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esther_palko's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, Genocide, Torture, Murder, Blood, and Death
Minor: Child death
camiclarkbooks's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
“The Queen’s Rising” is your classic YA fantasy story and brimming with rich settings and fantastical characters.
However, the seventeen year old female main character ends up in a relationship with her twenty-seven year old former teacher. They did wait to act on their mutual attraction until she had graduated, but it’s still creepy.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Grief, Murder, War, Adult/minor relationship, and Abandonment
darkclouds's review against another edition
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Sometimes you read an author's work at the right time. It's not always necessarily their first, but it's an olive branch to take a step into their world they've crafted.
Fate allowed me to enter Rebecca's with Divine Rivals. In comparison to Queen's Rising, the quality in the writing is tremendously evident. Ross has crossed leaps and bounds to write the masterpiece that is Divine Rivals and the potential is there in Queen's Rising. It just didn't quite follow through with the execution amongst other details.
For the most part it was a slow ride from an academic setting, some mysteries regarding Brienna and her Maevan heritage she must suppress in order to keep safe. We triage into the next act with plotting to overthrow a vicious King and restore the Queendom it once was. I was grateful that Brienna was not drawn into the "Lost Queen" trope for I fear that would have put me off completely.
It felt oddly lacking in adventure and almost monotonous until that last quarter. I found no joy in the romance, although slow burn, which was formed between a professor (Arial) and his pupil (Arden). He met her when she was ten and having watched her grow up and then teaching her himself, just does not sit well with me.
In any case, I can see why people would struggle with this one. There's a staggering amount of history about the world to remember, many names and Houses, aliases and terms. It's a lot. The way it has tied up I'm not quite sure how there is a sequel. But I guess we'll dive into that one too.
Fate allowed me to enter Rebecca's with Divine Rivals. In comparison to Queen's Rising, the quality in the writing is tremendously evident. Ross has crossed leaps and bounds to write the masterpiece that is Divine Rivals and the potential is there in Queen's Rising. It just didn't quite follow through with the execution amongst other details.
For the most part it was a slow ride from an academic setting, some mysteries regarding Brienna and her Maevan heritage she must suppress in order to keep safe. We triage into the next act with plotting to overthrow a vicious King and restore the Queendom it once was. I was grateful that Brienna was not drawn into the "Lost Queen" trope for I fear that would have put me off completely.
It felt oddly lacking in adventure and almost monotonous until that last quarter. I found no joy in the romance, although slow burn, which was formed between a professor (Arial) and his pupil (Arden). He met her when she was ten and having watched her grow up and then teaching her himself, just does not sit well with me.
In any case, I can see why people would struggle with this one. There's a staggering amount of history about the world to remember, many names and Houses, aliases and terms. It's a lot. The way it has tied up I'm not quite sure how there is a sequel. But I guess we'll dive into that one too.
Content Warnings
Minor: Blood, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, and Murder
singalana's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcohol, Murder, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Torture, Bullying, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Physical abuse
theespressoedition's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book was recommended to me by one of my Instagram followers at the beginning of the year and I'm so glad it was because I might not have picked it up otherwise - and it was really good!
I've never read anything quite like this. There's a bit of royal academia feeling to the beginning of the book, with the passions and the masters and the patrons and such. It took a little bit for me to understand how everything worked, but once I did, I was very intrigued.
Very early on, you find out that magic hasn't really been part of the world for a while because of something that happened in war many years ago. However, somewhere along the line, Brienna winds up experiencing the memories of someone who lived through the loss of magic. This is where things get increasingly more interesting. Not only do you want to know how magic was lost and how to bring it back, but you want to know more about why Brienna is the receiver of these memories.
The Queen's Rising felt a bit like two books in one because the first half is almost entirely about her time at the passion house and then the second half is... well, it's a wild ride! There is so much that takes place after the halfway mark that before I knew it, I was looking at my progress and seeing that I was 92% through the book! I had no clue that I had flown through the story so quickly. It's easy to lose yourself in this one for sure.
I had a bit of a book hangover after finishing because all I wanted to do was dive straight into the sequel. I can't wait to find out what happens next - and to see if Cartier shows up (aka my favorite character who I can really speak little of without giving major spoilers).
I've never read anything quite like this. There's a bit of royal academia feeling to the beginning of the book, with the passions and the masters and the patrons and such. It took a little bit for me to understand how everything worked, but once I did, I was very intrigued.
Very early on, you find out that magic hasn't really been part of the world for a while because of something that happened in war many years ago. However, somewhere along the line, Brienna winds up experiencing the memories of someone who lived through the loss of magic. This is where things get increasingly more interesting. Not only do you want to know how magic was lost and how to bring it back, but you want to know more about why Brienna is the receiver of these memories.
The Queen's Rising felt a bit like two books in one because the first half is almost entirely about her time at the passion house and then the second half is... well, it's a wild ride! There is so much that takes place after the halfway mark that before I knew it, I was looking at my progress and seeing that I was 92% through the book! I had no clue that I had flown through the story so quickly. It's easy to lose yourself in this one for sure.
I had a bit of a book hangover after finishing because all I wanted to do was dive straight into the sequel. I can't wait to find out what happens next - and to see if Cartier shows up (aka my favorite character who I can really speak little of without giving major spoilers).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gore, and Murder
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