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Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
In Rhiannon Hargadon's Bloody Black, Princess Anne of Celestia wins the right to choose her husband and marries William, a soldier from Rivelle, the kingdom at war with her own. Their wedding night ends in betrayal when William reveals that his courtship was part of a plan to seize Celestia’s throne. Left for dead, Anne survives through a bargain with the demon Rokhur, whose magic alters her body and binds her to an obligation. Later, she sails under the name Blackbeard, commanding a pirate crew made up of rescued captives. Her raids weaken William’s rule before she returns home. When she captures Lieutenant Robb Maynard, one of William’s allies, Anne gains a prisoner whose knowledge may provide a possible route back to Celestia, where her family is in William’s reach.
Bloody Black by Rhiannon Hargadon is a wonderful epic fantasy, and Anne's arc is really well done. One of the greatest moments is, after surviving her husband’s coup, Anne unlocks a slave ship’s cages and offers its prisoners safety. Later, she shows extraordinary selflessness when she refuses a win so a wounded crewmate can live. Robb is the perfect counter here, an enemy lieutenant turned captive, who is also willing to bargain for his surrendered sailors’ lives. I love this similarity between them, and Robb also makes a massive shift when he sees her in a completely different state. The settings are almost cinematic, and Celestia is stunning from the water, where a stone castle rises above black boulders and a dark sand beach, its snow-crowned towers lit for a royal wedding as pirates approach unseen. The fantasy visuals, like sirens surrounding the ship inside enchanted fog, their song coiling through the sailors’ minds and the sea forming a whirlpool, are the star players. Well written and among one of the most immersive books of the year, readers who enjoy fantasy romance and piracy, led by a heroine who turns her supernatural second life into a chosen family at sea, will adore this.
