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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
UPDATED FULL REVIEW!
WOW! This will be difficult to review without spoilers, but here we go!
This book was like a roller coaster ride from one side of death to another. Scholte has given us a story full of twists and turns, literally, to the very end. There were times I thought I totally knew where the book was going (and on a few rare occasions, I have been right) but over all -- boy was I wrong!
Let's start with the plot. As the title tells us, the novel is the tale of 4 dead queens. How they died, and who did it, of course. The 4 queens are killed off, one by one, by a mysterious assassin that could not be traced. The story is propelled forward using this plot. There are an insane amount of twists that happen during the novel, pushing the trajectory off in a direction you weren't really expecting. I enjoyed this, as I was pleased to just allow the events to unfold and surprise me as we went. I did not do much "investigating" between the lines as I was too wrapped up in just enjoying it!
The book is told from MULTIPLE POV, which I thought would be tedious, but Scholte does it in a way that is almost seamless. All but Keralie's chapters are in third person, letting you know that these are events that are happening outside of Keralie's knowledge but still important parts of the story. I actually really enjoyed this form of writing. It was well done, and mostly organized.
When the story opens, we are introduced to the four ruling queens of Quadara: Iris of Archia, Corra of Eonia, Stessa of Ludia and Marguerite of Toria. She introduces us to each queen, dives into their personal lives and forces us to care about them. While each of the queens had their own personality, I still felt like I could relate to SOME part of each one of their struggles or secrets. Secrets seem to be what made the palace thrive, each quadrant holding onto something.
Marguerite's secret was most surprising to me, but once I thought about it -- not really. Those that protest the loudest usually have the most to hide. There is another secret that made me very happy, but to release who's it was would give it away too easily, so this is where the secrets end.
The primary character of the book (I wont say MAIN character, as there were so many moving parts of this story) was Keralie. She was a spite fire! I adored her character and her drive to do the right thing, even if it was solely fueled by saving her father. We learn early on that he was in a terrible boating accident - and that's all I will say, my darlings. Keralie knew who she was through out most of the novel, but it took her a while to ACCEPT that. I felt like that was a huge take away from the story. Letting people tell you who you are only makes recognizing the real you harder. Keralie was wild, reckless and spirited - everything I was a child. This made me root for her even more. While it may not have been the most appropriate response, it was mine nonetheless.
The side characters are very interesting, Mackiel, Varin, and the last character we meet are all suitable side characters, each one adding a layer of depth to the story. The way Scholte used relationships and emotions in the novel was captivating, allowing us to be torn between logic and heart, survival and sacrifice.
I would have been happy to give this novel a solid 5 stars but... the romance seemed entirely unnecessary. I understand that people love romance, but the book worked beautifully without that forced attraction. I do understand that purpose of it, Varin's ability to feel despite his upbringing, the need for Keralie to be vulnerable -- I just felt like the romance was force and did not truly add to the story.
Over all, though - this was a novel that I will likely reread, or relisten to - as I switched back and forth from audiobook to my physical copy. This is a 4 star read for me! I encourage anyone with a love of fantasy, mystery and intrigue to jump in feet first. You will not be disappointed!
**************************************************
Mind. Blown. This was such a phenomenal book! I listened to the audible book, which was narrated by Amy Shiels and Elizabeth Knowelden. They were honestly the perfect pair to narrate this consuming tale. The story swaps between Quadara's dead queens and the girl who desperately wants to stop it, taking you on an emotional roller coaster through each chapter. The original plot, flawed and human characters and riveting "who-dun-it" aspect keeps you engaged and guessing, with plot twists that keep coming up to the very last chapter. I cannot even rave enough about this amazing novel.
*********Full review to come soon!!***********
WOW! This will be difficult to review without spoilers, but here we go!
This book was like a roller coaster ride from one side of death to another. Scholte has given us a story full of twists and turns, literally, to the very end. There were times I thought I totally knew where the book was going (and on a few rare occasions, I have been right) but over all -- boy was I wrong!
