What a book! Such a fabulous story and cannot wait to read the next one. I would love to find out more about Alosa’s own crew and would definitely be interested to know more about the pirate king! He is very elusive in this book. Love the relationship between Alosa & Riden and can’t wait to see how this continues in the next book.

From the action packed opening pages, I was drawn into this story and wanting to read more. I really struggled to put this book down as I wanted to find out what happened next. If I hadn’t been so busy these last few days I genuinely think I would have binged it all in one sitting.
The main character, Alosa is a pirate on a mission to find a map. There is a lot of talk about how she is this amazing pirate with special abilities yet in the story she just seemed to keep being humbled or put in her place. I’d feel more like she was a great pirate if we were shown that rather than told it, so I am hoping for a bit more action in the sequel.
There are several hints at the start of the book that she’s more than just human and if it wasn’t for the title of the sequel I think this would keep you guessing and wanting to read on to discover what she is so don’t look at the next one if you don’t like spoilers!
There is a love/hate relationship with her love interest, but I do feel like there could have been a bit more tension at the start of the book as it just seemed really obvious that they would end up together.
Overall I really enjoyed this book, I will definitely be reading the sequel soon. I have the fairyloot set preordered (which I think is due October time) and I can’t wait to get my hands on these gorgeous editions!!

I discovered Tricia Levenseller's work through the book Warrior Of The Wild, and I loved it.
Then I moved to Daughter Of The Pirate King and was equally thrilling and wonderful adventure.
True to her writing style, all the characters were distinctive and have their feel.
The world building was perfect and gave a sense that you know vividly every place the journey brings you on their way.
Our lead female character Alosa is fierce, cunning, sharp tongue and equally good skills with the sword and gets under your skin easily.
Her chemistry with Riden is wonderfully developed, and combined with the fact that we saw the story trough both POV's gave us the full spectrum of emotions.
Another incredible book by Tricia Levenseller.

This book <I>conflicted</I> me. My initial first impression was wary, as I have DNF'ed Levenseller's books in the past because I can't connect with the writing style, so I wasn't expecting to even fully finish this. And while I did enjoy elements of this book, overall, it felt lacklustre and nothing was ever fully developed enough for it to a memorable read

I found the book synopsis exciting - an ancient hidden map, the key to a legendary treasure trove, pirate elements and romance; like this was shaping up to be a <b>great</b> book! but it just didn't fulfil what I wanted. Most notably, it was hindered by the constant repetition; Alosa is captured, she sneaks around, has some flirtatious banter with Riden, over and over, until we abruptly reach the end of the book. In which my mind is then ????????? That was one of the most random endings I have ever read. I understand that this is a duology and it's setting up for the next book, but in all honesty, these books should just be combined into one.

I finished this book maybe 10-20 minutes ago and I genuinely don't think I can tell you much about the world at all? I remember there were 3 legendary families, a mysterious island and sirens. I don't feel as though the world outside (whatever ship they were on) actually existed.

If I manage to find a used copy I might pick up the sequel, but I don't think I'll be rushing to order or download it. This book may be enjoyable to some, but I don't think it was really for me. I do really love this new cover tho!

>Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC<

*Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for an Earc in exchange for an honest review.*

STATS
Setting: 3
Characters: 4.5
Plot: 3
Writing: 4
Overall: 4

I really really liked this! Daughter of the Pirate King was such a fun book, really quick and easy to read. It got me out of my reading slump immediately, and I think is one of my favourite YA books ever.

All of the characters were just so developed and interesting- and the relationships too. I found myself way to invested in this for it to be a book.

Definitely perfect for fans of Pirates of the Carribbean- think Jack Sparrow meets Celaena Sardothien from the Throne of Glass series.

Born the heir to the brutal pirate king, Alosa knows that the world is ready to strike down any unprepared young person. So, she forced herself to become strong. Her father's perfect heir, she's sent on a mission to retrieve the key to an ancient and vast treasure hoard. But to find it, she'll need to reunite to the map pieces. Faking kidnappings, facing deathly beautiful sirens and forcing herself to be underestimated time and time again, this is Alosa's chance. Is she the king's true heir? Or will she be cast out?

