Unique and inventive tale that took me by surprise.
Four Dead Queens is a novel that took me completely by surprise. I was expecting a tale of dueling kingdoms involving four queens who rule each kingdom, with perhaps one who wanted to rule them all. What I got instead was a super interesting tale of four queens ruling ONE kingdom, with a shared bond of sisterhood that ties them all together.
Keralie is a pickpocket working in the seedy Jetée part of Quadara alongside her best friend and boss, Mackiel. Her latest assignment is to try and steal a comm device from an unsuspecting messenger from Eonia. Should be an easy task, as Keralie is the best of the best when it comes to stealing. The problem is, said Eonist isn’t an idiot and manages to track Keralie down and shows up right as the comm is supposed to be auctioned off. Forced to ingest the comm disks after an unforeseen kerfuffle, Karalie is immediately unsettled by what she’s seen — all four queens, murdered. What follows is a tale fraught with danger, murder, betrayal and backstabbing, with the fate of Quadara hanging in the balance.
Not only was the element of four queens ruling one kingdom such a delightful surprise, but I was also blown away by the sheer inventiveness and uniqueness of the world and the four quadrants. I was fully expecting the typical historical kingdom fantasy setting, and yeah, that’s definitely not happening here. Each quadrant is its own world with its own set of standards and ways of life. One is futuristic, complete with gadgetry and nanotechnology, while another doesn’t even have electricity, while yet another is reminiscent of something out of a fairy forest with all the plants and flowers. Each quadrant has its own set of living standards and personal values, and it was so interesting to see the differences between characters, depending on where they were from.
There’s also a wee bit of romance thrown in for good measure and while I always love me a bit of love, the relationship in this book didn’t quite do it for me. I loved each character separately, but the romance between them seemed to come out of left field and didn’t make much sense, especially considering the circumstances. Had the pacing of the romantic plot been a little less condensed, I think I would have appreciated it a bit more.
All told, Four Dead Queens had such a unique and interesting premise with plenty of twists and turns, dynamic characters, and a well-plotted mystery that will keep most everyone guessing. Highly recommended, and I hope it takes everyone by surprise just as it did for me. 4.5 stars.
*ARC received courtesy of BookishFirst.
Keralie is a pickpocket working in the seedy Jetée part of Quadara alongside her best friend and boss, Mackiel. Her latest assignment is to try and steal a comm device from an unsuspecting messenger from Eonia. Should be an easy task, as Keralie is the best of the best when it comes to stealing. The problem is, said Eonist isn’t an idiot and manages to track Keralie down and shows up right as the comm is supposed to be auctioned off. Forced to ingest the comm disks after an unforeseen kerfuffle, Karalie is immediately unsettled by what she’s seen — all four queens, murdered. What follows is a tale fraught with danger, murder, betrayal and backstabbing, with the fate of Quadara hanging in the balance.
Not only was the element of four queens ruling one kingdom such a delightful surprise, but I was also blown away by the sheer inventiveness and uniqueness of the world and the four quadrants. I was fully expecting the typical historical kingdom fantasy setting, and yeah, that’s definitely not happening here. Each quadrant is its own world with its own set of standards and ways of life. One is futuristic, complete with gadgetry and nanotechnology, while another doesn’t even have electricity, while yet another is reminiscent of something out of a fairy forest with all the plants and flowers. Each quadrant has its own set of living standards and personal values, and it was so interesting to see the differences between characters, depending on where they were from.
There’s also a wee bit of romance thrown in for good measure and while I always love me a bit of love, the relationship in this book didn’t quite do it for me. I loved each character separately, but the romance between them seemed to come out of left field and didn’t make much sense, especially considering the circumstances. Had the pacing of the romantic plot been a little less condensed, I think I would have appreciated it a bit more.
All told, Four Dead Queens had such a unique and interesting premise with plenty of twists and turns, dynamic characters, and a well-plotted mystery that will keep most everyone guessing. Highly recommended, and I hope it takes everyone by surprise just as it did for me. 4.5 stars.
*ARC received courtesy of BookishFirst.