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3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
man i really don't want to be harsh to a debut book, especially when malian fairy tales are not super common in western lit right now... but...
this was disappointing. the pacing was very off for me. some chapters spanned a singular day or two and then there was a sudden jump where it had been weeks/a month, and then back to day(s) long stretches. it makes it seem as if the entirety of this book and its relationships happened in the span of a month and it is hard for me to suspend my disbelief.
the relationships are the biggest issue i have though. none of them felt fleshed out enough. the trust and behavior that mariama exhibited towards amie in the span of only knowing her for hours does not make sense. the conclusion of another relationship towards the end of the book was not satisfying at all for me. the relationships and conclusion of this felt more juvenile than i expected.
i think amie has the potential to be a good main character but she feels too surface-level at the moment for me to truly have an opinion on her. overall, i think this book would have really benefited from a larger page number so that things could be properly explored and come together in a more cohesive/sensical way.
i really, really wish i enjoyed this and i'm so sad i didn't. however, i am still glad i read it and was able to diversify my mythology/folklore bookshelf!
this was disappointing. the pacing was very off for me. some chapters spanned a singular day or two and then there was a sudden jump where it had been weeks/a month, and then back to day(s) long stretches. it makes it seem as if the entirety of this book and its relationships happened in the span of a month and it is hard for me to suspend my disbelief.
the relationships are the biggest issue i have though. none of them felt fleshed out enough. the trust and behavior that mariama exhibited towards amie in the span of only knowing her for hours does not make sense. the conclusion of another relationship towards the end of the book was not satisfying at all for me. the relationships and conclusion of this felt more juvenile than i expected.
i think amie has the potential to be a good main character but she feels too surface-level at the moment for me to truly have an opinion on her. overall, i think this book would have really benefited from a larger page number so that things could be properly explored and come together in a more cohesive/sensical way.
i really, really wish i enjoyed this and i'm so sad i didn't. however, i am still glad i read it and was able to diversify my mythology/folklore bookshelf!
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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:
Complicated
This was an exciting adventure that brings court politics with a scandalous higher society. The FMC strength and emotions towards others is very well achieved with the first love, her betrayal and her thoughts on the society itself. I found she embodied what someone who felt betrayed should and the story line of her sister and her is very well written. The story has an interesting plot twist and it was such a great listen.
The characters were very well distinguished with her voice and she put the emotions needed to figure out what seemed more extreme than another. The story was unique and such a fun listen.
Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Young Listeners for the advanced listening copy.
The characters were very well distinguished with her voice and she put the emotions needed to figure out what seemed more extreme than another. The story was unique and such a fun listen.
Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Young Listeners for the advanced listening copy.
I truly don’t think I’ve gotten THIS sucked into a YA fantasy, THIS fast in a longggggg time! 🦂
If you’ve been following me for a while, one of my biggest obstacles when it comes to any fantasy is complicated and convoluted world building. But from page one, the world building of this novel has had such an ease to it (while also being not boring nor lacking any detail, which is a very delicate line to toe in this genre). Needless to say I’m absolutely loving @minafears writing!!!!
⭐️THE SCORPION QUEEN, out JANUARY 28th⭐️
Thank you to @flatiron_books for the review eARC copy of this book💕
If you’ve been following me for a while, one of my biggest obstacles when it comes to any fantasy is complicated and convoluted world building. But from page one, the world building of this novel has had such an ease to it (while also being not boring nor lacking any detail, which is a very delicate line to toe in this genre). Needless to say I’m absolutely loving @minafears writing!!!!
⭐️THE SCORPION QUEEN, out JANUARY 28th⭐️
Thank you to @flatiron_books for the review eARC copy of this book💕
challenging
emotional
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:
No
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
ARC Review
This was a really unique and interesting fantasy story; I am yet to come across another based in Africa.
Amie’s character is fresh and her journey is really engrossing - packed with political and magical intrigue.
There is great character development alongside an exciting story, based on a Malian fairytale.
The changing environments of palace/ court life to the deserts and then onwards were fascinating and I really enjoyed the read.
ARC Review
This was a really unique and interesting fantasy story; I am yet to come across another based in Africa.
Amie’s character is fresh and her journey is really engrossing - packed with political and magical intrigue.
There is great character development alongside an exciting story, based on a Malian fairytale.
The changing environments of palace/ court life to the deserts and then onwards were fascinating and I really enjoyed the read.
Themes/Tropes:
Mid Fantasy, YA, Mythology, Magical Artifact, Survival, Trials, Coming of Age, Damsel in Distress, Tragic Backstory, Emotional Scars, Forbidden Love, Arranged Marriage, Gods & Magic.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
0/5 🌶️
adventurous
medium-paced
*sigh* I feel like I am on a string of meh audiobooks. The Scorpion Queen had a lot of potential and a lot of good ideas that never really coalesced into a good story.
The first forty percent of this story or so feels like an entirely different book than the last. The first part is almost entirely devoid of magic and is more a royal family drama (and an ok one if it paid off) while the last half goes into a completely different world with so much magic and very quickly built systems and world building. The first half of any book should be establishing the second half but this felt like they were so disconnected to as not be necessary to each other. Magic goes from not really existing to being the solution to every problem.
Amie was actually a pretty interesting character to me, she was one of the few I have seen who was just happy with her lot in life to be married and just settle down in the society that works for her until all that was taken away and even after that, she is more fighting to go back to the status quo of marrying this guy than trying for anything broader or more grand. Its a different perspective from a lot of YA heroines so I didn't mind it but I don't know if it was utilized that well in her development as the author seemed to get wishy washy about her motives and actions.
Overall, this was just pretty disappointing.
Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. It was narrated by Sandra Okuboyejo who did a wonderful job.