I mean the plot was mid I guess and it's certainly nothing too original but OH MY GOD the writing was addictive and fun so I don't care.

Ugh I just love her. She's definitely one of my favourite book characters ever, and her romance with Ridan is just <33


TROPE LIST
✷ enemies to lovers
✷ one bed
✷ pirates and sirens


Anyway big love to Tricia Levenseller for this masterpiece and I can't wait to see what else she'll write!!!

I devoured this in one sitting, it was so good. It was absolutely gripping right from the start and I couldn't put it down even if I wanted too. The characters were well developed and full of sassy attitude and I loved the folklore elements of the book as this is something that fscinates me.

Daughter of the Pirate King follows the story of Alosa, 17 years old and a pirate captain herself who allows herself to be captured in order to complete a mission for her father. Things don’t quite go as she planned as she has to deal with the clever and attractive first mate Riden.
I enjoyed a fresh take on the pirate story genre as it’s definitely more male dominated. The story was well paced throughout. Definitely worth a read!

Your search for a strong, confident female character is over! Meet Alosa, bad ass daughter to the pirate king (the title really does say it all)
I loved how this story began, in the middle of chaos, with no clue how the situation will unfold. When it does its exciting and kept me questioning each and every move the characters make.
Alosa is a cunning, strong and independent character, she stays true to her values throughout the story but also allows space for growth within her character. She's one of my favourite female main characters in a while.

When I think back over the story, there was enough plot to keep me reading and enough twists and turns to cause some suspense, but I did guess a lot of the plot twists as I found there were a lot of hints or clues to what was about to happen that it didn't take much to work it out. That said, it did not spoil my enjoyment of the swashbuckling adventure.

I loved that the author provides lots of pirating behaviours and plenty of battle scenes within the plot, the sense of being on board this ship was pretty strong for me and when you consider the story is on a pirate ship, this really did limit some of the world building to just the ship itself. There are parts of the story that lend to the history of Alosa's family or ancient tales that I felt could have been explored more to give a better depth to the world and its history but I do understand that the as the vast majority of the story takes place on a boat, there is only so much world to explore, I just wish there had been a bit more.

The same goes for the fantasy element of this story, I don't want to ruin the book for anyone so I won't say too much here as you won't see it coming because there is little to no reference to fantasy elements at the beginning of the book. It comes heavily into play for the last third of the book, which I felt may have been a missed opportunity of depth for the character and plot because I love the element that comes into play, it suits the plot and gives more depth of character but I wish we'd had it sooner.

I really enjoyed the love interest and romance, I think it had some nice push and pull, some denial , betrayal and a fair bit of lusting and I was rooting for them both, my only slight quibble is I could tell very quickly who the love interest would be based on descriptions opposed to a natural building of relationship, something I find can happen in YA from time to time so Im not mad, just an observation.

I am super excited to move on to the next book in the series to find out what happens next for Alosa and to conclude the story. Im hoping some additional world building will follow and if Kearon doesn't get more page time il be fuming, he's a brilliant character!

If you love stories at sea, battle scenes and sword fights, easy reading, enemies to lovers and only one bed tropes, then you would enjoy this pirates tale.
Thank you so much to Pushkin Press for providing me with this ecopy

4,5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the e-arc for an honest opinion.

Please take in mind it’s my opinion, and everyone is allowed to have one.

I absolutely devoured this book, such an easy and fast read. Smashed it! This book was way better than I expected it to be. No lie that this book has been on my TBR for ages.

The whole world building was really nice and easy, you understood everything perfectly. The twists and turns were just as fun.

This book has such great characters, each of them were wel written. Loved their personalities, each of them were so unique. Also LOVED LOVED the whole chemistry between Riden and Alosa.
Alosa was such a bad ass though, a very strong character.

Just know I’ll pick up the second book for sure.

I was expecting a standard YA romance-fantasy, perhaps a little dated as this first came out in 2017, but I had hopes it would be updated to feel more like a 2022 release. This was not that.

