Scan barcode
azolman's review against another edition
adventurous
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? Yes
2.5
luckybookjunkie's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
This was a light quick read; not too much world building; not too complex or complicated - but also not super gripping or emotional. The plot was cool though. Felt a little YA; but I really enjoyed it as a palette cleanser
sreddous's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The plot is overall super cool and I enjoyed the worldbuilding of all the "realms" we visit here. The descriptions of what the gods to do the people is gross and scary in a spectacular way. I couldn't get enough of the gross freakin' descriptions of landscapes and monsters and powers here. The writing style is straightforward and extremely effective in this way. I like all the slimy, untrustworthy background characters. This book does a good job of being hard to predict in some ways without making things come too out-of-left-field.
I also really liked the dual-POV setup here. Seeing things from Tass's perspective gives us a nice little window into seeing how non-humans operate in this world, which helps us get used to the ideas of rogue gods and demigods and demons running around affecting things that happen to humans. The stakes are consistently high and the pacing is overall easy to follow.
The one thing that stops this from being a 5-star experience for me personally is: I really didn't believe or enjoy any of the emotional connections between Bal and Mira and the other humans on the team (notes on Tass in a sec). Bal makes all these huge, sweeping, risky decisions because he wants to protect Mira -- but really, I just found Mira to be a pain and to be annoying, which unfortunately made it a bit hard to be suuuper on-board for when Bal was doing Plot Things that involved saving/protecting her (which is...most of the plot). I caught myself constantly thinking "omg lmao leave her behind with the boss guy so she can be babysat and you can actually go do Plot Things, lmao ugh she's holding you back get rid of her" and I don't get the impression I was supposed to think that. But I do... other books like the Hunger Games where the main character is motivated to protect a sibling still do the work of showing Prim's unique homemaking talents and Katniss's and Prim's genuinely-loving connection. This book doesn't really do that -- the whole time, Bal and Mira just constantly bicker bicker and argue about how much protection she needs (I feel like the majority of Mira's dialogue is some form of "I'm not a child/you don't have to protect me!" and.... then of freakin' course he has to protect her lol sigh) and like... I guess that's not unrealistic sibling/tween behavior, but it doesn't make me want to root for them to stick together.
For what it's worth, Tass is a similarly-disconnected character who then gets tangled up with this group, BUT the way Tass learns to connect with humans is lovely and well-paced. I definitely was rooting for her to stay connected and to have emotional friendships, a similar sort of setup worked really well for her... I wish the other POV narrator, Bal, also got that amount of genuine connection on the page!
Overall, this was fun! There's a lot of creative horrible villain and god powers that'll keep you anxious in a good way the whole time.
I also really liked the dual-POV setup here. Seeing things from Tass's perspective gives us a nice little window into seeing how non-humans operate in this world, which helps us get used to the ideas of rogue gods and demigods and demons running around affecting things that happen to humans. The stakes are consistently high and the pacing is overall easy to follow.
The one thing that stops this from being a 5-star experience for me personally is: I really didn't believe or enjoy any of the emotional connections between Bal and Mira and the other humans on the team (notes on Tass in a sec). Bal makes all these huge, sweeping, risky decisions because he wants to protect Mira -- but really, I just found Mira to be a pain and to be annoying, which unfortunately made it a bit hard to be suuuper on-board for when Bal was doing Plot Things that involved saving/protecting her (which is...most of the plot). I caught myself constantly thinking "omg lmao leave her behind with the boss guy so she can be babysat and you can actually go do Plot Things, lmao ugh she's holding you back get rid of her" and I don't get the impression I was supposed to think that. But I do... other books like the Hunger Games where the main character is motivated to protect a sibling still do the work of showing Prim's unique homemaking talents and Katniss's and Prim's genuinely-loving connection. This book doesn't really do that -- the whole time, Bal and Mira just constantly bicker bicker and argue about how much protection she needs (I feel like the majority of Mira's dialogue is some form of "I'm not a child/you don't have to protect me!" and.... then of freakin' course he has to protect her lol sigh) and like... I guess that's not unrealistic sibling/tween behavior, but it doesn't make me want to root for them to stick together.
For what it's worth, Tass is a similarly-disconnected character who then gets tangled up with this group, BUT the way Tass learns to connect with humans is lovely and well-paced. I definitely was rooting for her to stay connected and to have emotional friendships, a similar sort of setup worked really well for her... I wish the other POV narrator, Bal, also got that amount of genuine connection on the page!
