As a fan of The Flesh of the Sea, when Hedone posted it was looking for ARC readers for its next queer pirate excursion, I was ready! Queen O’Nine Tails by Lindz McLeod did not disappoint.
Pirate queen Valentina Mallozzi kidnaps civilian Miss Gloria Vane for ransom at the nearest port, but Gloria isn’t the helpless girl she pretends to be—she’s a talented pickpocket and observant spy. Her best chance of escape lies in seducing Mallozzi, but the famed Queen O’Nine Tails won’t be wooed so easily.
When a demon sneaks aboard the ship, jumping from body to body in an attempt to gain power amid the chaos, Gloria’s situation goes from bad to much, much worse. The remaining crew must find and kill the demon while juggling an increasingly paranoid and out-of-control Mallozzi, whose foretold destiny threatens to destroy them all.
While curled up on a snowy day, my eyes fixated on my e-reader, my partner asked me what I was reading. Knowing the title would mean nothing to him, I replied, “Lesbian pirates.” That certainly got his attention, hah!
Here’s the thing. Yes, Queen O’Nine Tails is most definitely about lesbian pirates (I’ll spare you the history lesson about how pirating and queerness went hand in hand in the 17th adn 18th centuries) its also about a traditional adventure story with moments of body horror.
There are steamy moments between the main characters (Captain Mallozzi is definitely a brat tamer) There are also moments of high tension when you’re not entirely sure if Gloria, the main character, is going to survive. She certainly doesn’t come out the other end of the traumas inflicted on her in one piece and neither do the other pirates on the Rose Red. That is what I love most about this story. There are brief moments of bravado and celebration but most of it is a mire of dark magic, who-dunnit, and not knowing where the next attack will come from. It kept me on the edge of my seat and unable to put the book down until the very end.
McLeod did an excellent job of creating an isolated mystery with so many characters that I was invested in. I can’t wait to read more from them.
Recommendations
Read Queen O’Nine Tails if you are looking for queer stories that are just a touch fantastical with buckets of tension. If you enjoyed The Flesh of the Sea but wanted something that went just a little harder. If you read The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi as a kid and wanted more girl sailors and pirates being bad asses. If you support women’s rights AND women’s wrongs. Pick up this book.
