Wednesday, September 26, 2018

To Kill The Queen Book Review (Fantasy) (Crown of Shards #1) by Jennifer Estep


Title: Kill The Queen
Author: Jennifer Estep
Series: Crown of Shards #1
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Pub Date: October 2, 2018 
Pages: 480
My Copy: Courtesy of Edelweiss and Harper Voyager
Note: Review contains Spoilers, so Read at Your Own Risk. You have been warned.


Book Summary:

Gladiator meets Game of Thrones: a royal woman becomes a skilled warrior to destroy her murderous cousin, avenge her family, and save her kingdom in this first entry in a dazzling fantasy epic from the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Elemental Assassin series—an enthralling tale that combines magic, murder, intrigue, adventure, and a hint of romance.

In a realm where one’s magical power determines one’s worth, Lady Everleigh’s lack of obvious ability relegates her to the shadows of the royal court of Bellona, a kingdom steeped in gladiator tradition. Seventeenth in line for the throne, Evie is nothing more than a ceremonial fixture, overlooked and mostly forgotten.

But dark forces are at work inside the palace. When her cousin Vasilia, the crown princess, assassinates her mother the queen and takes the throne by force, Evie is also attacked, along with the rest of the royal family. Luckily for Evie, her secret immunity to magic helps her escape the massacre.

Forced into hiding to survive, she falls in with a gladiator troupe. Though they use their talents to entertain and amuse the masses, the gladiators are actually highly trained warriors skilled in the art of war, especially Lucas Sullivan, a powerful magier with secrets of his own. Uncertain of her future—or if she even has one—Evie begins training with the troupe until she can decide her next move.

But as the bloodthirsty Vasilia exerts her power, pushing Bellona to the brink of war, Evie’s fate becomes clear: she must become a fearsome gladiator herself . . . and kill the queen

Book Review:
A really action packed book and a great start to a new series. One of the things that I really like is how a young woman who wants to do something different finds herself in a situation she could never dream of or be in a position where your life gets uprooted and you are the one person left who can stop the devastation of someone else’s actions. 

One of the things that made this book pop for me right away is that we get a heroine, Everleigh who has gone thru some tragedy of her own when her parents died and she was forced to live and grow up in the Royal Court. There are a lot of nobles in the Blair line and they have all come to see what the Queen is going to say at this party. Also we learn that Everleigh works for a stone master who gives her a memory stone. The Memory stone becomes very important later on in this story as it can absorb memories and show them if the user can activate the stone properly. It’s meant to be given to the user. 

So of course Everleigh goes to the party and chaos erupts at this party. It becomes a bloody massacre to say the least because one of Queen Cordelia’s daughters, Vasila decides to take the throne for herself. She also poisons the guests drinks so they will not be able to use their magic to defend themselves. The scene reminded me of some of the massacres you would see on Game of Thrones. It was very brutal and quick. Plus Vasilia murders her own sister and brother in law because she wants power quite simply. Plus we get introduce to two other characters who are new to everyone in court. Queen Cordelia warns her not to trust Maeven and Nox, because they are using her. Needless to say Everleigh almost dies but because of her immunity she doesn’t but no one knows that. Before Queen Cordelia dies, she tells her to find a woman who helps train Queens. She also tells Everleigh that she is a Winter Queen. So of course, Everleigh doesn’t understand it. 

When Everleigh washes up on shore, she goes to find the Gladiator troupe and does. Plus Everleigh doesn’t give anyone her real name because she doesn’t know who to trust. She is in a place that if anyone finds out she survived the massacre, people could use her to challenge Vasilia for the throne so they could rule thru her. She understands that at some point she might have to fight for her life. Not to mention things happen when she gets to the troupe. 

Her training really begins with the gladiator troupe and no one knows her real name. She comes up with a good lie, but a believable one. Things happen that surprised me. I really liked how Everleigh got into the troupe buy baking a pie and it turned out to be really good. Plus she gets into the troops good graces eventually. Then two gladiators who are competing for the spotlight end up resulting in something deadly. Plus Everleigh knows that the other gladiator ended up poisoning the other one because she would never forget the smell of worm root.  So this ends up in Everleigh using her abilities in a way she had never thought of doing before.

Then the leader of the Gladiator troupe announces the death of the whole royal family save the Princess Vasilia who somehow survived. Things happen one night where Everleigh hears Lucas Sullivan and a conversation that she shouldn’t have overheard. Sarilda says that there has to be a Blair that survived not realizing that she has one under her nose. Because of what Everleigh accused the other gladiator of doing she has to fight and does.

This book picks up so much speed. Everleigh has to fight for her life and it seems like she always has to fight. Defeating your opponent by using the one thing she has been afraid to do her whole life. Use her immunity in a way that she has never been able to do. I really found myself loving this gladiator fight because it’s two female fighters. Most of the time you see it being male gladiators, not female, but I really enjoyed reading it. Not to mention Serilda and Everleigh see Vasila. Vasila and Serilda have a conversation and she doesn’t recognize her cousin because she is totally dressed and covered in makeup and a costume. You can tell this conversation is very intense.

Serilda realizes that Vasilia might want to kill them. Things happen where they go to the mountains, have to encounter a weather magier and then up having to deal with another group where somehow Everleigh gets them out of by doing a dance and finding out that this person has survived. It was the person who taught her how to do that dance. Also Serilda finds out Everleigh’s true identity. Then Serilda begins to train Everleigh and tells Everleigh some interesting stuff about what being a Winter Queen really means.
So of course training is hard for Everleigh and everyone together comes up with a plan. They know what will happen if Everleigh loses the challenge. Everleigh is definitely scared, but knows that she has to stop running. I totally loved the way the fight and the way the challenge was issued. It was like a non stop action ride the fight. Not to mention, Everleigh embraces her magic in a way she has never been able to before. Plus she kills her cousin and becomes Queen in an unforgettable fashion. 

Totally loved this book. I couldn’t put this down. A great start. Looking forward to reading the second installment of this series.

Rating:

5 Hearts

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