One of my favorite types of books is pirate themed. This was so well done. I am excited to my copy on release day.

2.5 stars. I had high hopes for this book based on the premise, but it just didn't meet the bar I set for it. A pirate style adventure based on a pirate hunter university, the story set up some good conflict and really blurred the lines of good and evil, but the nature of the characters made a full immersion into the story difficult.

Ximena, the protagonist, is more or less the villain of the story. And I did not like her at all. She is narcissistic, an isolationist, and limits her focus to one goal. And that goal is nothing noble, it is to kill. I just didn't like the way it was approached. I felt like the story could have been told from this angle while still making the protagonist have a redemption arc. In this story, the redemption arc felt lazy and didn't give me the satisfaction I need from that approach.

The secondary characters were okay. They existed. But there was a lot of character building missing and they felt quite flat. Again, there was a lot of plot exploration that could have taken place and there were a lot of opportunities to make the story exciting and adventurous, but the author just left them there. It felt a lot like an outline of a story instead of a full exploration of the characters and the world.

The writing was okay, but maybe not my style and I just wanted more from the pages. There was a lot of promise to the tale and the bones are there, it just needed more exploration, more heart, more humanity.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Nope. Just...nope. At first, I was shocked to see the ratings before I started the ARC. Seeing anything where the average rating is sitting around 3.0 stars is a shock for me considering most of the books I read and rate end up around the 3.5 average at least overall. After finishing Capitana, I can see why the ratings were so low.

Ximena...ugh. She ruined my entire reading experience. I don't even know where to start with her. She's so stubborn and set in her ways that it was infuriating to read the story. She was stubborn to the point where she had this superiority complex about her and a "holier than thou" attitude. Sure, her classmates think less of her because her parents were convicted criminals who betrayed everything that the cazadors stood for (law and order), so I get that she sort of has an "I have to prove them wrong" attitude. But I also believe there's a fine line between wanting to prove people wrong and proving people wrong but then you're an asshole and have a god complex because of it. Ximena fell in the latter part for me.

For a VAST majority of the story, and when I mean vast I mean probably about 80-90% of the story--and I am serious about this, this is not an exaggeration whatsoever--she is defending everything about the cazadors to her last dying breath. They can literally do no wrong, even after she's presented with PROOF that they're horrible people. (I'm not going to go into what exactly those things are, but you can probably take some semi-educated guesses based on the context we're given about the job of a cazador so far.) She's a major stickler for the rules and follows them blindly. She doesn't allow herself to have fun or indulge in fancy parties or meals, she doesn't make friends (because she's better than everyone else, why else?), and every other line that comes out of her mouth is either her quoting the law, following the demands of her superiors, or her singing the praises of the cazadors and how they can do no wrong and how it's her dream to become one. She's what people in my college classes would call a "gunner," or someone who will do anything and sabotage anyone to get to the top and get what they want in an academic setting. Her character was so one-dimensional and she had no character growth or development whatsoever. I swear, if I took a shot for every time anyone mentioned how important it is to follow the rules in this story because iF yOu FoLlOw ThE lAw, tHe LaW wIlL pRoTeCt YoU, I'd be dead from alcohol poisoning now.

As for Dante, while he was mostly a rich, drunk, nepo baby frat boy for the majority of the story, he was quite literally the only reasonable person with more than 2 brain cells in his intoxicated, drunken brain aside from Pía, but she practically has a photographic memory and is pretty intelligent on her own already. I honestly enjoyed reading about Dante and Pía more than Ximena. I feel like Cassandra James made all of her characters one-dimensional generally speaking, but I would've loved to read more about Dante considering his rocky relationship with his mom and how he feels about the cazadors.

I also don't know why this was marketed as a "riveting romantasy" because Dante and Ximena's chemistry is like the limit in that calculus problem in Mean Girls- nonexistent. The chemistry was not in the room with us. They spend the majority of the book either avoiding each other, not having any sort of defining on-page interactions where I can see and feel the sparks fly between them, or it's Ximena wanting to kill him and I don't mean that in a joking way. I think they tried to say this was a romantasy to pull more readers in since that's what's trendy these days, but it's honestly so misleading to market it as one when the romance is barely in the story and wouldn't have changed the plot if any trace of it was removed entirely.

