Review: Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller

Review: Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller
Series: Daughter of the Pirate King #1
Published by Feiwel & Friends on February 28th 2017
Pages: 320

A 17-year-old pirate captain intentionally allows herself to get captured by enemy pirates in this thrilling YA adventure.

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.

Debut author Tricia Levenseller blends action, adventure, romance, and a little bit of magic into a thrilling YA pirate tale.

Pirates are one of those things I have myself convinced that I am not going to like. Because I am a ridiculous human being. If you recall, I used to tell myself that I was afraid of retellings. Things I also claim to be afraid of but never actually read about? Circuses, graffiti, dragons, and video games, to name a few. (But we shan’t count bird people in this category- I still really hate bird people. For realsies.)

Anyway. When I read Blackhearts last year, I liked it so much, and I told myself that it was because it was Pirate-light. But when I saw Daughter of the Pirate King… I was curious enough to finally let my irrational and ridiculous pirate nonsense go. And I figured we’d see once and for all if I was in actual dislike of pirates, or if I was just kind of nuts. The answer? The latter!

So the best part about this book, hands down, is that Alosa is a swashbuckling, ass kicking, female pirate. And while female pirates aren’t exactly the majority, she is definitely not alone. She has made sure to surround herself with the best team she can muster, and quite a few of those team members are females too. 

The relationships between her and her “captors” is pretty fabulous too. They are often more compassionate than she is, which I liked, the ridding of some kind of gender conformity is always a plus. And yes, there is a bit of a romance, though it is nice and slow, but full of all kinds of lovely banterous moments. (I don’t think that is a word, but it should be, so let’s go with it.) 

Anyway, there are all kinds of tense and exciting moments, and while I was quite able to guess a lot of things that were coming, it was still very enjoyable. And I certainly didn’t predict all the things, there were still quite a few surprises.  I liked being immersed in the watery world of pirates, of the intricacies of life on a ship. I definitely got a good feel for how it would be to spend so much time on a boat- especially a boat with a bunch of smelly pirate guys who were in desperate need of some hygiene. 

Bottom Line: Yes, this is just one of those books that is downright fun and entertaining. I loved the characters, enjoyed the story, and cannot wait  for the next book! If you are looking for a badass pirate heroine and a lot of wit and charm, then I think this will be a huge win!

Do share: Do you enjoy pirate books? And is there a random thing you have avoided in books?

Posted February 19, 2017 by Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight in Review / 16 Comments

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16 responses to “Review: Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller

  1. Sounds like this book us rather accurate to how female pirates were back when Pirates sailed the seas. They were often far more ruthless than any of the male pirates.
    Fun Fact, in the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie, that female Chinese pirate Captain was based on a real person. (Ching Shih)

  2. Yeah this was a really fun book and I couldn’t put it down. I felt like parts of it were very predictable, but whatever, I enjoyed the book. I enjoyed the romance. But mostly I just want more of those female pirates in the sequel. I’m glad you enjoyed this, Shannon! 🙂

  3. danielle hammelef

    I love pirate books–all the Peter Pan retellings have been fun so far and i’m currently reading Blue Tide and enjoying it very much.

  4. YAS! *grabbyhands*
    I’m a lover of all things piratical (you should’ve seen my fangirling when the first three PotC movies came out). I saw this book but was wary, because I hadn’t heard any reviews. So I’m thrilled to hear it’s a fun romp and it’s DEFINITELY on my wishlist now. Thank you! 😀

  5. Yay! I’m so glad you liked this one 😀 I gave it a 4 star as well. It was quick and flighty, but still a very fun, swashbuckling read. Plus Alosha’s character was A++. I can’t wait to see what the author has in store for us next!

  6. Oh wow, great review! I was going to give this one a miss because pirates don’t appeal – I haven’t watched any piratey movies or read any piratey books other than Treasure Island a hundred years ago. I should have got over my phobia because I finally got over (well partly over) the circus phobia when, after much persuasion, I listened to The Night Circus audio and loved it.
    Bring on the pirates… I think 🙂

  7. This sounds like such a fun read! Plus, I love the idea of it being a pirate novel. Those, in my reader experience, are too few. As a fan of Captain Jack Sparrow, I’d definitely like to read more pirate-y novels, so this is one I plan to look into when it releases next week. 🙂

  8. I’m still trying to decide if my issue was with this book or if it’s just that I don’t like pirate books as much in reality as I do in theory. I think it’s pretty fitting that you filled this review with POTC gifs because the book totally reminded me of that. Which is fine. Except I also wanted more world building. Like POTC is pretty grounded in history with Nassau and the British even though it has some fantasy elements. Not so with this book which is just sort of name dropping places instead of actually creating any kind of backdrop beyond the ship. So it goes.

  9. Stacy

    I live in an area that celebrates pirates and actually has a huge pirate-themed party that stretches over several weekends (Gasparilla in Tampa) so I have a thing for pirates. I haven’t read too many pirate books because they seem to be rip-offs of Pirates of the Caribbean. I am so excited about this book because of the female pirate lead.

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