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prisandherbooks 's review for:
The Queen of Blood
by Sarah Beth Durst
In Renthia, everything has a spirit, fire, ice, water, air, earth, trees. And all of them want to rid their land of humans. Only the queen has the power to control them. To ensure a succession capable of protecting their kingdom, young women are chosen across the queendom to be raised as heirs and perhaps one day succeed the queen. Our main character, Daleina, is one of the chosen ones.
If you’ve been following my reviews for less than a year, you may have noticed that I don’t read YA much anymore due to the genre's repetitiveness and lack of originality in recent years. But once in a while, I give a book a chance and sometimes I find gems like The Queen of Blood.
The first thing that really impressed me was the setting and the magic system. The whole queendom rests on giant trees. Whole villages and towns are built on huge branches and linked together by an ingenious rope system. A perfectly logical setting that is intricately linked to the spirits and makes this book all the more magical.
Then we have our main character, Daleina. After her village was destroyed by spirits when she was younger, she is thrown into the academy to become an heir. But contrary to what I expected, she is far from being the first in her class. Her place at the academy is not due to an incredible power that the "chosen ones" have but thanks to her hard work and intelligence. And she can count on her friends to help her!
Because, yes, we FINALLY have a book with positive female relationships. The academy is an all-girls school since only women have the power to control spirits. And with all these girls competing to become the next queen, I was already dreading the worst. But instead we have the development of an incredible friendship where the girls not only support each other, but also encourage the best in all of them. I loved that!
I’m dying to continue the series and discover more of the world of Renthia through the point of view of another Queen and all the challenges she will face.
If you’ve been following my reviews for less than a year, you may have noticed that I don’t read YA much anymore due to the genre's repetitiveness and lack of originality in recent years. But once in a while, I give a book a chance and sometimes I find gems like The Queen of Blood.
The first thing that really impressed me was the setting and the magic system. The whole queendom rests on giant trees. Whole villages and towns are built on huge branches and linked together by an ingenious rope system. A perfectly logical setting that is intricately linked to the spirits and makes this book all the more magical.
Then we have our main character, Daleina. After her village was destroyed by spirits when she was younger, she is thrown into the academy to become an heir. But contrary to what I expected, she is far from being the first in her class. Her place at the academy is not due to an incredible power that the "chosen ones" have but thanks to her hard work and intelligence. And she can count on her friends to help her!
Because, yes, we FINALLY have a book with positive female relationships. The academy is an all-girls school since only women have the power to control spirits. And with all these girls competing to become the next queen, I was already dreading the worst. But instead we have the development of an incredible friendship where the girls not only support each other, but also encourage the best in all of them. I loved that!
I’m dying to continue the series and discover more of the world of Renthia through the point of view of another Queen and all the challenges she will face.