#BookReview: VENGEANCE OF THE PIRATE QUEEN by Tricia Levenseller @TriciaLevensell @PushkinChildren

Publication: 2nd November 2023 – Pushkin Children’s Books

Eighteen-year-old Sorinda is a deadly assassin with a reputation to match. But her latest assignment is like no other. The pirate queen, Alosa, has tasked her with captaining a handpicked crew on a dangerous rescue mission, and her sailing master is none other than the infuriating Kearan.

But as they navigate through treacherous waters, they accidentally awaken the King of the Undersea, who summons an army of undead soldiers from the depths. With Kearanby her side, Sorinda must fight tooth and nail to survive. Will Sorinda and her crew manage to save the world, or will she face a fate worse than death – becoming an undead queen controlled by the King himself?

AMAZON

WATERSTONES

I loved the first two books in the series and I was thrilled to return to this world of sirens and pirates, even though the protagonist is no longer Alosa, now the Pirate Queen, but her best assassin, Sorinda.

Sorinda is the person who the Pirate Queen sends to take care of her enemies. They don’t see her coming and she gets the job done. But when Alosa asks her to captain a crew to find some of her girls undercover on a ship of the Land’s King, Sorinda is not exactly thrilled. Still haunted by her past and its monsters, she doesn’t feel up to the job and she doesn’t want to disappoint Alosa. Even worse, Kearan is part of her crew. She doesn’t like the attention he reserves her or the belief that he stopped drinking because of her. But her queen has tasked her with a mission and she has every intention to accomplish it. And if surviving a Kraken-like sea monster was hard, facing the King of the Undersea is even worse. But Sorinda is determined to save her crew, even if it means sacrificing herself…

I really enjoyed Vengeance of the Pirate Queen. The beginning was a bit slow, but then the story really picked up pace and I turned page after page. There are monsters, undead, pirates, sirens, a quest for revenge, alliances are formed, and curses are broken. And of course, a fantastic slow-burn romance that kept me completely immersed.

If you haven’t read the first two books, I think it can be easily read as a standalone as there is some backstory, which helped me, too, as I couldn’t remember some of the characters from the previous books. That said, if you love stories of pirates, romance, a fantastic world-building, I recommend the entire series!

A huge thank you to Pushkin Children’s Books and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of the novel.

Tricia Levenseller is from a small town in Oregon and now lives next to the Rocky Mountains in Utah with her bossy dog, Rosy. When she’s not writing or reading, Tricia enjoys putting together jigsaw puzzles, playing Overwatch, and watching her favorite TV shows while eating extra-buttered popcorn. Her books include Daughter of the Pirate King, its sequel Daughter of the Siren Queen, Warrior of the Wild, The Shadows Between Us, Blade of Secrets and its sequel Master of Iron, all published or forthcoming from Pushkin.