The Queen's Assassin (Queen's Secret, #1)

by Melissa de la Cruz

Caledon Holt is the Kingdom of Renovia’s deadliest weapon. No one alive can best him in brawn or brains, which is why he’s the Guild’s most dangerous member and the Queen’s one and only assassin. He’s also bound to the Queen by an impossible vow - to find the missing Deian Scrolls, the fount of all magical history and knowledge, stolen years ago by a nefarious sect called the Aphrasians.

Shadow has been training all her life to follow in the footsteps of her mother and aunts - to become skilled enough to join the ranks of the Guild. Though magic has been forbidden since the Aphrasian uprising, Shadow has been learning to control her powers in secret, hoping that one day she’ll become an assassin as feared and revered as Caledon Holt.

When a surprise attack brings Shadow and Cal together, they’re forced to team up as assassin and apprentice to hunt down a new sinister threat to Renovia. But as Cal and Shadow grow closer, they’ll uncover a shocking web of lies and secrets that may destroy everything they hold dear. With war on the horizon and true love at risk, they’ll stop at nothing to protect each other and their kingdom in this stunning first novel in the Queen’s Secret series.

• ISBN10: 0593110749
• ISBN13: 9780593110744
• Publish Date: 4 February 2020
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Out of Print: 18 March 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: G P Putnam's Sons
• Edition: International edition
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[Baroness Book Trove]

The Queen's Assassin by Melissa de la Cruz does a fantastic job of taking the reader into its world.

Will Shadow become a great assassin like Cal?

Shadow

Shadow is just a nickname for the main character of this novel. She's been trained all her life for the moment she could enter the guild. However, now she's been summoned to court by her mom instead. Shadow decides to take matters into her own hands and sets off to become an apprentice to Caledon Holt. She is a fun character. I enjoyed seeing through her eyes and how she doesn't want to be in court. All of that comes to light toward the end of the book, but I can't precisely say why. Everything about Shadow is basically a big plot spoiler. She is a fantastic character, and I was right about my thoughts on her at the beginning of reading this novel.

Caledon

Caledon Holt is the son of Corydon Holt and is a great assassin. Sadly, we don't see most of that, but I think that's because he didn't want to for 1) scare Shadow more than he already did, and 2) they just need to get to the other Kingdom so they can get their assignment done. Cal may seem like he's only one-dimensional, but I think that's because he has a job in his head that he needs to get done.

As an assassin, his job doesn't allow him to show his true personality. We don't know how he trained or what his life was like. To think about the mission and how he needs to get it done. Does he need to be a nobleman? Or can he be a servant instead? Or some other profession that needs to be there at the time. Cal needs to figure all that out while also ensuring that Shadow can follow suit.

I have to say that I like Cal, and I loved how the attraction between Shadow and him started.

Five Stars

The Queen's Assassin by Melissa de la Cruz holds so much promise, and I hope for things to get taken care of in the next book in this duology. Ms. de la Cruz has done an excellent job setting up this world, and her magic system is incredible. I can't wait to read more about it in the next book, even if that means a while since I'm pretty much booked for the rest of the year, as it seems.

I love this world of Caledon and Shadow's. I am giving this book five stars and recommending it to anyone who loves a good YA Romance Fantasy.

The Queen's Assassin Duology

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of The Queen's Assassin by Melissa de la Cruz.

Until the next time,



Happy Reading!

This review was originally posted on Baroness' Book Trove

[Mary-Allyn]

I like this book well enough, but it would have gotten a higher rating from me if THIS MASSIVE SPOILER didn't happen.

I don't like being lied to. This book is told from two different points of view. We have Shadow in first person and then a third person that shows Caledon. I guessed pretty quickly that Shadow was the Crown Princess, but I thought it was a secret to her as well and we'd all discover it together. No. Shadow spends THE ENTIRE BOOK knowing and essentially lying to the reader the entire book. It made me not like her as much, and felt like a sloppy way to wrap up this story. It also annoys me because this could easily have been fixed by putting Shadow's chapters in third person like Caledon's. But now I don't trust Shadow, which could be a problem for the next book. It was so frustrating! 

Other than that, I did really like this book. I will definitely be reading the second one.

[tweetybugshouse]

Melissa De La Cruz does it again i think i enjoyed everything i read from this author. From her middle grade Disney themed series to her Witches of East End. Melissa just captures my interest from the start pulling me along thinking this is the same old fantasy i read before. Guy meets girl, girl has some mysterious past, guy and girl can not be together. Somehow though she always throws in a twist i did not see. In this one it the girl mysterious past sometimes i get enough hints that i like I know what coming. This time not so much.

My heart did hurt that guy and girl did not end up together in the way you expect but they did in true historical fashion. Also the small things like the obsidian shards and the mysterious scrolls really intrigued me enough that i want the rest of this series like yesterday. It a great combination of story you think you know but truly do not know.

[tylerrosereads]

2.5 stars

So if I had read this as a teen I'd probably bump it up to like a 3.5, maybe higher.

But having read it now I feel like it suffers from being to action heavy. It's just go go go and there's no real character depth or attachment formed which makes the ending less than satisfying. I was interested in the plot and seeing what happened but it felt very surface level.

