Edward “Teach” Drummond is setting sail to the Caribbean as first mate on the most celebrated merchant ship in the British fleet—until he rebels against his captain. Mutiny is a capital offense and Teach knows it could cost him his life, but he believes it worth the risk in order to save his crew from the attacking Spanish ships.
Sailing on the same blue waters, Anne barely avoids the Spanish attack, making it safely to Nassau. But lawless criminals, corrupt politics, and dangerous intentions fill the crowded streets of this Caribbean port. Soon, Anne discovers that the man entrusted to keep the peace is quite possibly the most treacherous of them all—and he just happens to hold Teach’s fate in his terrifying hands.
Life and death hang in the balance when Teach and Anne are given a dangerous mission. It’s a mission that will test their love, loyalty and devotion, forcing them down a path neither one could have ever imagined.
This book is slightly better than its predecessor. There is more piracy and more swashbuckling action than there was in the first one. Like Blackhearts this one goes by super quick, so it was easy to read in a few hours. The writing is a bit tighter this time around, and Nicole Castroman has improved her overall style. Like the previous novel, this one shows more and more of what Blackbeard's origins could have been (since there is very little background information on the real Blackbeard). It was interesting to see what these characters are like outside of England, and in a more typical pirate setting.
What Castroman did really well this time around was show the corruption of the state, which seemed to be a chronic problem in the seventeenth and eighteenth century. You can really see how pirates had more honour than governors, and how the system can be really weak and filled with corruption. It was really fun to see Teach go on missions and essentially evolve into Blackbeard. We didn't really get to see that the last time around, so the payoff works well here. In addition, the characters this time around, for the most part, are less unlikeable and not so one-trick as they were in the first one. I felt more sympathetic for the characters this time around, and Castroman does a good job in portraying the pirate characters, and ensuring you don't feel much sympathy for the villains (especially the governor's wife, good lord that woman). Another thing that Castroman did well in this book is show the race relations between white people and people of colour. While there was some in the first book, she really upped the ante for it in this one. I'm not too sure if there will be a sequel, there's nothing on Goodreads, but where she left the characters off at the end of this one seemed to be a good conclusion if it is just a duology, but there were still some strings left untied, so there could easily be another book coming.
One thing I dislike is how quickly things are resolved or happen "off-screen". A few characters die "off-screen", and it didn't really feel resolved because we're only told about it and not shown. I think it would have been more powerful if we had seen some of the death scenes actually happen, especially considering that we as readers were introduced to them and there was so much time developing them and their character - it takes away the stakes if we're only told and not shown (show, don't tell!) Another thing, many of the characters from the first book that added tension and put Teach and Anne's relationship at stake - they are rarely (if at all) mentioned in this one. The fiancee from the first book gets one fleeting mention, Teach's father gets two mentions and no one else gets mentioned. Not once. After all that buildup, even with the minor characters such as the fellow housemaids, and not even a peep in this one.
The last act of this book was by far the most exciting part, when all the pirate-y things really begin. We're introduced to the supposed villain, which is when we really see the corruption of the state, and it's so action-packed and pirate-y and just good, swashbuckling fun. I'm hoping if there is a concluding novel after this one, it's all pirate fun.
Blacksouls is a definite improval on Blackhearts, but is still far from being perfect. In parts, it breaks the show, don't tell rule of writing. The characters are more developed, and there is more action and swashbuckling piracy going on, especially in the final act. Like the first book, it's good, but not great. If there is a concluding book, I will probably read it. On the whole, this book was fun, and I'm going to give it a 3.5/5
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