“I may not have been born in the sea, but I was born to rule it. I am the daughter of the siren queen.”

Synopsis: Alosa’s mission is finally complete. Not only has she recovered all three pieces of the map to a legendary hidden treasure, but the pirates who originally took her captive are now prisoners on her ship. Still unfairly attractive and unexpectedly loyal, first mate Riden is a constant distraction, but now he’s under her orders. And she takes great comfort in knowing that the villainous Vordan will soon be facing her father’s justice.

When Vordan exposes a secret her father has kept for years, Alosa and her crew find themselves in a deadly race with the feared Pirate King. Despite the danger, Alosa knows they will recover the treasure first . . . after all, she is the daughter of the Siren Queen.

In Daughter of the Siren Queen, Tricia Levenseller brings together the perfect mix of thrilling action, tense battle scenes, and a heart-pounding romance.

Source: Goodreads

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

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

Publisher: Square Fish
Publication Date: February 26, 2019 (first published 2018)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 368

Well … I never thought I’d see the day where I preferred the sequel over the prequel … thank you to all of you who brought this book into my life! I’m honestly so happy with the conclusion of Alosa’s adventure, feeling that “bittersweet” emotion of saying goodbye to a great cast of characters yet truly happy with how Levenseller closed off the final novel.

Thank you Lauren @ Narrative Paradise for buddy reading this novel with me — and for being as excited as I was about this book, hence us finishing it I think 2 weeks ahead of schedule ha-ha! I CANNOT wait for us to eventually do another buddy ready together! Make sure to visit her site and read her review!

↠ Daughter of the Pirate King (Book 1): ★★★

↠ Pro 1. Almost EVERYTHING that was an issue in book one was removed in book two. In my review for Daughter of the Pirate King, there were a FEW things that really bothered me: the unnecessary amount of “rape and sexual assault” references, the rushed romance story, and the lack of world exploration. In Daughter of the Siren Queen, Levenseller eliminates these woes and frustrations — making the story more enticing and grounded. There’s little to know rape references, the romance is flushed out a lot more, and the characters begin to explore the seas more.

↠ Pro 2. There’s more world exploration than the prequel — making this feel more like an adventure story! As mentioned previously, there’s a lot more settings explored in book two: the Pirate King’s liar, the Ava-Lee (Alosa’s ship), a few new islands, and the location of the sirens! It might seem small, but these additional settings added into the mix made this duology feel more like an actual adventure book, building the excitement of where Alosa and her crew will venture to next!

↠ Pro 3. With such a great and diverse cast of characters, this book will be hard to forget. For me, the selling point of this novel is the characters — they’re hilarious, diverse and memorable. You WANT to be apart of their lives, joining Alosa and her crew. And for once, the characters aren’t male-white-washed — there’s a larger women presence in this novel, with additional references to different types of sexuality and ethnicity. The lack of the latter is something I’ve struggled with in regards to the desire to read fantasy literature — it’s still rather male dominated, typically Caucasian and heterosexual. But Levenseller changes things up with a group of strong female women taking the lead in this story, WITHOUT belittling the men.

↠ Pro 4. The movement and progression of the story is intoxicating! Levenseller has this incredible ability to feed readers enough information that the whole story isn’t revealed yet providing enough to keep them eagerly wanting more. The flow of the story’s done so well, moving seamlessly from one narrative point to the next — I never felt lost with the direction of the plot, always wanting to keep on reading — there’s a reason Lauren and I finished our buddy read WAY ahead of schedule. If you’re a plot driven person, seeking a beautifully put together story-line rather than a confusing and jumbled mess — Daughter of the Siren Queen is a perfect match for you!

↠ Woe 1. The pacing during the first 6 chapters felt slightly off. The story picks up right after the first book, with Alosa and her crew finding the last piece of the map for her father, the Pirate King. But after some startling discoveries, Alosa starts some investigating of her own and causes a dangerous adventure to begin for her and her crew. But Alosa’s change of loyalties and questioning of her life felt very — abrupt? Especially since she’s been conditioned in such a way for a VERY long time. It’s not the WORST writing decision, but it could’ve been drawn out more.

↠ Woe 2. Riden began to bother me partway through the novel — making it REALLY hard to like him at times. Okay … I love Riden … he’s absolutely adorable … BUT SERIOUSLY!? STOP GETTING ON MY LOVELY ALOSA’S BACK ABOUT EVERYTHING! Basically, there’s a section around the middle of the book where Riden starts to be OVERLY emotional and complicated about everything. Alosa’s not perfect either, but she’s NEVER put herself on this “pedestal” of being a wonderful human being — whereas Riden seems to do that for a bit. ONLY a little bit though — he goes back to normal near the end, thank gosh!

↠ Woe 3. The Siren lore seems a little off in regards to women who are attracted to the same sex. This is actually something Lauren pointed out early on in our buddy read for both books — and I have to agree. I don’t know MUCH about Siren lore, but the mythology is that female sirens lure men to their death through seduction … so, heterosexuality. But what about women who are attracted to the same sex? Either Levenseller simply didn’t have any homosexual women in her crew (though one is asexual, which I enjoyed the diversity) or she messed up in this part … it’s just a little off.

Levenseller’s Daughter of the Siren Queen is an excellent finale to this sword-fighting, swashbuckling, pirate adventure story; the all-enticing plot and the brilliantly crafted characters completely draws you in, desperately wanting more! From comedy to terrifying suspenseful moments, Levenseller gives readers a grand story like no other. Though it’s sad to see it end, I’m absolutely thrilled with the finale of Alosa’s story.

I recommend this novel if you enjoy:

↠ Strong and confident female leads
↠ Adventure stories and sea exploration
↠ Descriptive and epic action scenes
↠ Morally ambiguous characters
↠ Comical reads

Have you read Tricia Levenseller’s Daughter of the Siren Queen?

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