It's EVERYTHING You Never Knew You Needed // ARC Review: Daughter of the Siren Queen by Tricia Levenseller

Title: Daughter of the Siren Queen
Author: Tricia Levenseller
Publication Date: February 27th 2018
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends (Macmillan)
Part of a Series?: Yes, Book 2/2 of the Daughter of the Pirate Kind Duology
I Got A Copy Through: Macmillan Intl (Thank You!)
Buy Links: Amazon US || Barnes and Noble || The Book Depository || Wordery || Kobo || Books A Million || Chapters Indigo || Google Books

Blurb Description: Alosa's mission is finally complete. Not only has she recovered all three pieces of the map to a legendary hidden treasure, but the pirates who originally took her captive are now prisoners on her ship. Still unfairly attractive and unexpectedly loyal, first mate Riden is a constant distraction, but now he's under her orders. And she takes great comfort in knowing that the villainous Vordan will soon be facing her father's justice.
When Vordan exposes a secret her father has kept for years, Alosa and her crew find themselves in a deadly race with the feared Pirate King. Despite the danger, Alosa knows they will recover the treasure first . . . after all, she is the daughter of the Siren Queen. 

Read my review on Book One, Daughter of the Pirate King here 

Actual Rating 4.5 Stars

The minute I saw an ARC of Daughter of the Siren Queen in a parcel from Macmillan International, I SCREAMED. I read Daughter of the Pirate King, the prequel and Tricia Levenseller’s debut a few months ago and ever since then, I’d been ITCHING to get my hands on this book.

Despite the fact that I had so many pending ARCs and finished copies to review, I couldn’t help the itch to reach out and read this BEAUTIFUL book and within a week or two of receiving it, I caved.

Daughter of the Siren Queen was a BRILLIANT book filled with pirates, love, family, betrayals, battles, twists, mythical creatures, chemistry and FEMINISM. It was the perfect combination of everything good in the fantasy world and I loved every second of being immersed in this book.

In fact, I NEED MORE BOOKS WITH ALOSA AND RIDEN AND THE AVA-LEE AND EVERYONE ONE IT because HOLY CRAP THEY ARE ALL SUCH AMAZING CHARACTERS AND DESERVE MORE STORIES.

My Thoughts:

1.       While the prequel, Daughter of the Pirate King, took me by surprise with how good it was, I pretty much EXPECTED it from Daughter of the Siren Queen. I expected it to be great, and this book lived up to my expectations.

2.       Like the first book, this story is mostly told on sea, aboard a pirate ship but this one is different because Alosa is no longer a prisoner and is back on her own ship. Most of her crew is made up of badass female pirates and I loved getting to know them especially Mandsy, Nirida and Sorinda.

3.       THE ALOSA AND RIDEN SCENES IN THIS BOOK ARE LIFE. I absolutely loved how he tried to understand her as a half siren, and how she tried to deal with what she felt for him and why he kept her human. Their character development in this book was stunning, just like all their illicit kisses and arguments.

4.       Apart from her journey with Riden, Alosa made HUGE strides as both a Siren and a daughter in this book and how Tricia Levenseller made it all come to life was brilliant. I loved the way her mind worked, her Slytherin attitude, her fearlessness and her loyalty. I will truly miss reading from her perspective.

5.       While this book was GREAT, it somehow just missed the magic that made Daughter of the Pirate King one of my favourite 2017 reads. I don’t know if it was the fact that there were so many new characters, or the fact that I was expecting it to be brilliant, but this book ranks second to its prequel.

Would I recommend this series? HELL YES.

Daughter of the Siren Queen filled with feminism, sirens, magic, pirates, friendship, treasure and chemistry filled banter and IT’S EVERYTHING YOU NEVER KNEW YOU NEEDED IN YOUR LIVES. 4.5 Stars.

Tricia Levenseller writes historical fantasies for young adult readers. Her debut, DAUGHTER OF THE PIRATE KING, released earlier this year from Feiwel and Friends, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers.

Initially from a small town in Oregon, Tricia now lives next to the Rocky Mountains with her bossy dog, Rosy. She received her degree in English Language and editing and is thrilled that she never has to read a textbook again. When she’s not writing or reading, Tricia enjoys putting together jigsaw puzzles, playing volleyball, and watching shows while eating extra-buttered popcorn.

Have you had a chance to dive into this series?! WHAT DO YOU THINK OF IT?

What are some of your favourite YA Feminist Fantasy Novels? PLEASE DO GIVE ME RECOMMENDATIONS BELOW!

