The Wicked Bargain

By: Gabe Cole Novoa

Narrated by: Vico Ortiz

Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

El Diablo is in the details in this Latinx pirate fantasy starring a transmasculine nonbinary teen with a mission of revenge, redemption, and revolution. From the New York Times bestselling author of Most Ardently.

On Mar León de la Rosa's sixteenth birthday, el Diablo comes calling. Mar is a transmasculine nonbinary teen pirate hiding a magical ability to manipulate fire and ice. But their magic isn't enough to reverse a wicked bargain made by their father, and now el Diablo has come to collect his payment: the soul of Mar's father and the entire crew of their ship.

When Mar is miraculously rescued by the sole remaining pirate crew in the Caribbean, el Diablo returns to give them a choice: give up their soul to save their father by the harvest moon, or never see him again. The task is impossible—Mar refuses to make a bargain, and there's no way their magic is a match for el Diablo. Then Mar finds the most unlikely allies: Bas, an infuriatingly arrogant and handsome pirate—and the captain's son; and Dami, a gender-fluid demonio whose motives are never quite clear. For the first time in their life, Mar may have the courage to use their magic. It could be their only redemption—or it could mean certain death.

©2023 Gabe Cole Novoa (P)2023 Listening Library

Critic reviews

"Pirates and romance, dangerous magic and demon curses—this book has it all! THE WICKED BARGAIN is an immersive, vibrant adventure with swashbuckling, secrets and deals with a devil. Come for the epic fantasy adventure in the Caribbean, stay for the diverse cast, romantic tension and heart-warming found family!"—Aiden Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of Cemetery Boys

“An entertaining, swashbuckling action story with a truly unique premise.”—Paste Magazine

★ "A swashbuckling tale brimming with sorcery."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

Phenomenal!

Ahhhh the way I am absolutely obsessed with this book. Vico Ortiz (Jim from OFMD) was the PERFECT narrator choice. Their voice entranced me the entire book; I think I'd happily listen to anything they narrate, but this book was an especially good choice.

The gender representation is EVERYTHING. I loved Mar and their gender expression, the way they described themselves as "mostly a boy, but not entirely." Dami's gender was also *chefs kiss* -- the way they could ebb back and forth in their presentation. The lore behind demonios and diablos and deals was so well fleshed out, and added so much to the plot. This book is a great example of "magic can only solve as big of problems as it is detailed". When it came time for magic and deals to have significant weight on the outcome of events, the reader understands the intricacies of them so well that it feels reasonable for magic and deals to accomplish what they need to accomplish.

I'm generally not a very visual person when I'm reading. I don't know if it was the author's writing, or Vico Ortiz's voice, but I could so perfectly imagine so many scenes. The ending had some twists that I wasn't expecting, which is always welcomed in a book! The twists made sense and I was happy with them (not always the case when there are twists lol).

PERFECTION

Very thing was perfect in this story well even and exciting I am so glad I came across this book!

loved it

loved the story and the characters! it was a captivating adventure and I'm excited to listen to more by this author.

Came because of Gay Pirates, stayed for an amazing story, awesome narrator and Gay Pirates

I got this because of Vico Ortiz and because I have pirate brainrot due to Our Flag Means Death. I was not disappointed. Vico Ortiz is an incredible narrator and I will listen to anything they read! They story was great, a little slow at times but great world building. I need more!!

Great story!!

I felt like I was listening to several different people-perfect narration.
Also, the author’s note illuminated some interesting historical facts about pirates and queerness.
The story was great; I wish this would be made into a movie.
I read this as part of Book Riot’s Read Harder 2024 challenge, and I’m so glad I chose this book. I’ll be looking for more from this author and this narrator. Dami was my favorite. Well, actually, I loved all the characters.

More queer pirate stories!

As shown by the obsession with Our Flag Means Death, there’s a lot of us that are here for queer pirate stories, and having Novoa’s narrated by Vico Ortiz is just PERFECTO. This had just the right amount of adventure, heart, magic, and suspense, I highly recommend for anyone who enjoyed OFMD or is a fan of Aiden Thomas’ stories as the Magia reminded me of their stunning depictions of magic, queer, Latinx characters as well. Let’s have more of it!!

highly recommend

Vico's reading of the story is fantastic, and the story itself is engaging and so wonderful to have nonbinary and queer main characters front and center.

Loved this!!

This was fantastic in every way! The content, read, and feel genuinely enriched my life. I would read a whole series written by this author, and read by Vico. 😍

Excellent performance by Vico Ortiz!

This story is super fun and is brought alive by the narration. the subtle, but distinct voices really gave the characters personality.
The story itself is adventurous and exciting. I appreciated the characters and their relationships with each other.

Sweet, fun, and meaningful

Very fun sweet and meaningful book about a magical Latinx non-binary queer teen pirate. I was really impressed with the story, the writing, the weaving-in of real history, and a touch of romance. And Vico Ortiz does a phenomenal job narrating the audiobook!
(Also, not even el Diablo what's transphobic or homophobic, which was very refreshing.)