Brooke's Reviews and Sweeps

Storm Glass

By Brookelorren on May 9, 2019May 6, 20194 Comments

Storm Glass is the first book in The Harbinger Series by Jeff Wheeler. I was fortunate enough to get it for free when it was on audiobook. It was so enjoyable that I ended up purchasing later books in the series when they were on sale as part of Amazon’s Kindle Monthly deals. I recommend this book.

Cettie is an orphan girl living in a dystopian universe. In the land where she lives, the wealthy live in mansions in the sky, while the poor live in terrible conditions in the cites below. Her life is changed when a wealthy admiral tries to adopt her.

You might think that this would be the happy end where everybody sings Kumbaya and lives happily ever after. If that was, this would be a really short book. Instead, Cettie finds out that not everybody in the wealthy sky mansions are rooting for her. In addition, the wealthy people don’t find everything to be rosy either. As you read the book, you will discover that even for the wealthy, life can be precarious.

In another sky mansion, Sera Fitzempress isn’t impressing her parents, and she doesn’t think the way her father would like her to. She asks too many questions. Sera might one day rule the entire country; her parents want to make sure that she’s trained properly… they don’t want her to disrupt the status quo that doesn’t really do anybody justice.

I enjoyed this story. Sera’s chapters weren’t as exciting as Cettie’s at first, but towards the end, it really helped to set up how incredibly corrupt this country is, and… resolving everything that’s wrong with this place is going to be a very tricky knot to untie. I definitely want to continue reading this story at some point to find out what happens.

Storm Glass has an imaginative setting. Instead of science, people study “mysteries.” The mysteries govern everything from the law to why the mansions float in the sky. Cettie discovers that she has a talent for the mysteries, which comes in handy towards the end of the book (and beyond).

There are several intriguing characters in Storm Glass. Cettie and Sera, the main female characters, are interesting (and they finally meet towards the end of the book). Both have to deal with villains who almost ruin their lives. There are also adult figures in the books that eventually help them overcome the villains. A lot of YA books don’t have parental figures in the books (although in this book Cettie is 12 so I wouldn’t expect her to be completely on her own).

I plan to finish reading the rest of the books in The Harbinger series at some point in the future. I’d like to find out more about the mysteries of this universe.

Characters That Remind Me of Myself (Top Ten Tuesday)

By Brookelorren on May 7, 2019May 7, 201940 Comments

Hello friends! Today is Tuesday, so you know what that means! Another episode of Top Ten Tuesday. It’s hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl! Today we’re going to talk about characters that remind me of myself.

Cara: Divergent – Veronica Roth

When the Divergent movies were coming out, several quizzes went around where you could find out what faction you belonged in. If I had lived in the Divergent world, I probably wouldn’t have any difficulty figuring out what faction I belonged in. It’s always been Erudite. I have the first book in this series in four languages… and even though I’ve only managed to read the first 50 pages or so of Дивергент, I’m pretty sure that only book collectors and the Erudite (or people who are divergent with Erudite traits) do that. And yes, I have the Russian keyboard installed on all my devices and can touch-type on it.

However, I couldn’t have supported Jeanine’s efforts to overthrow Abnegation. I was in the military, so I have a smidgen (maybe) of bravery to me. Like Cara. So that’s why I identify with her.

June Iparis: Legend – Marie Lu

While I don’t have the knack for counting time or the eye for very specific details like June does, I do identify with her in a lot of ways. First, there’s that erudite thing again. I never skipped a grade, but I always found school to be easy. Sometimes I didn’t seem to have a lot in common with many of my classmates. And I did take Tae Kwon Do for several years, so I know how to fight. And we went to the same college (Drake University was modeled on the University of Southern California).

Dimple Shah: When Dimple Met Rishi – Sandhya Menon

When I found out that I was going to see Sandhya Menon at a couple of conferences in April, I wanted to read one of her books. When I found out that Dimple was into computer science, I knew what book I was going to read. Just as The Kiss Quotient had me at math, When Dimple Met Rishi had me at computer science (you might be noticing a theme here, LOL).

