shesreadingagain_ 's review for:

Black Salt Queen by Samantha Bansil

4.25

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Black Salt Queen by Samantha Basil

Series: Letters from Maynara, book one

Genre: Fantasy

Setting: Pre colonial Philippines 
Length: 416 pages
Release Date: June 3, 2025

Thank you @coloredpagesbt @bindery_books @sam_bansil for the gifted copy of the arc. 

“There can be no victory without betrayal.”

Black Salt Queen is a powerful and moving debut with themes of the fight for power and what one might do in pursuit of it. I was pleasantly surprised that this was the author’s first novel, the prose is so beautiful. The plot is one of political intrigue, magic, revenge, and all within the setting of the pre colonial Philippines. This novel is a multi POV that has two central romances: one is a sapphic relationship between rivals and the other is a heterosexual relationship that encapsulates young love. The pacing is slower as this is a character driven story and it is slower action wise. Bansil wrote a beautiful story that leaves room for nuance and I appreciated that she gave room for the reader to come to their own conclusions. Every plot device was done with intention and those twists! In and wait to see what’s next from Bansil.