Daughter of the Pirate King Review

Daughter of the Pirate King is a book that’s sat on my to-read stack for a few months since I got it in my OwlCrate. I hadn’t heard much about it, and though I looked forward to it, it somehow never made it to the top of my list. But after finishing Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas I had to read a few short books before I jump into Queen of Shadows. Before finishing Daughter of a Pirate King and Goodbye Days (By Jeff Zentner) I was four behind. So, this seemed like a quick way to help make up the gap. Without further ado, here’s my Daughter of the Pirate King review!

 

Characters

Alosa –

Alosa is quite the badass. I loved learning about her backstory which makes her incredible strength make sense. She’s sassy, stubborn, but has a soft side that she rarely lets out. She is realistically a pirate’s daughter though. Alosa kills bad men and doesn’t care. She isn’t an awful person though; she does have a conscience. It’s just a pirate’s daughters conscience. Which made her a lot more realistic. So often characters like her are way too soft to realistically have accomplished what the author says they have. Though I have to admit I could never remember her name because she was referred to as princess so often and I too often refered to her as Ahsoka in my head, haha! Star Wars on the brain.. She is a really cool heroine though. The best part was that she didn’t have the ‘special snowflake’ vibe that so many YA heroines have now.

Riden –

Ahh, the first mate and love interest. Riden is interesting. There’s no insta-love which is always nice. And though he falls for Alosa, he still has a strong sense of loyalty to his brother, that I respected. He is so torn between caring about Alosa and the love he has for his brother. His brother is kind of a horrible person, but when you learn their backstory it makes sense. It’s just hard because you can see both sides, but just pick Alosa already!

 

Kearan & Enwen –

These two were my favorite crewman. At first they’re just a blend of faces in the crowd but their actions distinguish them as the book goes on. I love that Levenseller made the crew so mixed. You have some characters that you absolutely hated and some that were just whatever. And then there were these two, who you slowly grew to like.

Plot –

Plot was pretty good. Though not a lot of big things happen through the first two thirds, it doesn’t feel slow at all. Watching Alosa try and find the map while verbally sparing with Riden constantly is cute. I was a bit frustrated though. I thought Daughter of the Pirate King was a standalone, but it’s a series… So, of course the ending left me with more questions than answers. I did, however, like the ending though. Riden is still left in an uncomfortable position between his brother and Alosa, but their love is finally out in the open.

Romance –

The romance was pretty cute. There’s no insta-love, as I said earlier. The verbal sparring between the two of them that quickly escalates into actually fighting was entertaining. They are pretty evenly matched, which I liked. Their romantic moments were super cute. My only problem with them, is when Alosa talks about seducing so many men, yet she and Riden never go beyond making out. I get that it’s a YA and the author is trying to keep it that way. But that part felt unrealistic. Realistically, I think they would’ve gone farther. Think something like Fire by Kristin Cashore. But it was very cute. I’m curious to see how it continues in the next book.

Overall –

A cute read! I’d definitely recommend it to any YA fan. The only concern is the amount of violence if that bothers you. If you’ve read it, let me know in the comments what you thought! I’d love to chat with you about it!