To start, I did like the banter between the romantic leads. It's what I expect from a romance and the author did this well, and I think it'll please a lot of readers.

Unfortunately, there were a lot of things I didn't like...

Daughter of the Pirate King follows Alosa, the titular daughter of the pirate king, as she purposefully gets kidnapped by a pirate lord in order to find a fragment of a map that is Very Important. (Despite the emphasis placed on this piece of the map, I'm still not entirely sure what is so important about it) The ship is captained by a Not Great Guy and his Sexy Brother is first mate, and Alosa wastes no time in telling us how sexy he is despite how little she likes him. This is quite insta-lovey and tropey, but I was expecting it and I think it'll appeal to a lot of readers.

Dialogue:
There is a lot of dialogue that feels straight from 5 years ago.
"Just that you're not a large woman, yet you were able to lift me off the ground."
I am BEGGING authors to just not be cowards and write strong women as muscled or large. There is so much emphasis on how strong Alosa is yet don't worry because she's so petite and small and attractive!!! I'm so sick of this.
"That's what it took? Her bloody hair"
"To interrogate a woman, you have to think like a woman," Draxen says.
"Which is strangely effortless for you," I say.
There's really no need for this, all that character-building making Alosa into a ~hardened badass~ and she gives in over the threat of her hair being cut off??? And this happens via the most misogynistic dialogue exchange??

Structure, Plot & Pacing:
This book kind of felt like a fever dream and I actually can't comment on structure very well because the arc I got didn't have any chapters, but it felt sufficiently fast-paced despite how static the plot felt. I read the majority of it on the Eurostar which is only about a 2.5 hour train journey and felt entertained.
Plot-wise, I have some disappointments. The majority of the book is Alosa sneaking out of her cell and searching the boat for this map and running into a lot of issues, which felt like a shame because the thing I love most about pirate books is the fact you can have such an expansive and adventurous world/plot. How did this book for the most part take place on the ship and almost nowhere else??

Worldbuilding:
Speaking of expansive worlds that you usually find in pirate books, I have absolutely no clue about the world this book is set in, because 75% takes place on one pirate ship. We find out barely anything about this fantasy world except some magic and lore, and although the magic is interesting, I needed a lot more. There's also a loooooooot of exposition when it comes to backstory.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of 'Daughter of the Pirate King' by Tricia Levenseller.

At last, this book finally has a UK edition and I'm honoured to have recieved this as an eARC. I loved this book to pieces and honestly, I think Tricia Levenseller has a new top fan. The MC is a badass with red hair, what more could you want?

The story was written well and I was genuinely invested in everything that occurred. The twists and turns as the story progressed felt natural and a tad chaotic in areas but it always felt correct to me. I just really loved this book and the potential to be even bigger in hype than it already is, is huge.

I am excited to read the sequel and invest even more of my happiness into Levenseller's work.

(Thank you to Netgalley and Pushkin Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review)

The premise of this book sounded promising: young, strong female heroine on daring adventure with potential for side quests, character development and romantic interest. So far, so good, right?

Unfortunately, our "strong" heroine was... kind of a brat? She was egotistical, arrogant and kind of a brat. She had a ridiculously high opinion of herself - and, I don't know whether it was more frustrating or not that she was written to ACTUALLY BE THAT GOOD. I love a heroine who can hold her own, but 17 year old girls who are not just UNDERESTIMATED by their competitors but actually superior in every way in terms of skill and physical strength are a little hard to get behind. (Sure, have her outsmarting and outfighting all the regular crew... but at least have the strongest, fastest, best fighter giving her a run for her money).

The writing was frustrating because it was all "tell", no "show". We didn't get to make our own conclusions about who any of the characters were: it was spelled out for us in black and white.

I do enjoy an enemies to lovers trope, and this one was well-paced, but both this and the "big reveal" about the protagonist were pretty predictable from early in the story. Likewise the plot twist near the end. I also just found the whole thing hilariously thirsty.

If you like the protagonists in Poison Study by Maria Snyder or A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas then I think you'd get on with this better than I did.