But it’s not just Dimple’s ability to manipulate code that causes her to remind me of myself. I could definitely identify with her when some boys were mocking her for her looks. While people didn’t overtly mock my looks in front of me (at least not since elementary school, when I remember coming home crying one day because people were making fun of my overbite when I was on the bus), I did have someone write “dog” over my picture in my copy of my eighth grade yearbook.

Stella: The Kiss Quotient – Helen Hoang

I did say The Kiss Quotient had me at math, right? I’m not a mathematical genius like Stella is, but we do have several things in common.

Although I didn’t pay for my husband to give me kissing lessons, I did meet him on the Internet. If it wasn’t for the internet, I probably would have ended up marrying my house or something like that. Not because I have any particular attraction to houses or anything, I just don’t think anybody else would have been interested. I never went to prom or anything like that… I felt like such a loser. The only thing I had going for me was my mind.

Stella and I have a few other things in common. Like Stella, I sometimes have difficulty interacting with people. I rehearse conversations in my head. I have to mentally prepare before contacting a stranger on the phone. I may work with the public in my job as a self-checkout host, but I’m almost always saying the same things to people all day long: “the computer got confused,” “you have to be old enough for that,” “thank you,” “have a good evening,” “I could ring up a dead fly if I had to.” When I’m asked to be a cashier I have more difficulty because most of the time I don’t know what to say outside of “did you find everything you were looking for?” and “how are you today?”

Scarlett: Caraval – Stephanie Garber

I don’t have a sister (and my brother and I weren’t really close as kids) but Scarlett and I do have a lot in common. Scarlett seems to be something of a rule follower who doesn’t take too many risks… and I tend to be on the neutral/lawful good side myself.

Alina Starkov: Shadow and Bone – Leigh Bardugo

While I don’t have superpowers, I can see myself as Alina Starkov in a few ways. For one, she had to watch as the love of her life was interested in other people. She also wanted to do the right thing, which didn’t seem particularly clear at one point.

Clary Frey or Tessa Gray: Shadowhunters books – Cassandra Clare

I’m sort of torn between Clary Frey and Tessa Gray in the Shadowhunters universe. They both were something of rule-followers, but they had another, brave side to them that came out when necessary. Tessa really liked to read, but Clary sometimes would go out to the dance clubs with her friend.

They both have a few similar traits to them, so I’ll give them both a tie here.

Britta: Ever the Hunted – Erin Summerill

Britta lost her family, and then she did what she had to do. Life is like that sometimes… you just do what you have to do. She didn’t purposely go out to seek trouble, even though trouble seemed to find her. She also had her lost love that she wasn’t sure if she would ever have the chance to be with.

Cath: Fangirl – Rainbow Rowell

One of the reasons why I was such a big fan of Fangirl is that Cath is a lot like me. We both write fanfiction (although Cath has a much larger fanbase than I do). We’re both a little socially awkward. I have to admit though, I did find my way to the cafeteria when I was in college, whereas Cath did not.

Fiona: Frequency – Christopher Krovatin

One of the things that resonated with me about Christopher Krovatin’s Frequency was Fiona’s love for music in this book. I thought about majoring in music in college, although I ended up majoring in computer science instead. Fiona also had sympathy for the boy she found beaten up and left on the side of the road, and I hope most of us would have been like that.

So that’s my Top Ten Tuesday and characters that remind me a bit about myself. I can’t wait to see what characters you chose this week… this week seems to be a little more personal than many weeks, so it’ll be good to get to know some of you better.

Next week is a page-to-screen freebie. I think I’m going to do books I’d like to see made into movies. See you then!

