GENRE: YA Fantasy/ Romance/ Adventure
RATING: 4/5 stars
Before I get into reviewing this book, there is something you should know...
I love pirates.
The Disney Pirates of the Caribbean films were my all-time favourite movies when I was younger, and if I'm being honest, they're still some of my favourites today. Honestly, there are no pirates in YA fiction (even though there definitely should be!) so you can imagine my excitement when I found this book: Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller. It starts with the main character, a 17-year-old girl named Alosa (who is the daughter of the pirate king). She allows herself to be captured by one of her biggest pirate enemies as a part of her father's plan to retrieve a piece of a very important map. She is captured by Captain Draxen and his (very attractive) younger brother, Riden, aboard the Night Farer. From there, she searches for the map and mostly stays aboard the ship with the rest of the crew.
First thing's first- Alosa. She is a funny, sarcastic, fierce, and lovable heroine. I thought she was a great main character, and she did certainly bear a resemblance to Disney's Captain Jack Sparrow.
Meanwhile, Riden (who is probably my favourite character) is a pirate as well, although nothing like his cruel father who used to be captain before Draxen. Riden is kind and merciful, but still, he is great in a sword fight and drinks rum (therefore, that makes him a pirate- a nice, funny, handsome, loveable pirate).
As for Draxen, he's a jerk and I don't like him. He's mean, manipulative- a bad man just like his father.
One of my favourite parts of this book is the relationship between Riden and Alosa. It was definitely a slow-burning romance (which I like) and the banter and arguments between the two of them were just a lot of fun to read.
The only reason why I'd hesitate to give this book 5/5 stars is that during the middle of the story, things started to drag on a bit. There were a lot of scenes that were just dialogue, or Alosa's thoughts and complaints aboard the ship. Although it was entertaining, it didn't have anything to do with furthering the plot.
So would I read this book again? Yes. Would I recommend this book to people? Sure. It's well written, there's romance, action, and the main character is a confident, snarky woman (very refreshing in a world of YA books that are full of main characters who are insecure or unsure of themselves). If you liked Pirates of the Caribbean, I've found you your newest obsession. If not... perhaps you should pass on this one.
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