I’m sure that most of us who consider ourselves avid readers have experienced starting a book at night thinking that you will just read a couple of chapters and then go to sleep, but then rather than just read a couple of chapters you end up reading the whole book.
My question is have you ever experienced this two nights in a row with both books in a duology? Well, I did this month. It was the first time that it has ever happened to me, but I am happy that it did.
The Daughter of the Pirate King duology by Tricia Levenseller features the books Daughter of the Pirate King and Daughter of the Siren Queen. I have considered picking up the duology on several occasions since I read Levenseller’s The Shadows Between Us in 2020.
Warning: This review contains spoilers for both books.
‘Daughter of the Pirate King’
Synopsis
Alosa Kalligan, daughter of the pirate king is tasked with retrieving a portion of a map from the sons of a pirate lord. The map leads the way to a massive treasure trove. Alosa allows herself to be captured by the crew of the ship to give herself the perfect opportunity to search it for the map piece. Unfortunately for Alosa, the first mate of the ship, Riden, has a penchant for disrupting Alosa’s efforts to find the piece of the map. Will Alosa successfully retrieve the map piece?
Star Rating
Five out of Five Stars
My Thoughts
I will probably say this a thousand times, but I love this book. I love the banter between Alosa and Riden. The way the two of them get under the other’s skin is pure gold. The ending of the book includes some fantastic plot twists. For most of the book, Riden and his brother are framed as the antagonists, but another antagonist is introduced towards the end of the book.
There are three map pieces needed to find the treasure. Alosa’s father has one, Riden’s father hid the second, and a pirate lord, Vordan, has the third. Vordan shows up at the end of the book to capture the piece of the map hidden on Riden’s ship.
I love that the book does not downplay the atrocities committed by pirates. In the first chapter alone both main characters kill members of each other’s crews. Alosa is objectified by many members of Riden’s crew as would be expected of pirates who spend weeks at sea without seeing any women.
Throughout the book we as the audience get glimpses of a secret that Alosa is keeping from Riden. The secret is not hard to figure out if you know the title of the second book. Alosa is not only the daughter of the pirate king but also of the siren queen, making her half-human and half-siren.
What I enjoyed about the reveal of this information as it happened in the book is that it is not explicitly stated until the climax of the story. We learn that Alosa is half-siren from her using her siren powers throughout the story to get out of various positions that she puts herself in.
I also like that the author took the route of Alosa already having the knowledge of her heritage and having tested her abilities rather than it being something she learns as a part of the plot.
The best part of the book is easily the interactions between Alosa and Riden. Both are snarky and brilliant but see life differently because of the different experiences they have had in life so far. They are also both well aware that whatever they feel for the other is dangerous and does not make sense given that they are literally enemy pirates.
Favorite Quotes
“Everyone has something dark in their past. I suppose it’s our job to overcome it. And if we can’t overcome it, then all we can do is make the most of it.”
― Tricia Levenseller, Daughter of the Pirate King
“I am me because I choose to be me. I am what I want. Some people say you have to find yourself. Not I. I believe we create ourselves to be what we want.”
― Tricia Levenseller, Daughter of the Pirate King
‘Daughter of the Siren Queen’
Synopsis
Alosa Kalligan has successfully obtained the two pieces of the map that her and her father need to sail for the treasure kept by the sirens. Alosa is looking forward to the search for the treasure until she discovers a secret that her father has been keeping in his study.
Upon discovery of this secret, Alosa uses copies of the map pieces to sail for the treasure herself as it may be the only way to escape the wrath of her father. Who will win the race for treasure: the pirate king or Alosa?
Star Rating
Four out of Five Stars
My Thoughts
I liked the second book a little less than the first because Alosa makes several mistakes that she knew to avoid. At one point she makes a move to kill her father. She has the thought to just shoot him but chooses not to. This almost leads to an absolute defeat for Alosa because she cannot beat him in a fight. Something she knows for a fact, but she still chose not to shoot him.
There were also a couple of deaths that felt unnecessary for the author to include. I expect death in a story about pirates, but I also expect those deaths to make sense. One of Alosa’s pirates being eaten alive by cannibals created by sirens falls in the category of senseless.
First of all, the cannibals did not need to exist. Second of all, it seems illogical for a horde of them to sneak up on someone scouting for danger. The shooting of the six-year-old was also unnecessary.
Past these two points, I loved this book as well. In this book we see Alosa explore what it really means to be half-siren and what her life could have been like if she were raised by her mother rather than her father. We see her struggle with releasing her siren side even though it is often the only reason her and her crew remain alive.
We get to see her in her role as a pirate captain. I much preferred her character in this book for that reason. In the first book, she is mostly baiting Riden and trying to find the map. In this book, she has to make several hard decisions to try and keep her crew alive because she genuinely cares about all of them.
When she first sets out to beat the pirate king to the treasure she even gives members of her crew a chance to leave in order to give them a higher chance of survival.
I love the interactions between Alosa and her crew. They treat each other as a found family. They all care about each other and try to keep each other from doing stupid things. Alosa’s first mate is the one that pushes her to figure out how to control her siren side by reminding her what is at stake if she does not. Alosa took in a father and his six-year-old daughter, Roslyn.
Any interaction between Roslyn and Alosa is pure gold. Alosa gives Roslyn limited responsibilities designed to keep her safe in the event of an attack, while Roslyn does everything she can to decrease the time before she is treated as a real pirate.
In the end, Alosa beats her father with the help of the sirens. Her troubles do not end there. She has to decide what her next actions are now that the pirate king is dead. Does she join the sirens or does she become the pirate queen? This one I will let you figure out for yourself by reading the book.
Favorite Quotes
“My stomach drops at our salvation right ahead of us, our doom right behind us. We cannot have one without the other.”
― Tricia Levenseller, Daughter of the Siren Queen
“It’s not a question of if you’ll win, I continue. The only question is whether you will choose to fight. Will you fight for your queen? Will you fight for your waters and treasure? Will you fight for your little ones?”
― Tricia Levenseller, Daughter of the Siren Queen
Both of these books are fantastic and fun reads. I recommend them to anyone who wants to read a book about a pirate adventure. In fact, I recommend Tricia Levenseller as an author for anyone who enjoys reading fantasy.
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