Rebel by Beverly Jenkins

By Brookelorren on May 6, 2019May 5, 2019Leave a Comment

I was fortunate enough to have been given the opportunity to read Rebel by Beverly Jenkins (thank you Netgalley!). This was a great book! Since I’m sure I’m going to also love Marie Lu’s Rebel later on this year, it looks like there will be two amazing books with that title out in 2019.

Val is a black schoolteacher in the days shortly after the Civil War. Although originally from New York, she’s in New Orleans for a short time while her intended is away in France on a business trip. She’s teaching a group of newly freed slaves (both children and adults) how to read. She’s proud of all the progress that her students are making.

But even though the slaves have been freed, this is still a dangerous time to be black and live in the South. A lot of white people don’t like the idea of black people becoming better people. A group of supremacists decide to derail Val’s teaching plans and try to attack her.

Val isn’t the kind of person that will allow herself to be attacked without fighting back though. And that’s how she meets Drake LaVeq.

LaVeq is instantly attracted to her, but after he deters the thugs that are after her, he thinks that’s the last he’ll see of her — until she ends up at his brother’s hotel. You’ll have to read the book to find out how they find their happily ever after.

There were a lot of things I loved about this book. For one thing, I loved Val’s character. She was brave and willing to stand up for herself, yet at the same time, she was realistically constrained by the expectations that society had for her at the time. She wasn’t this Mary Sue kind of character that would kick the bad guy’s butt and then nobody would think anything of it. This did happen right after the Civil War. Even in the 1960s, that would have been unrealistic. LaVeq was also a well-written character. He was generous, yet still had his own demons to deal with (part of them having to do with being interested in a lady that was engaged to another).

I thought the setting portrayed the struggles that black people had to deal with after the Civil War quite well. There were a lot of white people at the time that didn’t want to see black people do well. Some former slave owners tried to force their former slaves to work for them again. Black people’s testimony wasn’t worth as much in a court of law, and some white people could get away with terrorizing black people. The first black people were elected to the US Senate around this time; this book really brings to life the struggles these people must have gone through. At the same time, Rebel doesn’t gloss over the fact the everybody was struggling at the time. There were poor whites in the South at the time too.

In addition to the amazing setting and the great characters, the romance aspect of this story was good too. LaVeq was respectful and tried to maintain his distance from Val (although that wasn’t easy to do). I loved how they resolved the situation with Val’s intended, and even with her father (who is an old-fashioned kind of guy). Val and LaVeq were great together and their story was compelling.

If you’re interested in a romance set in the post-Civil War era, I highly recommend Rebel by Beverly Jenkins. She’s an outstanding author and I would read other books by her in the future.

Favorite Books of April (Fangirling on Friday)

By Brookelorren on May 3, 2019April 30, 20194 Comments

It’s Friday, and it’s the beginning of the month, so what does that mean? Not only does it mean it’s time for Fangirling on Friday, but it’s time for me to talk about my favorite books from last month. Fangirling on Friday is hosted by Books in the Skye!

This month I’m going to pick two favorites… one a fantasy, and the other a contemporary!

Favorite Fantasy: Finale – Stephanie Garber

I was so lucky that I was approved for the Finale ARC. In fact, publishers loved me in April and I’m so thankful. Finale was my favorite fantasy novel I read last month.

I read Caraval for the first time last summer, so waiting for the next books in this series hasn’t been as long a journey for me as it has been for many of you, but I thought this series had a beautiful (and fitting) ending. I loved this book so much that I pre-ordered a finished copy. I got it on Kindle though because I’m running low on room for books!

Favorite Contemporary: When Dimple Met Rishi – Sandhya Menon

I was lucky enough to hear Sandhya Menon speak not once, but twice last month. Of course I had to buy one of her books. I bought her first book because I read that Dimple Shah liked computers, and so do I, so I figured that we already had something in common. And I loved this book. Now I’m fortunate enough to have a signed copy.

So what about you? What was your favorite book from last month?

