Okay, we need to talk about the elephant in the room. How has no one mentioned yet that this book is essentially the plots of the first two Pirates of the Caribbean movies but with a Will Turner/Elizabeth Swan mashup character?

Let's compare.

Pirates of the Caribbean: An orphan with a mysterious piece of treasure is recovered by a sea captain and brought to an island where he scrapes out a living. Struggling against the life she is living and pining for something more, our heroine disguises herself and is taken along by a sea captain on a hellish journey for treasure beyond compare. Once aboard the pirate ship, our heroine discovers there is more to the captain than she previously knew, including a mysterious curse and a connection to the equally mysterious piece of treasure. Parentage plays an important part, as does Davy Jones, the kraken, and magic.

Isle of Gold: An orphan with a mysterious piece of treasure is recovered by a sea captain and brought to an island where she scrapes out a living. Struggling against the life she is living and pining for something more, our heroine disguises herself and is taken along by a sea captain on a hellish journey for treasure beyond compare. Once aboard the pirate ship, our heroine discovers there is more to the captain than she previously knew, including a mysterious curse and a connection to the equally mysterious piece of treasure. Parentage plays an important part, as does Davy Jones, the kraken, and magic.

One of my not-so-guilty literary pleasures is devouring books that feature pirates. I’ve been fascinated by them since I first watched Peter Pan and The Goonies, and have since then always kept an eye out for books which featured — no matter how shortly — pirates. I’ve read everything from YA to romance to historical novels, and the one thing they all have in common is how FUN they are. They’re all punctuated by adventure and moral ambiguity and fast paced action, and this book was so different. Though I felt there were some areas which could have been improved — namely the story’s opening and how wordy some of the sentences can be — there is no denying that this book is a great, fun read, one with plot and characters you can’t help but get invested in.

Ok, this book may not be for everyone. I totally enjoyed this book. I even took my time to savor this story. It was a delight to read a very different novel for once. History (think of 1700s), missing woman, mad man captain, mythology, girl disguised as a lad, a beautiful ship with at least 5 masts, Caribbean sea, islands, and mystery does this gal's heart good. Love how the author tied in the story with the title. Her prose is so beautiful causing me to absorb them gently and carefully. This isn't intended for a light reading but you'll be glad that you read this beautiful story. Also, I love the cover. Uniquely designed and perfect for this novel!
I received this copy from Net Galley and The Black Spots Books in an exchange for an honest review.

This is a fun book; fans of Pirates of the Caribbean probably will like it! I'm not sure how many die-hard pirate readers will, though, because it has a number of pirate-based cliches. As a reader who dabbles in historical novels and doesn't read sailing/pirate books regularly, it was an easy, enjoyable read, though the pacing was occasionally awkward.

I wanted to love this book based on the cover alone. Maybe that was my mistake; it looked like the main character would be a POC. A pirate novel about a woman of color blurring gender lines? Sign me up! Sadly, Merrin is your standard blonde; the crew of the Riptide are all sailing to rescue yet another blonde. Beauty matters in this book, and beauty in the book is white and blonde (aside from the prostitute Claudette, Merrin's closest friend. Can I read her book, please?).

I'd recommend it for someone who seems receptive. It's a light read filled with mystical creatures, legends from the deep, and infamous and legendary pirates. Just don't look for much below the surface (pun intended)..

The Goodnight Mermaid Tavern was "teeming with raucous sailors and their purchased women". Captain Erik Winters and crew of his pirate ship "Riptide" are readying their vessel to sail from the tropical Caribbean island of Isla Perla. The year is 1716. The crew consists of men united by a desire for treasure and love of the sea. Captain Winters and crew will sail in search of Winters' lost love, Evangeline, arguably stolen by the gods of the sea.

The Goodnight Mermaid Tavern once belonged to Evangeline Dahl, a wild, beautiful, unpredictable lass. She cleverly negotiated trades between pirates and merchants visiting Isla Perla. Evangeline had been missing for two years. Was she enchanted by the mythical island of Bracile from whence no sailors have ever returned?

Besides Captain Winter's dogged determination to find Evangeline, orphan Merrin Smith is consumed with the desire to search for her. Disguised in young man's garb, Merrin convinces Winter that "Westley Rivers" aka Merrin would be an asset to his hostile crew. Young Mister Rivers is told to keep his head down, do his job and hope for acceptance. What compels Merrin to undertake this journey? The Pirate Code penned by Black Bart forbids women from sailing aboard pirate ships under penalty of death. She has many unanswered questions. How did she end up on the island of Isla Perla? Perhaps this voyage will provide answers.

