The Queen of Blood by Sarah Beth Durst

The Queen of Blood (Queens of Renthia, #1)

by Sarah Beth Durst

Set in the magical world of Renthia, The Queen of Blood is Sarah Beth Durst’s ambitious entry into adult epic fantasy. With the danger of Peter Brett’s The Warded Man, heart of Naomi Novik’s Uprooted, and lyricism of Patrick Rothfuss’ The Name of the Wind, this is the first chapter in a series destined to be a classic.

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 . . .

But the spirits that reside within this land want to rid it of...

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Reviewed by HekArtemis on

5 of 5 stars

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Perfect. I was considering rereading an old favourite but took a chance on this one instead and, what do you know, it is actually somewhat similar to what I was thinking of rereading. Both are set in a world with deadly flesh tearing human hating beings. So, this hit the spot perfectly. It's well written, it has interesting characters and it didn't fall into the romance I was fearing (there was a touch of romance, but not the one I was fearing thank goodness). The main character is honestly great, strong, determined, stubborn - but she's not overpowered, in fact she is pretty much the worst of the lot but it doesn't stop her. She has some self-confidence issues, but again doesn't let it stop her from trying her best and pushing through despite the overwhelming odds against her. I also liked Ven, though he was an idiot about certain issues - Hamon annoyed me a little though, how he started to get too overprotective of Daleina, she's training to be a queen mate, shut up.

The world is probably my favourite part though, not to say anything else is bad, I just really love the world building. The spirits are awesome, the tree cities and villages so cool, the magic system, all of it I love it. Not that I didn't know that, I read The Deepest Blue a couple months back and loved it so much I took the chance and bought the Queens of Renthia trilogy in deadtree form before reading them. The world. Yes.

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  • 10 August, 2019: Reviewed