Those first two pages alone... wow. "This is how you hold your child. This is how you murder your husband" are some of the first few words uttered by the queen and a few lines later Queen Rielle is described as holding her newborn baby while she's barefoot and soaked in blood and sweat.
Spooky. Dark. Mysterious. Suspenseful. Tragic. YES!! It's been a long time since I've read a book that has been THIS good within the first few pages.
Within the first chapter, you will like the protagonist, Simon, and have mixed feelings about the queen. I do appreciate a book when I feel the feels for characters right at the beginning of a story.
Then, I like the change in time and the flashback to two years prior to the chaos occurring in chapter one. I appreciate when authors choose this style because it allows you to see how the characters change and, in this case, become dark and murderous. How does Rielle go from doting and loving her husband to wanting to murder him? Sounds like an episode of "Snapped!"
The only hard part is keeping track of all the characters. Since it's the first book in a trilogy, obviously there will be more characters to get to know and backstories to read about.
Spooky. Dark. Mysterious. Suspenseful. Tragic. YES!! It's been a long time since I've read a book that has been THIS good within the first few pages.
Within the first chapter, you will like the protagonist, Simon, and have mixed feelings about the queen. I do appreciate a book when I feel the feels for characters right at the beginning of a story.
Then, I like the change in time and the flashback to two years prior to the chaos occurring in chapter one. I appreciate when authors choose this style because it allows you to see how the characters change and, in this case, become dark and murderous. How does Rielle go from doting and loving her husband to wanting to murder him? Sounds like an episode of "Snapped!"
The only hard part is keeping track of all the characters. Since it's the first book in a trilogy, obviously there will be more characters to get to know and backstories to read about.