I had so much fun reading Ballad & Dagger by Daniel José Older! I did a combined reading experience of listening to the audiobook and reading the physical copy. The audiobook narrator, Lee Osorio, acted the voices wonderfully. He brought the characters alive. I also recommend it if you want to hear the pronunciation of the non-English words. Thank you to NetGalley and Disney Books for providing a gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

Reason #1: Multilingualism Is Embraced
I loved the incorporation of Spanish in Shadowshaper, another book by Daniel Jose Older. So I was expecting to see it as part of the narrative for Ballad & Dagger. However, it was kicked up several notches because of the blend of cultures in San Madrigal. In San Madrigal, the people speak Spanish, Hebrew, Ladino and Lucumi. Older includes a glossary at the end of the book as a reference. The language of the characters makes the novel rich. I was also thankful that he tells you the dialect, for example, a lot of the Spanish is Cuban Spanish. Words have different meanings depending on the dialect.

I often encounter people who become intimidated when Spanish or a language other than English is featured prominently in a novel and I don’t really understand that. Use your context clues and Google! It’s just like when someone drops a $10 word that only gets used like twice a century in a book, you go look it up!

Reason #2: Colorful Cast Of Characters
Oh my goodness, you had me at pirates! I loved the cast of characters in this book! They have big, awesome personalities and I rocked with them in this diaspora of theirs. Mateo is hilarious, Tia Lucia is a wild sage, Rabbi Hidalgo is so cool! I loved the banter between Mateo and Chela. Also, I loved the representation of Chela being a badass brown girl with glasses and red hair who has the power and strength to end you with her magical swords. For those of you looking for a book that features a Black or Brown boy without trauma, but full of an adventure…Ballad & Dagger by Daniel José Older is that book folks!

Reason #3: An Intriguing World
The survivors of San Madrigal, a now-sunken island in the Caribbean, live in a diaspora located in Brooklyn, New York. They are a culture that includes pirates, Santeros, and Sefaradim. It’s a world filled with music, ghosts/muertos and an interesting political structure that is in place to keep the peace between the three groups. And what I found super interesting…cops and guns aren’t allowed in Little Madrigal!

Reason #4: The Sense Of Humor
Mateo Matisse is hilarious! That boy had me cracking up the entire book! “Dead people are a trip, man.” is a response to his Aunt Miriam, who is actually a spirit that lives with he and his Tia Lucia. Also when he says, “You mean Chela Murderface McDeathMurder Hidalgo?” I almost spit my drink out laughing!

Reason #5: Adventure & Mythology
I spent my whole childhood only having Greek mythology available to me to read. So now as an adult I have the chance to learn about African mythologies. This book is an adventure of a young man who discovers he is the son of Galanika and he is a healer. As the power balances shift and power exchanges from one generation to the next, the desire to resurrect the lost island of San Madrigal comes to a crest. Mateo must work to not only find out who he is, but he must uncover the plots of those who are up to no good. He must listen to and follow the advice of his Tia Lucia to always “Escucha.” and “All I can say is, get close to everyone but trust no one.”

Excited For The Next Book
I can’t wait for book #2 in this Outlaw Saints Novel series and to see what Mateo and Chela will be up to next! I am so glad Rick Riordan chose Daniel Jose Older to start the Young Adult novel section of the Rick Riordan Presents imprint.

Absolutely incredible. I‰ЫЄm the biggest sucker for mysteries but this one has it all. I am so excited to see what that stupid old man‰ЫЄs reasons were for this entire crazy thing. I am 100% a Grayson girl and I will die on that hill fuck Jamie. The way that this author makes you love all these brothers and at the same time not fully trust them or anyone for that matter is grounds for a major lawsuit on my part. I‰ЫЄm jumping through loops trying to figure out how to feel about this whole thing so I can‰ЫЄt even imagine what it would be like to actually be in Avery‰ЫЄs shoes. She‰ЫЄs litterally stuck playing the game and Has no way out and I feel like not any one could react and act the same way if put in a situation like that. I know I would absolutely have given up after the first riddle. For them it‰ЫЄs become life or death to figure this out. They are desperate for answers and Avery‰ЫЄs involvement has too many coincidences to not be a destiny created by the old man himself. I‰ЫЄm so intrigued as to what it all leads to but I would absolutely hate to be in her shoes.

