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amyteurhour's review against another edition
2.5
Content warning: violence/gore, torture, death, kidnapping
I have spent the past couple months reading all of Ross's current works, and it's been a really interesting, unplanned/unexpected project. I didn't start out 2024 with a plan to do this (tbh I don't think I'd even heard of Ross until this year)...it just kind of happened lol. It's been pretty neat to see how her writing has evolved and her style becoming more apparent.
They all have similar themes but I did enjoy her more recent books a lot. I think if I had started reading out The Queen's Rising series, I probably wouldn't have looked up more of her works. I think this duology is probably her weakest, which honestly considering they're her first two books, is totally understandable. I would recommend either of the other duologies or her two stand alone novels if you're looking for something that has a bit of light fantasy/magical realism with a side or two of romance.
As for The Queen's Resistance specifically, I didn't love it. There were a lot of detailed descriptions of violence while still being kind of a boring read. The plot was intriguing and follows the aftermath of a regime change that happened in Book 1, but a lot of the action/change felt dragged out. I noticed a few inconsistencies and there were a couple lines near the beginning/middle that repeated almost like it was missed in the edits. I also didn't feel like the two romantic leads had much chemistryand I don't think having them spend so many scenes apart helped develop their relationship. At the end where they're supposed to be having this heartfelt moment, it just felt kind of cringey to me unfortunately .
I felt that the accents in the audiobook were inconsistent, especially the two young children who are supposed to be siblings...one sounded vaguely Australian and the other vaguely more British? lol.
I have spent the past couple months reading all of Ross's current works, and it's been a really interesting, unplanned/unexpected project. I didn't start out 2024 with a plan to do this (tbh I don't think I'd even heard of Ross until this year)...it just kind of happened lol. It's been pretty neat to see how her writing has evolved and her style becoming more apparent.
They all have similar themes but I did enjoy her more recent books a lot. I think if I had started reading out The Queen's Rising series, I probably wouldn't have looked up more of her works. I think this duology is probably her weakest, which honestly considering they're her first two books, is totally understandable. I would recommend either of the other duologies or her two stand alone novels if you're looking for something that has a bit of light fantasy/magical realism with a side or two of romance.
As for The Queen's Resistance specifically, I didn't love it. There were a lot of detailed descriptions of violence while still being kind of a boring read. The plot was intriguing and follows the aftermath of a regime change that happened in Book 1, but a lot of the action/change felt dragged out. I noticed a few inconsistencies and there were a couple lines near the beginning/middle that repeated almost like it was missed in the edits. I also didn't feel like the two romantic leads had much chemistry
I felt that the accents in the audiobook were inconsistent, especially the two young children who are supposed to be siblings...one sounded vaguely Australian and the other vaguely more British? lol.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Torture, Violence, Death, and Gore
theespressoedition's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Apparently, April was the month for me to read sequels that didn't quite live up to the greatness of their predecessors. Le sigh. I loved The Queen's Rising so much and was seriously so excited to dive into The Queen's Resistance and... it just didn't thrill me nearly as much. Let's say that it had a serious case of "second book-itis."
I think one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to anything high fantasy, is when the second book is literally all about war or politics. This book was both. It was war, politics, and very little else. I hoped for more of the magic from the first book and maybe some of the romance as well and it was lacking on both fronts.
There were a few new characters that I was drawn to, but the story was stretched out so much with so many things happening that I lost sight of the people I was the most interested in. If this had been split into two books, I think I may have enjoyed it more? I understand that if it was planned as a duology, this sequel really needed to pack a punch, but it was more of a wallop.
I think I said something similar about the first book - that it felt like two stories in one. This book was the same, but maybe in a less positive way. Overall, it was smartly written and ended well, but it just lacked in a few ways that made it feel a bit disappointing to me. I think I'd like to read both books again in the future in the same format. I listened to the audio for this one and I think it added to some of my confusion.
I think one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to anything high fantasy, is when the second book is literally all about war or politics. This book was both. It was war, politics, and very little else. I hoped for more of the magic from the first book and maybe some of the romance as well and it was lacking on both fronts.
There were a few new characters that I was drawn to, but the story was stretched out so much with so many things happening that I lost sight of the people I was the most interested in. If this had been split into two books, I think I may have enjoyed it more? I understand that if it was planned as a duology, this sequel really needed to pack a punch, but it was more of a wallop.
I think I said something similar about the first book - that it felt like two stories in one. This book was the same, but maybe in a less positive way. Overall, it was smartly written and ended well, but it just lacked in a few ways that made it feel a bit disappointing to me. I think I'd like to read both books again in the future in the same format. I listened to the audio for this one and I think it added to some of my confusion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Physical abuse, Blood, Child abuse, Torture, War, Murder, Death, Death of parent, and Gore
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