Overall, this was fun! There's a lot of creative horrible villain and god powers that'll keep you anxious in a good way the whole time.
jjvaldezbooks's review against another edition
3.0
*I received an eARC of this title through NetGalley*
2.5 rounded up in case the ending came back around and killed it. It was fine. It just didn't hold my attention and I have limited reading time with a toddler at home, so I finally am giving in and admitting to a DNF. The main crew was just not giving any growth at all, and the two POVs couldn't give enough excuses for them to make it compelling. I did like the magic concepts for the main female character, but too-large lore dumps kind of spoiled my excitement for it.
Also, weird nitpick, but it was really part of what kept me from engaging-- these fantasy characters kept using modern language to express annoyance (bc they're always annoyed with each other) and it came across kind of childish. Had higher hopes but I think other readers with a little more free time/forgiveness might enjoy it more
2.5 rounded up in case the ending came back around and killed it. It was fine. It just didn't hold my attention and I have limited reading time with a toddler at home, so I finally am giving in and admitting to a DNF. The main crew was just not giving any growth at all, and the two POVs couldn't give enough excuses for them to make it compelling. I did like the magic concepts for the main female character, but too-large lore dumps kind of spoiled my excitement for it.
Also, weird nitpick, but it was really part of what kept me from engaging-- these fantasy characters kept using modern language to express annoyance (bc they're always annoyed with each other) and it came across kind of childish. Had higher hopes but I think other readers with a little more free time/forgiveness might enjoy it more
scollier81's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
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? No
4.0
mxsallybend's review against another edition
3.0
An epic adventure. A flawed-but-lovable family of thieves. Fallen gods. High stakes. Greta Kelly promises a lot with The Queen of Days, but even if the tone was much darker than I anticipated, it was still a solid read.
If I were to have any complaints about the book, they would be pacing and emotional balance. It starts off so good, sucking you right into the story, with Tass (the Queen herself) a character who commands your attention, but then it becomes mired in backstory, squabbling, and really heavy emotional turmoil/manipulation. It picks up again before the end, with some great action scenes to close it out, but I struggled to remain engaged during the middle of the book.
As for the main character, Balthazar, I’m very much of two minds about him. I like that he’s a sort of fallen royalty desperate for revenge, a man who is decent and caring and loyal, but also given to following his heart rather than his head. He’s flawed in so many ways, and there are times it’s hard to respect him, much less like him, but he’s realistic. There’s also the issue of his tragic romance which I thought was going to be pivotal, with a late-stage betrayal of change-of-heart transforming the relationship and giving the story some life, but it never goes farther than convenient plot point. Otherwise, Zee and Edik weren’t really standout characters on their own, but I liked the portrayal of their marriage within the context of this found-family band of thieves.
That said, when it was fun it was tons of fun, with some great action scenes involving the promised heists and battles with fallen gods. It’s often intense, almost cinematically so, and the climax contained a few surprises that I thought worked very well. I wish it’d had a different tone, either less darkness and angst or more focus on redeeming those emotions, but that’s the reader in me who prefers hopeful, awe-inspiring fantasy to grimdark gloom.
https://sallybend.wordpress.com/2023/08/30/book-review-the-queen-of-days-by-greta-kelly-fantasy/
If I were to have any complaints about the book, they would be pacing and emotional balance. It starts off so good, sucking you right into the story, with Tass (the Queen herself) a character who commands your attention, but then it becomes mired in backstory, squabbling, and really heavy emotional turmoil/manipulation. It picks up again before the end, with some great action scenes to close it out, but I struggled to remain engaged during the middle of the book.
As for the main character, Balthazar, I’m very much of two minds about him. I like that he’s a sort of fallen royalty desperate for revenge, a man who is decent and caring and loyal, but also given to following his heart rather than his head. He’s flawed in so many ways, and there are times it’s hard to respect him, much less like him, but he’s realistic. There’s also the issue of his tragic romance which I thought was going to be pivotal, with a late-stage betrayal of change-of-heart transforming the relationship and giving the story some life, but it never goes farther than convenient plot point. Otherwise, Zee and Edik weren’t really standout characters on their own, but I liked the portrayal of their marriage within the context of this found-family band of thieves.
That said, when it was fun it was tons of fun, with some great action scenes involving the promised heists and battles with fallen gods. It’s often intense, almost cinematically so, and the climax contained a few surprises that I thought worked very well. I wish it’d had a different tone, either less darkness and angst or more focus on redeeming those emotions, but that’s the reader in me who prefers hopeful, awe-inspiring fantasy to grimdark gloom.
https://sallybend.wordpress.com/2023/08/30/book-review-the-queen-of-days-by-greta-kelly-fantasy/
m4nda_beth's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
melaniesw13's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25