Young Adult Fiction
HarperTeen
February 21, 2017
Audiobook
432
The Girl of Fire and Thorns meets The Queen of the Tearling in this thrilling fantasy standalone about one girl’s unexpected rise to power. Freya was never meant to be queen. Twenty-third in line to the throne, she never dreamed of a life in the palace, and would much rather research in her laboratory than participate in the intrigues of the court. However, when an extravagant banquet turns deadly and the king and those closest to him are poisoned, Freya suddenly finds herself on the throne. She may have escaped the massacre, but she is far from safe. The nobles don’t respect her, her councillors want to control her, and with the mystery of who killed the king still unsolved, she knows that a single mistake could cost her the kingdom—and her life. Freya is determined to survive, and that means uncovering the murderers herself. Until then, she can’t trust anyone. Not her advisers. Not the king’s dashing and enigmatic illegitimate son. Not even her own father, who always wanted the best for her but also wanted more power for himself. As Freya’s enemies close in and her loyalties are tested, she must decide if she is ready to rule and, if so, how far she is willing to go to keep the crown.
WrensReads Review:
I have mixed feelings about this book.
The main character was a pretty great main character. I loved that her passion wasn’t something artsy like most young-adult heroines are; it was science and her thought process was like someone who would be a scientist.
So the whole story starts with someone killing basically all of the linage to the throne, including the king and his immediate family, with a poisoned cake. Only the bastard of the king, our main girl Freya, her best friend Naomi and her father lived basically.
After being moved to a safe house, everyone is scared to eat anything because no one knows who poisoned and killed the line to the king. And no one even knows anything about this new “queen” and if she is even worthy of the throne.
I will say that this was a good read. Do I find myself reading it again? Probably not. And I’ll tell you why: there wasn’t any real action. The plot is super driven by the mystery of who killed everyone and Freya becoming the ruler she has to be. But there wasn’t a huge war, there wasn’t a love-triangle… there was only deceit and mystery and a girl coming into herself.
For me, that isn’t really enough for me to absolutely love a book. But it was an interesting read and it did keep my interest for the time that I read it.
But… like, where were the dragons? lolol
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