Book Review: Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller

Series: Daughter of the Pirate King Book #1

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 311

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

How I Got It: Purchased

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

Publisher: Feiwel Friends

Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads

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.

Review

I thoroughly enjoyed this. It isn't a massive fantasy with multiple POVs and I'm thankful for that. There is a fairly substantial romance element, but I didn't think it was the main focus and I liked it. I haven't read a ton of pirate books and I want to check out more.

Objectively, I can see some issues with this book, but I don't care. There was some "secrets" that were pretty obvious. And Alosa had some SJ Maas heroine tendencies-by which I mean she's almost too perfect and she has skills that conveniently show up. But Alosa had enough issues and believability so I was able to overlook those "issues".

Ms. Levenseller didn't ignore the dark aspects of piracy-especially death. Sometimes people glamorize piracy so I'm glad she didn't stray from all that. And it definitely helped create tension and show how high-stakes situations were. At the same time, it wasn't particularly gory or over-the-top which is how I prefer my violence. 

There is a nice fairly steamy romance. But I feel it was kind of oversold in some reviews and wrap-ups I saw. I am a romance reader so maybe my perspective is skewed. I liked the romantic elements. I'm definitely curious to see how it progresses in the second/final book.

This book has a political aspect-which I like-but it's pirate politics. I like that Ms. Levenseller focuses on the small portion of this world. You don't need multiple countries and 10 maps to keep things organized to have a solid fantasy story. 

I've already purchased the next book and Ms. Levenseller's 2019 release. I'm excited to read both ASAP.

Thanks for reading!

Holly