Let's start with the plot. As the title tells us, the novel is the tale of 4 dead queens. How they died, and who did it, of course. The 4 queens are killed off, one by one, by a mysterious assassin that could not be traced. The story is propelled forward using this plot. There are an insane amount of twists that happen during the novel, pushing the trajectory off in a direction you weren't really expecting. I enjoyed this, as I was pleased to just allow the events to unfold and surprise me as we went. I did not do much "investigating" between the lines as I was too wrapped up in just enjoying it!
The book is told from MULTIPLE POV, which I thought would be tedious, but Scholte does it in a way that is almost seamless. All but Keralie's chapters are in third person, letting you know that these are events that are happening outside of Keralie's knowledge but still important parts of the story. I actually really enjoyed this form of writing. It was well done, and mostly organized.
When the story opens, we are introduced to the four ruling queens of Quadara: Iris of Archia, Corra of Eonia, Stessa of Ludia and Marguerite of Toria. She introduces us to each queen, dives into their personal lives and forces us to care about them. While each of the queens had their own personality, I still felt like I could relate to SOME part of each one of their struggles or secrets. Secrets seem to be what made the palace thrive, each quadrant holding onto something.
Marguerite's secret was most surprising to me, but once I thought about it -- not really. Those that protest the loudest usually have the most to hide. There is another secret that made me very happy, but to release who's it was would give it away too easily, so this is where the secrets end.
The primary character of the book (I wont say MAIN character, as there were so many moving parts of this story) was Keralie. She was a spite fire! I adored her character and her drive to do the right thing, even if it was solely fueled by saving her father. We learn early on that he was in a terrible boating accident - and that's all I will say, my darlings. Keralie knew who she was through out most of the novel, but it took her a while to ACCEPT that. I felt like that was a huge take away from the story. Letting people tell you who you are only makes recognizing the real you harder. Keralie was wild, reckless and spirited - everything I was a child. This made me root for her even more. While it may not have been the most appropriate response, it was mine nonetheless.
The side characters are very interesting, Mackiel, Varin, and the last character we meet are all suitable side characters, each one adding a layer of depth to the story. The way Scholte used relationships and emotions in the novel was captivating, allowing us to be torn between logic and heart, survival and sacrifice.
I would have been happy to give this novel a solid 5 stars but... the romance seemed entirely unnecessary. I understand that people love romance, but the book worked beautifully without that forced attraction. I do understand that purpose of it, Varin's ability to feel despite his upbringing, the need for Keralie to be vulnerable -- I just felt like the romance was force and did not truly add to the story.
Over all, though - this was a novel that I will likely reread, or relisten to - as I switched back and forth from audiobook to my physical copy. This is a 4 star read for me! I encourage anyone with a love of fantasy, mystery and intrigue to jump in feet first. You will not be disappointed!
**************************************************
Mind. Blown. This was such a phenomenal book! I listened to the audible book, which was narrated by Amy Shiels and Elizabeth Knowelden. They were honestly the perfect pair to narrate this consuming tale. The story swaps between Quadara's dead queens and the girl who desperately wants to stop it, taking you on an emotional roller coaster through each chapter. The original plot, flawed and human characters and riveting "who-dun-it" aspect keeps you engaged and guessing, with plot twists that keep coming up to the very last chapter. I cannot even rave enough about this amazing novel.
*********Full review to come soon!!***********
WOW! This will be difficult to review without spoilers, but here we go!
This book was like a roller coaster ride from one side of death to another. Scholte has given us a story full of twists and turns, literally, to the very end. There were times I thought I totally knew where the book was going (and on a few rare occasions, I have been right) but over all -- boy was I wrong!
Let's start with the plot. As the title tells us, the novel is the tale of 4 dead queens. How they died, and who did it, of course. The 4 queens are killed off, one by one, by a mysterious assassin that could not be traced. The story is propelled forward using this plot. There are an insane amount of twists that happen during the novel, pushing the trajectory off in a direction you weren't really expecting. I enjoyed this, as I was pleased to just allow the events to unfold and surprise me as we went. I did not do much "investigating" between the lines as I was too wrapped up in just enjoying it!
