kimminy_cricket 's review for:

The Scorpion Queen by Mina Fears

2.75

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ARC from NetGalley 

The Scorpion Queen is about a girl named Amie who has had her life ruined by her sister. She becomes a servant for the princess and stumbles across a map that will help the princess and Amie solve their individual problems. 

This book is full of plot conveniences that are very much in line with this being based on a fairy tale. Since this is a book based on a fairy tale and not the original fairy tale, I would have liked to see relationships and events be more logical. Amie’s sister is a plot convenience. I would have liked the flip flopping on how Amie felt about her sister, Kader, and the princess to make more sense. The entire interaction with Hausakoy makes no sense and Amie’s cleverness feels unearned. 

The setting never feels like Mali. The first half of the book, I had to constantly remind myself where the book took place, despite the author telling me they were in Timbuktu over and over. It could have been any city near a desert until the hyenas are introduced. 

Near the end of the book, Amie thinks several times about how she’s a different person because of her recent experiences, but she’s once again rushing off to a situation where she has no plan. The character she’s with has a plan, but Amie doesn’t know if she can trust them. The book ends during a chase scene, leaving me to wonder if this is the first book in a series or is that just the ending?  If it’s part of a series, I will probably not continue it.