Ahoy, mateys! Today I’ll be reviewing a young adult pirate adventure novel, Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller. It is the first installment in a two-part duology. I had great fun reading this novel so I’m excited to share it with you today!

Of course, like many of my reads this year, I came across this book as a free offering as part of the Kindle Unlimited subscription service. I was looking for something fun and fast to read and a young adult novel seemed to fit the bill. The fact that it was a pirate-themed book made it even more appealing since I recently watched Pirates of the Caribbean and it’s put me in the mood to indulge in similar swashbuckling adventure stories. I was also very curious to see how a female protagonist would behave in the hyper-masculine setting of a pirate ship.

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 luckily, Alosa has a few tricks up her sleeve – and no lone pirate can stop the Daughter of the Pirate King.”

Quoted from Amazon

My Impressions

This story starts off right in the midst of the action. The protagonist and titular character, Alosa, is in the middle of being captured by an enemy ship in order to fulfill a secret mission, and right away there are sword-wielding pirates, violent threats, and skillful bargains to kick off the action. And it never lets up! From beginning to end, there are no dull moments. It’s a very action-packed story with lots of colorful characters and plenty of twists and turns to keep readers on their toes. It’s a very fun story that left enough unanswered questions by the end that it made me intrigued to read the sequel, but not so many that I felt dissatisfied with the way the author wrapped up this first installment.

What I Liked

First of all, I really loved the character of Alosa. I thought she was incredibly cool – she was very confident, skilled, witty, and resourceful. She always had schemes in place to achieve her goals, she always had comebacks ready to insult her enemies, and her overall mental and physical toughness was very admirable. I liked seeing how her mind worked to problem solve in difficult situations.

I also enjoyed the colorful side characters that were introduced along the way. On a pirate ship, there are bound to be all kinds of people from interesting walks of life, and the author seemed to really have fun with this setting by introducing different types of pirates with different appearances, skillsets, and motivations. I especially liked a pirate called Enwen, a superstitious fellow with a knack for thieving.

Another thing about this book that I loved was how surprising the plot twists were throughout. Similar to the movies in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, there were constant reversals of fortune, numerous “switcheroos,” clever rouses and tricks, constant lying and cheating, mistaken and concealed identities, and more. Basically, everything you can expect from a bunch of conniving, greedy pirates! Some of the plot twists were easier to predict than others, but overall it made for an extremely entertaining page-turner.

What I Didn’t

I wish that there had been more detailed descriptions of the physical surroundings – the layout of the ship, room interiors, the locations on land, and the sea itself. Descriptions were brief and vague, and since I’m not familiar with sea-faring life, I had a difficult time imagining the settings in my head. Similarly, the world-building was somewhat vague as well. I wish we had been given a bit more background information about the world these characters live in. I’m still unclear about if this story is taking place on Earth (and if so, where?) or in a completely imaginary world, if the general population is aware of magic and magical creatures, or how pirates and pirating endeavors function in relation to the greater society at large since it seemed like a very insular community.

There were two big reveals that I don’t want to spoil so I’ll try my best to explain my feelings about them. The first one was vital background information about an important character that I feel should have either been introduced much earlier on in the story because of how much it influenced their actions or been completely cut out of the story and revealed in the sequel instead. The second was the entrance of an important character, and I think it was a bit rushed and not given the gravity and description it deserved. Neither of these things ruined the book for me, but I was slightly disappointed by how each was handled.

My Star Rating

Like I said at the start, I really had a lot of fun reading this book. The fast pace, larger-than-life characters, and non-stop action made it a very exciting and enjoyable read. It may not have been executed perfectly at every turn, but it was still a cool and unique story that has me looking forward to reading the second installment. I would gladly recommend it to anyone who enjoys thrilling yet light-hearted young adult fiction.

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If you know of any other fun pirate novels, let me know about them in the comments! I’d love to read more pirate stories as I think it’s a very exciting and entertaining subject.

Thanks for reading!