The book is told from MULTIPLE POV, which I thought would be tedious, but Scholte does it in a way that is almost seamless. All but Keralie's chapters are in third person, letting you know that these are events that are happening outside of Keralie's knowledge but still important parts of the story. I actually really enjoyed this form of writing. It was well done, and mostly organized.
When the story opens, we are introduced to the four ruling queens of Quadara: Iris of Archia, Corra of Eonia, Stessa of Ludia and Marguerite of Toria. She introduces us to each queen, dives into their personal lives and forces us to care about them. While each of the queens had their own personality, I still felt like I could relate to SOME part of each one of their struggles or secrets. Secrets seem to be what made the palace thrive, each quadrant holding onto something.
Marguerite's secret was most surprising to me, but once I thought about it -- not really. Those that protest the loudest usually have the most to hide. There is another secret that made me very happy, but to release who's it was would give it away too easily, so this is where the secrets end.
The primary character of the book (I wont say MAIN character, as there were so many moving parts of this story) was Keralie. She was a spite fire! I adored her character and her drive to do the right thing, even if it was solely fueled by saving her father. We learn early on that he was in a terrible boating accident - and that's all I will say, my darlings. Keralie knew who she was through out most of the novel, but it took her a while to ACCEPT that. I felt like that was a huge take away from the story. Letting people tell you who you are only makes recognizing the real you harder. Keralie was wild, reckless and spirited - everything I was a child. This made me root for her even more. While it may not have been the most appropriate response, it was mine nonetheless.
The side characters are very interesting, Mackiel, Varin, and the last character we meet are all suitable side characters, each one adding a layer of depth to the story. The way Scholte used relationships and emotions in the novel was captivating, allowing us to be torn between logic and heart, survival and sacrifice.
I would have been happy to give this novel a solid 5 stars but... the romance seemed entirely unnecessary. I understand that people love romance, but the book worked beautifully without that forced attraction. I do understand that purpose of it, Varin's ability to feel despite his upbringing, the need for Keralie to be vulnerable -- I just felt like the romance was force and did not truly add to the story.
Over all, though - this was a novel that I will likely reread, or relisten to - as I switched back and forth from audiobook to my physical copy. This is a 4 star read for me! I encourage anyone with a love of fantasy, mystery and intrigue to jump in feet first. You will not be disappointed!
This book was like a roller coaster ride from one side of death to another. Scholte has given us a story full of twists and turns, literally, to the very end. There were times I thought I totally knew where the book was going (and on a few rare occasions, I have been right) but over all -- boy was I wrong!
Let's start with the plot. As the title tells us, the novel is the tale of 4 dead queens. How they died, and who did it, of course. The 4 queens are killed off, one by one, by a mysterious assassin that could not be traced. The story is propelled forward using this plot. There are an insane amount of twists that happen during the novel, pushing the trajectory off in a direction you weren't really expecting. I enjoyed this, as I was pleased to just allow the events to unfold and surprise me as we went. I did not do much "investigating" between the lines as I was too wrapped up in just enjoying it!
The book is told from MULTIPLE POV, which I thought would be tedious, but Scholte does it in a way that is almost seamless. All but Keralie's chapters are in third person, letting you know that these are events that are happening outside of Keralie's knowledge but still important parts of the story. I actually really enjoyed this form of writing. It was well done, and mostly organized.
When the story opens, we are introduced to the four ruling queens of Quadara: Iris of Archia, Corra of Eonia, Stessa of Ludia and Marguerite of Toria. She introduces us to each queen, dives into their personal lives and forces us to care about them. While each of the queens had their own personality, I still felt like I could relate to SOME part of each one of their struggles or secrets. Secrets seem to be what made the palace thrive, each quadrant holding onto something.
Marguerite's secret was most surprising to me, but once I thought about it -- not really. Those that protest the loudest usually have the most to hide. There is another secret that made me very happy, but to release who's it was would give it away too easily, so this is where the secrets end.
