Publisher: Orbit
Publication Date: November 12, 2019
Genre: Fantasy, Adult
Adventure Rating: 2 Stars
Sigourney Rose is the only surviving daughter of a noble lineage on the islands of Hans Lollik. When she was a child, her family was murdered by the islands’ colonizers, who have massacred and enslaved generations of her people—and now, Sigourney is ready to exact her revenge.
When the childless king of the islands declares that he will choose his successor from amongst eligible noble families, Sigourney uses her ability to read and control minds to manipulate her way onto the royal island and into the ranks of the ruling colonizers. But when she arrives, prepared to fight for control of all the islands, Sigourney finds herself the target of a dangerous, unknown magic.
Someone is killing off the ruling families to clear a path to the throne. As the bodies pile up and all eyes regard her with suspicion, Sigourney must find allies among her prey and the murderer among her peers… lest she become the next victim.
Queen of the Conquered reckons with the many layers of power and privilege in a lush fantasy world—perfect for readers of V. E. Schwab, Kiersten White, and Marlon James. “
*Thank you to the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review*
I really went back and forth between weather or not to post this because it is a two star review. BUT I want to be honest about the books I am reading, the only time I won’t post is when I DNF. So, I am going to do this review a bit different than usual.
Likes: I really liked the world building, the cover, and most of the story. I loved reading about the struggling islanders turned slaves and their conquerors, the Fjern. I am all about those powerful uprising stories and couldn’t wait to dig into this, especially because it takes place in a fantasy world where there they have certain krafts (AKA: powers/ abilities). The magic was really cool to read about too. I loved the added mystery/ plot twist that happens midway through the book.
Dislikes: Here’s the kicker… I HATED the MC. And the whole book is from her POV. She is in a position of power but she is a native islander. She thinks she is “helping” her people and she thinks she is a good person because she feels guilt for mistreating her SLAVES. That’s right. In her solo selfish life goal of vengeance against the Fjern for killing her family, she uses her own people to HER agenda. Killing them, betraying them, enslaving them, ordering them to have sex with her. It’s disgusting. She literally is no better than the Fjern. She’s a really awful person. At one point there was an innocent Fjern and she was hated just as much. She didn’t even do anything or think anything horrible (MC can read minds) and yet the MC was like, well you’re Fjern so you’re bad. Stupid. Another thing I disliked was the word ‘hate’ was literally used almost every. Single. Page. I get it. Sigourney hates them they hate her and her people hate her. You can still get your point across without using the same word over and over and over again.
Final Thoughts: I went into this book thinking it was going to be about a young woman who leads her people to an epic uprising. No. Not it. So, while I liked the ending quite a lot, I couldn’t rate it more than 2 stars purely for the word ‘hate’ every page and for the awful MC.
*Amazon link is my affiliate link*
*Sign is from Bookish Signs. Code: Lauren10 I loved the way it matched the book cover!*
Storied Adventures 