Title: Daughter of the Pirate King
Series: Daughter of the Pirate King, Book 1
Author: Tricia Levenseller
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Release Date: February 28, 2017
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy Adventure
Told: First Person (Alosa), Present Tense
Content Rating: Older Teen (violence, killing, abuse, minor torture, sensuality, innuendo and sexual implications - see Content Note below)
Format Read: ARC (BookHype)
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Summary:
There will be plenty of time for me to beat him soundly once I’ve gotten what I came for.
Sent on a mission to retrieve an ancient hidden map—the key to a legendary treasure trove—seventeen-year-old pirate captain Alosa deliberately allows herself to be captured by her enemies, giving her the perfect opportunity to search their ship.
More than a match for the ruthless pirate crew, Alosa has only one thing standing between her and the map: her captor, the unexpectedly clever and unfairly attractive first mate, Riden. But not to worry, for Alosa has a few tricks up her sleeve, and no lone pirate can stop the Daughter of the Pirate King.
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In a Sentence: A quick and thoroughly entertaining pirate adventure with an easy writing style and truly kick-ass female protagonist.
Confession: Unless there's a lot of comedy involved (a la
Pirates of the Caribbean), I'm generally not much for pirates. So although I'd heard good things about
Daughter of the Pirate King, going in my expectations were low. To my surprise I discovered an exciting and engaging adventure with the truly kick-ass female protagonist so many other books have promised but few have actually delivered.
While Alosa's tendency to turn all the horrific things that happened to her into "teaching moments" wasn't exactly the healthiest, she was a genuine pirate princess and embraced it, her strength and surety and fearlessness a beautiful thing to behold. Her power was also different and interesting and added a nice twist to her character and personality. Cute and tortured Riden was an excellent foil and love interest, and his banter with Alosa was naturally a highlight. Their "relationship" was an intriguing one as Alosa's character, so detached after her violent upbringing, doesn't even seem to recognize or understand the concept of love, and I look forward to watching her discover it - with Riden's help - over the rest of the series.
Despite the murder and marauding that always accompanies pirates, the story's easy, breezy writing style made for a light and effortless read. The plot was simple with only one or two twists, which I found very refreshing - so many book plots nowadays try to outdo themselves twist-wise and end up a messy knotted ball for all their threads, and as I can typically predict most of them it's grown rather tiresome. With just Alosa's ruse and her search and little else to
Pirate King's plot I could relax and enjoy the quick adventure without suspiciously second-guessing every little thing. I will say the last 30% or so had some flaws, but for the most part it was an engaging story with a satisfying ending.
Content Note: I typically avoid pirates because of the filth and debauchery that accompanies them, but told in an easy writing style from the viewpoint of a detached and fearless female I felt the dingier bits of pirate life and rateable content (see Content Rating above) were very tastefully handled and for the most part blessedly skimmed over.
Conclusion: An easy and entertaining adventure with an uncomplicated plot, fantastically fearless female protagonist, and tastefully handled piracy. I wasn't even 20% through when I found myself wishing I already had the sequel to read next, and now look forward to Alosa's next adventure,
Daughter of the Siren Queen, with great anticipation!
Scribble Rating:
4 of 5 Scribbles