I will admit that the plot twist at the end was pretty interesting and the book ended on a cliffhanger. This is set to be a duology, but I won't be picking up the next book for 2 reasons:

1. Author controversy: I encourage other readers to look through the other reviews on Goodreads that have links posted to some articles the author wrote before this book for Princeton, her alma mater. I do believe to an extent that art imitates life, and at least to me, you can tell that a lot of the author's sentiments and opinions on recent real-world-specific topics were reflected in this story.

2. The writing style and story overall: While I tend to give debut authors grace when writing a review for their first-ever book, I like to give them the benefit of the doubt and understand that an author isn't going to get their ideal writing style down pat in their first book. Any author can only improve from there. However, for an author who graduated from an Ivy League university with an English degree that concentrated in creative writing no less, this felt like a high schooler could've written it if they tried enough. All the characters felt one dimensional, the dialogue was the same quotes and phrases and ideas over and over again, and I felt like the book did not need to be 400 pages for what it was.</blockquote>

TL;DR? Simply put, save your time and your energy by not reading this. At least the cover looks nice.

I was so excited to read a Latine fantasy adventure and hope more writers are given the opportunity. This was marketed as a fun pirate adventure and there were many parts that were. I loved much of the settings once we went out to sea, full of mysterious exploits amidst the tropical surroundings. I also loved Pia, the archivist with a strong belief in Ximena the main character even when it was undeserved.

However I found the book a mix of ideas that didn't fully mesh for me and the overall tone felt more dark than I expected, I understand the author probably wanted to draw attention to more serious themes of oppression... which I appreciated but I also wanted more fun interactions between the characters. Most of the characters felt one dimensional to me or just too mysterious. I also did not love the romance which was a big reason I thought I would enjoy this. Along with a rushed ending this wound up being a 3 star and not memorable enough for me to continue.

Thanks to the publisher Harper Collins Childrens books and Netgalley for the eArc access.

Loved it! I think teens who are looking for non-typical fantasy will find it especially engaging. It's got some great crossover potential and has a searing ending that will make readers beg for the sequel.

I have to be honest I could not get in to the story the writing was all over the place the political view where just not my style I DNF the book. I attempted to get into it over 4 weeks.

“From preparation comes perfection.” This principle guides everything that Ximena Reale does, including executing Captain Salvador Domínguez. He is a pirate guilty of murder and treason, just like her parents, and the only way to wash away the stain on her family is to be the best and to achieve the rank of cazadora. Everything on this day goes without a hitch, except that her sister fails to appear for the execution and for the pirate’s dying words, “¡Viva Gasparilla! ¡Viva la Libertad!”

For every step forward that Ximena achieves toward her goal, her sister demonstrates weakness that threatens it. Like failing to attend the hanging with all the other archivists. Each disobeyance endangers Marquessa, and makes Ximena fear that she will not be able to keep her safe as she promised the day their parents died.

Ximena does not understand why the executed pirate dared to speak such treasonous words, especially since Gasparilla died two centuries ago. He is not and cannot be alive, and yet rumors, roses, and tattoos suggest the impossible. If she can discover where his long-lost stolen treasure and the pirates’ hideout are, she will have all she needs to surmount her parents’ transgressions and attain her dream. With the help of one of the archivists, this is possible, but convincing the admiral without proof positive is highly unlikely . . . until pirates attack the city and kidnap the queen. Then the admiral re-evaluates Ximena’s treasure map, and selects her, as well as the archivist and her nemesis, to pursue the pirates. Going on this mission is her dream, but it also means that she must leave behind her sister who now languishes in prison under a sentence of death. Her only chance to save Marquessa is to return triumphant, but will Ximena do so in time?

Knowing fellow classmate Dante de Léon, he will do his best to prevent her from succeeding. He is her nemesis and gets away with every disgrace possible, but he is also untouchable. She must work for every iota she achieves, whereas he merely needs to smile because his mother is the high minister of Luza. As the most powerful member of the realm aside from the queen, she is the one person who can and will prevent Ximena from attaining her dream.

Capitana is written for ages 14 and up, but even adults will be captivated by this fantasy romance that expertly weaves piratical details, including a mock pirate trial, into a story that asks one essential question: Are you brave enough to fight for the things that are worth fighting for? Ximena Reale has foibles and strengths that enrich her as a character and make us readily identify with her. James intricately intertwines elements of realism with fantasy that ebb and flow as each successive wave crests higher and higher. At the same time, death-defying twists leave you guessing and your heart pounding as Ximena faces difficult dilemmas and truths and must decide whether the true path to follow is the same as when she begins her journey.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

All I want to say is I need a second book stat!!

