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A review by clemslibrary
Queen of None by Natania Barron
3.25
Thank you to NetGalley for an arc in return for an honest review
Queen of None is a retelling of King Arthur from the point of view of his sister, Anna, following her return to court after her husband's death.
This is a story of subtle rage and scheming, Anna was shipped off at 13 to marry a man in order to benefit her brother, and her return 20 years later is filled with pain and suffering. Used as a pawn, Anna desires to have more and enact revenge in ways she does not even realise. Once more she is married off by her brother, but this time she uses her power to create changes alongside her sisters.
Anna is more than just a sister, a wife, a mother - she is schemer and has the power to wield shadows to not be seen, allowing her to move pieces on the playing court to create change. The nature of the story itself is refreshing, Anna is willing to go to extreme lengths to not fall into a pit of desperation and allow men to keep using her.
The narrative is told in an interesting way, it seems as though Anna is recalling her past, and we see nudges and hints to the events to follow from the way she remembers certain events.
I did feel that the last third of the story was very different to the rest, and struggled to fully understand why everything was being done and the purpose of such a change.
This isn't a fantasy romance in my opinion, whilst there is romance the story is much more focused on Anna's growth as a character and her identity within the narrative. And the little romance that is in this is mostly about arranged marriages, something that Anna explicitly does not like.
This was an enthralling fantasy story on female identity, and I really enjoyed all the different character interactions!
Queen of None is a retelling of King Arthur from the point of view of his sister, Anna, following her return to court after her husband's death.
This is a story of subtle rage and scheming, Anna was shipped off at 13 to marry a man in order to benefit her brother, and her return 20 years later is filled with pain and suffering. Used as a pawn, Anna desires to have more and enact revenge in ways she does not even realise. Once more she is married off by her brother, but this time she uses her power to create changes alongside her sisters.
Anna is more than just a sister, a wife, a mother - she is schemer and has the power to wield shadows to not be seen, allowing her to move pieces on the playing court to create change. The nature of the story itself is refreshing, Anna is willing to go to extreme lengths to not fall into a pit of desperation and allow men to keep using her.
The narrative is told in an interesting way, it seems as though Anna is recalling her past, and we see nudges and hints to the events to follow from the way she remembers certain events.
I did feel that the last third of the story was very different to the rest, and struggled to fully understand why everything was being done and the purpose of such a change.
This isn't a fantasy romance in my opinion, whilst there is romance the story is much more focused on Anna's growth as a character and her identity within the narrative. And the little romance that is in this is mostly about arranged marriages, something that Anna explicitly does not like.
This was an enthralling fantasy story on female identity, and I really enjoyed all the different character interactions!