The primary character of the book (I wont say MAIN character, as there were so many moving parts of this story) was Keralie. She was a spite fire! I adored her character and her drive to do the right thing, even if it was solely fueled by saving her father. We learn early on that he was in a terrible boating accident - and that's all I will say, my darlings. Keralie knew who she was through out most of the novel, but it took her a while to ACCEPT that. I felt like that was a huge take away from the story. Letting people tell you who you are only makes recognizing the real you harder. Keralie was wild, reckless and spirited - everything I was a child. This made me root for her even more. While it may not have been the most appropriate response, it was mine nonetheless.
The side characters are very interesting, Mackiel, Varin, and the last character we meet are all suitable side characters, each one adding a layer of depth to the story. The way Scholte used relationships and emotions in the novel was captivating, allowing us to be torn between logic and heart, survival and sacrifice.
I would have been happy to give this novel a solid 5 stars but... the romance seemed entirely unnecessary. I understand that people love romance, but the book worked beautifully without that forced attraction. I do understand that purpose of it, Varin's ability to feel despite his upbringing, the need for Keralie to be vulnerable -- I just felt like the romance was force and did not truly add to the story.
Over all, though - this was a novel that I will likely reread, or relisten to - as I switched back and forth from audiobook to my physical copy. This is a 4 star read for me! I encourage anyone with a love of fantasy, mystery and intrigue to jump in feet first. You will not be disappointed!
2 stars. This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2019 and folks.....it was not good.
Four Dead Queens is honestly just not well written, especially given the huge amount of hype and marketing budget surrounding it.
The writing style is amateur, which I can take it with a pinch of salt given this is a debut. The writing and dialogue are overly formal, and there's no elegance or nuance to the way characters say things: they say it, yell it, or just randomly burst into tears. The amount of sudden crying and yelling could rival Enoby Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way from the My Immortal days (if you know, you know)
The world building and exposition are clunky as hell. It's a total info dump, to the point where there are literally a dozen "Queenly Laws" included at the start of the novel, in chapter headers, and in every queen-related conversation. I think if you create a dozen laws and you still find yourself having to remind the reader, your lore needs finessing.
And in spite of how much Astrid Scholte threw at me, I still had so many questions about the rules of this world - particularly Eonia. The Eonia tech had so many holes in it that I was permanently scratching my head or rolling my eyes! Because honestly, if the Eonians had And of course
Sidenote: if you segregate your world into factions, it's easy to find yourself with an awkward redheaded stepchild. We've seen it with Harry Potter and Hufflepuffs, and Divergent and Amity. The world here is segmented into technology, art, agriculture, and.........Hufflepuffs with boats.
I can forgive amateur writing or world building if the characters are solid. But unfortunately the characters are two-dimensional and suffer from telling rather than showing. Keralie is billed as this sassy master thief with a tragic past, and the author reminds you of this at every. possible. opportunity. She's meant to have this tragic and complex back story, which actually comes across as impulsive bratty behaviour. And while she's apparently great at thieving, there's no elegance or sleight of hand shown in the thievery scenes; we're just meant to take it at face value.
ALSO if you're going to include a character who literally has a lock pick on their sleeve,. And don't even get me started on that bracelet which seems impractical to the point of defying space and time!
This was billed as a murder mystery, but unfortunately author reveals the killer very early on. (Just in case you'd couldn't put it together from the clues and terribly small pool of suspects.) The mystery then sees a couple twists and turns, but it's all resolved very conveniently. I was left wanting.
Also, this book buries its gays and people of colour and I wasn't here for it.
This was all round dissatisfying and disappointing as hell. :(
Four Dead Queens is honestly just not well written, especially given the huge amount of hype and marketing budget surrounding it.