Many thanks to Pushkin Press, the author, and NetGalley for my copy of the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Actual rating: 2.5/5, rounded up to 3/5.

I adore pirate stories. When Pirates of the Caribbean came out in the summer of 2003, I was 11, and I was enchanted by it. PotC, along with Lord of the Rings, was a film I watched multiple times a day once it was out on DVD; the way of the pirates called to me, set something inside of me ablaze. Their freedom. Their moral codes. Their break from convention and the danger they faced purely by refusing to be roped down by a society that shunned them. I was fascinated, and I fell in love.

And that love may well have been the downfall in my enjoyment of Daughter of the Pirate King (DotPK).

I think I went into this book expecting something that it was never going to be. It sounded intriguing and precisely the kind of story that I never grow tired of reading: Alosa, daughter of the great and terrible pirate king, infiltrates an enemy crew in order to find and steal their third of a map that leads to Ilsa de Canta, the island where the seas' sirens store treasures untold.

Sounds perfect, doesn't it? It certainly has the same vibes as One Piece (OP), another pirate story that's held me captive for well over a decade. So it was only natural that I would head for this book and her sequel, so sure that I would love them that I even pre-ordered Fairyloot's exclusive hardback set before reading them.

But DotPK is a severe letdown. I would argue that this is because I am not the target demographic, being 30 and utterly uninterested in romance, but neither am I the target for OP, and I adore that, so... I was assuming the best.

DotPK focuses far too heavily on the enemy to lovers romance between Alosa and Riden, the first mate of the crew that Alosa must infiltrate. The moment he appears on page we know he is the love interest, because he is written like every other love interest going in YA: he's cocky, sure of himself, and antagonizes Alosa for fun. He also has a good heart and a sob story, of course. He's a cookie cutter bore, I'm sorry to say. His brother, Draxen, the captain and more violent of the two, was far more interesting to me. Heck, the navigator Kearan and the thief Enwen were actually the stars of the show, the only two interesting characters outside of Alosa's own first mate Niridia.

The writing style is flat and rather boring, I'm sorry to say. I've heard that Levenseller's writing improves with each book she writes, and I am planning on reading some of her later works because despite being disappointed in her writing here, I do believe she has a great ability to weave a gripping story should she choose to take the focus off the dull romance and really turn her attention to the world she is building. Every supposedly meaningful or intense moment in DotPK holds no tension, suspense, or interest. The moment the Pirate King finally shows up in person - at 90% of the way through the book - the moment is severely underwhelming. It's like, oh, he's here. Cool. All through the book he's been hyped up, built up, talked up into this terrifying man of limitless awe, and yet his entrance is so outrageously boring. There's no reaction from any of the characters, including Alosa; she's just like, "oh, here's my dad." I was so disappointed.

There's too much focus given to the romance and not enough to the actual pirating. I may be biased here because of my preexisting love for pirates, but for goodness' sake, when you read a story taking place on pirate ships, aren't you supposed to want a pirate story? It took until 75% of the way through DotPK before anything more than "Alosa snuck out, didn't find the map, but did flirt with Riden, the guy who fancies her for no real reason apparently" happened.

At least Alosa's abilities are cool, once we get to see them in full at 85% of the way in.

I will be reading the sequel, and I hope that it is better than DotPK. I really, really do. Please lean heavily into the lore, and give the dull romance a back seat...!

I absolutely loved Daughter of the Pirate King! In fact, I couldn't put it down and had to read it in one sitting.

The story centres on Alosa, a 17-year-old, total badass of a pirate who concocts an elaborate plan to retrieve an ancient hidden map - the key to a legendary treasure trove. Part of that plan is getting deliberately captured by her enemies so that she can search their ship. As she continues to outsmart them, Alosa faces one unavoidable challenge - her captor, Riden, who is unexpectedly clever and annoyingly attractive.

What you'll find:
🏴‍☠️ Pirates and ship life
❤️‍🔥 Enemies to lovers
💪 Totally badass and clever FMC
🧭 Roughened MMC with a moral compass
👩🏻‍❤️‍💋‍👨🏻 Forced proximity
🔥 Slow burn
🗺 Search for a map and treasure
🔀 Twists and reveals

I would highly recommend this YA book! It's wonderfully paced and you will fall in love with Alosa. As soon as I finished reading this, I had to pick up the next book!