The first forty percent of this story or so feels like an entirely different book than the last. The first part is almost entirely devoid of magic and is more a royal family drama (and an ok one if it paid off) while the last half goes into a completely different world with so much magic and very quickly built systems and world building. The first half of any book should be establishing the second half but this felt like they were so disconnected to as not be necessary to each other. Magic goes from not really existing to being the solution to every problem.
Amie was actually a pretty interesting character to me, she was one of the few I have seen who was just happy with her lot in life to be married and just settle down in the society that works for her until all that was taken away and even after that, she is more fighting to go back to the status quo of marrying this guy than trying for anything broader or more grand. Its a different perspective from a lot of YA heroines so I didn't mind it but I don't know if it was utilized that well in her development as the author seemed to get wishy washy about her motives and actions.
Overall, this was just pretty disappointing.
Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. It was narrated by Sandra Okuboyejo who did a wonderful job.
I so sorely needed this. I've been deep in the trenches of particularly shitty fantasy for my dissertation, and this is exactly the opposite. A refreshing setting, both time and place. Fantasy storytelling tropes that are familiar but not tired and twists I didn't always see coming. It definitely has the telltale signs of a first-time author in that it occasionally tries to do a little too much and pack too many things into one volume, but still, I really loved it overall.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this advanced copy. You can pick up The Scorpion Queen on January 28, 2025.
After reading the description for this book, I expected a high-stakes, action-packed YA fantasy with a fairytale twist. And it truly felt like I got a watered-down version of that.
Tell me why nothing substantial happened for the first 30-40% of this book. They FINALLY leave for their quest about halfway, and admittedly, things did pick up there. The entire sequence with the god Hausakoy was the most interesting part of this, but I didn't care enough about the characters to care if they escaped. For all the character build-up we see in the first half of the book, I didn't find myself rooting for Amie or her plights. If anything, she taught me that there's NO reason to go through THAT much effort for a man OR a conniving best friend who wants to be more than friends. Everyone betrays her at every turn, and even when we find out that the sister who kicks off the betrayal is actually a good guy, it's too late to form an attachment to her.
All in all, not my favorite YA fantasy, and unfortunately, not a series I'll be continuing.
After reading the description for this book, I expected a high-stakes, action-packed YA fantasy with a fairytale twist. And it truly felt like I got a watered-down version of that.
Tell me why nothing substantial happened for the first 30-40% of this book. They FINALLY leave for their quest about halfway, and admittedly, things did pick up there. The entire sequence with the god Hausakoy was the most interesting part of this, but I didn't care enough about the characters to care if they escaped. For all the character build-up we see in the first half of the book, I didn't find myself rooting for Amie or her plights. If anything, she taught me that there's NO reason to go through THAT much effort for a man OR a conniving best friend who wants to be more than friends. Everyone betrays her at every turn, and even when we find out that the sister who kicks off the betrayal is actually a good guy, it's too late to form an attachment to her.
All in all, not my favorite YA fantasy, and unfortunately, not a series I'll be continuing.
**This is a really good 3.5 stars** Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC.
Let's get this straight... this book has so much potential. Reading the unedited arc, I was just a little confused with the plot, but I did love the queer love triangle, I enjoyed the twists and deceitful characters, the Malian setting and accuracy in specific details like what trading goods came from each region of Africa. The surprises at the end and the willingness have tragic, bloody deaths has me hoping the next installment will be better. As much as I'm intrigued by where we ended up, I can honestly say I have no idea when this went from being a standalone as I foolishly expected to a multi-book story. I wasn't expecting the importance of Amie's sister, or magic or the gods... and maybe that's a good thing (yay surprises?), but I feel like the summary needs to change a little bit to make readers more aware of what they're getting into. This is not simply a queer love triangle and a quest to break the curse of the trials, etc. It is so much more than that, but I wish I'd been expecting that so I better understood why certain scenes and conversations were happening. I honestly don't like either love interest we're presented with at the start, though I am happy we're done with one of them and fingers crossed he won't come back. That man was all kinds of frustrating. I also suspect the other love interest will have a bit of a redemption arc so... again I'm trusting book two to come through for me. In the unedited eARC there were some hypocritical things, specifically our main character Amie says she didn't know the healer took care of both the Princess and her mother when, while getting a potion from said healer, they state that they cared for the Empress as well as Mariana. I'm assuming this may be fixed in the final copy coming out next year.
Let's get this straight... this book has so much potential. Reading the unedited arc, I was just a little confused with the plot, but I did love the queer love triangle, I enjoyed the twists and deceitful characters, the Malian setting and accuracy in specific details like what trading goods came from each region of Africa. The surprises at the end and the willingness have tragic, bloody deaths has me hoping the next installment will be better. As much as I'm intrigued by where we ended up, I can honestly say I have no idea when this went from being a standalone as I foolishly expected to a multi-book story. I wasn't expecting the importance of Amie's sister, or magic or the gods... and maybe that's a good thing (yay surprises?), but I feel like the summary needs to change a little bit to make readers more aware of what they're getting into. This is not simply a queer love triangle and a quest to break the curse of the trials, etc. It is so much more than that, but I wish I'd been expecting that so I better understood why certain scenes and conversations were happening. I honestly don't like either love interest we're presented with at the start, though I am happy we're done with one of them and fingers crossed he won't come back. That man was all kinds of frustrating. I also suspect the other love interest will have a bit of a redemption arc so... again I'm trusting book two to come through for me. In the unedited eARC there were some hypocritical things, specifically our main character Amie says she didn't know the healer took care of both the Princess and her mother when, while getting a potion from said healer, they state that they cared for the Empress as well as Mariana. I'm assuming this may be fixed in the final copy coming out next year.