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A review by booksatdawn
The Queen's Assassin by Melissa de la Cruz
adventurous
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I went into this one because of the promising synopsis. I love classic fantasy type stories with magic, political intrigue and a slice of romance. There are a few things that stopped me from rating this one a 5 star, and here they are:
WHY WAS THERE A ROMANCE AT ALL?
The two main characters had zero chemistry on page. They're love didn't grow over time, but kind of just happened? It was bizarre and didn't quite fit with the narrative or plot line. Seemed like it was a matter of convenience over anything. Not to mention they have nothing in common. I feel like the author could have taken her time to build up their relationship before jumping into the love/jealous trope. They could have just stayed really good friends in my opinion too.
DIFFERENT NARRATIVES WERE USED
This one really bothered me a lot. Shadow's POV was written in first person and Caledon's was written in third. It really took my brain out of the reading experience as it was an adjustment to get back into the story-line every time it happened; which was almost every chapter. I don't know why this was a choice the author made... but it's a no from me. Took me out of the characters minds and the plot. Became very hard to focus.
THE BIG REVEAL
Okay, I'm not super bummed about this one as it's really hard to surprise a reader these days with a plot reveal, but if you read carefully, you could figure out that's what's going to happen very very early on. It wasn't hard to put two and two together. I just wish it took a little bit longer to figure it out.
Last one, I promise...
BORING SCENES
I don't know how many party sequences we as readers should have to endure. But there were FAR too many of them in this book, and they were all the same. I tended to skim through them trying to find any relevant information, but it was a struggle to find any at all.
*************
Overall I really did enjoy the book as a whole. Most of what I picked at seemed to be stylistic or personal choices made by the author or publisher. So with that said, I do look forward to the sequel as there was a bit of a cliffhanger at the end. But it's a fantasy novel, so of course there was!
WHY WAS THERE A ROMANCE AT ALL?
The two main characters had zero chemistry on page. They're love didn't grow over time, but kind of just happened? It was bizarre and didn't quite fit with the narrative or plot line. Seemed like it was a matter of convenience over anything. Not to mention they have nothing in common. I feel like the author could have taken her time to build up their relationship before jumping into the love/jealous trope. They could have just stayed really good friends in my opinion too.
DIFFERENT NARRATIVES WERE USED
This one really bothered me a lot. Shadow's POV was written in first person and Caledon's was written in third. It really took my brain out of the reading experience as it was an adjustment to get back into the story-line every time it happened; which was almost every chapter. I don't know why this was a choice the author made... but it's a no from me. Took me out of the characters minds and the plot. Became very hard to focus.
THE BIG REVEAL
Okay, I'm not super bummed about this one as it's really hard to surprise a reader these days with a plot reveal, but if you read carefully, you could figure out that's what's going to happen very very early on. It wasn't hard to put two and two together. I just wish it took a little bit longer to figure it out.
Last one, I promise...
BORING SCENES
I don't know how many party sequences we as readers should have to endure. But there were FAR too many of them in this book, and they were all the same. I tended to skim through them trying to find any relevant information, but it was a struggle to find any at all.
*************
Overall I really did enjoy the book as a whole. Most of what I picked at seemed to be stylistic or personal choices made by the author or publisher. So with that said, I do look forward to the sequel as there was a bit of a cliffhanger at the end. But it's a fantasy novel, so of course there was!