Keralie Corrington is a talented pickpocket in the kingdom of Quadara. She steals under the guidance of her mentor Mackiel, who runs a black market selling their bounty to buyers desperate for what they can’t get in their own quadrant. For Quadara is a nation divided into four regions, each strictly separated from the other. Toria, the intellectual quadrant values education and ambition. Ludia, the pleasure quadrant values celebration and passion. Archia, the agricultural quadrant, values simplicity and nature. Eonia, the futurist quadrant values technology, stoicism and harmonious community. Four queens, one from each quadrant, rule as one.
When on Mackiel’s orders Keralie steals a particularly valuable item from a messenger, what seems like a routine theft goes horribly wrong. Keralie discovers she’s intercepted instructions to murder the queens. Hoping that discovering the intended recipient will reveal the culprit—valuable information that she can barter with—Keralie teams up with Varin Bollt, the messenger she stole from, to complete his delivery and uncover the would-be murderer. But with Keralie and Varin each keeping secrets—and the lives of the queens hanging in the balance—everything is at stake, and no one can be trusted.
My full review can be found on Paging Serenity.
Not going to lie, right after I finished reading this, I wanted to give it somewhere between 3.5 - 4 stars. But the more I thought about it and after sleeping on it, I had to drop the rating.
Don't get me wrong, Four Dead Queens is an intriguing fantasy murder mystery set in a complex, well-built world. But it’s ambitions lead to oversimplification of important issues and a disappointing and rushed ending.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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22 March, 2020:
Finished reading
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22 March, 2020:
Reviewed