 

Magic! Pirates! Fate! // REVIEW: Song of the Current by Sarah Tolcser

Title: Song of the Current (Song of the Current #1) 
Author: Sarah Tolscer
Publication Date: July 2017
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Magic
Part of a Series?: Yes, Book 1/2 of the Song of the Current Duology
I Got A Copy Through: Bloomsbury India (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon IN || Amazon US || Amazon UK || Barnes and Noble || Wordery || Flipkart || Snapdeal || Infibeam || Foyles || Waterstones || WHSmith || Kobo || Books A Million || Chapters Indigo || Google Books

Blurb Description: Caroline Oresteia has always been destined for the river. Her father is a wherryman, as was her grandmother. All Caro needs is for the river god to whisper her name, and her fate is sealed. But at seventeen, Caro may be too late.
So when pirates burn ships and her father is arrested, Caro volunteers to transport a dangerous cargo in exchange for his release. Secretly, Caro hopes that by piloting her own wherry, the river god will finally speak her name.
But when the cargo becomes more than Caro expected, she finds herself caught in a web of politics and lies. With much more than her father’s life at stake, Caro must choose between the future she knows, and the one she never could have imagined

Before I begin my review, I had the opportunity to interview the LOVELY Sarah Tolcser on my Meet The Authors Feature, which you can read here. There's also an INTERNATIONAL GIVEAWAY you can enter!

Before I begin, can we PLEASE have some SERIOUS COVER APPRECIATION FOR THIS BOOK? I know we aren’t supposed to judge books by their covers, but honestly, if a book has a good cover, it makes me was to OWN AND READ it THAT MUCH MORE!

Saying this book looks beautiful is an understatement because the Cover Gods in the Shiny Book Tower have TRULY outdone themselves this time. Combine a beautiful book with a FEMALE PIRATE AND MAGIC and this was a book ALL OF MY BOOKDRAGON TINGLY SENSES WERE TELLING ME I HAD TO READ IT.

I buddy read this book with the lovely Anisha who blogs (tweets and bookstagrams over at Sprinkled Pages) but she was so much faster than me at reading it.

Let’s break this book down:

IDEA:

Female Pirates, Destiny, Magic, Gods and Empires in the balance? It was a no-brainer that I needed to read Song of the Current because EVERYTHING about it sounded so good. Moreover, I heard BRILLIANT things about this book before I began and it had me even more excited.

PLOT:

I’ll be honest, it took a while to get used to the world this was set in. As Anisha and I spoke about while we read the book:

a)      The world-building could have been better. We were thrown names of countries and cities, titles and sailing terms with little to no explanation which resulted in a LOT of flipping to the front where the map what and trying to figure out WHAT WAS GOING ON.

b)      A glossary for this book would HONESTLY have been much appreciated. It would have really helped in understanding everything.

Since the world building was a little rough, it took me a while to get used to the story. I hoped that Tarquin wouldn’t be the love interest and I hoped that the Black Dogs would be some serious opponents but I was slightly let down on both counts.

At the same time, there were also a lot of things I LOVED, including how Caro was the PERFECT BADA*S HEROINE. As she says, she isn’t someone waiting to be rescued like a princess in a tower and moved towards something better. (YES! A FIRST! GO SARAH TOLSCER!) She made decisions on her own and her parents respected them instead of trying to mould her to fit their expectations. (ONCE AGAIN, THANK YOU SARAH.)

Image created by Brittany's Book Rambles 

I also LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVED that ending. If I was unsure about the book for the first two thirds, the BRILLIANT ending made up for it. (No spoilers)

WRITING:

I’m mostly going to tie this to the world building that could’ve been better and hence by default, the writing could have been too. I loved how the concepts of the Gods and Destiny and Fate were written about, but I just wish the world building had been better.

CONCLUSION:

Be true to yourself, could you TRULY pass up a book with FEMALE PIRATES, MAGIC AND A SPECTACULAR COVER? Song of the Current is definitely worth your time, and your heart! 4 stars. 

 Sarah Tolcser lives in New Orleans, where she writes young adult fantasy and science fiction. A graduate of St. Lawrence University, she double majored in writing and philosophy. She enjoys video games, NBA basketball, and books about girls who blow stuff up. She is married, with three cats. The C in Tolcser is silent.

http://sarahtolcser.com

Twitter: @sarahtolcser

Instagram: @sarahtolcser

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Have you read Song of the Current yet? What did you think of it (AAND the cover)?

Who are some of your favourite pirates - female or male? Do you think we should have more books about Female pirates out there?

I can't wait to hear from y'all!

