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A review by astravars
The Wicked Bargain by Gabe Cole Novoa
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
"The Wicked Bargain" is, at its core, a story about acceptance.
The book follows Mar, a 16-year-old transmasc nonbinary pirate, as they come to terms with their magic as well as the new path their life takes after their father's ship sinks on their 16th birthday, leaving everyone they loved dead and themself at the mercy of another pirate crew.
There are so many things I love about this book.
Firstly, the characters. Mar is such a loveable protagonist and I loved the main supporting characters almost as much (Mar is simply my beloved, no one can quite reach their level). The two that got the most attention were Bas and Dami.
Bas is the son of the captain of the crew that takes Mar in. Through Mar's eyes he comes off as arrogant at first. And perhaps he is a little. But you quickly notice hints in his words and actions that point to him caring deeply.
Dami is a genderfluid demonio who appears to want something from Mar. They're a very complex character that you don't really get to know all that well until father towards the end of the book and I thought it was very interesting to follow along while Mar learned more about them. And they can shift their appearance into what gender they are at the time! Which is awesome and looked upon with envy by Mar (and me) multiple times.
The trans representation in both Mar and Dami was so well done and made me feel incredibly seen! Mar and I have such a similar experience with our gender <33
I loved the setting as well! The book takes place in the 1820 Caribbean and, different to most pirate media we get (comp. potc), the story isn't told from a westernised/ european lens but from a latinx one! Which only makes sense considering it's the Caribbean, no?
Piracy is generally viewed as a sort of resistance against a regime of power and social norms and in this book it's mainly fighting back against the spanish colonisers, which I loved reading about. + the topic is very plot relevant, too!
Mar does talk about their mayan ancestors too and it seems their magic might be connected to mayan mythology in some way. So another topic I loved! There's mention of an island where lots of people with magic like Mar's live, too. I do think all that could be explored a little more and I'm kind of hoping we'll get a sequel one day that does exactly that!
The concept of diablos and demonios was very well done as well, I loved it a lot and I'm beyond excited for "the diablo's curse" to come out next winter!
This book also has this one theme I'm in love with: "what is a monster?"
And in this case it's all about Mar learning that they're NOT and their magic doesn't make them one.
At some point in the book Bas tells Mar something about having met many monsters but Mar not being one of them. <33
Which leads me to my next point: their romance… my HEART.
And the plot!! In conclusion: I loved everything. I could talk about this book for hours. Please go read it and see for yourself!
+ I highly recommend the audiobook too. Vico Ortiz did such a great job!
(i actively had to keep myself from writing more)
The book follows Mar, a 16-year-old transmasc nonbinary pirate, as they come to terms with their magic as well as the new path their life takes after their father's ship sinks on their 16th birthday, leaving everyone they loved dead and themself at the mercy of another pirate crew.
There are so many things I love about this book.
Firstly, the characters. Mar is such a loveable protagonist and I loved the main supporting characters almost as much (Mar is simply my beloved, no one can quite reach their level). The two that got the most attention were Bas and Dami.
Bas is the son of the captain of the crew that takes Mar in. Through Mar's eyes he comes off as arrogant at first. And perhaps he is a little. But you quickly notice hints in his words and actions that point to him caring deeply.
Dami is a genderfluid demonio who appears to want something from Mar. They're a very complex character that you don't really get to know all that well until father towards the end of the book and I thought it was very interesting to follow along while Mar learned more about them. And they can shift their appearance into what gender they are at the time! Which is awesome and looked upon with envy by Mar (and me) multiple times.
The trans representation in both Mar and Dami was so well done and made me feel incredibly seen! Mar and I have such a similar experience with our gender <33
I loved the setting as well! The book takes place in the 1820 Caribbean and, different to most pirate media we get (comp. potc), the story isn't told from a westernised/ european lens but from a latinx one! Which only makes sense considering it's the Caribbean, no?
Piracy is generally viewed as a sort of resistance against a regime of power and social norms and in this book it's mainly fighting back against the spanish colonisers, which I loved reading about. + the topic is very plot relevant, too!
Mar does talk about their mayan ancestors too and it seems their magic might be connected to mayan mythology in some way. So another topic I loved! There's mention of an island where lots of people with magic like Mar's live, too. I do think all that could be explored a little more and I'm kind of hoping we'll get a sequel one day that does exactly that!
The concept of diablos and demonios was very well done as well, I loved it a lot and I'm beyond excited for "the diablo's curse" to come out next winter!
This book also has this one theme I'm in love with: "what is a monster?"
And in this case it's all about Mar learning that they're NOT and their magic doesn't make them one.
At some point in the book Bas tells Mar something about having met many monsters but Mar not being one of them. <33
Which leads me to my next point: their romance… my HEART.
And the plot!! In conclusion: I loved everything. I could talk about this book for hours. Please go read it and see for yourself!
+ I highly recommend the audiobook too. Vico Ortiz did such a great job!
(i actively had to keep myself from writing more)