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clairedrinkstea's review
4.0
Really enjoyed this.
Some of the language is jarring and the first person perspective from Vianne is nice as you can tell something is up but until the next instalment - The Bandit King - you can really tell/trust Tristan's intentions though hope its for Vianne as is implies.
Well worth a read and not typical Saintcrow fair.
Some of the language is jarring and the first person perspective from Vianne is nice as you can tell something is up but until the next instalment - The Bandit King - you can really tell/trust Tristan's intentions though hope its for Vianne as is implies.
Well worth a read and not typical Saintcrow fair.
stephxsu's review against another edition
I really wanted this to be the next thing after Crown Duel, in terms of story style, characters, romance, and fantasy world. And on the surface, THE HEDGEWITCH QUEEN certainly seems promising in all those fields: Vianne is a humble minor noble lady who gets tangled up in the political court intrigue of a magical world that takes its inspiration heavily from a bastardized version of France and the French language. There's the strong and silent love interest who believes in the heroine long before she believes in herself. Doesn't that just remind you of Crown Duel and all that goodness?
Alas, the similarities end there. Vianne is no Meliara. I didn't get far into the story before Vianne was tripping over herself in an effort to prove herself to be the most tearful, pathetic, and un-self-confident female in all of Bastardized France. Vianne suffers from that literary syndrome I suppose I shall have to give a name to from here on out: the Anti-Histrionic Female Character Syndrome, in which the female MC goes out of her way to convince readers that she is worthless, plain, boring, uninteresting, by virtue of her lowly status, ordinary looks, absolute lack of character, (lack of intelligence), etc. Far from gaining my readerly sympathies, these females simply goad my ire. For this syndrome is wish fulfillment; it's trying to say that females don't have to actively improve themselves mentally, intellectually, or emotionally--because, of course, the hot guy loves them just the passive and pathetic way they are!
The way in which Vianne and Tristan d'Arcenne interacted simply made me feel tired. Everything they said to each other was riddled with misunderstandings--misunderstandings that didn't seem to be necessary to the main plot but rather only served to further the romantic intrigue. What's so romantic or intriguing about constant misunderstandings brought about by Vianne's lack of self-confidence, may I ask? Yeah... that's what I thought.
In the end, my lack of feelings for either of the main characters led to this being a DNF for me. I give Lilith Saintcrow props for trying, but the blandness, patheticness of the main characters could not hold my attention for the duration of the story.
Alas, the similarities end there. Vianne is no Meliara. I didn't get far into the story before Vianne was tripping over herself in an effort to prove herself to be the most tearful, pathetic, and un-self-confident female in all of Bastardized France. Vianne suffers from that literary syndrome I suppose I shall have to give a name to from here on out: the Anti-Histrionic Female Character Syndrome, in which the female MC goes out of her way to convince readers that she is worthless, plain, boring, uninteresting, by virtue of her lowly status, ordinary looks, absolute lack of character, (lack of intelligence), etc. Far from gaining my readerly sympathies, these females simply goad my ire. For this syndrome is wish fulfillment; it's trying to say that females don't have to actively improve themselves mentally, intellectually, or emotionally--because, of course, the hot guy loves them just the passive and pathetic way they are!
The way in which Vianne and Tristan d'Arcenne interacted simply made me feel tired. Everything they said to each other was riddled with misunderstandings--misunderstandings that didn't seem to be necessary to the main plot but rather only served to further the romantic intrigue. What's so romantic or intriguing about constant misunderstandings brought about by Vianne's lack of self-confidence, may I ask? Yeah... that's what I thought.
In the end, my lack of feelings for either of the main characters led to this being a DNF for me. I give Lilith Saintcrow props for trying, but the blandness, patheticness of the main characters could not hold my attention for the duration of the story.
megabolt's review
5.0
This book was excellent! The only problem is the abrupt ending. It didn't even work up to a cliff hanger. It just ended in what seemed like the middle of the chapter.
I will say that the book has very believable characters. I love the development of the Vianne into a strong female character that still struggles with everything she's faced with. I really can't wait until the next one comes out this summer to see how the other characters develop.
I will say that the book has very believable characters. I love the development of the Vianne into a strong female character that still struggles with everything she's faced with. I really can't wait until the next one comes out this summer to see how the other characters develop.
wetdryvac's review against another edition
5.0
It's rare I spend an entire book going, "Oh, crap." Seriously well executed.
_camk_'s review against another edition
3.0
The Hedgewitch Queen was better than I expected. I think I had lower expectations for it because I had read the Strange Angels series.
+Writing: Saintcrow's writing was charming and added to the story.
+Characters: Although I was not overly fond of Vianne, she was a strongly written character who did not fall out of character which I often see happen.
The other characters like Adrien and Tinan I wish had more dialogue along with the guards because they were interesting.
+Logic: Saintcrow wrote about certain things logically, like Vianne thoughts on the lavatory usage, which was also humorous.
-Vianne: I think Vianne's naivety was the worst part of her character and it often annoyed me.
