“I am me because I choose to be me. I am what I want. Some people say you have to find yourself. Not I. I believe we create ourselves to be what we want.”

Synopsis: 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.

In Daughter of the Pirate King, debut author Tricia Levenseller blends action, adventure, romance, and a little bit of magic into a thrilling YA pirate tale.

Source: Goodreads

Title: Daughter of the Pirate King
Author: Tricia Levenseller
Series: Daughter of the Pirate King, Book One
Links: Book Depository | Chapters Indigo | Goodreads

Genre / Themes: Adventure | Fantasy | Romance
Point of View: First Person

Publisher: Square Fish
Publication Date: January 2, 2018 (first published 2017)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 336

What a HILARIOUS tale of pirates, adventure and all the random shenanigans get into! Having not read a grand adventure book full of untrustworthy pirates with hidden agendas in SUCH a long time (or … ever, actually), this was a great chance to explore this type of literature. Basically reading a female version of Captain Jack Sparrow but more epic and intelligent (sorry, Jack), this book totally captured my attention and made me eager to learn more and more about the plot direction and the characters within the pages. I’m so pleased that I’m planning to read the second book next month (hopefully … *fingers crossed*).

Thank you Lauren @ Narrative Paradise and Trisha @ The Tea Reader for buddy reading this novel with me! I don’t think I would’ve ended up reading it if we didn’t’ do this, so I’m very grateful!

This is a semi-spoiler free review (minor under “Woe No. 2”). Anything already discussed about the plot has been mentioned and/or hinted in the synopsis.

↠ Pro 1. A strong and confident female lead, Alosa’s a character NOT to be reckoned with! Levenseller’s pro-feminist novel shows that women can just be as (or even more) savvy, skilled in combat and clever as men … which I’m TOTALLY down for. Alosa’s an amazing captain, hiring the best and brightest for her own crew — which happen to mainly be women (YAY). Though a number of reviews have commented that she’s too cocky and “full of herself”, I thought her confidence spoke truths about her ability as a captain and as a pirate. I typically don’t enjoy overly cocky and clever characters, yet I still fell in-love with Alosa’s personality … so just go into this book knowing the main character (actually, MOST of the characters) behave in this manner. And to be fair, she can back up her confidence with her advance fighting techniques and ability to scheme beyond belief!

↠ Pro 2. There are no real heroes in this story … just a bunch of pirates and moral ambiguity! If I’m going to be reading a book about pirates, I don’t WANT heroes … I want PIRATES, something more traditional to pirate lore and stories! Playing dirty and doing whatever it takes to get what they want, that’s the kind of characters in Daughter of the Pirate King. If you’ve ever watch Pirates of the Caribbean, the moral compass is rather similar. Alosa and a number of other pirates do live by a CODE, showing respect and even affection for some members of their own respective crew mates … but at the end of the day, they’re still pirates.

↠ Pro 3. Daughter of the Pirate King is a relatively light and hilarious novel, making it quite the fun and quick read. A straightforward and untaxing read, Levenseller’s novel was the PERFECT buddy read choice for the month of December — all them holiday events and all. I never felt lost when reading the novel, making it easy to pick up right where I left off after putting it down for a day or two. But the great thing is that I always WANTED to come back to the novel, not just for the story … BUT FOR SOME COMIC RELIEF! The banter between Alosa and Riden, the constant taunting among all the central characters, Alosa’s ongoing shenanigans and mind-games — I couldn’t help but laugh at all the craziness happening! I’m REALLY excited to see this continue on in the second book.

↠ Woe 1. For an adventure story, there wasn’t enough world exploration. Daughter of the Pirate King takes place on an enemy ship as Alosa looks for something possibly hidden by this crew of pirate … so you’d THINK there would be more world exploration with this kind of grand adventure tale. Though there ARE references to other parts of the world, it still felt very much like the same setting throughout the story … on a boat … somewhere on the sea … repeat. The story’s VERY much a character focused novel (which I love), but I was hoping for a bit more exploration of this fictional land.

↠ Woe 2. The romance felt too rushed and forced. To be clear, I do actually like Alosa and Riden’s connection … it was WEIRD at first, but I grew to find it rather interesting. My ISSUE is the lack of build up — it started to feel like insta-love, even though it’s not? They open up about things rather quickly and have this “connection”, yet BARELY know one another. And given the circumstance of Alosa being a prisoner and all, it just made it less … believable? Hopefully book two will build upon this a bit more in a more gradual manner.

↠ Woe 3. There are a LOT of sexual assault and attempted rape references. I don’t even know if this is a woe … more of a note? To be frank, I was KIND OF expecting this … this IS a book about VERY morally ambiguous pirates. There were a FEW instances where I felt these references weren’t really necessary to the scene or overall plot, which is why I was slightly annoyed by it at times. Something to consider.

Levenseller’s Daughter of the Pirate King will bring you to tears, simply due to the hilarity of the characters and insanely odd situations Alosa puts herself in. A grand scheming adventure story with a touch of romance, Levenseller’s novel will keep you eager to keep on reading simply to know what will happen next! And with some added twists regarding our main character Alosa and a cliffhanger leaving you desiring more content, you’ll be jumping to buy her sequel to this fun fantasy story.

Note: The title of the sequel REALLY gives away some of the content, so I’d TRY to avoid searching it up if you want to be left surprised.

I recommend this novel if you enjoy:

↠ Strong and confident female leads
↠ Character driven novels
↠ Linear plot-lines
↠ Morally ambiguous characters
↠ Comical and light reads

Have you read Tricia Levenseller’s Daughter of the Pirate King?

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