This was a quick read for me. Maybe a 3.5 stars rounded up at times. I enjoyed my time reading this, though it was frustrating at times.

I would have enjoyed it a lot more if she was a pirate the whole time like I thought. My bad for not paying close enough attention to the fact that she wasn’t. But I also get trapped by that. I tend to read books that are about “pirates” but make them the bad guys and the main character is against them. Obviously pirates in real life are the bad guys, but I love them in fiction and don’t want them to be made out as such!

Lots of action and sea adventure which I appreciated. The beginning was a little slow, but I was engaged throughout.

I loved the mix of Spanish in there. I had to use translate quite a bit because my Spanish is pretty rusty, but that aspect of the book I quite enjoyed.

Ximena was not a good person. She was insufferable most of the time. It took her forever to switch sides and it was so annoying. I get it was a slow burn of her learning that what she knew wasn’t the right away, but still. I wish it happened faster.

She wasn’t a super likeable main character. She was flawed, but that was the point in a way.

I loved Dante. He was so funny, I was laughing so much at what he said. I loved his sarcastic nature. He is exactly my type of love interest.

I was a sucker for their relationship! So many of their lines made me insane! The things that were said I was screaming. I enjoyed the slow burn of it. It maybe happened a little quick once they finally got together, but I didn’t even care.

Pía was cute. Wish I could have saw a little more of her, but what I did see it was great. Pía would have done anything for Ximena, which you love to see in a friendship. Ximena used her for most of it, which that really sucked, and Pía was maybe a little too forgiving, but I still am looking forward to seeing more of their friendship.

There were lots of unexpected things that happened. I still wish we knew how exactly some of it was possible, but I can suspend my disbelief.

If this is the only book I hate the ending (because it hurt me haha); if there’s another one I’m hyped to read it. It ended where there could be another one but it also could be a stand alone, which I do appreciate honestly. As much as I’d love to read more and that cliffhanger would kill me, I’m satisfied enough I can come to my own conclusions if there is not a second book.

I'm torn about how to even review this book. I think it had so much potential and it was a lot of fun in places. I think it needed significant revision to be better than it was. Motivations were confusing with several characters which I think could've been resolved with additional drafting. That being said, I read this in just a couple sittings and felt it moved quickly and still kept me engaged despite its flaws.

This was a deliciously written Pirates of the Carribean meets Hornblower. While I didn't connect with the lead right off, the richly portrayed world and the mystery definitely kept me going. I am eager to see where things go.

Capitana should have been an exciting pirate adventure, but it was brought down by its stereotypical characters. The fmc, Ximena, is in school to become a cazadore, a pirate hunter. She's trying to prove her worth to people who don't care about her. She rigidly follows the law, has little empathy for others, and is ruthlessly focused on her career path. The mmc and love interest, Dante, is an alcoholic rival who can't live up to his mother's expectations. It doesn't get much deeper than that. The romance seems forced, especially because Dante bullies and antagonizes her for most of the book. There is some growth for Ximena (i.e., changing their long-held beliefs), but it mostly and quickly happens in the last act, so it doesn't feel earned. The growth arc would have benefited from more situations that incite doubt in her beliefs.

This book is categorized as fantasy, but we barely see any use of magic. What magic we do see happens towards the end, and even then, it's minimal. I think fantasy readers will be disappointed to see very little evidence or explanation of the magic system in this book. However, if readers are looking for pirates and adventure, I think they'd be pleased with the twists and turns of the plot. While the plot may have been the strongest part of the book, it failed to have a meaningful discussion about colonialism, war, wealth, and power. Despite the writing style being easy to read and accessible, it hindered the exploration of these complex issues. There isn't much nuance to the themes in this book. Rather, there is simply a message of "this is bad, this is good." Having the characters explore and self-reflect on these subjects would have aided in believable character arcs and thematic messages. I just wished the characters were well-rounded enough to hold their own against the plot.