-Length: I found The Hedgewitch Queen was at times, lagging. It could have been a little shorter.
-Tristan: I do not like him nor do I trust him. I have a feeling he might be a little to obsessed with Vianne.
+Writing: Saintcrow's writing was charming and added to the story.
+Characters: Although I was not overly fond of Vianne, she was a strongly written character who did not fall out of character which I often see happen.
The other characters like Adrien and Tinan I wish had more dialogue along with the guards because they were interesting.
+Logic: Saintcrow wrote about certain things logically, like Vianne thoughts on the lavatory usage, which was also humorous.
-Vianne: I think Vianne's naivety was the worst part of her character and it often annoyed me.
-Length: I found The Hedgewitch Queen was at times, lagging. It could have been a little shorter.
-Tristan: I do not like him nor do I trust him. I have a feeling he might be a little to obsessed with Vianne.
claire_loves_books's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this. Vianne is a smart and strong character and the world she lives in is interesting and intricate. I'm not so sure about Tristan.
I don't necessarily understand the magic but that didn't seem to matter too much. The names and places were a bit determinedly medieval-french/fantasy in places and I hated the cliff-hanger.
I don't necessarily understand the magic but that didn't seem to matter too much. The names and places were a bit determinedly medieval-french/fantasy in places and I hated the cliff-hanger.
weweresotired's review against another edition
2.0
See the full review at Short & Sweet Reviews.
The story starts out with great promise. Vianne is an unlikely lady at Court, orphaned and coming from more humble beginnings than many of the other ladies, but she and the Princesse became fast friends as girls, which endured as they came of age. Of course, there is a conspiracy afoot, one which Vianne stumbles headfirst into, and the story takes off as Arquitaine is plunged into chaos and Vianne must hurry to escape. I love a good story fraught with danger and treason and peril, so I had high hopes, during the first two chapters. It goes downhill from there, though, as the story can't seem to balance whether it wants to be an adventure-fantasy, or a romance between Vianne and Tristan. Many books blend the two seamlessly -- it seems like Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Legacy series is becoming my gold standard, even if they are 100% definitely not YA books -- but The Hedgewitch Queen, unfortunately, does not.
I was far more charmed by the minor characters in the book. For example, the rest of the guard who accompany Vianne and Tristan and the various peasants who the group encounters were more interesting and fun to read about than our two leads. I kept reading because I heard there was a big shocker at the end, and I wanted to know what it was. Otherwise, I think I may have given up somewhere in the middle. I also disliked the fact that the book didn't wrap up its plot points before it ended, as it's clearly banking on the reader wanting to read the next book in the series. It doesn't stand alone very well at all, at least, not if you want to have any resolution at all to the situation Vianne has found herself in. This book could have been so much better than it was, but unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations.
The story starts out with great promise. Vianne is an unlikely lady at Court, orphaned and coming from more humble beginnings than many of the other ladies, but she and the Princesse became fast friends as girls, which endured as they came of age. Of course, there is a conspiracy afoot, one which Vianne stumbles headfirst into, and the story takes off as Arquitaine is plunged into chaos and Vianne must hurry to escape. I love a good story fraught with danger and treason and peril, so I had high hopes, during the first two chapters. It goes downhill from there, though, as the story can't seem to balance whether it wants to be an adventure-fantasy, or a romance between Vianne and Tristan. Many books blend the two seamlessly -- it seems like Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Legacy series is becoming my gold standard, even if they are 100% definitely not YA books -- but The Hedgewitch Queen, unfortunately, does not.
I was far more charmed by the minor characters in the book. For example, the rest of the guard who accompany Vianne and Tristan and the various peasants who the group encounters were more interesting and fun to read about than our two leads. I kept reading because I heard there was a big shocker at the end, and I wanted to know what it was. Otherwise, I think I may have given up somewhere in the middle. I also disliked the fact that the book didn't wrap up its plot points before it ended, as it's clearly banking on the reader wanting to read the next book in the series. It doesn't stand alone very well at all, at least, not if you want to have any resolution at all to the situation Vianne has found herself in. This book could have been so much better than it was, but unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations.
yvsmovingcastle's review against another edition
2.0
Sigh. I really wanted to like this book. I hardly ever read romance but I enjoyed the Bannon and Clare series by Saintcrow and thought I'd give this one a shot. It started out well. Court intrigue, plucky heroine, dashing and bad ass Captain of the guard... but that all went away once they left the "palais" (yeah, bastardized French was pretty annoying), then it turned into this mega whine fest where Vianne spent the rest of the book oblivious to Tristan's affection for her, in a fever and lamenting the fact that the Magic Seal of Destiny wanted her to be Queen, which, okay, to be fair, that last one would be a hard pill to swallow but the whole book? Really? Maybe if it hadn't been in 1st person POV it wouldn't have been so annoying but at least in 1st person we should have seen more character development. She was just such a boring character by the end of the book, when she really could have been so interesting. It will be interesting to read the next one from Tristan's POV and see if it gets any better but I'm not holding my breath, based on the reviews I've seen.