Thanks to #NetGalley for the ARC of #DaughterofthePirateKing in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this. It wasn't perfect, and the sudden jump from no mention of siren abilities to mentioning it constantly was a bit off-putting. I appreciate why, but it was jarring after no mention at all, in a first person account.

This was fun, I enjoyed reading it and finished it in one sitting. I found the writing a bit basic though, and the plot was quite predictable. The characters were your typical ya protagonists and there wasn't much that was new about this concept or the story. I wish there had been a little something more original, but it was entertaining enough.

Let's talk about Daughter of The Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller
First, thank you Netgalley for this ARC!

Alosa is the daughter of the King of All Pirates, and she is sent by her father on a mission to find maps that would lead to a legendary treasure. To do this she will pretend to be captured by her enemy and will end up making contact with Riden in one way or another.
The plot is very simple, but despite this I found the book super exciting.
The novel is a YA fantasy, simple, dynamic, but works very well in my opinion. Sometimes you don't need to make big turns to write something beautiful.
You will probably say, why did you read it? For that fact there? Yes. I admit it. I am guilty. I read * pirate * and * siren * and I am sold. Exactly why are there no more such books? I find the historical but also fictional figure of the pirates super interesting, combined with that of the mythical figure of the mermaids you really get your fill! But can you imagine a high fantasy with pirates and mermaids? The epic. In fact, the author started a bit from this same premise of mine for writing history. As a young woman she was very passionate about Pirates of the Caribbean (come on who not) and she wondered why there was no book in the YA and fantasy genre.
But let's talk about concrete things that I know so much that this is the interesting part! What's in this book? Let's talk about tropes that are the ones that catch our eye!
- pirates & mermaids
- adventure then
- enemies to lover
- forced proximity
- one bed trope
- betrayals
I really enjoyed this book, I had a very good time reading it ad I'm very curious about the sequel and the spin-off!!

Having read The Shadows Between Us and the Blade of Secrets duology earlier this year, I can tell this was Tricia Levenseller's debut novel. I liked it, it was a quick, easy, enjoyable read but it did feel simpler in some way. There wasn't much to the plot other than Alosa faking being a prisoner, her searching for the map everywhere and falling for Riden.

Generally speaking, I really liked the characters: Alosa is a mix between Aelin Galathynius and Jack Sparrow, Riden is troubled but cute and charming, and the side characters were interesting enough. However, I will say this wasn't as heavy on the romance as I was expecting it to be, probably because there's a sequel.

Overall, this was a solid 3 star read. There was adventure, romance and pirating; it was entertaining and very easy to read (Tricia Levenseller is definitely my go to author whenever I'm in a reading slump); and I genuinely enjoyed it. However, nothing about it was remarkable enough to make a lasting impact on me.

That being said, will I read the sequel? Absolutely. I will read anything this woman writes at this point.

You know I don't think I have ever read a book about pirates, and a lady pirate at that!

Alosa, the Princess, the daughter of the pirate king..a fearsome opponent but still with a heart.... 'And while I can kill evil men without guilt, the suffering of others pains me as well as it does them.'

Fake captured by a rival group of pirates, Alosa meets Riden on her secret mission. And pirate jaunts ensue!

Well shiver me timbers. (Sorry about that but I just had to add something cheesy in my review!) this was a fab read and I am so looking forward to the next book. I really hope we get to see more of the Pirate King though!

I NEED BOOK TWO RIGHT NOW.
This book isn’t for everyone but it was definitely for me, I loved it so much😫
It’s ennemies to lovers and he falls first!!!
Risen is so sweet and Alosa is so fierce, I love them both🥺
I usually don’t like short books but the execution in this one was so good, it’s fast past and twisty, it’s just perfect when you’re feeling a bit slumpy.
I just couldn’t stop smiling, I’m so sad I’ll never read it for the first time again😭