Review Detail

All aboard for a rip-roaring, quirky, adventure-filled retelling of The Little Mermaid with pirates! Arrrrrrr. Like the previous books in the series, my Salty Mary takes a Historical Mary and puts a twist on it. The Mary for this one is about the infamous Pirate Mary Read. Mary Read left the mer world behind to live among humans and be with the man she loves until he invites her to his wedding to another woman. What’s a heartbroken woman to do? Become a pirate, of course.
All three points of view in this book were wonderfully and hilariously done. There’s an unexpected musical number, an angry chicken, and a half-mer half-human mama’s boy who wants to marry the girls of his dreams and is the perfect cinnamon roll addition. You wouldn’t expect a woman’s rights campaign to be one of the main plots of a novel about pirates, but what a lovely inclusion. I loved that Mary’s family called her Littlest (even though she hated it), her annoying sister was Karen, the evil Sea Witch wasn’t cruel, and Blackbeard had more than five dozen kids. My favorite parts were the pop culture references: from Captain Crunch to Captain Underpants, Princess Bride references, and Taylor Swift lyrics uttered by a pirate appropriately named Swift. If you’re looking for a fun read where you’re just along for the ride, My Salty Mary is for you!