An Interview with Sarah Tolcser, Author of Song Of The Current + Giveaway

Hi Everyone, 
And welcome to the last day of Meet The Authors! I was supposed to have another author on as well but due to some unforeseen circumstances, you'll be "meeting" her during next month's Meet The Authors. 

I have with me today Sarah Tolcser, debut author of the AMAZINGLY MAGICAL BOOK whose Main Character is a FEMALE PIRATE, Song of the Current. The lovely folks at Bloomsbury India sent me a copy of this book, which I just finished reading last Friday and I FELL IN LOVE WITH IT. My review should be up on the blog this Wednesday so be sure to check it out. 

Sarah was kind enough to answer my questions about herself, and is also giving us a little information about book two in her series. Also, there's an AMAZING International giveaway that she's hosting so please be sure to enter!

1. If you could create a fictional crew to hang out with, which five characters would you pick?

 This is a tough question and I’m sure I’m going to forget someone really good. Phryne Fisher from the Phryne Fisher mysteries, Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter, Mara Jade from the old school Star Wars books, Alanna from Tamora Pierce’s Song of the Lioness, and Emily of New Moon…. Wow this is all either female warriors or artsy weirdos. So yeah, that sounds about right.

2. Would you rather be locked in a bookstore or be able to see the future?

See the future! I am the kind of person who always likes to know what’s going on when, so I feel like this would be very reassuring.

3. The last five star book you read was:

 I’m working through Agatha Christie at the moment, and I want to say Murder on the Orient Express, except I think I’m going to give this to Death on the Nile. Mostly because I figured out who did it and I’m super pleased with myself, and I think that made me like the book more! Haha… Agatha Christie makes it really hard to figure them out, even though all the clues are there.

And now, moving onto your masterpiece:

4. We'll start with something generic - tell us a little about Song of the Current:

 Song of the Current is about a girl from a family of river smugglers who ends up on the run from pirates after she agrees to deliver a mysterious cargo. It’s a story about family, bravery, gods, sea serpents, spoiled noble boys, and girls with flintlock pistols, and also about how sometimes your fate finds you when you’re least expecting it.

5. A lot of technical terms in relation to sailing went into the book - are you a sailer or was there a lot of research involved? 

 When I was a kid & teen reader, I was obsessed with sea books. I finally learned to sail at summer camp and went on to teach sailing at three different camps. But there was still a lot of research involved, because I’ve never sailed a boat bigger than 25 feet. I also needed to find out lots of facts about historical ships.

6. The map in Song of the Current is ABSOLUTELY beautiful! Who did it and what are some of your favourite fictional maps? 

 I am in love with the map in my book. It was done by Virginia Allyn, and I think it’s absolutely perfect. I actually saw the map before I saw a finished cover, so it was the first “Wow this is a real book” moment for me. I’m obsessed with all fantasy maps, but I think the ones of The Hobbit and Narnia are my favorites because I used to stare at them for hours when I was a kid.

7. Any sneak peaks into what book two will hold for us?

 I’m working on my final revision of Book 2 now. I can’t reveal the title yet, but I can say it’s more traditionally pirate-y than Song of the Current. There are new and old enemies, a lost treasure, a shipwreck, and Caro gets to use her knife throwing skills.

Title: Song of the Current (Song of the Current #1) 
Author: Sarah Tolscer
Publication Date: July 2017
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Magic
Part of a Series?: Yes, Book 1/2 of the Song of the Current Duology
I Got A Copy Through: Bloomsbury India (THANK YOU!)

Blurb Description: Caroline Oresteia has always been destined for the river. Her father is a wherryman, as was her grandmother. All Caro needs is for the river god to whisper her name, and her fate is sealed. But at seventeen, Caro may be too late.
So when pirates burn ships and her father is arrested, Caro volunteers to transport a dangerous cargo in exchange for his release. Secretly, Caro hopes that by piloting her own wherry, the river god will finally speak her name.
But when the cargo becomes more than Caro expected, she finds herself caught in a web of politics and lies. With much more than her father’s life at stake, Caro must choose between the future she knows, and the one she never could have imagined

 Sarah Tolcser lives in New Orleans, where she writes young adult fantasy and science fiction. A graduate of St. Lawrence University, she double majored in writing and philosophy. She enjoys video games, NBA basketball, and books about girls who blow stuff up. She is married, with three cats. The C in Tolcser is silent.

http://sarahtolcser.com

Twitter: @sarahtolcser

Instagram: @sarahtolcser

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All That Girl Power // REVIEW: Daughter Of The Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller

Title: Daughter Of The Pirate King (Daughter Of The Pirate King #1)