Capitana is the story of Ximena Reale, whose only dream is to graduate La Academia and become a cazadora, or pirate hunter. It's personal to her, since she and her sister were orphaned when their parents, cazadoras turned pirates, were executed. But she's not very popular, especially with the high minister who awards the cazadora rank, and the only way she's going to become one is to do something spectacular. She's going to capture Gasparilla, a legendary pirate who appears to have returned from the dead. Sooner than she expects, she gets her chance.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this debut, but it was captivating. Ximena sees things in very black and white terms -- either you follow the law, or you suffer the consequences. Thankfully, she has some companions that manage to dull some of her sharp edges. But along with the battles Ximena is fighting within herself, there are a bunch of pirate battles that are exciting and well done. The book ends in a very interesting place, and I look forward to reading the next one!

DNF. I was really intrigued by the description of this book. However, after learning of how problematic the author is, it left a bad taste in my mouth. I can no longer support this author or book & keep a clear conscience. The bit that I did read wasn’t super impressive, so I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The book was ok overall. That's the best way to describe it. OK. I thought it started off interesting with the world building, except the FMC was very unlikable from the get go (and didn't improve as the story went on). The whole book, she's very stuck in her way of "this is the right way to do things" and if you didn't agree with her, you were the bad guy. It was basically always her way or the highway. But it felt like every other page she was judging people for having different beliefs, including turning on her own parents without waiting to hear out their perspective (knowing what I now know about this author, that sounds about right based on her views). And then for the FMC to do a complete 180 out of no where of her beliefs at the end of the book just didn't make sense at all after all. It was so abrupt and not at all explained and therefore, completely unbelievable. The MMC Dante also was unbelievable in his actions as we are supposed to believe that he has always liked Ximena (who is SO unlikeable), but she's always been nothing but rude to him and they barely interact for him to supposedly be in love with her. It just didn't add up or seem believable that he would support her and care for her the way he allegedly did when she literally treats him like trash.

Overall, I won't be continuing on with the series as the characters were very two dimensional, unlikeable, and just unbelievable in their actions. The premise was promising and sounded good, but just wasn't executed well.

Note: I requested this arc prior to hearing all the controversy surrounding this author. But I decided to still read it because whether or not I agree with this authors political views (I definitely don't), I can't only read things where I implicitly agree with the views (plus I was a bit curious if I'm being honest). That being said, I will not support this author by purchasing or reading any of her books going forward.

I requested this book originally, however, after learning that the author is a trump supporter and has said some pretty awful stuff, I will no longer be reading this book. If the author ever comes out and shares that they have grown and changed their views, I will be happy to read and post my review then

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. DNF. I will not finish. I like reading about pirates, but this isn’t holding my attention, and I don’t feel connected to the characters. I’m only rating and reviewing so it doesn’t hurt my feedback ratio.

Thank you NetGalley, HarperCollins Children's Books and Cassandra James for the opportunity to review this book. All opinions are my own.

I generally am a fan of all things pirates, so I was looking forward to reading this book by a debut author. We have Ximena, the daughter of pirate hunters turned pirates, who is herself in training to become a pirate hunter. Her parents were caught while she was a young child, and hung for their crimes. She has since been training in the same academy they did. The world is very rigid in following the rules set forth by a previous queen. She forbade magic in the world and the country has taken other countries under their rule. Ximena is a strict follower of the rules, as that is all she has ever had. She is also vilified within the academy due to her parents. She has an older sister who has an intriguing, if somewhat fantastical tale. The pirates portray themself as Robin Hoodesque and they are fighting back against an oppressive and unwanted regime. There really isn’t a magic system, it is mentioned but you only see it in action once. My biggest issue with the book was the romance aspect. I understood the motivations of both characters, and the enemies to ‘lovers’ aspect. With these tropes, there is usually a time period where the characters are figuring out each other's motivations and coming to understand previous behaviors that could have been seen as mean or bullying. And that happens here, but it is way too quick. We jump to loving each other in a fashion that just didn’t work for me. Otherwise, I really enjoyed the rest and will likely read the sequel to see how it ends.

I was really hoping to like this one. Daughter of the Pirate King is one of my faves and I was getting similar vibes from this.

For me at this moment it just ended up being too slow and the language was wordy and confusing for me so I didn’t hold my attention.

No cambies nada! Don’t change anything!

I absolutely loved this book so much. It had adventure, twists, betrayal, family, friendship and more. The Spanish elements…. It felt like I was being told a story from back home and I couldn’t get enough.
I don’t know if a series is planned but I’d definitely pick it up. A De Leon point of view is a must!!

This book was poorly written. I also feel it was done in bad taste to the culture and history. I feel like this was just a ploy to publish a book on a cultural story & legend.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Gaspar