Reviewed by alisoninbookland on
The Queen's Rising hits so many of my favorite fantasy elements: secret identities, brewing rebellions, strong women. What's not to love about that? It is slow moving which can be tough to read through if you're not used to it. I'm a fantasy fan so long, slow moving books are kind of my bread and butter.
In many ways this reads like many other YA fantasy books. It's a different twist but still familiar. By far my favorite part is the female camaraderie and friendship. There are no mean, back-stabbing cliques in the school part of the novel. Brienna and Yseult's friendship really shined. I loved that there wasn't a big dramatic twist; simply love and support. Can we get more novels that have wonderful female friendships like this please??
The setting and imagery are wonderful. Ross really has a way with words. The double (sometimes triple) identities were starting to get confusing though.
Then there was the romance. On one hand, I liked the pacing of it. It was slow moving and felt totally natural. It was an afterthought to everything going on. It wasn't their main motivation which was very refreshing. On the other hand, Cartier was her teacher so there's a creepy, grooming aspect to the relationship that feels icky.
I also really appreciated how the book reads like a stand alone novel. The book isn't boring and just setting up things to come in future books. It is a complete story that can stand on its own. I'm almost shocked to see it's part of a series. I'm interested in seeing where things go from here!
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 30 July, 2018: Finished reading
- 30 July, 2018: Reviewed