Pacifica by Kristen Simmons | Book Review

Title: Pacifica

Author: Kristen Simmons

Series: N/A

Genre: Young Adult, Sci-fi, Dystopia, Romance, Fantasy

Publisher: Tor Teen

Publication date: March 6th, 2018

Pages: 384

My rating: 

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Marin is cosario royalty, a pirate like her father and his father before him. Sailing the ocean to chase adventure is in her blood. But these days no one cares that the island town her people call home is named after her grandfather. They have a new leader, one who promises an end to their hunger – and one who thinks that girls are meant for the kitchen or the brothel. Marin knows she’s meant for more than that, and with the sudden influx of weapons on the island, and rumors of a pending deal with the enemy oil nation in her wake, she knows a big score to gain the council’s favor is the only way to save her people, and herself.

Ross lives a life of privilege. As the president’s son he wants for nothing, but he longs for a life of adventure. On a dare, he convinces his best friend Adam to sneak out to the Docks, the site of local race riots between the poor Shorlings and the upper class. But when Adam is arrested along with the other Shorlings, and not even the president is willing to find him, Ross finds himself taking matters into his own hands. He journeys back into the Docks, ready to make deals with anyone, even a beautiful pirate, if it means Adam’s safe return.

When Marin and Ross meet in dangerous Shoreling territory he sees a way to get his friend back and she sees her ticket home. The ransom a president’s son would command could feed her people for years and restore her family’s legacy. But somewhere in the middle of the ocean, Marin must decide if her heart can handle handing over the only person who has ever seen her as more than a pirate.

“Even if Marin didn’t want to go, she didn’t have a choice. Living here, hiding here from her own people, didn’t come free. She would not starve, or let his crew starve, while she could still do something.”

Oh, my god! This was the pirate book I never knew I wanted until I read it! To be completely honest, I didn’t have any idea that it was going to be a book about pirates, but I must say I was pleasantly surprised with the whole story.

When I first read the premise, it immediately caught my attention and ever since I knew I had to read it. Despite the fact that I don’t usually read dystopian novels and this one was one of those, it was such a great and action packed book, and I just really enjoyed the whole plot.

One of the things that I loved about Pacifica was the fact that it addressed a lot of important topics that concern us now, regarding the environment and the differences between wealthy and poor, and it did it so well. The whole plot was focused on those things, and that is something that I enjoy reading in dystopian or futuristic stories.

I also loved the fact that there were pirates in the book! They were much different from the original ones, mainly I think because this was a futuristic story and not an historical fiction one, but I just adored how the author portrayed them. They were basically how I imagine pirates to be: ruthless, liars and quite selfish. And though they didn’t really appear until the last half to 30% of the novel, it was so worth the wait because the whole plot was quite intriguing.

“You don’t like me. That’s okay. You will not be stuck here forever, mouette. One day you’ll fly away from this place; you just need to stretch your wings.”

I really enjoyed the characters, as well. Marin was such a badass and intelligent protagonist, with lots of layers and a nicely done character arc. I absolutely loved her evolution throughout the story. Even though it wasn’t that big, there were some parts where you could she how much she’d grown.

Also her interactions with the male characters, and her relationship in general was so good. I think because they both were quite different people with very different personalities is why they clicked so well. And I think that the romance was very well done, because it wasn’t rushed and it took its time to happen, and first they became friends.

Another thing that I absolutely adored seeing in this novel was a pure and beautiful male friendship. I haven’t seen many of these in books I’ve read previously, and seeing a relationship where the two guys cared about each other so much and were trying to help the other out was so precious.

Overall, it was such a fast paced and action packed novel, and I’m so happy I decided to read it, because I was so pleasantly surprised by Pacifica. It was quite easy to get into and I loved the characters and the journey they went through in the story, so I highly recommend it if you’re interested in it!

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