Book Review | Daughter of the Siren Queen

Right before C2E2 I was emailed by the representatives at Feiwel and Friends asking if I was interested in reviewing a copy of Daughter of the Siren Queen, the sequel to Daughter of the Pirate Queen and the second book by Tricia Levenseller. Naturally, I was intrigued by the premise of both novels, so I said yes. I can truthfully say that I'm glad I did.

Although not my general cup of tea, both books in the series were light-hearted and fun enough that I could confidently recommend them to those who enjoy YA, romance, and/or pirates. Throw in a hefty dash of girl-power and you definitely have yourself a summer beach read series.

While I read both books, I'm really only going to review Daughter of the Siren Queen since that was the book review requested from the publishers. I'll do my best not to spoil too much since it's the second book in a...duology? Furthermore, some details here can spoil the events of the first novel, so I'll try especially hard to keep details to a minimum. Okay? Okay.

So Alosa is, as I'm sure anyone can now guess from the titles of both books, the daughter of both the Pirate King and the Siren Queen. This plays heavily into the story as well, given that neither of Alosa's parents are, well, normal people - or even people in her mother's case. This has lead Alosa to lead a very interesting life, to say the least. While technically the Princess of Pirates, her relationship with her father is strained at best, and her mother hasn't been a presence in her life her entire eighteen years. That is, until one day, she is. 

While I'll keep the details on her mother's reappearance mum, this event forces Alosa to come face to face with some very nasty truths about her father, and it will ultimately make her to choose whom she will be faithful to. In the end though, Alosa will be on the run and forced to make some very difficult choices that may cost her her ship, her crew, and her life. In addition to all of this, Alosa is about to learn more about her heritage than she was ever ready to learn.

Levenseller's writing is fun and whimsical and fits the story well. That being said, two whole books of it did start to drain me of the energy I'd had for these books at the start. Details can be forgotten completely, only to be so suddenly and deeply elaborated upon you feel as though you're experiencing a sudden text dump from a middle schooler's book report. Characters were very poorly described as well, save for Alosa herself, and were it not for DotSQ I'd have been of the very uncomfortable notion that this world consisted of only white, straight people (with the exception of one gay man in the first book, but he was a villain, and that's admittedly not a great start towards inclusiveness). Still, if you can get past the information dumps and the characters that literally show up just to die, you'll probably get along with this series swimmingly. (See what I did there?)

Alosa is advertised as being a young female Jack Sparrow in the blurbs on the covers of both books. This is a grave misrepresentation. Alosa is, in fact, nothing if not a typical eighteen-year-old girl. If that girl were a pirate. And half siren. Had Alosa been more like Sparrow though I feel like it would have ruined her credibility. Having Alosa be her own person is much more preferable, especially considering her age and status in this fictitious world.

While reading through these novels, something I wish Levenseller had attributed more time to was the fleshing out side characters. Riden, a character you meet early on in Daughter of the Pirate King is present in both books and is probably the one you get most intimate within your journey through the pages of this series (for obvious reasons) but for as important as Riden is to the story, you never get to really meet the members of Alosa's crew who have been around for far longer. In fact, most of them were far more interesting than Riden and a good deal more interesting than Alosa too, in my opinion. I'm not saying this to be mean. It's a compliment. Levenseller created some genuinely interesting female characters that handle Alosa's ship, the Ava-lee, and yet I don't feel as though we got to know any one of them very deeply. Delving deeper into these other characters could have added some much needed context to not only Alosa's character, but the world at large as well.

Finally, my last complaint. Perhaps it's a moot point given that these books were intended to be light, casual reads, and also that Levenseller herself is a new author, but for all the time I spent in this world I couldn't tell you the name of it. I couldn't tell you the name of any of the islands, save for the one that the sirens reside at, or the name of the "Land King" - if for no other reason than I think this is the only thing he was ever called. We have no sense of culture in this world other than women not genuinely being on equal standing with men, and that the Pirate King owns the sea and the Land King owns, well, you get it.

Despite this deeply rooted need to just have more that wasn't fulfilled, I'd say that Daughter of the Siren Queen wasn't half bad. I think the fact that I really wanted more from it signifies that rather well. Tricia Levenseller has talent, and for a writer so young I can't wait to see what she does next.

If you're in the market for something new, or just need a light palate cleanse of a read, these books will do it and make you wish you were at least near a beach to enjoy the freedom of the sea too. Just don't go following any siren song!

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*image by Song Nan-Li