Max and The Spice Thieves by John Peragine

Description

When his mother goes missing, Max Daybreaker’s world is turned upside down. Luckily, a crew of Spice Pirates, led by the mysterious Captain Cinn, help Max on his dangerous mission across the three seas.
Along the way, an unlikely alliance aids in his search—a teenage warrior queen, a three-eyed seer, and an assassin spy.
Their journey takes them through treacherous lands while facing shapeshifting bears, an ancient witch, harpies, and the nightmarish Djinn, who will stop at nothing to enslave the world.
With every new challenge, Max unlocks the secrets of his unsettling past. Powers awaken within, forcing him to question everything he knows.
Is Max who he thinks he is? Only time and destiny will tell…

My thoughts:

Max and the Spice Thieves is an extremely imaginative book, full of unique characters, adventures, twists and turns, magic, friendship and love.

MaxDaybreaker is just a regular twelve (almost thirteen) year old boy. He does have a medical condition- he can't stand cold which makes his skin break out in a bad rash. When his father goes missing in the sea, Max keeps hoping sooner or later his father will be back. Max's mother Bettina tells him they are going on a journey  on a pirate ship, but then on the day when they were supposed to leave, Bettina disappears. The captain of the pirate ship saves Max from criminals and takes him aboard. He promises to do everything possible to help Max find his kidnapped mother. And here begin  Max's adventures that will take him across this original world. On his mission to save his family Max makes friends, shows his courage, loyalty and honesty, and learns that he might not be just a regular boy after all.

What I liked the most about this book: adventures!  Max never has a quiet moment in this action-packed fascinating journey. Just the sheer variety of places Max and his friends have to visit in order to glean some information about Max's family! The world Max lives in is incredibly diverse and so are the magical beings that inhabit it.

Max is still quite young and has  a lot to learn, but he is aided by other fascinating characters, including my favourite Captain Cinn. I'm not sure the love triangle was entirely necessary. It might become more important in the following books.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read and I'll be looking forward to the next book in the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.