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When a mysterious sailor dies in sinister circumstances at the Admiral Benbow inn, young Jim Hawkins stumbles across a treasure map among the dead man’s possessions. But Jim soon becomes only too aware that he is not the only one who knows of the map’s existence, and his bravery and cunning are tested to the full when, with his friends Squire Trelawney and Dr Livesey, he sets sail in the Hispaniola to track down the treasure. With its swift-moving plot and memorably drawn characters – Blind Pew and Black Dog, the castaway Ben Gunn and the charming but dangerous Long John Silver – Stevenson’s tale of pirates, treachery and heroism was an immediate success when it was first published in 1883 and has retained its place as one of the greatest of all adventure stories.

There was a lot I liked about this book. I found from the very start this one made for the perfect adventure story and I really liked the feeling of it. I read this on audiobook and this one was published by Recorded Books, who I’ve found I really like for classics because the narrators tend to actually sing the songs in the books I’ve listened to so far. That felt like such a big thing in this book because it has such an iconic song (quoted in this post).

Fifteen men on the Dead Man’s Chest Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!

I did find myself switching off a little from the audiobook depending on what I was doing, and I did feel a bit of disconnect with this book. I think this was slightly due to me, and partly due to the book itself. I just found this a little boring in places and found that I didn’t care much about where the plot was heading.

However, when I did find myself focusing on this book properly I enjoyed it. It felt like such a great pirate adventure book and the setting was very entertaining – I’m not usually one for pirate/books set on the sea, but I liked this one.

Drink and the devil had done for the rest Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!

If I did end up ever so slightly regretting reading the audiobook because I have noticed that my Wordsworth copy is illustrated, so if I do ever reread this one I would like to pick up my physical copy!

★★★★
3.5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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