The Tiger at Midnight

By Brookelorren on May 2, 2019April 29, 20192 Comments

The Tiger at Midnight by Swati Teerdhala was one of my most anticipated books of the season. It looked like exactly the kind of book that I’d give five stars to. Amazon says it’s “perfect for fans of Sabaa Tahir and Renée Ahdieh.” Check. Ms. Teerdhala said that Legend was one of its comp titles. Double check. Perhaps this book was a little overhyped in my mind, because while it was good, it ended up only being a four-star book in my mind.

The land has a magical illness. The lands of Jansa and Dharka have historically been ruled by two different people with magical bloodlines, who periodically have to perform some sort of ritual to keep the land fertile and lush. The balance of power has been upset in recent years, and famine is starting to spread over the land. Esha, also known as the Viper, is part of a rebel group that is attempting to restore that balance. Kunal, the nephew of the general, has been trained as a child to uphold the government in power.

When the general is killed, Kunal has to find the Viper. He ends up finding something that could be even more deadly: the truth.

What I Liked

There were a lot of things I liked about this book. The setting was great. It had this whole medieval Indian vibe that was unique and interesting. The book had political intrigue. You’re not quite sure who is good and who is bad, and I was surprised at the end. The cat and mouse game that Esha and Kunal played, where Kunal would catch Esha and then she’d escape, was fun.

What Was Just… Okay

There are some books that just drag you in at the start with their beautiful writing. This may be why The Tiger at Midnight did not quite get the five stars I thought it would get: it lacked the magical quality I was hoping it would have. While it had so many other things going for it, it was lacking right here.

The only other thing that I could have been better was the realism in Esha and Kunal’s relationship. Kunal chases her over the countryside, catches her, and then she escapes. She leaves him a note, and they seem to have an attraction to each other. It’s cute, but not realistic? Especially as this scenario happens more than once. Then, after it’s obvious they are both attracted to each other, they get to one point in the book where they could spend more time with each other but don’t?

Conclusion

I definitely plan on reading the other books in The Tiger at Midnight trilogy when they come out. This is Swati Teerdhala’s debut, and I’ve seen other authors blossom when their sophomore and beyond books come out. The story itself is good, and I do want to find out what happens next. Probably the biggest thing that this book suffered from was how amazing the books this one was compared to were, and how difficult it would have been to live up to them.

April 2019 Monthly Wrap-Up

By Brookelorren on April 30, 2019April 30, 20196 Comments

Woo! April is almost over, and these are exciting times for me. I guess I’ll get started with a wrap-up of what happened this month.

Books Read:

This was a great month for books. I read nine books for the first time and reread another one.

Finale – Stephanie Garber
No Place Like Here – Christina June
When Dimple Met Rishi – Sandhya Menon
Kingdom of Ash – Sarah J. Maas
Killing Kennedy – Bill O’Reilly
The Bear and the Nightingale – Katherine Arden
Happily and Madly – Alexis Bass
The Tiger at Midnight – Swati Teerdhala
Crooked Kingdom – Leigh Bardugo
Prodigy – Marie Lu (reread)

Blog Stats:

Twitter: 2008 followers. Yay! Hopefully by next month I’ll pass 2019. It’s kinda cool to have the same followers as years that you remember.
Blog visits seem to be about the same. Maybe kind of boring, but I seem to hit some sort of magical threshold with publishers and I’ve been getting a lot of “yes” answers when I request ARCs, so it’s cool.

Writing:

I went to two great conferences this month and am working on the third draft to THE BRIGHTNESS OF SHADOW. But at the moment, it’s like when you go to a house that’s under construction and everything looks like a mess? That’s what the third draft currently looks like. I ripped out 10,000 words, changed one scene, and that one scene I changed is going to force me to rewrite like 4 chapters.

But this is okay because when draft 3 is done, it’s going to be a lot better. There have been paragraphs that I’ve been redoing as I have time, and they look so much better. It’s slow, but steady going. I want this to be as good as possible before I start sending it out. I haven’t even gotten around to beta readers yet; hopefully after this draft.

