINALLY being together and one of them gets arrested (well... that's usually how it happens...) Really though, this book was easily one of the best yet. Really, they just keep getting better and better. From the floating brothel that Jacky quickly charms her way to the highest points, to the Chinese pirates, who are an incredibly intriguing addition to the story and i am quite looking forward to what Meyer intends to do with them in the future, as by the title of the upcoming book it appears that they are definitely returning for another go. I'm so glad that this was an impulse buy for me. This series never disappoints and as always is an absolute pleasure to read.
