Series written by Tricia Levenseller, published 2017 and 2018.
Pirate King Kalligan is easily the most ruthless, merciless, feared, and wealthiest man on the ocean—that’s probably why he’s the king. Kalligan is also from one of the oldest pirate families, one of three entrusted with a piece of a map that leads to a treasure unlike anything he has already amassed. Kalligan has already followed his piece of the map as far as it will lead him, but there was no guessing the rest. If Kalligan wants that treasure, he needs the other two pieces of the map.
Enter Alosa, Kalligan’s daughter. Alosa is skilled at many things: swordplay, shooting, lockpicking, pickpocketing, fashion, and manipulating men. She is clever, stubborn, and willing to do whatever it takes to make her father proud. In short, she is the perfect spy to send aboard the ship of the Jeksor brothers and steal their piece of the map. Alosa’s loyalty to her father is unquestioned, but what she doesn’t expect to find is compassion toward the younger Jeksor brother, Riden. Riden is unlike any pirate Alosa has ever met before. He’s just as brilliant as she is, but altogether too gentle and merciful to be a pirate.
With so much at stake, Alosa is forced to reevaluate her priorities. If she betrays her father, she dooms not only herself, but Riden and the rest of her crew, but could Kalligan’s wrath be worth a life of her own? The only way to find out is to find that treasure before anyone else.
I’ve been on a bit of a pirate kick lately, and this is the most enjoyable set of books I’ve found in this genre. I loved the banter between Riden and Alosa, I loved the mythology of the world-building, and I loved the fact that this was a fast-paced, easy read. I went out and bought both books as soon as I finished reading them. Highly, highly recommend!
This series contains language (b-bombs being the worst), lots of blood and violence, some bed-sharing, steamy kissing, undressing, and nudity (no graphic details here), but no sex.
Stay tuned for discussion time! Spoilers follow, ye pirates be warned ;)
"He wants to be here, I realize. And I can't think of any nefarious reasons for him to wish to stay. His brother is safe. Isn't that what he's always wanted? To stay by his brother's side and make sure spoiled Draxen gets his way?
So then why would he stay? For the treasure?
Warmth blooms in my chest at the next possibility: Could it be for me?
And, the bigger question: Do I want it to be for me?"
I think my favorite part about this duology is Alosa’s character. She’s sharp-witted, clever, compassionate, somewhat merciful, and a total feminist. Her entire crew is made up of women that she’s just sort of picked up over the years—like a bunch of Lost Girls. She has a few men on her crew for extra muscle, but she doesn’t treat them poorly. She treats them with the same respect and expectations she has for the rest of her crew. Alosa is also very fashion-savvy and feminine. What I love about her femininity is that she doesn’t often use it in toxic ways. I mean, she is a pirate, so she flaunts herself to her advantage occasionally, but what I mean is that her femininity doesn’t determine her strength as a leader. She’s not a good captain because she’s sexy and manipulative. The men on her crew don’t see themselves as weak or undermined by serving under a female captain. In short, Alosa is totally kick-butt and balanced in her feminine traits. As far as strong female leads go, Alosa is one of my favorites.
There is a romantic element in this duology, so I do feel the need to address that: In the first installment, Rider and Alosa mostly just bicker with each other. They don’t hate each other when they first meet, but they are conditioned to see one another as the enemy; therefore, they don’t see a point in actually hurting each other, but they can’t be friends, so they settle for throwing shade and wit at each other, which is really fun to read. And then as they get to know each other a little bit better, they find attractive characteristics in each other. For example, Riden is far too gentle to be a real pirate. He stands out from his older brother, who is a ruthless and unkind captain just like their father. Riden’s level of patience and mercy toward Alosa draws her to him in an emotional way, one she really comes to rely on in the second book. Nothing is said from Riden’s perspective, but I think Alosa’s stubbornness grows on him after a while. Her stubbornness becomes a reflection of her loyalty—she refuses to give up on her mission because she doesn’t want to let her father down, or she doesn’t relent on some orders to her crew because she doesn’t want to risk their safety—and Riden becomes part of that. Riden grew up not being able to stand up for himself, so Alosa sort of becomes his inspiration to try something different.
In the second book, we’ve established that Riden and Alosa are attracted to/fond of each other, but there’s still a lot of emotional baggage to work through: Alosa doesn’t believe that Riden could actually care for her because she manipulated him a lot at first, and she doesn’t trust him enough to think that he wouldn’t do the same. Riden gets frustrated with Alosa because her siren half puts him in situations that remind him of his abusive past. But they manage to work through it. They put themselves in completely vulnerable situations in Alosa’s training, and that significantly builds their trust in one another. I think that’s what I love most about their relationship—they’re just two broken people learning how to love again and how to let themselves be loved.
I also really loved the happy ending that these two got, like just for themselves, not just the ending that they got with each other. For Alosa, she was able to find a balance between these two halves of herself. She was reunited with her mother (who turned out to be completely trustworthy, much to my relief), and she met with the Sirens. She decides not to stay with them, but she discovers that she has a voice that fits in their song and the monster she grew to hate has a place where it belongs. Again, Alosa doesn’t stay with the Sirens because she wants to live with all of these human experiences that bring her joy, so she essentially sails off to become the Pirate Queen. I don’t know, it was just really wholesome to see that reconciliation between the two sides of herself—she didn’t have to choose one or the other. For Riden, being a pirate was never his choice. It was always something he was born to, but never something he wanted because it always seemed to cause him pain. But Alosa’s crew is for the Captain Jack Sparrows essentially—those who pirate for the freedom of it and not necessarily for the gain. So being part of Alosa’s crew by choice at the end was also really wholesome because he’s realized that what he was born to doesn’t have to be this terrible thing. He can help change it into something that brings him peace in adventure.
Overall, this was a really fun, well-written read, and I want more people to talk to about it! Send us your thoughts in the comments below! Happy reading!
Comments