I entered two contests this month. I’ve decided to go with the philosophy of making rejections a game (because every writer gets a bunch of them). So every time I submit something, I’m just going to assume it’s a rejection (although I’m happy with yes too, LOL). I have a spreadsheet with a cool little thermometer. Getting a rejection means your work is getting out there! That is what’s important to me, is trying.

Life:

Yay! I get my new laptop in two days? This one is so slow and while it was nice for something cheap, it’s not what I really want in something I’m going to use for work every day.

I’m also getting a new phone. My iPhone 6s got a cracked screen earlier today. The good news is… with my husband’s new job, we’ll be able to afford an upgrade. It still works, so between now and Sunday, I still have a phone I can use, but I’m getting a new one this weekend.

We did have another trip to the hospital, but such is life. Sometimes you just have to deal with things.

My husband seems to be doing well at his new job, which is good.

So that was April. I’m excited for so many things in May. It’s my last month before I start working at home again! I was approved to read some awesome-sounding ARCs, and since I’ve already read Finale (the only pre-order I have for next month) there are a lot of backlist books I’m going to be able to read!

Book Quotes That Move Me

By Brookelorren on April 30, 2019April 29, 201936 Comments

Hello! ::waves:: It’s Tuesday, which means it’s time for Top Ten Tuesday. Today’s Top Ten Tuesday Topic is supposed to be “Inspirational/Thought-Provoking Book Quotes” but I’m going to twist that idea just a smidge and post about Book Quotes that Move Me today instead. I just started a book journal, where I write down reactions to things I read/quotes, just recently, so you’ll probably see most of my quotes from there.

As always, Top Ten Tuesday is Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl! Let’s get started:

And that’s when I realize that, at the end, we’d all wish for the same thing.
Just a little more time.
Wildcard, p. 316 – Marie Lu

This quote puts me in tears almost every time I think of it. I also almost always think of the same person when I think of this quote: my grandma. I never really got to say goodbye to her.

Sometimes our heroes don’t make it to the end.
Ruin and Rising, dedication – Leigh Bardugo

Leigh Bardugo dedicated Ruin and Rising to her dad with this quote. So sad!

I hope that your dreams, whatever they may be, come true. I hope you pursue those dreams with your whole heart; I hope you work toward them no matter how long it takes, no matter how unlikely the odds.
Kingdom of Ash, p. 984 (acknowledgements) – Sarah J. Maas

This was part of the note that Sarah J. Maas left to her readers in the acknowledgements. I thought it was inspirational.

Warning: Potentially Spoilery Quote Ahead!

I don’t need immortality. You’re my forever.
Finale (ARC), loc. 5162 – Stephanie Garber

When I read this quote, my heart just melted. Such a sweet thing for someone to say.

Sometimes the most impossible things are the things most worth fighting for.
The Land of Yesterday, p. 238 – K.A. Reynolds

Although this is a quirky little middle grade book, there are some beautiful, thoughtful quotes in here.

Maybe your soul didn’t break like a bone. Maybe it broke like a promise.
King of Fools (ARC), loc. 5318 – Amanda Foody

People don’t purposely try to become bad people. It just happens. One bad decision after bad decision. This quote speaks a truth to me in that regard.

Perhaps all monsters were heroes in their own eyes.
Blood Heir (ARC), loc. 1632 – Amélie Wen Zhao

I try to keep this in mind when I deal with people. Most people think that they’re good people. We’re all just dealing with the difficult things that life throws at us. Maybe realizing that can help us be more compassionate towards the people we disagree with.

You’re going to see a lot of it. People getting ahead unfairly because of the category into which they were born: male or white or straight or rich.
When Dimple Met Rishi, p. 347 – Sandhya Menon

I guess this is another unavoidable fact of life. While it’s true that we need to take advantage of our gifts, what’s not okay is when we cheat while doing so.

