Review: I am almost finished with book number two, The Curse of the Blue Tattoo, and I am hooked on this series and can't recommend it highly enough. Some of the reviewers on goodreads called jacky a mary-sue, and to a degree, maybe she is (though i think "mary-sue" is a very damning term) - she does manage to survive every scrape she finds herself and is better off for it, but i dont see it as overbearing, unlike the prototypical mary-sue, ayla (clan of the cavebear series) where the only thing she cant do perfectly is sing and sparkle in the sun. she does have a major love interested, but it's not the be-all end-all of her existence, like bella. and jaimy, at least to my current reading, doesnt appear to be a complete dick or have uncomfortably similar abuser personality. utlimately, you want jacky to win, you want jacky and jaimy to be together.
Also, as a period fiction, it's well-researched, but not overbearing, early 1800s isnt usually my favourite time period, but fascinating nonetheless.
I would hope, given the last name, people looking for twilight will stumble across this much better, IMHO, series. better written, better characters, better plot.
Additional: This series is worth owning and if you can, listen to the audio version (and buy that one, too). Katy Kellgren does a phenomenal job bring jacky to life. dialect, accents, male and female voices are outstanding and i believe she, rightly, won an award for her performance. goodread reviewers called ms. kellgren a "female jim dale" (narrator of the harry potter series) but jim dale pales in comparison. or maybe i'm biased because i couldnt stand dale's hermione-version of the word "harr-eeee!!!!"
Lastly, As a coming-of-age story there are issues of maturation and "sexual awakening" though it's not prurient. jacky's exact age is never actually mentioned, if i recall correctly, mostly because she doesnt know, herself. i would age the book 13+, YMMV. I say this only because i like the series so much, i would want my kids to read it and was trying to think when it would be appropriate. they are currently under 5.
