A review by mallorypen
Daughter of the Siren Queen by Tricia Levenseller

adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

This was a fun read, and honestly more engaging than the first book in the duology. The worldbuilding and cast were fully set in book one, and the motivations of our main characters were set in motion already; and as those were the elements in the first book that felt a little ungainly and laggish, Book Two was able to dive right into the story.

The plot twists were nicely done, and the crew of the Ava-Lee felt more important and fleshed out. I appreciated the pacing of the story arc, and felt there was enough action throughout to keep me engaged. 

The biggest “eh” moments for me were Riden’s character arc, and Alosa’s misunderstanding of her mother’s actions.
  • Rides ran a little hot and cold in ways that didn’t feel all that understandable, and when
    he revealed just how abusive his father had really been, the writing felt heavy on exposition versus letting his character show us.
  • As the reader, I was totally following Ava-Lee’s explanation for why she was leaving the ship. I was more perplexed with Alosa’s abrupt about-face in her perception of her mother.

That said, this was a fine romp of a YA adventure novel, and pleasantly better than the first book. Huzzah!
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