4 ⭐ CW: violence, body dysphoria, death of a parent, colonialism 

The Wicked Bargain by Gabe Cole Novoa is a YA historical fantasy featuring a Latinx, transmasculine, nonbinary pirate, and a gender fluid demon. This was a solid YA read and a standalone! This was an easy and fast paced book with plenty of action. 

We follow Mar, a pirate who was born with strange tattoo like markings that indicate they have magia. Mar has control over fire and ice, but is terrified of their power getting out of control and hurting people. Mar finds out that El Diablo is real, and now he must reverse the wicked bargain to save his father's soul. Mar is rescued from his shipwreck by another pirate crew, and quickly becomes accepted as part of the crew, making friends (reluctantly) with el capitán's son, Bas, who is very handsome and charming. Mar is approaches by gender fluid demonio, Dami, for his help in return for making it possible to kill El Diablo and free them all. 

These characters were great! Mar is so relatable as a transmasculine nonbinary character. They kinda feel like a boy, but not quite, and they struggle with dysphoria around their chest. Is it too obvious to say I ship Mar and Bas? (See what I did there? Ship? Pirates? I'll see myself out). I really appreciated Mar's growth through the book. A classic case of needing to believe in yourself and to stop forcing the power you have away. I do wish we got more of an explanation about the magia system. Bas is just a huge flirt, and provides much humor. Dami was a fascinating character that I wish we had gotten more of. Since Dami is a demonio, they can change their physical appearance at will, which is basically every nonbinary person's dream. 

I love the casual queerness of pirates I'm a historical fiction setting! Gay pirates everywhere! It's so nice to have more fantasy with nonbinary MCs. My only complaint is that I wish there were more.