"The Isle of Gold" by Seven Jane is a historical/fantasy novel filled with mysterious sea creatures. Evil lurks in the depths of the sea. "The sea takes what it wants". What does it want this time? Read "The Isle of Gold" and find out!

Thank you Smith Publicity and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "The Isle of Gold".

Historical YA adventures with pirates? I'm in, and that glorious cover is just the icing on the cake.
The Isle of Gold by Seven Jane is the story of a young orphan girl, Merrin Smith who disguises herself as a boy and takes to the sea on a pirate ship in search of answers to the mystery of her family and how she ended up on the Caribbean island where she grew up. Sailing on the Riptide under the mercurial Captain Winters, she finds herself on a quest to find the mysterious and magical island of Bracile, where curses, monsters and enchantments await, a perilous endeavour made all the more difficult by the secret she must hide from the Captain and the crew.
A wonderful blend of historical fiction and fantasy, with a strong and determined protagonist in Merrin, this book takes some beloved seafaring legends and uses them as the basis to weave an even more magical story full of action, adventure and romance. As well as Merrin, several of the Riptide's crew are standout characters, and the story of Captain Winters and his lost love is beautifully crafted. In general the pacing is well handled, the balance between plot and character development is well maintained. That being said I did feel it was a little rushed towards the end, however not so much that it spoiled my enjoyment of the book as a whole.
In the saturated market of YA books ,this one stood out as something a little different and special.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinons are my own.

Finally, a pirate novel that I absolutely loved! Marrin Smith disguises herself and boards a ship looking for Evangeline. Merrin discovers that she is not an orphan and that her parents are things of pirates tales. This journey full of twists and turns was unique and amazing. Recommended for fans for Pirates of the Carribean.

Prendre la mer sur un bateau pirate, c’est savoir où commence le voyage, mais rarement où il finira. Et lire un roman autour de la piraterie, surtout The Isle of Gold de Seven Jane, offre peu ou prou la même expérience aventureuse, les dangers des océans en moins. Quand la narratrice de The Isle of Gold commence son récit, le voyage qu’elle entame semble classique. Jeune orpheline sur une île des Caraïbes à l’âge d’or de la piraterie, elle cherche à échapper à sa carrière toute trouvée dans un bordel et s’engage sur un bateau pirate en se faisant passer pour un adolescent. Sauf que… Ce bateau ne navigue pas à la recherche d’or ou de richesse, mais d’une île mystérieuse aux confins de l’océan et de la femme perdue de son capitaine.
Avec The Isle of Gold, Seven Jane crée un roman surprenant glissant peu à peu du roman d’aventures classique à l’épopée mythologique. En effet, la première partie concernant les premiers pas de la narratrice en mer est plutôt bien documentée d’un point de vue historique. Et peu à peu, à mesure que le récit avance et que la narratrice progresse dans sa quête personnelle, des éléments fantastiques apparaissent. Petit à petit, Seven Jane va convoquer toutes les mythologies européennes liées à la mer : Circé, les selkies, le Kraken ou le capitaine Davy Jones et son vaisseau fantôme. Même cette pauvre Mélusine (d’origine pourtant bien terrestre) répond à l’appel et se trouve mêlée à cette histoire de famille fantastique. Comme tout bon récit de voyage en mer, l’aventure dans The Isle of Gold va crescendo jusqu’à l’épilogue final. Seven Jane a même le talent de nous éviter le calme plat, ce moment du voyage ou du récit où rien n'arrive et tout stagne faute de vent ou d’action. Elle passe alors du déroulé des évènements à une galerie de portraits aussi variés les uns que les autres, et loin des clichés classiques de la piraterie. À l’abordage ?

Personally, I’m not into books about pirates. However, the year of 1716 and the Golden Age of Pirates somehow attracted me as I wanted to familiarize myself with that period of piracy.

The main character is very engaging. However, I couldn’t get into the storyline of the pirates.

I gave up after 25%.

I’m not the right person to review this book. Therefore, I don’t want to rate it.

ARC PROVIDED BY NETGALLEY FOR AN HONEST REVIEW


Y’all are SLEEPINNNG on this right now. This is an AMAZING fun, fast paced bad ass pirate story with mythology all wrapped in!

I absolutely fucking loved this! From the very first page I was in awe of how fast and fun this was.

