This is an amazing poetry chapbook from one of my very talented friends studying literature with me at my university! Showing up to class on a normal day to find a large box of Emma's freshly printed and published chapbooks was such an exciting sight! I took one off her hands on the spot and immediately started reading. I wasn't able to finish the entire book until yesterday, and it's beautiful, haunting quality has been on my mind ever since. I loved many things about the structure and stylistic format of this work, especially since it chronicles a woman who is unable to "stay dead," living through tumultuous times in history as a solitary and quite lonely entity. I loved how each poem managed a distinctly different tone while still possessing that immortal woman's unique voice bleeding through the words. I also loved how each poem speaks of love, that despite the unimaginable reality of being trapped within the all-encompassing prison of time without anyone existing quite like you, love can still be on one's mind and fuel them forward. All of the different poetry styles that mirrored cultures as well as the unique passing of time through the eyes of the immortal narrator were also very enjoyable and stylistically beautiful. Overall, there is something more close and personal about reading the literature of someone you have been learning and studying alongside of, whose short stories and other poetry you've offered suggestions for and critiqued, whose personality you get to see shine in classroom settings and beyond. I'm very glad to be able to say "I knew Emma McCoy when..." and am looking forward to reading the many other pieces of art she will undoubtedly publish. :)


The collection's beautiful concluding lines:

"I'll start from the beginning / and tell you the whole thing / Just in case."

This book was a great sequel to a story that really hooked me from the start. What I appreciated the most about this book from my perspective as a writer, however, was how it dealt with and approached the lore of sirens - mythological, seductive creatures of the deep inspired by Homer's ancient epic The Odyssey. I am writing a fantasy novel that sees sirens appear as some of the main characters, playing the parts of both protagonist and antagonist. So, in reading how Levenseller writes her half-siren heroine and introduces a whole legion of sirens towards the second half of the book, I wasn't only pulled in by their allure in the story, but able to take some mental notes on how I want to continue to portray and play with the curious essence of sirens in my own work. The furthering of the story that unfurled in Daughter of the Pirate King is developed very well while expanding on the heroine, Alosa's, past of which she realizes has been greatly disillusioned. We pick up right where we left off with Riden, Alosa's handsome love interest, and his brother Draxen, her former captor, taken aboard her ship to sail for the Pirate King's keep with the last piece of the map Alosa searched and fought valiantly for whilst a prisoner. When Alosa discovers that her father has been keeping a devastating secret from her that changes everything she views about herself and her own mother, the race is on to see who will reach the treasure of the siren-protected Isla de Canta first - father or daughter? The story is full of magnificent twists and turns, pitting Alosa against the greatest of odds all while her unwillingness to admit her feelings of love for Riden grow stronger and stronger with every passing argument or embrace. I also thought the battle scenes throughout were very well-written and provided appropriate but not overstimulating detail. This was an easy read, and one I really only put down when I absolutely had to! I wasn't sure if a third installment would be added to this series, but a quick Google search took me to the author's website and gave me my answer: "Thank you so much for your enthusiasm, but no. Alosa's story is definitely done." :)



Some of my favorite quotes from Daughter of the Siren Queen: 

"Your enchantments last long after your song fades."

"I may not have been born in the sea, but I was born to rule it. I am the daughter of the siren queen."

"'You are perfect just the way you are,' he continues, 'And I wouldn't change a single thing about you.'"

"We saw what evil looked like, and we knew we wanted to be different."