Under the Jolly Roger by L. A. Meyer: Review

Jacky Faber finds herself working for the Royal Navy again after being mistakenly pressed into service. The ship she finds herself on is in bad shape, with a sick, evil captain who reigns with an iron fist and who has let his boat and his crew get into bad shape. Nothing can keep Jacky down for long though and she’s soon making friends and plans in equal measure.

I cannot express how much I love listening to Katherine Kellgren narrate this series. She doesn’t hold anything back and narrates in a larger-than-life tone that is completely in keeping with Jacky’s character. Kellgren sounds like she is having the time of her life reading these books and that makes me love them all the more.

I would love them anyway because Jacky is such a great character. Why do we tend to love girls who dress up as boys and live the life they want? I probably just answered my own question. She’s loyal and fierce and sly and intelligent and greedy and too big for her britches. She’s a big mess of contradictions and that makes her feel so darn real.

My one complaint about this book is that we have to travel down the road of an older man trying to prey on attractive young Jacky again. It’s a different man, but, really. Teenage girls of any era do have things to worry about other than lecherous old men trying to have their way with them. It didn’t take up as much of the book as I was afraid it would but as soon as it came up I rolled my eyes and thought, “Here we go again.”

Jaimy is starting to get on my nerves too. He’s as fussy and as much of a stickler for the rules as a prissy old maid. I forget what Jacky see in him. He only sees the woman that Jacky could have been if her early years had been different, not the impetuous, ambitious ragamuffin that she actually is.

Other than that, this book was full of adventure, drama, suspense, and laughs. It is everything that a good story should be.

This series is a blast and girls who can see the appeal of living life on your own terms will love it. I highly, highly recommend trying it out on audio.

Listen to an excerpt.

My reviews of Bloody Jack and Curse of the Blue Tattoo.

Find author L. A. Meyer on his website, Facebook.

Buy Under the Jolly Roger at

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