The writing style is amateur, which I can take it with a pinch of salt given this is a debut. The writing and dialogue are overly formal, and there's no elegance or nuance to the way characters say things: they say it, yell it, or just randomly burst into tears. The amount of sudden crying and yelling could rival Enoby Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way from the My Immortal days (if you know, you know)
The world building and exposition are clunky as hell. It's a total info dump, to the point where there are literally a dozen "Queenly Laws" included at the start of the novel, in chapter headers, and in every queen-related conversation. I think if you create a dozen laws and you still find yourself having to remind the reader, your lore needs finessing.
And in spite of how much Astrid Scholte threw at me, I still had so many questions about the rules of this world - particularly Eonia. The Eonia tech had so many holes in it that I was permanently scratching my head or rolling my eyes! Because honestly, if the Eonians had
Spoiler
created HIDRA by tweaking a doctor to be immune to disease, why couldn't you just tweak more doctors to be immune to disease, and then take blood from them?Spoiler
the Eonian-created chips just haaaaaaappened to have mind control abilities that explain away the whole murder plot and exonerate the protagonist.Sidenote: if you segregate your world into factions, it's easy to find yourself with an awkward redheaded stepchild. We've seen it with Harry Potter and Hufflepuffs, and Divergent and Amity. The world here is segmented into technology, art, agriculture, and.........Hufflepuffs with boats.
I can forgive amateur writing or world building if the characters are solid. But unfortunately the characters are two-dimensional and suffer from telling rather than showing. Keralie is billed as this sassy master thief with a tragic past, and the author reminds you of this at every. possible. opportunity. She's meant to have this tragic and complex back story, which actually comes across as impulsive bratty behaviour. And while she's apparently great at thieving, there's no elegance or sleight of hand shown in the thievery scenes; we're just meant to take it at face value.
ALSO if you're going to include a character who literally has a lock pick on their sleeve,
Spoiler
you're going to have to do some misdirection when she blatantly doesn't unpick a door that could save a dying personThis was billed as a murder mystery, but unfortunately author reveals the killer very early on. (Just in case you'd couldn't put it together from the clues and terribly small pool of suspects.) The mystery then sees a couple twists and turns, but it's all resolved very conveniently. I was left wanting.
Also, this book buries its gays and people of colour and I wasn't here for it.
This was all round dissatisfying and disappointing as hell. :(
4.25⭐
have you read any YA Romantasy with the sci-fi and murder mystery. because it was my first time reading this blend. its a chef's kiss✨ Also I am down where there's strong fmc and the topic of feminism my knees down to it. here our fmc is an expert thief. later on she'll solve murder mystery of queens. there are four queens ruling the four chambers of Quadarant each responsible for specific field from agriculture science fashion etc.This was so impressive. our mc is a bit late entry in the story but here it was all about these four queens and fmc. they're the main lead. omg omg omg how to tell you this book was so good in many aspects. Betrayals,politics,family relationships and friendships everything was here in this novel.its so sad to see that this book is not much hyped to its worth. so go on give it a try its a good one.
So the goodies for this book are:
✨Smut free
✨Strong fmc
✨family relationship
✨politics and betrayals
have you read any YA Romantasy with the sci-fi and murder mystery. because it was my first time reading this blend. its a chef's kiss✨ Also I am down where there's strong fmc and the topic of feminism my knees down to it. here our fmc is an expert thief. later on she'll solve murder mystery of queens. there are four queens ruling the four chambers of Quadarant each responsible for specific field from agriculture science fashion etc.This was so impressive. our mc is a bit late entry in the story but here it was all about these four queens and fmc. they're the main lead. omg omg omg how to tell you this book was so good in many aspects. Betrayals,politics,family relationships and friendships everything was here in this novel.its so sad to see that this book is not much hyped to its worth. so go on give it a try its a good one.
So the goodies for this book are:
✨Smut free
✨Strong fmc
✨family relationship
✨politics and betrayals
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Skimmed from 50% to the end. Had a difficult time connecting with the characters and felt it moved kind of slow, the writing was well done, it just wasn't the right fit for me.
