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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
Murder, betrayal, forbidden romance, hidden relationships and secrets. Soooo so many secrets!!! All wrapped up in a YA fantasy world, ruled by 4 queens (duh), from four different quadrants of Quadara, each with varying levels of technological advancements. There are twists and turns and where I thought the plot was going, was in no way what was actually happening! The ending took me completely by surprise. What more could you ask for?!
I really enjoyed Astrid's debut novel. This will probably be in my top reads of 2019. The ending left me satisfied yet also hoping she will revisit this world and characters in the future. The writing was fantastic. Plus murder mystery, or a mystery in general, is one of my favorite kind of stories. If you're looking for a unique and fresh YA fantasy novel, I definitely recommend you pick this one up.
I really enjoyed Astrid's debut novel. This will probably be in my top reads of 2019. The ending left me satisfied yet also hoping she will revisit this world and characters in the future. The writing was fantastic. Plus murder mystery, or a mystery in general, is one of my favorite kind of stories. If you're looking for a unique and fresh YA fantasy novel, I definitely recommend you pick this one up.
I didn't like this quite as much as I thought I would, but it was still enjoyable. I think it being told from so many points of view was too much, and I didn't feel like I really connected with any of the characters. I am glad that this was a stand alone, I hate it when authors drag stories out. I will say that the last third of the story I didn't know what was going to happen next. I am pretty good at figuring out what is going to happen and I was wrong on a few fronts and completely surprised a couple of times. That is quite a feat.
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
guys this book was really good...shoutout keira for the recommendation
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Chronic illness, Gore, Violence
Minor: Miscarriage, Death of parent, Toxic friendship
When I first started reading Four Dead Queens, I wasn't sure about it, but I ended up really liking it!
Initially, the perspectives and timelines were a little weird. Most of the queens seemed to be a lot older than Keralie, and that was a little weird to me. Granted, their ages were never outright stated, except for one queen, Stessa. Margeurite's age was never given but it seemed like she was the oldest, and the other two, Iris and Corra, fell somewhere in between. Some of them had pretty decent length chapters, and while it gave perspective to what was going on, it still felt a little odd to me.
The timeline made sense towards the end of the book, once the mystery of everything started unraveling. For most of the book, it seemed like Keralie was trying to figure out what happened to them. The timeline definitely surprised me, and there were some things I had completely guessed wrong. Once things got going, and I got further into the book, I started liking it more.
It was an adventure, and I really, honestly felt like I was with Keralie the entire time. I liked her, though I would have loved more of her backstory. You get bits and pieces and references, but not much is said outright. Even though the story focuses on her unraveling this plot, she seemed like a blank slate. It does make it easy to see yourself as Keralie, but I also couldn't tell you a whole lot about her. A couple of moments would have had more weight to it had we had more of her backstory, in my opinion.
The world was interesting, and we get such a great idea of how the four queens came to be, and what each quadrant represents and believes in. I still had trouble keeping all of them straight at the end of the book, but it did help that that there was something at the beginning of the book that had something about each quadrant. I also liked the queenly laws at the beginning of the book, and we see those at the beginning of each chapter narrated by one of the queens.
I'm glad this book isn't part of a series, because it worked really well as a stand-alone! I think Scholte could tell a lot more stories set in this world, focusing on other characters, but this particular story is pretty complete. I'd also LOVE to see this as a movie. I pictured everything perfectly, and she really did write it in a way that made it so easy to see how everything would play.
My Rating: 4 stars. I really liked Four Dead Queens, but I didn't love it. The timelines and perspectives took some time getting used to, but once I did, it was fun to see how things unraveled.
Initially, the perspectives and timelines were a little weird. Most of the queens seemed to be a lot older than Keralie, and that was a little weird to me. Granted, their ages were never outright stated, except for one queen, Stessa. Margeurite's age was never given but it seemed like she was the oldest, and the other two, Iris and Corra, fell somewhere in between. Some of them had pretty decent length chapters, and while it gave perspective to what was going on, it still felt a little odd to me.
The timeline made sense towards the end of the book, once the mystery of everything started unraveling. For most of the book, it seemed like Keralie was trying to figure out what happened to them. The timeline definitely surprised me, and there were some things I had completely guessed wrong. Once things got going, and I got further into the book, I started liking it more.
