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unmistakablyphoenix 's review for:
Daughter of the Pirate King
by Tricia Levenseller
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Loveable characters:
Complicated
I finished this in just 3 days. I've long loved pirates, but never read a book about them before. For my first entry into that world, this did not disappoint me.
My favorite part was certainly the dynamic between our main character, Alosa, and Riden. I absolutely love Riden's character, while Alosa can be very full of herself (and she calls Riden cocky), but rightfully so. She is a very powerful character and I loved figuring out her secrets as the book went on.
One thing that didn't really do the book any favors, was that it kept having to remind me that pirates are dirty and amoral- literally telling instead of showing in a lot of cases. Alosa would often think something along the lines of 'That's pirates for you' which kind of took me out of it because that vibe, though true in history, was not as present as it should have been, hence the author reminding us every few chapters. Don't get me wrong, there are some absolutely despicable characters in this book, but they are often dispatched of quickly and not really explored.
Another thing was that it's very Straight and Cis. This isn't a surprise in fiction, obviously, but as someone who has really deconstructed the Us vs Them mentality when it comes to queer genders and sexualities, it certainly is off-putting to read something about a group of people that I know would be a lot more fluid than what's presented. We get one gay character,but he's a villain and is killed off within a chapter or two of his entrance . And Alosa refuses to call him gay or to even say he's attracted to men, she's very vague about it. It feels like the author was scared to really face that and I personally think it showed her bias by making him a bad guy to boot, then killing him off .
Those things aside, I really enjoyed this experience and will continue the series. It also makes me really want to explore more pirate fiction!
My favorite part was certainly the dynamic between our main character, Alosa, and Riden. I absolutely love Riden's character, while Alosa can be very full of herself (and she calls Riden cocky), but rightfully so. She is a very powerful character and I loved figuring out her secrets as the book went on.
One thing that didn't really do the book any favors, was that it kept having to remind me that pirates are dirty and amoral- literally telling instead of showing in a lot of cases. Alosa would often think something along the lines of 'That's pirates for you' which kind of took me out of it because that vibe, though true in history, was not as present as it should have been, hence the author reminding us every few chapters. Don't get me wrong, there are some absolutely despicable characters in this book, but they are often dispatched of quickly and not really explored.
Another thing was that it's very Straight and Cis. This isn't a surprise in fiction, obviously, but as someone who has really deconstructed the Us vs Them mentality when it comes to queer genders and sexualities, it certainly is off-putting to read something about a group of people that I know would be a lot more fluid than what's presented. We get one gay character,
Those things aside, I really enjoyed this experience and will continue the series. It also makes me really want to explore more pirate fiction!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Blood, Death of parent
Minor: Misogyny, Cannibalism