I remind myself that my voice was strong and change had to start with me.
No Place Like Here (ARC), loc. 2617 – Christina June

This is a good thing for anybody to remember. If you want to make a change in your life, or the world, then change has to start with you.

Maybe the thing no one had told her about growing up, was that nobody ever really became the person they’d wanted to be.
The Devouring Gray (ARC), loc. 1654 – Christine Lynn Herman

Do kids ever say, when they’re really little, “I want to be a junkie when I grow up!” or “I want to be homeless!” or “I want to go to prison!” No. We all want to be heroes or famous or someone that will do good in the world. But not all of us become the people we dream to be.

Bonus Quote:

Most people live their lives as if the end were always years away. They measure their days in love, laughter, accomplishment and loss. There are moments of sunshine and storm. There are schedules, phone calls, careers. Anxieties, joys, exotic trips, favorite foods, romance, shame, and hunger.
A person can be defined by clothing, the smell of his breath, the way she combs her hair. The shape of his torso, or even the company she keeps.
All over the world, children love their parents and yearn for love in return. They revel in the touch of parental hands on their faces. And even on the worst of days, each person has dreams about the future. Dreams that sometimes come true.
Such is life. Yet life can end in less time than it takes to draw one breath.
Killing Kennedy, end of chapter 24 (audiobook) – Bill O’Reilly

That passage just spoke to me when I heard it.

So those are some book quotes that stood out to me, most of them recently. I can’t wait to see what quotes you use this week (I bet there will be many unique ones). Next week we’re going to talk about characters that remind me of myself.

Happily and Madly

By Brookelorren on April 29, 2019April 25, 2019Leave a Comment

I recently was given the opportunity to read Happily and Madly by Alexis Bass (thank you, Netgalley). The premise sounded really exciting: Maris Brown would one day fall happily and madly in love, and she might die before her 18th birthday.

Maris Brown isn’t one for making intelligent choices. Her former boyfriend, Trevor, was into drugs, and she once got into trouble because she was with him when he was doing something stupid. She also comes from a broken home: her father left her mother for another family, and now she’s going to spend the summer with him. One of the new family members she’s going to stay with is Chelsea, who is about the same age as Maris.

Unfortunately, I have to give out a slight spoiler to discuss my feelings about this book. Chelsea and Maris become friends. Chelsea is dating Edison… a boy who Maris meets and instantly becomes attracted to, before she knows he’s Edison. But does that cause her to stay away from her? No. She still is friends with Chelsea even while they’re all hanging out like a big happy family and Chelsea kisses Edison right in front of her.

I had to ask myself why this aspect of Happily and Madly bothered me while the book I’m writing involves a girl that’s supposed to become betrothed to someone but falls in love with someone else. I’ve also lived something like this. In my story and in my life, the two people who were both seeing the third person were not friends. I think that’s what I found difficult about that situation.

Maris is also a horrible spy, yet she does this on more than one occasion. She follows people to see what’s going on and then gets caught. Stop doing this! It’s maddening. It would be one thing if she did it in the beginning and learned to be more cautious later on… but no.

The final thing that bothered me was… they were always hanging out with Edison’s family on their summer vacation, and his family was loaded so they paid for everything. Who does this? Maris is expected to hang out with the Brown family most of the time and watch the fireworks with them every evening. She’s 17. She’s not allowed to choose her own things to do every now and then?

That being said, Happily and Madly was enjoyable overall. There were unanswered questions that kept me reading. Even though there was heartbreak (obviously, when two people love the same boy) the situation does get resolved. I think eventually, the good guys will live satisfying lives. If you like forbidden romances and don’t mind if the boy’s two girlfriends are friends, and don’t mind her clunky spying, you might like it.

First Books In Series (That Made Me Want More)

By Brookelorren on April 26, 2019April 25, 20192 Comments

Hello and welcome to another edition of Fangirling on Friday, where I fangirl over some of my favorite books. It’s hosted by Books In the Skye. You can make your own lists too if you’d like. Today’s prompt is “First Series” which I’m not exactly sure what that means, so I’m going to write about series where the first books hooked me and made me want to read more.