It was an adventure, and I really, honestly felt like I was with Keralie the entire time. I liked her, though I would have loved more of her backstory. You get bits and pieces and references, but not much is said outright. Even though the story focuses on her unraveling this plot, she seemed like a blank slate. It does make it easy to see yourself as Keralie, but I also couldn't tell you a whole lot about her. A couple of moments would have had more weight to it had we had more of her backstory, in my opinion.
The world was interesting, and we get such a great idea of how the four queens came to be, and what each quadrant represents and believes in. I still had trouble keeping all of them straight at the end of the book, but it did help that that there was something at the beginning of the book that had something about each quadrant. I also liked the queenly laws at the beginning of the book, and we see those at the beginning of each chapter narrated by one of the queens.
I'm glad this book isn't part of a series, because it worked really well as a stand-alone! I think Scholte could tell a lot more stories set in this world, focusing on other characters, but this particular story is pretty complete. I'd also LOVE to see this as a movie. I pictured everything perfectly, and she really did write it in a way that made it so easy to see how everything would play.
My Rating: 4 stars. I really liked Four Dead Queens, but I didn't love it. The timelines and perspectives took some time getting used to, but once I did, it was fun to see how things unraveled.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“Sometimes failure is the beginning of success”
And even through this book was clearly not a failure, I have a feeling that Astrid will evolve with every book she writes and will become a success. Especially for the thriller-mystery genere.
I got this book in the March 2019 OwlCrate Box. So I had no choice but to either read it or give it away. And I don't like doing that. Not before I read the book because I can't escape the feeling that this book that I just give away might have been my new favourite book if I was just giving it one little chance.
So I've read it.
And from the perspective of someone who never reads, nor likes thriller-mystery books, it wasn't bad.
PROS:
- The Writing Style
At least, from my perspective, the way Astrid describes everything feels very cinematographic and very graphic and very vivid. The blood, the salty sea, Keralie's past, the fear of tight and small spaces, the atmosphere in each and every room of the palace, EVERYTHING. I basically saw and felt every little thing. It's not like you're watching a movie, but like you're actually there, in the movie. And I don't know if this is because the author spent ten years working on television and film and animation or because she is really talented as a writer, but I loved that.
-The Wolrd-Buliding
The simple idea of a country ruled by four diferrent queens is intriguing and unique (I've never saw someone doing that before) but the way this idea is evolving in this book is even better. The rules, the so-different quadrants and people and the way everything co-exist together it's thought up to the last detail. My forever quadrant will be Ludia because I can't value anything else more than I value art, music and entertaiment.
-The Twisty-Turns of the Plot
Plot-twists are all over the place in this book. Even at the very end, in the last two chapters, we have a pretty big plot-twist. ”The Big Lie” that it's mentioned in the tag line cleary left me ”shooketh” and the way everything still came together until the very end was amazing. Even if, at some point, I thought one particular plot-twist was useless, by the end of the book I realised that it wasn't.
This is clearly the type of book that you just have to go with the flow. At least, in my opinion. Don't read the synopsis, don't try to understand why, don't really stress yourself over who is the killer. I mean, you could, of course. I'm just giving you an advice, because everything is so twisty that it makes it impossible to guess and, if you really stress yourself with such questions, you might end up DNF-ing it. I say just enjoy this world and this story. Not the characters because....and that brings me to the cons of this book...
CONS:
-The Characters
The characters feel really flat. Aside from Keralie, the main character, who has a past and some fears and beliefs and things she struggles with...everyone else feels pretty flat. Even Varin, the main love interest. And I get that he's Eonist and he's suppose to be a trained mask who doesn't feel anything... but I still think that his arc as a character could have been way better. Same with the queens. I didn't really get emotionally involved with their story and I wasn't feeling much when they were murdered.
Spoiler
Also, I don't get why we've had all those perspectives with them being murdered before Keralie got to the palace just to get them all over again from Keralie perspective after she got to the palace. It doesn't really makes sense to me. And the story would've worked well without all those perspectives. Plus, it would've make the book half the size it is now.-The Romance
Now, don't get me wrong. I love a good romance between two characters with chemistry and playfull banter and swoony kisses. But this book was perfectly ok without it. I don't get why, as an author, you try to thick the book with three different generes. I mean, you have a fantasy world, a mystery murder and now romance? Why tho?
I felt like it was purely for nothing and the chemistry wasn't there in my opinion.
So that's why I rate this book 3 stars. Maybe 3.5. I liked it. I really liked it. It kept me entertained, but some things were out of place and some things were utterly useless. And, as the author says.... “Sometimes failure is the beginning of success”....
