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booksandchocaholic 's review for:
The Queen of Blood
by Sarah Beth Durst
(8.57 on CAWPILE)
I went into this book expecting a whimsical, light and atmospheric fantasy. I am glad to say that it is indeed atmospheric but it actually had much more gravitas and themes than I was expecting.
This story has an apprentice/mentor trope and it is one that I think is handled very well. I liked the sense of displacement the protagonist felt and I really appreciated that things didn’t come easy to her all the time. I also liked the interplay with the queen throughout the plot as well.
I found the protagonist had a lot of depth and nuance and wasn’t the typical main character. In any case the story it set up to be focusing on someone who would usually be a background character. I really enjoyed the relationship between both her and her family and her and her mentor. I also liked the villain of the story and the wider picture they represented.
With an easy prose and light tone it is easy to not notice the depth and even dark themes that are actually brought up in this book. I think the author did a wonderful job of expressing what she wanted without a drastic mid-book change in tone. It was engaging and well paced and the intrigue persisted throughout.
The world was everything I’d been set up for. A forest setting with villages strewn across it in whimsy and dark allure in equal measure. The society was well built with an interesting take on hereditary monarchy and a matriarchy. The magic was very nature based and it felt organic and seamless with the rest of the world.
Overall a wonderful start to an interesting series.
I went into this book expecting a whimsical, light and atmospheric fantasy. I am glad to say that it is indeed atmospheric but it actually had much more gravitas and themes than I was expecting.
This story has an apprentice/mentor trope and it is one that I think is handled very well. I liked the sense of displacement the protagonist felt and I really appreciated that things didn’t come easy to her all the time. I also liked the interplay with the queen throughout the plot as well.
I found the protagonist had a lot of depth and nuance and wasn’t the typical main character. In any case the story it set up to be focusing on someone who would usually be a background character. I really enjoyed the relationship between both her and her family and her and her mentor. I also liked the villain of the story and the wider picture they represented.
With an easy prose and light tone it is easy to not notice the depth and even dark themes that are actually brought up in this book. I think the author did a wonderful job of expressing what she wanted without a drastic mid-book change in tone. It was engaging and well paced and the intrigue persisted throughout.
The world was everything I’d been set up for. A forest setting with villages strewn across it in whimsy and dark allure in equal measure. The society was well built with an interesting take on hereditary monarchy and a matriarchy. The magic was very nature based and it felt organic and seamless with the rest of the world.
Overall a wonderful start to an interesting series.