Author: Tricia Levenseller

Publication Date: February 28th 2017

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends (Macmillan)

Part of a Series?: Yes, Book 1/2 of the Daughter of the Pirate King Duology

Buy Links: Amazon || Barnes and Noble || Wordery || The Book Depository || Books A Million || Google Play Books || Kobo || Indigo || 

Blurb Description: There will be plenty of time for me to beat him soundly once I’ve gotten what I came for.
Sent on a mission to retrieve an ancient hidden map—the key to a legendary treasure trove—seventeen-year-old pirate captain Alosa deliberately allows herself to be captured by her enemies, giving her the perfect opportunity to search their ship.
More than a match for the ruthless pirate crew, Alosa has only one thing standing between her and the map: her captor, the unexpectedly clever and unfairly attractive first mate, Riden. But not to worry, for Alosa has a few tricks up her sleeve, and no lone pirate can stop the Daughter of the Pirate King.

When I first read about this on Netgalley, I remember not reading the synopsis and basing my NEED to read this book purely on the title alone.

I guess that’s why it took me SO LONG to bring it to the top of my lung crushing, bookworm drowning TBR pile but now that I finished it, I AM SO SO HAPPY THAT I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO READ THIS BOOK BECAUSE IT IS EASILY ONE OF THE BEST I’VE READ THIS YEAR!

“I believe we create ourselves to be what we want.”

Instead of describing this book, I’m going to rant about ALL THE GREAT THINGS that I LOVED TO THE BOTTOM OF MY FANGIRLING HEART (and I hope you will want to read it too!)

1.       ALL THE GIRL POWER: What’s better than a Badass Female Main Character who is ALSO the captain of her own ship? A SUPER SASSY Protagonist with the ability to hold her own EASILY in a ship full of enemy male pirates, FIGHT LIKE NOBODY’S BUSINESS and also HAS A CREW FILLED WITH THE MOST AWESOME SAUCE AND LOYAL GIRLS. (Who I am SO SO EXCITED to read more about in book two.)

2.       ALL THAT BANTER: One of the things I loved the MOST about this book was THE EASY, sometimes sassy, sometimes flirty banter that Tricia Levenseller managed to create that made a book about pirates, mythical sea creatures, hostages and treasure SO MUCH MORE FUN. (If that is even possible) SERIOUSLY. Some AMAZING DIALOGUE.

3.       ALL THAT FLIRTING: I LOVED LOVED Riden and Alosa together. It was such a FUN, refreshing romance with NO PINING, all honour, attraction and flirting and I LOVED IT. (Yes, I have used the word ‘love’ about 36,289 times in this review already) I loved the kissing scenes, I loved the turmoil that went through Alosa’s head during those moments, and I loved them. I cannot WAIT to see what book two does with them.

4.       ALL THOSE PLOT TWISTS: Most days, I can predict where a fantasy will end up. Daughter of the Pirate King, however, had me saying ‘OH HOLY WOW. I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING.’ These are such AMAZING twists too, fitting pieces in place and WOW. LOVE. (Yes, again)

5.       ALL THAT ALOSA KALLIGAN: Move over Celaena Sardothien, MY NEW FAVOURITE BADASS FEMALE CHARACTER IS HERE. This girl takes NO NONSENSE, has ALL THE SASS AND THE BRAINS AND THE FIGHTING SKILLS and well, I LOVED LIVING IN HER HEAD FOR A FEW DAYS.

There was NOTHING AT ALL WRONG WITH THIS BOOK. In fact, IT WAS SO PERFECT I COULD CRY.

A fast paced, swashbuckling tale with an amazing cast and ALL THE GIRL POWER. I’m so in love, all I want to do it read it again. 5 stars.

Tricia Levenseller writes historical fantasies for young adult readers. Her debut, DAUGHTER OF THE PIRATE KING, is set to release Feb. 2017 from Feiwel and Friends, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers.

Initially from a small town in Oregon, Tricia now lives next to the Rocky Mountains with her bossy dog, Rosy. She received her degree in English Language and editing and is thrilled that she never has to read a textbook again. When she’s not writing or reading, Tricia enjoys putting together jigsaw puzzles, playing volleyball, and watching shows while eating extra-buttered popcorn.

What is you FAVOURITE Pirate Book/ Movie?

Who is your favourite badass female character?

Have you heard of/ read Daughter of the Pirate King? Is it on your TBR? 

I can't wait to chat with all you lovelies!