[Molly J(Cover To Cover Cafe)]

It's been quite sometime since I read a De La Cruz novel. The one's I've read in the past, have been captivating and beautifully written. So, I was excited about today's release of The Queen's Assassin and I couldn't wait to read it. I wasn't disappointed when I read it, that's for sure! 

This beautifully written YA fantasy novel is filled with a wonderful plot line. Shadow and Caledon are magnificent characters. I loved their interactions and seeing their feelings shine within the pages. The depth that De La Cruz chisels them is awesome and I felt like I was walking along side them on this magical ride. 

If you are looking for a superbly written YA novel by a seasoned author, then look no further. You get a magical roller coaster ride of ups and downs. You get to see a budding romance between flaw filled characters. You get to see perfectly chiseled secondary characters and experience an ending that will leave you ready instantly for book 2. I highly recommend this to all! 

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Publisher and was under no obligation to post a review, positive or negative.*

[Quirky Cat]

I received a copy of The Queen's Assassin through BookishFirst in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Queen's Assassin is the first novel in a brand new series from the one and only Melissa de la Cruz. This time around, her latest novel is being compared to Red Queen, and that's what really caught my attention.
The Kingdom of Renovia is facing a significant threat, with the king being dead, and plots on the queen and princess' life spreading like wildfire. That's where Caledon Holt comes into play. He's the Queen's assassin, and he'll do whatever it takes to finish the job and earn his freedom.
But there's a slight complication by the name of Shadow. She's a spirited young woman who wants to choose her path in life. And that path matches that of Cal. Together they're about to set off on a quest to save the queen and her daughter.

“All the answers you seek are there, but only if you are willing to hear them.”

The Queen's Assassin was a fantasy heavy romance, full of plotting, espionage, and intrigue. I'll confess that I fell in love with this novel the minute I saw the cover, and with good reason, I believe. It's simply stunning.
So it took me a little bit of time before I sat down to write this review if I'm being completely honest. There were some solid elements in this story, and then there were parts that were more disappointing. I needed some time to work through all of that, before I could be honest with how I felt.
What it comes down to is this: The Queen's Assassin had SO much potential. And there were parts of this story where I genuinely enjoyed reading it. It started off really strong, with an independent young woman who knew what she wanted in life.
But there were also parts of this story that I didn't love. For example, there was a very heavy feeling of predictability with some of the major twists. You can see them coming from a mile away. Which isn't automatically a bad thing – this isn't a thriller or something where I'd be disappointed by the lack of surprises. But it did take away from some of the impact.
The Queen's Assassin felt like a different book at a certain point. It started off as a journey of Shadow trying to forge a new path for herself. And it ended as a romance with fantasy and political themes surrounding it. Again, that's not a bad thing. But it wasn't what I was hoping for, or expecting.
On the whole, I did find The Queen's Assassin to be a decent read. It was a great escape for me, especially at the end of a long and less than great week. I didn't love it, but I certainly didn't hate it either. I'm not entirely certain that I'll read the next in the series, but I'm going to hold final judgment until I see the description for the next book.
If I had to give this novel a rating (and I do, as far as I'm concerned), I'd put it somewhere around three and a half stars. There's a lot of potential and enjoyment to be found here, but it wasn't the best available.

[bookishzelda]

The beginning of The Queen’s Assassin reminds me a lot of Sleeping Beauty. Girl living in a cottage with her Aunts who take care of her. Her mother does something in the palace and periodically visits her. Very suspicious. So I kept thinking of her that way even though at no point does she prick her finger.

I really liked Shadow. She has her moments where she is impulsive and doesn’t listen to anyone else. She can also be stubborn and won’t admit she is wrong ...very much like my own family. She’s pretty but she’s not one of those characters where she is pretty and doesn’t know it. She knows it, she just doesn’t really care. She wants to prove her worth as a Guild member and Assasin. The impulsive problem is that she sets out to do this with no formal training and without really knowing what’s going on. She has enough skills to take care of herself, especially since she does have magic on her side but she still often gets herself in trouble.

One of those impulsive situations is Caledon Holt. He is the Queen’s Assassin, a pledge that has been carried over from his father. Caledon actually dreams of the day when he can break away from that life but in order to do so he must fulfil a promise to find Deian Scrolls. I really liked Cal because he does his job but he also can be kind. Especially when it comes to Shadow and it’s not just his feelings that develop for her. I think that he just has a great deal of empathy for the fact that she wants to prove herself.

Okay so the book is told from two different points of view and in two different styles. First person and third person. The funny thing is that I probably would not have noticed if I did not recently read another book this way and someone had mentioned in a review. It does not bother me in the least to flip back and forth like that. I can see doing that if you don’t think you could do a character justice in first person. I’m just guessing on that honestly but again the flipping does not bother me.

I liked the story. Although I think the Deian Scrolls took a back seat in this book, I’m guessing they will play a bigger role later. This is really just the initial set-up and you can see that the arc only has more to go. Shadow has to make a particular choice at the end that I was surprised by but also really curious where it’s going to take the story in the future. I liked the story, even though it’s a fantasy it had a lighter feel to it. I enjoy my dark stories but it’s nice to read something that feels fun but also intriguing.