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A review by thebooknerdscorner
The Wicked Bargain by Gabe Cole Novoa
5.0
A fantastical pirate adventure featuring two queer Latinx teens as they fight to outsmart the Devil himself.
Mar's sixteenth birthday wasn't supposed to be a big deal, but when el Diablo shows up to make good on a promise that Mar's father made sixteen years ago, Mar looses everything that has ever mattered to them: their father, their crew, and la Catalina, the ship that has been the only home they've known for years. The only thing that Mar manages to escape with is their very life. Waking up on a mysterious pirate ship after being rescued by one of the only remaining crews left in the Caribbean, Mar has no idea how they survived el Diablo's wrath. El Diablo is willing to give Mar one final bargain in order to save their father: give up their soul by the next harvest moon or their father will remain under el Diablo's servitude forever. With a near impossible choice to make, Mar finds refuge in some unlikely allies: Bas, the alluring son of the pirate crew's captain and a gender-fluid demonio by the name of Dami who is more than a tad suspicious. With little time to waste, Mar may be forced to use the powers that they have feared their entire life or risk losing everything they love.
"The Wicked Bargain" has been one of my most anticipated releases of the last couple of years despite the fact that I had absolutely nothing to base this opinion on except that I knew this book featured Latinx and queer pirates, which was all I needed to hear to get me excited about this book. Luckily, this book did not disappoint in the slightest.
I adored Mar and Bas, both as their own characters and together. Mar is a transmasculine teen who harbors secrets powers that allow him to control fire and ice. On top of that, his father made a deal with el Diablo to spare Mar's life when they were very young, which had Mar dealing with a ton of baggage right out the gates. Bas is the charming young son of la Ana's captain who has a flair for the dramatic who isn't afraid to fight for what he cares about most. These two have such fun banter and it was quite entertaining to slowly watch them warm to each other as the book progressed. Dami does a fantastic job of rounding out the trio. Though Bas may not know of their existence for much of the book, Dami is Mar's constant companion who I couldn't help but not trust the entire book. But can you blame me? Dami is a suspicious demonio whose motivations for doing anything were far from clear. I really enjoyed my time with these three amigues and genuinely love the dynamic that they all have with one another.
The magic system in this world is awesome. Though we know little about Mar's fire and ice powers, it is fun to watch them start to appreciate what they can do with them. At the start of this book, Mar really believes that they are a monster and that their powers can only be used for evil. The growth that Mar goes through is quite healthy and it was great to see them embrace "the monster" for good. The whole making bargains with el Diablo and los demonios in this book was also quite an interesting magic ploy. It has been a while since I've read a book that really leaned on the potential of devils and demons and the dark deals you can make with them, so I found Novoa's take on this to be quite refreshing.
This book is filled with Spanish and Spanglish thrown casually into the writing. I am proud to admit that I understood about 95% of the Spanish words in this book and I could read most of it without having to even truly think about what the words meant. I'm glad that my many years of Spanish class and Duolingo have been paying off! Not having to sit there and translate the words from Spanish to English was truly a freeing feeling. As a lover of Latinx culture, I ate up that this book featured all Latine characters who just happen to be pirates. I mean, how cool is that?
The fact that this book's MC is transgender and Dami is genderfluid lent to some amazing representation of the LGBTQIA+ community. It makes me so happy to read about LGBTQIA+ characters, and even more so when they are present in fantasy and historical books. Watching Mar have to grapple with their gender dysphoria was tough at times, but I'm glad to report that everything worked out nicely for them in the end.
Overall, I ended up really loving "The Wicked Bargain" which wasn't a surprise for me. I love the magical vibes, the piratey adventures, the queer romance, and the witty dialogue. It makes me very happy to report that this book is so good, because now I can add it to all of my queer, trans, Latinx, and romantasy recommendation lists. If any of these things sound like a fantastic time to you, do yourself a favor and go check out this book!
Mar's sixteenth birthday wasn't supposed to be a big deal, but when el Diablo shows up to make good on a promise that Mar's father made sixteen years ago, Mar looses everything that has ever mattered to them: their father, their crew, and la Catalina, the ship that has been the only home they've known for years. The only thing that Mar manages to escape with is their very life. Waking up on a mysterious pirate ship after being rescued by one of the only remaining crews left in the Caribbean, Mar has no idea how they survived el Diablo's wrath. El Diablo is willing to give Mar one final bargain in order to save their father: give up their soul by the next harvest moon or their father will remain under el Diablo's servitude forever. With a near impossible choice to make, Mar finds refuge in some unlikely allies: Bas, the alluring son of the pirate crew's captain and a gender-fluid demonio by the name of Dami who is more than a tad suspicious. With little time to waste, Mar may be forced to use the powers that they have feared their entire life or risk losing everything they love.
"The Wicked Bargain" has been one of my most anticipated releases of the last couple of years despite the fact that I had absolutely nothing to base this opinion on except that I knew this book featured Latinx and queer pirates, which was all I needed to hear to get me excited about this book. Luckily, this book did not disappoint in the slightest.
I adored Mar and Bas, both as their own characters and together. Mar is a transmasculine teen who harbors secrets powers that allow him to control fire and ice. On top of that, his father made a deal with el Diablo to spare Mar's life when they were very young, which had Mar dealing with a ton of baggage right out the gates. Bas is the charming young son of la Ana's captain who has a flair for the dramatic who isn't afraid to fight for what he cares about most. These two have such fun banter and it was quite entertaining to slowly watch them warm to each other as the book progressed. Dami does a fantastic job of rounding out the trio. Though Bas may not know of their existence for much of the book, Dami is Mar's constant companion who I couldn't help but not trust the entire book. But can you blame me? Dami is a suspicious demonio whose motivations for doing anything were far from clear. I really enjoyed my time with these three amigues and genuinely love the dynamic that they all have with one another.
The magic system in this world is awesome. Though we know little about Mar's fire and ice powers, it is fun to watch them start to appreciate what they can do with them. At the start of this book, Mar really believes that they are a monster and that their powers can only be used for evil. The growth that Mar goes through is quite healthy and it was great to see them embrace "the monster" for good. The whole making bargains with el Diablo and los demonios in this book was also quite an interesting magic ploy. It has been a while since I've read a book that really leaned on the potential of devils and demons and the dark deals you can make with them, so I found Novoa's take on this to be quite refreshing.
This book is filled with Spanish and Spanglish thrown casually into the writing. I am proud to admit that I understood about 95% of the Spanish words in this book and I could read most of it without having to even truly think about what the words meant. I'm glad that my many years of Spanish class and Duolingo have been paying off! Not having to sit there and translate the words from Spanish to English was truly a freeing feeling. As a lover of Latinx culture, I ate up that this book featured all Latine characters who just happen to be pirates. I mean, how cool is that?
The fact that this book's MC is transgender and Dami is genderfluid lent to some amazing representation of the LGBTQIA+ community. It makes me so happy to read about LGBTQIA+ characters, and even more so when they are present in fantasy and historical books. Watching Mar have to grapple with their gender dysphoria was tough at times, but I'm glad to report that everything worked out nicely for them in the end.
Overall, I ended up really loving "The Wicked Bargain" which wasn't a surprise for me. I love the magical vibes, the piratey adventures, the queer romance, and the witty dialogue. It makes me very happy to report that this book is so good, because now I can add it to all of my queer, trans, Latinx, and romantasy recommendation lists. If any of these things sound like a fantastic time to you, do yourself a favor and go check out this book!