So much vivid details of the ships, oceans and the characters. I really pictured everything that was happening and the world.
This book has diversity in amazing ways, it isn’t over powering and shoving it in your face to prove that its diverse. It’s casual, a mention of Merrin possibly having women lovers to all different race of characters and creatures. I loved that about it.
I loved Captain Winters and Bullet, I thought Tom was a nice character in the fact that he was so unlike a pirate character or any other pirate on the ship.

The plot twist smacked me in the face. I thought I had it figured out very early and I didn’t at all and then the other plot twist smacked me around too and I LOVED it!! Absolutely loved it


Such an amazing book!!!! Y’all! Please don’t sleep on this book when it comes out October, 9th!!!


5/5 Stars!!!


Blog review to come closer to release date!

I'm afraid the writing in this book just did not work for me. Within the first couple of chapters I noticed a few clichés that were completely jarring. For example, at one point the narration says "and so it was to be a pirates life for me". These kind of sayings don't make sense within the world of the story and so hindered my ability to be immersed whenever they appeared. There were also many uncomfortable similarities between this and Pirates of the Caribbean.

I'm giving a three star rating only because I have to give something.

Captain Winters has been searching for his lost love Evangeline for two years. He swears the sea has taken her and is determined to sail into the heart of the ocean to bring her back. Merrin, an orphaned girl who scrubs floors in a brothel on Isla Perla, also feels a strange connection to the lost Evangeline. Disguising herself as a man, Merrin joins Winters' pirate crew. They begin an adventure of mythological proportions as Merrin discovers just who her parents are and why she was abandoned in the first place. 

Davy Jones, Melusine, selkies, sirens, and other lore from the sea build the world of this unique historical fantasy. Even with many elements reminiscent of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, the story was still unique. The pacing of the story was odd in parts, with large descriptive passages occurring during action scenes. The love interest also fell a little flat and was far less interesting than other parts of the story. On the whole, however, I enjoyed this adventure and may look out for more books by this author in the future.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Summary: An girl who was orphaned joins the crew of a pirate ship in search of adventure. 

What I liked: I truly dislike tropey novels and Isle of Gold  fit that bill. It was a fresh take on the pirate adventure with a bit of myth thrown in for good measure. I really enjoyed the pacing of the novel. It reminded me of a wave ebbing and flowing with a big build up to action and retreating to give the reader time to breath before the next wave of action. The characters were well written and three dimensional. The relationships between Tom and Merrin was sweet and I appreciated it. In a time where characters in books rip each others clothing off there was a lot of patience and build up between them and I found that endearing. I love the way myth was woven through the story to craft a back story that I found truly special. 

What I didn't like: There wasn't anything I didn't like....well there was one...the story ended. 

Star Rating: 5

My thoughts: Jane has left a bit to the imagination with this story and I truly loved it. I thought that the pacing was cleverly done and there wasn't a time throughout the book that I was bored or wanting to read something else.

The Isle of Gold was an interesting read--one about which I am still pondering as I pen this review. There was a lot to like about it, with pirates and adventure blending with fantasy and mythology. I appreciated the character of Merrin. However, I struggled to feel the connection between her and Tom, which seemed purely physical lust rather than love. To me, the person of greatest interest was Captain Winters, and I would have enjoyed the opportunity to get to know him a little more. I liked the way the story morphed from historical to fantasy, but I thought the pacing could have done with a little work. It was a somewhat plodding beginning, followed by a sudden rush of mad activity towards the end. In conclusion, this was an intriguing story with a lot of good points, but one which missed the mark here and there. I would recommend it to those who enjoy pirate stories with a touch of fantasy (along the lines of Pirates of the Caribbean), and overall I give it 3.5 stars, pushing to 4.

First of all I loved the cover. I thought it was fitting for the subject matter. The idea for this book was really, really good. However, the execution could have been better. It was very difficult to get into the book during the first 30%. It wasn't bad but it was overly descriptive. The writing was actually really good. The thing that bothered me the most was that in between the dialogue there was so much being described that I would forget there were characters talking. I feel like it would have been a way more engaging book if there had been more dialogue and less descriptions. Also, an introduction to the main character and her goals would have been good to have. At the end of the book I still had no idea what was her motivation for having started the adventure in the first place. I did start becoming invested in the story about 50% of the way through and was glad I stuck with it. Dialogue became more abundant but still too descriptive for my liking. I actually thought the book was redeeming itself and would end up being a 4 star for me but the ending was rushed. Too many things were done without reasonable explanations. I feel sad and let down because this could have been a book that I loved.

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