One book that hooked me from the beginning was The 5th Wave. It was one of my favorite books of the year when I read it. I just had to read the rest of the series. Sadly, although I loved this book, the rest of the series was just… okay. I was kinda hoping that it would go in a different direction. The ending of the series was… satisfactory. It wasn’t so bad that I felt I had to write fix-it fanfiction, but it wasn’t the ending that would leave me fangirling for years. Although the first book… loved it!

Oh how I loved Flame in the Mist! It was the first Renée Ahdieh book I read and this is definitely a book I could fangirl over! I enjoyed Smoke in the Sun (and loved how the duology ended) but it didn’t have quite the magic that the first book did for me. I remember reading it at work, getting to a really good part, and then I’d have to go back to work. I couldn’t stop thinking about the book while I was at work. I just love books that you just can’t stop thinking about, and this was one of them. Sometimes I still feel the need to read certain passages again.

It’s not a secret that I love Divergent. After I read the first 50 pages, I just couldn’t put this book down. When I went home, I finished this book, read the beginning of Insurgent, went to bed, and the next day finished Insurgent and Allegiant, going to bed at four in the morning in tears. Although I hated the last little bit of Allegiant, this book drug me into YA and I’ve been a fangirl over this book for years. I own the first book in the series in four languages. I even dressed as Tris to the Insurgent movie premiere.

I’ve read the complete series for all the books above, but a book I’ve read recently that I haven’t read the ending to is Sky Without Stars. J’adore this book! While it didn’t end quite on a cliffhanger, I really have to find out what happens! I hope to get my hands on a copy of it’s sequel, Between Burning Worlds, as soon as possible. Which probably won’t be until some time next year, but when it does come out, I plan to read it. And I hope I gush over the sequel as much as I did the first book.

So what book series drug you in with the first book? Next week we’re going to talk about my favorite book I read in April. Wow, it’s already that time? I have a feeling I know which book that’s going to be, but I’m probably going to finish one more book between now and the end of the month, so we’ll see if the book I loved the best so far remains my favorite.

Four Dead Queens

By Brookelorren on April 25, 2019April 22, 2019Leave a Comment

Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte had a lot of hype surrounding it in the year leading to its release. Look at it! It has such a pretty cover! I pre-ordered it and read it as soon as I could get my hands on it. It was well worth the wait, and I named it my favorite book of February in that Fangirling on Friday post.

The queendom of Quadara is divided into four sections, each known for one trait, and each quadrant ruled by one queen. You would think it would be cool to be a queen, but no. Every queen has to live by very strict rules in order to supposedly help them govern better.

But then, something happens. Keralie, a thief, discovers that the queens have been killed, and she has been betrayed. She ends up partnering with a boy named Varin in order to find out who did it. Things are not as they seem though. As I read this book, there were several points where I wasn’t sure what was going on, but there is a logical explanation for everything that occurs and it ended nicely.

What I Liked

I really liked Four Dead Queens. The worldbuilding was quite unique. I thought I was going to be confused by the different quadrants and different queens, but I was able to follow everything just fine.

The characters had different stories. They all wanted something, and sometimes what they wanted was conflicting. Even the queens had things they were hiding. The book was light on romance, but that’s to be expected: the book takes place over a very short span of time, and you can’t expect people to fall in love that quickly.

As I read the book, I kept asking “how is this going to be resolved?” As I started approaching the end and the answers still hadn’t arrived, I was worried that things would end badly, but fortunately, the book ends on a satisfactory note.

Downsides?

The very first page of the book, where all the rules that queens have to follow are listed, was not all that exciting. I didn’t have any context at that point and didn’t really get it. If I reread this book, it will make more sense, but on your first read-through, it’s a little confusing.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for an exciting young adult book fantasy mystery, you might like Four Dead Queens. I would definitely read another book by this author.