Welcome to the Slant, where you'll find reviews and original writings by the members of Martin Library's Teen Advisory Board.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Book Review: My Bonnie Light Horseman (L.A. Meyer)

by Becca L.

In this latest installment of the Bloody Jack series, Jackie has gotten herself into the most far-fetched bit of trouble yet. We've stuck with her through cross-dressing, finishing school, piracy, slavery, and grand theft nautical. Even I, Jackie's biggest fan, cannot swallow our heroine as a spy/ballerina/burlesque/French soldier. Yes, she tackles all these roles in a single book. One day she's gaining information on French troop movements via pillow-talk, the next she's delivering the orders that save Napoleon's bacon. And the author tells us this is not the end of it!

I have never been a supporter of neat, tidy, gift-wrapped endings. In fact, I am highly offended by them. But would it kill L.A. Meyer to give it a ending? Every book ends in the middle of something very important. Just send her back to England with Jaimy already! She can get in plenty of book-worthy trouble when she's married.

I am all for suspense, but I have been waiting with baited breath for far too long. I have another bone to pick with you, Mr. Meyer. When did Jackie become gentrified? A large part of her charm stems from her cockney upbringing. I cannot have a properly educated Cheapside scammer! It simply will not do! I demand that you return her to her humbler speech patterns that must be read aloud to be understood!

Still, I can never stay mad at Jackie for long. She holds a special place in my heart as the one heroine I actually like who can be snuck into the "realistic fiction" box of required reading. I shudder to think what the seventh book will bring. I doubt there is anything left to subject her to.

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