BLOG TOUR: Blacksouls by Nicole Castroman - Review, Favorite Quotes & Giveaway

Title: Blacksouls (Blackhearts #2)
Author: Nicole Castroman
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: April 11th 2017
Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Romance, Pirates, Adventure
Part Of A Series? Yes, Book 2/2 of the Blackhearts Series
I Got A Copy Through: Hardcover from Simon Pulse (THANK YOU!)

Synopsis: Nicole Castroman brings the dangerous pirate ports of the Caribbean to life in this vibrant se-quel to Blackhearts—the reimagined origin story of history’s most infamous pirate, Black-beard.
Edward “ Teach” Drummond is setting sail to the Caribbean as first mate on the most celebrated merchant ship in the British fleet—until he rebels against his captain. Mutiny isa capital offense and Teach knows it could cost him his life, but he believes it worth the risk inorder to save his crew from the attacking Spanish ships.
Sailing on the same blue waters, Anne barely avoids the Spanish attack, making it safely toNassau. But lawless criminals, corrupt politics, and dangerous intentions fill the crowded streets of this Caribbean port. Soon, Anne discovers that the man entrusted to keep the peace is quite possibly the most treacherous of them all—and he just happens to hold Teach’s fate in his terri-fying hands.
Life and death hang in the balance when Teach and Anne are given a dangerous mission. It’s a mission that will test their love, loyalty and devotion, forcing them down a path nei-ther one could have ever imagined.

After I finished reading Blackhearts last year, I didn't know that there wasn't a contracted sequel. In fact, I assumed that we would be getting our answers in the second part and was happily waiting for news of it.  And then came a publication announcement, and I was pleasantly shocked and surprised because i KNEW I would need to read this book after that HORRIBLE HEART-WRENCHING  ENDING to Blacksouls. 

I was also very excited to actually have pirates, ships and everything that comes along with the seas in this story because book one didn't have a lot of it. Or any, really. I was also really hoping the entire book wasn't a journey of Teach getting to Anne and it was all kings of mope-y, because that would have been sad

So, now that I've told you what I EXPECTED from this book, I should tell you that It was BETTER than I expected it would be! Thoughts:

1) I LOVED ANNE IN THIS BOOK. She was spunky in book one, but I'd gotten use to the general prejudice of mean girls, and so Blackhearts made her seem normal. In Blacksouls, Anne had to deal with the beginning of and her first experiences with Slavery - and I FELT ALL OF HER INDIGNATION AND RIGHTFUL OFFENSE AND PURE ANGER. Slavery was given JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF EVERYTHING, especially since it was told from a POC's point of view

2) Teach, on the other hand, was an interesting character, but nowhere near as interesting as Anne. He was RIDICULOUSLY POSSESSIVE, and a total anti-feminist and that annoyed me. He LOVED ANNE, but didn't think her capable of anything. I get that he wanted to keep her safe but SIGH. I DID LOVE his transition (or rather how we saw for the first time) his abilities as a sailor and a captain, and I truly believed that he could be a great future pirate. 

3) I loved the secondary characters - Alastair, Beth, Cara, Coyle, Easton, John, Reva and Benjamin - and all the added twists, turns and substance they gave the story. 

4) Most of all, I TRULY fell in love with this book when the whole *ahem* conspiracy of Evil Dudes came to light. I loved how you could see this TEAM coming together and I LOVED ALL OF THEM which brings me to - IS THESE GOING TO BE A SEQUEL? Because while this didn't end on a cliffhanger, I LOVED THE ENDING SO MUCH AND WHERE THE CHARACTERS ARE GOING SO PLEASE LET ME HAVE MORE!

Would I recommend this series? HELL YES. Especially now that you can binge the two books together. 

An swashbuckling, brilliant story that will have you on slowly falling in love with everyone in it. 

"To begin something without fear is the same as victory."

"She didn't want there to be a question in anyone's mind that she belonged with Teach. 'Of course I do. I need you to make me an honest woman, before I become a criminal.'

Easton made a strangled sound in his throat, overhearing the last part of the sentence. 'Not just any criminal. A Pirate.'

Nicole was lucky enough to come with her very own best friend...she has a twin sister who can read her mind and finish her sentences for her.
At the age of 13, she went to Europe for the first time and it changed her life. She loves learning about different people, languages and cultures and speaks fluent German. She knows enough Spanish to get herself into trouble and can still read the Cyrillic alphabet from when she studied Russian.

She received her B.A. from Brigham Young University and has lived in Germany, Austria and two different places called Georgia. One is located on the Black Sea. The other is the state ofGeorgia where she now lives with her handsome husband and two beautiful children who continue to amaze her.

• 1 Finished Copy of Blacksouls (Black-hearts #2) by Nicole Castroman
• US Only
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