Pirate Sea

by Kyler Kuehler

James Vane is on his first sea voyage with his father in the Caribbean Sea. What was supposed to be a new adventure turns into a nightmare when the ship is attacked by merciless pirates. James is taken prisoner and forced to serve as the crew's cabin boy aboard the Blood Revenge, which is captained by the ruthless Henry Rogers Scar-Eye. Throughout his cabin boy experience, he must deal with long torturous hours of being bullied, beaten, and practically treated like a ragdoll.Just when things can't get any worse, he soon discovers Scar-Eye has many different plans for him.Will James succumb to Scar-Eye's plans or will he manage to fight his way back to freedom? Join him on this rip-roaring adventure upon the high seas filled with action, suspense, and plenty of pirates."It's Pirates of the Caribbean and Treasure Island in one book"

151 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 29, 2021

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast, fun and rather gruesome!

Well, I never expected that a YA pirate adventure story would be my thing, but I really enjoyed this! Pirate Sea follows the misfortune of young James as he is captured and made the cabin boy of a ship of sadistic pirates. We follow James’ narration as he fights for his life, respect and with his own conscience. The cherry on top of this story was the very sweet romance.

The writing style and structure of this story, clearly designed for its young adult audience, lends itself to being an extremely quick and engaging read. I found this book pretty hard to put down once I’d picked it up. While the story is designed for a younger audience, it doesn’t shy away from heavy emotional themes, dark concepts or grisly details.

I absolutely am not the intended audience for this book and I enjoyed reading it tremendously, so I’d imagine for adventure story fans or avid readers of young adult fiction, this would be a perfect short read.

I tend to read pretty lengthy and dense classics, and I am constantly on the lookout for shorter books I can pick up in between those reads to refresh my reading motivation. In that respect, Pirate Sea was a winner!

[Robert Burns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pirate sea is every bit the wild adventure promised from the bloody opening pages. While I understand why its considered a YA book with its underage protagonist, bloody battles, and teenage agnst, I think it’s best a YA for adults due to the language and violent nature of the writing.

Two things the author does well is letting us into the head of our protagonist and the many many fight scenes. The story reads as a journal which really lets us see the ups and downs of his thought process. (spoiler alert) I absolutely thought he’d commit to his pirate ways, but he didn’t. In addition, the battle scenes had enough action to be entertaining but didn’t get lost in minutia, a hard balancing act he did well.

If you are looking for a violent YA adventure on the high seas, this book is for you!

[Lee Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

A swashbuckling and sometimes brutal tale packed with action

Pirate Sea is a page-turning swashbuckling tale with a brutal edge that follows young ‘James Vane’ as he is captured by a band of pirates in the 1700’s. The writing style is both a befitting tribute to the famous pirate tales seen in classic literature whilst also having a modern feel.

Not long after readers are introduced to the story do we see events turn for the worst for young ‘James’ as his father’s ship is intercepted by the infamous pirate vessel known as the ‘Blood Revenge’ and helmed by Captain ‘Scar Eye’ – I enjoyed the naming here, it felt both original and familiar which hit the right tones for a pirate themed story. Soon enough those events turn brutal which is something that rings true from real history, this isn’t just the glamour of swords and sails, its gritty and violent. This is also a sign of things to come.

“He was pure pirate and reasoning with pure pirate was impossible”

A quote that sums up the journey James would have to take in this story to find any kind of redemption or escape and there is a heap of character development as he adjusts to these new pirate surroundings. It is during this journey that he discovers a history that is very close and personal and with it comes a tale I very much enjoyed.

[Julie Mannino · Rating 4 out of 5]

This could have been better-edited (cellular, not cellar and a few other typos), and I think a teeny bit more research on some things could have been done (brig, not cellar for a ship). The other thing I didn't get was the fact that they thought the pirate ship was an English ship at first. I get the enemy was flying British colors, but they had spyglasses back then, and they should have realized the ship's coloring was off long before they got close for cannon damage.
So with some issues on realism, I still enjoyed the book. It reminded me of a favorite, the Bloody Jack series. James was an interesting and tough character. I was worried he'd turn into a complete monster like his captors or end up dead within a week. I was happy with the ending, but I won't spoil it for others.
  I like the cover too. It's like sunrise and sunset at the same time, and this book is a story of endings and new beginnings for James.

[Abigail Bok]

This book needs a lot of work.