Item: The Reluctant Queen
Rating: 4.00
Author: booksandcats

by Sarah Beth Durst

Filled with political intrigue, violent magic, and malevolent spirits, the mesmerizing second book in Sarah Beth Durst’s Queens of Renthia epic fantasy trilogy that started with the award-winning The Queen of Blood.

Everything has a spirit: the willow tree with leaves that kiss the pond, the stream that feeds the river, the wind that exhales fresh snow . . .

And those spirits want to kill you.

It’s the first lesson that every Renthian learns.

Not long ago, Daleina used her strength and skill to survive those spirits and assume the royal throne. Since then, the new queen has kept the peace and protected the humans of her land. But now for all her power, she is hiding a terrible secret: she is dying. And if she leaves the world before a new heir is ready, the spirits that inhabit her beloved realm will run wild, destroying her cities and slaughtering her people.

Naelin is one such person, and she couldn’t be further removed from the Queen—and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Her world is her two children, her husband, and the remote village tucked deep in the forest that is her home, and that’s all she needs. But when Ven, the Queens champion, passes through the village, Naelin’s ambitious husband proudly tells him of his wife’s ability to control spirits—magic that Naelin fervently denies. She knows that if the truth of her abilities is known, it will bring only death and separation from those she loves.

But Ven has a single task: to find the best possible candidate to protect the people of Aratay. He did it once when he discovered Daleina, and he’s certain he’s done it again. Yet for all his appeals to duty, Naelin is a mother, and she knows her duty is to her children first and foremost. Only as the Queen’s power begins to wane and the spirits become emboldened—even as ominous rumors trickle down from the north—does she realize that the best way to keep her son and daughter safe is to risk everything.

Sarah Beth Durst established a place of dark wonder in The Queen of Blood, and now the stakes are even higher as the threat to the Queen and her people grows both from within and beyond the borders of Aratay in this riveting second novel of the Queens of Renthia series.

A really good follow up to the Queen of Blood. I liked the new Characters of Naelin and her Children, I loved that we got to see more of Ven and his relationship with Naelin.

Naelin is a great addition. She is strong, has a lot of Life experience and a strong opinion. I think she and Daleina work great together, she doesn't take anything away from Daleina, but still manages to be a Queen next to her. The two of them seem to complete each other as Queen. Daleina has a lot more Experience as Queen and had more time to be prepared and knows all the theory that you need to know as Queen. Naelin has more life experience and really does seem to be "Mother of Aratay" as Daleina put it once

Merecot, however I did not like. I mean, she is a good Character in the book, and a good Villain, but I really wished after the first book, that she wouldn't be one of the bad ones, but that she could be Delaina's ally, as I really like her in "Queen of Blood". What annoyed me most about her Character is, that she never seems to have any regret. She tries to kill one of her friends, kills tons of innocent candidates (which are just children), wages a war, risks spirits going crazy in her homeland an still doesn't think that she did anything wrong! I get that she is in a tough position, because she has too many spirits, but how does that make this right? As I understand it, it's not as if Aratay had to view spirits, so they don't need the Spirits of Semo. They would probably have to kill some Spirits of Aratay to make more room for the ones of Semo and I don't see how Merecot could think that is good.

I loved how Alet was treated in this book, she finally becomes a Character of her own, instead of being to cute little sister that provides some sense of family and becomes a strong, capable person of her own.

So, generally a really good addition to the Queens of Renthia. I hope, that we get to see more of Semo and the other Countries in the next book, I am really curious how things are in the three countries, we haven't heard of until now. Oh, and Sara Beth Durst, don't you dare kill off Bayn in the next book!

The Reluctant Queen (Queens of Renthia, #2)

by Sarah Beth Durst

Reviewed by booksandcats on Sep 25, 2018

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