I was really excited to read this book but it was bad. Really bad. The world building wasn't well explained and contradicted itself at parts. The characters were cheesy and predictable and acted more like children than teenagers and adults. The plot made no sense and the "big reveal" was predictable despite the author failing to build up suspense of foreshadow it at all. I'm honestly surprised this book made it through editing as it is.
Rating: 2 stars
Right so let's talk world-building. None of that here. The four quadrant's personalities and lifestyles felt forced and I couldn't keep them straight in my mind.
I think this book really suffers from not enough supporting characters. Theres really only a handful of relevant characters and its in this flaw that the books fails at hooking you into the world. It's too focused to be engaging. No engaging tangents or interesting little details about people walking by. In fact I don' think any characters interact with anyone un-named. Meaning that characters really only talk to each other to progress plot, not to world build, or give a sense of realism.
In the way of characters, I felt that many of them felt unaccessible. There are only a handful of characters who are in the book's targeted age group, and I felt distanced from a large number of characters in the book because they were not written to cater to the desired age group.
The pacing of the book was also an issue for me. It doesn't really pick up until the last quarter, and then the plot is wonderfully thick with many intricate twists and turns. If the entire book was written with the pacing of the last 1/4, may have given this book another star.
What I enjoyed about this book:
I loved the ever morphing twists and turns and occurred in the last quarter.
I liked how we got to see Varin open up and learn to love
Keralie's somewhat predictable but enjoyable character arc
How each queen had her own distinct personality and it contrasted nicely with their region and their sister queen's personalities to form a thriving court.
I liked the murder scenes
I loved how each queen had something to hide
And lastly, I liked how in the end, the borders between the quadrants came down, allowing the society to function together, though one could argue that Arebella's goals of uniting the quadrants into one united nation would have accomplished the same goal.
Last Notes
I think that if you're looking for a book to fill time, this will get the job done. It will keep you somewhat engaged (though I did take a week and a half break because I got bored.)
If you're interested in a world where you will be lightly confused while reading, this is your bet.
I think with better pacing, more relatable characters, details about the world sprinkled in opposed to given in large chunks, this book would be better.
Its enjoyable, but I have other books on my shelves that I would recommend before this one.
Right so let's talk world-building. None of that here. The four quadrant's personalities and lifestyles felt forced and I couldn't keep them straight in my mind.
I think this book really suffers from not enough supporting characters. Theres really only a handful of relevant characters and its in this flaw that the books fails at hooking you into the world. It's too focused to be engaging. No engaging tangents or interesting little details about people walking by. In fact I don' think any characters interact with anyone un-named. Meaning that characters really only talk to each other to progress plot, not to world build, or give a sense of realism.
In the way of characters, I felt that many of them felt unaccessible. There are only a handful of characters who are in the book's targeted age group, and I felt distanced from a large number of characters in the book because they were not written to cater to the desired age group.
The pacing of the book was also an issue for me. It doesn't really pick up until the last quarter, and then the plot is wonderfully thick with many intricate twists and turns. If the entire book was written with the pacing of the last 1/4, may have given this book another star.
What I enjoyed about this book:
I loved the ever morphing twists and turns and occurred in the last quarter.
I liked how we got to see Varin open up and learn to love
Keralie's somewhat predictable but enjoyable character arc
How each queen had her own distinct personality and it contrasted nicely with their region and their sister queen's personalities to form a thriving court.
I liked the murder scenes
I loved how each queen had something to hide
And lastly, I liked how in the end, the borders between the quadrants came down, allowing the society to function together, though one could argue that Arebella's goals of uniting the quadrants into one united nation would have accomplished the same goal.
Last Notes
I think that if you're looking for a book to fill time, this will get the job done. It will keep you somewhat engaged (though I did take a week and a half break because I got bored.)
If you're interested in a world where you will be lightly confused while reading, this is your bet.
I think with better pacing, more relatable characters, details about the world sprinkled in opposed to given in large chunks, this book would be better.
Its enjoyable, but I have other books on my shelves that I would recommend before this one.
Read nearly the entirety of the first part and could not care or connect about any of the characters. Writing style just wasn’t for me.
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No