Pirate Queen: The Legend of Grace O'Malley

by Tony Lee

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from LibraryThing Early Reviewers and Candlewick Press in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

So on the one hand, I appreciate the existence of this book because Grace O’Malley is super cool and her story isn’t widely shared. On the other hand, I’m still not 100% on board with how it was done here.

There’s not a whole lot of definitive fact out there about Grace – and this is my historian showing through. It’s not like we have her letters or a private journal or anything like that to lean on. Rather, Grace is one of those figures who has become renown through stories and legends There are some very basic facts we know – we know of her marriages, we know of her children, and we know of her meeting with Queen Elizabeth. Everything else, including her appearance, is guesswork. I’ve personally stumbled across her here and there in Rejected Princesses (every woman in that book needs an historical fiction written about her) and in Under the Black Flag, which is a non-fiction about pirates general.

Tony Lee and Sam Hart have chosen to take moderate middle ground with this graphic novel. Grace fights for what she believes in and for the country she loves. She fights for her children. But this is not the girl power book I wanted. This isn’t to say Grace is unimpressive – she is impressive – but everything she does is downplayed. Sure, we get the famous scene where she has a baby in the middle of a battle, but it’s only a couple panels.

I mean, come on! If that isn’t hella girl power, what is?!

A lot of Grace’s actions take place off screen and the story has become a balance between Brigham’s bloodlust for the O’Malleys, and Grace’s desire to avenge her dead male family members. Grace actually had a daughter as well, but she is only mentioned once by name, and we never see her again. The story drags where it should be exciting. This is a pirate book. There are few things I personally consider more exciting than pirates. Especially lady pirates. And there’s so little like this available. So I’m holding it to high standard.

All in all I’m really bummed out by Pirate Queen: The Legend of Grace O’Malley. There was a lot of potential here for a girl power story between Grace and Elizabeth, but it never played out. There was opportunity for moxie and excitement. Instead, it really became a place for a woman to fight because she’s sad her husband and lovers have been murdered. And honestly, we haven’t even had time to get acquainted with any of them so we care. There’s no emotional depth in the wording and no depth in the art. I love Grace O’Malley, but this graphic novel didn’t light any fires for me.

I think that it’s good that this is out there, and it’s a good learning opportunity for middle grade or even some high school readers. I don’t think it’s particularly memorable, and since we’re missing so much, I was disappointed to see the authors not push a message of feminine strength through as well as they could have. Still, this sort of thing is a good addition to a school library. Personally, I just find myself coming out of this disappointed. It’s not bad… it’s just… not what I wanted, I guess.