This is a beautiful story about love, home, and belonging. It has romance that made me tear up with every interaction, characters that I instantly fell in love with, an overall fantastic message about culture and community, and, of course, pirates. And who doesn't love pirates?
If you're a musician, this story will be extra special to you. The way the main character, Mateo, speaks about music as an art form is something deeply personal.
This book does a great job of transporting you into the world of the story, and it had me invested from the early chapters. By the time I hit part 4, I couldn't even put it down. The ending had me in tears from just how beautifully written it was and what an incredible story these teenagers have.
The characters in this novel are accurately written based on their age, and I felt that it was very believable that teenagers would do and say these things in their situations.
Another incredible book from Daniel José Older, and if you like his other books, you'll definitely love this one!

Not as good as Leonardo but okay.

Started out a bit confusing, but once I got a little more used to what was going on it got better. I am curious to see where this one goes

I found the idea of a diaspora of Santeros, Sephardim, and pirates fascinating - a modern Caribbean Al-Andalus, as the author himself says - but I have some quibbles with its portrayal in the book. Not with the relationshipsamong the communities: I would happily read a dozen different versions of how that might play out. Our first-person narrator is a Santero, and the Santeros culture is richly and vividly imagined, but the other two cultures seemed the equivalent of stick figures. The author had a Sephardic rabbi do a sensitivity reading, which is great; but still there wasn't much there there. The plot is fast-moving and full of action. It's a bit violent and lethal for my taste, but I fully recognize the absurdity of complaining about violence in a book one of whose themes is colonialism. Anyway, kudos for taking on diaspora and Al-Andalus and colonialism in a YA superhero book. My quibbles really are just that.

Merged review:

I found the idea of a diaspora of Santeros, Sephardim, and pirates fascinating - a modern Caribbean Al-Andalus, as the author himself says - but I have some quibbles with its portrayal in the book. Not with the relationshipsamong the communities: I would happily read a dozen different versions of how that might play out. Our first-person narrator is a Santero, and the Santeros culture is richly and vividly imagined, but the other two cultures seemed the equivalent of stick figures. The author had a Sephardic rabbi do a sensitivity reading, which is great; but still there wasn't much there there. The plot is fast-moving and full of action. It's a bit violent and lethal for my taste, but I fully recognize the absurdity of complaining about violence in a book one of whose themes is colonialism. Anyway, kudos for taking on diaspora and Al-Andalus and colonialism in a YA superhero book. My quibbles really are just that.

Ballad and Dagger grabbed me by the hand with the opening paragraphs and swept me along. So many of these Rick Riordan Present line books are amazing and this is definitely one of them. This one is a bit different because the mythology here is for a fictional place with Latin/Caribbean/African influences. There are a lot of just wonderful elements to this Mateo and Chela are strong characters of color. It seems like the RRP imprint is a mix of Middle Grade and Young Adult, this is definitely the latter. There is violent and death.

Set in Brooklyn, it’s heart is actually on San Madrigal, an island that sank fifteen years ago. Mateo, the protagonist, is gentle, a bit squeamish even for people who take pride in being both founded by pirates and the only Caribbean island who resisted the Colonizers/slavery. These people are a mix of religions heavy on Santeria, and Sephardic Judaism. His best friend is Tams, very popular, very bisexual and learning Santeria. Mateo has his music and is pretty much content in his life, living with his Tias (one alive and heavy into Santeria and reading the cowry shells and the other a ghost) while his doctor parents are off doing the Doctors Without Borders thing.

What Mateo wants most is to make his music and maybe, just maybe take it to a wider audience. In theory Madrigal music is supposed to be secret but his musical hero Gerval is doing just that. But when Gerval takes notice of him Mateo’s dream might turn into something else. Never meet your heroes. And in Madrigal, land of pirates, there are stories and there are lies and there are gods/goddesses who incarnate in people. When Mateo sees Chela doing something unspeakable he’s thrust into this magical, mystical world finding power of his own.

Mateo, Chela and Tams (not to mention Mateo’s aunts) are such well drawn characters. The world building in this is great and the secrets get revealed doled out just a little at a time drawing you in. Mateo’s hero’s journey takes you places you don’t expect it to go. I want to see more of them all. When one of the gods is a destroyer and one just might be a demon, you know this is going to be a bit more violent and it is. There are things Mateo and his magic just can’t fix.

The story does touch on colorism and racism but in a very organic way without beating anyone over the head. It comes across as an every day part of these characters’ lives which is no doubt how it would really be. There is LGBT rep in the side characters (Tams) so there is a nice touch of diversity in this. Can’t wait for the next book and man just look at that cover.

I received this via Netgalley for review which in no way influenced my review.