Bloody Jack

I finished the fifth book of the Bloody Jack series.
I still wish the series had a better name though.

I started the series a long time ago. A family friend recommended it, so Mom bought the first seven books, I think. It looks like there are eleven books now. I wonder if the series is still going.
Mom finished them all a while ago, and said they felt fast-paced. But I'd just read Maximum Ride at the time, so Bloody Jack felt quite slow in comparison.
Now I know what she means though.
There will be spoilers following, by the way.

I didn't have much opinion of the series at first. But I like it more with every book. I think because the author pulls certain things off very successfully - things that I tried and failed to write in high school. I won't go into details, but in The Belly of the Bloodhound, when all of the girls were on the ship, they took the time to learn a lot of new skills. Both to keep their spirits up, and to aid in their escape. And that was one of the things I loved because it like something I tried and failed to do a long time ago...
And Jackie herself is always eager to learn new skills, which usually end up coming in handy.
Jackie is a very interesting character. She is widely loved and hated by the people in her world.
And the love and the hate is well deserved, on her part. She can be amazingly clever, or incredibly stupid. And her stupidity is punished in many different ways. At the same time, the friends and connections she makes are her salvation from many of her troubles.
In The Belly of the Bloodhound, one of Jackie's old foes, the fine lady Clarissa, comes back. Except this time, the two of them are forced to cooperate. It's great. Clarissa is such a jerk, but she's amazing too, in her own ways.
Because of her many foes and her ability to get into trouble, Jackie can be a very stressful character to follow. Even when things are going well, you know it won't last. I think I got especially paranoid during this book, because all the way up to the last sentence, I was expecting some other bomb to drop just as Jackie's heading to a safe haven.

One of the things I love about Jackie (also something that I love in other stories, and like to do with my own stories) has to do with her allies. Because she grew up in such poverty, she's always trying to help those who are worse off than her. For example, she funds an orphanage, to help kids like her. And she hires a homeless boy to help with her ship.
It reminds me of Jean Valjean, always trying to use his abilities to help others.
Although Jackie also uses her abilities to make trouble...

(Jackie was able to pull herself out of poverty, but Kvothe has been having a lot more trouble with that...)

Another thing the Bloody Jack books do are make allusions to other bits of history, and other novels that took place during the same time. Which inevitably make me crack up. There were hints of Oliver Twist, and Moby Dick. I wonder if I've missed many others.
There are real historical figures in the navy. And in Mississippi Jack, Jackie has a brush with Mike Fink (who I knew from the Disney Davy Crockett movies).
Fortunately that didn't end as badly as it could have.

Oh my god, poor Jamie! The author seems determined to keep the two sweethearts apart for as long as possible. TT^TT
That's another thing. All of the characters always seem to find their match. That ws a lot more obvious in this book. Heh.

I wonder what the next book will be about. And how stressful I'll get on Jackie's behalf. @_@