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A review by lacee
Blood of the Queen by Amalia Dillin
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
It breaks my heart to rate Blood of the Queen so low, but the meandering plot killed this book for me. Honor Among Orcs was a favorite from March and I wish the sequel stuck to its romance roots because I love Bolthorn and Arianna's relationship. It just wasn't enough to keep me satisfied with the story. I'm not sure I want to continue the series at all. However, I never say never and may feel differently once the third book is released. At least, I hope so.
The book is around 275 pages and it took me two months to read it! I know I put it down at least twice. I don't always mind meandering plots. You can do a lot of world-building while your characters are traveling and figuring out what to do next. We have a clear goal that was set up in the first book, find Bolvarr! That seems simple enough yet he seemed like an afterthought for most of the book. We spent pages rehashing Arianna's self-doubt and anxieties and taking plot detours loosely connected to Bolvarr's disappearance, which mostly ended up irrelevant to the overall story or went completely unsolved, put off for the next book. I caught myself thinking "Poor Bolvarr" several times while reading, wondering if they would ever find him.Arianna conveniently finds Bolvarr in the last 20 pages of the novel, maimed and nearly dead. It was jarring to read. Without spoilers, the ending is wrapped up so quickly that it's not satisfying in the slightest.
I would have landed on a two-star rating but there were some moments that I disliked, plot-wise. This is less of a critique and more of a personal gripe that I will hide because of major spoilers.Isolfur's character is ruined. I hate him. He was so mysterious and interesting in the first book. I thought maybe our expectations would be subverted but unfortunately, he's exactly how Bolthorn said he'd be. He allowed his lover's daughter to suffer! She was still Signy's child even if she wasn't his. He deserved worse than he got. I'm not sure I can stomach the Isolfur novella. It would be dishonest not to include some of my personal feelings on certain character arcs because it directly contributed to my overall rating. And again, without spoilers, Isolfur is the WORST and that's all I'm going to say about it.
The book is around 275 pages and it took me two months to read it! I know I put it down at least twice. I don't always mind meandering plots. You can do a lot of world-building while your characters are traveling and figuring out what to do next. We have a clear goal that was set up in the first book, find Bolvarr! That seems simple enough yet he seemed like an afterthought for most of the book. We spent pages rehashing Arianna's self-doubt and anxieties and taking plot detours loosely connected to Bolvarr's disappearance, which mostly ended up irrelevant to the overall story or went completely unsolved, put off for the next book. I caught myself thinking "Poor Bolvarr" several times while reading, wondering if they would ever find him.
I would have landed on a two-star rating but there were some moments that I disliked, plot-wise. This is less of a critique and more of a personal gripe that I will hide because of major spoilers.