Book Review
Title: Daughter of the Pirate King (Daughter of the Pirate King #1)
Author: Tricia Levenseller
Genre: YA/Fantasy
Rating: *****
Review: So, I have read Daughter of the Pirate King before, but I am re-reading it for the Book Junkie Trials which I am competing in this year. I am a Scribe and this book fits my first prompt Dwarf Mount: You spot a fair tavern wench, however, the Dwarf Mines, grimy and dusty, didn’t evoke a very romantic feeling. Read a book with a hint of romance to get you in the mood. In the opening of Daughter of the Pirate King, we are introduced to Princess Alosa who is aboard a ship being boarded by pirates from the Night Farer. It turns out Alosa is the daughter of the Pirate King and the captain of the Night Farer; Draxen intends to take her hostage which he manages to do but he is unaware of the fact that Alosa planned to get captured in order to rob Draxen’s ship.
We soon learn that Alosa is aboard the Night Farer to find a map, but it isn’t going to be easy. We also learn that Draxen and his first mate Riden are brother, the sons of the notorious pirate Jeskor and finding the map in their possession, and getting off the ship is going to be a challenge for Alosa. As Alosa sends almost a week aboard the Night Farer her nightly searches haven’t led her to the map she wants yet, but she is learning a lot about the crew that kidnapped her. However, she seems to be stamping down some emotions for Riden and he seems to enjoy talking to her, but he also suspects that Alosa is up to something.
As we approach the second half of the novel, the banter between Riden and Alosa is beautifully written and I can’t help at laughing at the pair desperately trying to deny their feelings for each other. Alosa still hasn’t gotten the map but this serves so we can get to know the characters better, my favourites so far are Riden and Enwen, especially when Riden and Alosa start getting closer after he moved Alosa into his rooms. Learning more about Alosa and Riden’s pasts is interesting as both are under the age of 20 and have yet gone through so many things that their attitudes towards others can easily be forgiven.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, Alosa is pulling out every trick in the book in order to find the map but she has had no success. We soon learn that Alosa isn’t quite human, it turns out that her mother was a siren, a sea creature men fear but it does give her an advantage in swaying the men to give her information. However, things aren’t going the way Alosa planned with the ship now heading for the meeting point she arranged with her father her time is running out to find the map and the consequences for returning without it aren’t even worth thinking about. As Alosa pulls out the final trick she has in order to find the map, she realises that the map isn’t anywhere on the ship but the only place she hasn’t searched is the outside of the ship which is the only place the map could be at this point, but everything is about to unravel if she doesn’t claim it now.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, things take a turn for the worst for Alosa when she realises that she has been used but also double-crossed. Now, fighting for her life as well as Riden’s they seem stuck but eventually, they manage to escape their captures and return to the ship, but it means that Alosa has to reveal her true appearance to Riden, but she manages to retain enough of her humanity that she doesn’t kill him. But things get more complicated from there when the pirate King arrives on the scene. Now back in control of the situation, Alosa has turned the tables on her captors.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, we see Alosa is very different from her father because she takes a few prisoners and plans to free others. She only kills those she knows she won’t be able to control or will be a threat to her crew of women. I liked the fact that she actually inducts Kearan and Enwen into her crew because she has taken quite the liking to them and I can’t wait to see how this plays out in the second book which I am also reading for another prompt of the Book Junkie Trials. Overall, Daughter of the Pirate King was an interesting read and I can’t wait to see what happens in the sequel. I really liked the fact Alosa isn’t completely human and this is hinted at from the beginning but the twists and turns the novel takes keeps us guessing until right at the end but then leaves us hanging, drawing us in to read the sequel; Daughter of the Siren Queen. I must also mention that the audiobook for this book was amazing and really short so you can fly through it in either format in less than about 3 hours physically or 9 hours audibly.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Comments