Obviously I was intrigued by the summary but figured it would be ok and a nice read as well as a kinda cleanser from a few other books I had finished before. This was surprisingly wonderful. Great characters and world building. I would like to continue this series.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book. Unfortunately it’s not the book for me. DNF @ 12%.

Elen-ai has grown up in a family of assassins, but when she is asked to preserve a life rather than take it she is to say the least, surprised. Her charge is the son of the Queen, Prince Gidyon. He is being groomed to take over the kingdom, which there has never been a King. She must keep him safe from all the seven kingdoms.

A intriguing plot, a journey thought the seven kingdoms, with lovely world building. Elen-ai and Gidyon after a rough start, begin to form a profound friendship. A good book, not quite my taste but well written.

"No man had ever taken the throne of the Second Country, and for good reason"

* * * 
3 / 5

Queendom of the Seven Lakes had a bit of a rough start for me. It starts with an assassin meeting a Queen to talk about her gorgeous, handsome son who she wants to name heir. I felt like I knew exactly where this book was going and I wasn't interested. Fortunately, I was wrong. Whilst it took a little while for me to warm up to Queendom, once it got going I was invested.

The Queendom of the Seven Lakes has always been ruled by a Queen. Until the current Queen plans to make her only child, Prince Gidyon, her heir. To ensure his safety in this tumultuous country she hires an assassin to be his personal bodyguard. Elen-ai accepts the contract, a little bit because she is in awe of her queen and a little bit because of the money. A woman in her mid-twenties, Elen-ai has been murdering people for years but this is the first time she has been asked to protect; it's a shame that Prince Gidyon is pretty annoying.

"Elen-ai felt sorry for him to be so crushed by the truth of the world"

I felt sure I knew where this was going. Cold-hearted young killer, attractive in a "plain" kind of way, and her young, muscular, princely charge take a trip into the countryside, get attacked a bit. We've all read that one before, right? Before long, he gets shot, she pitches a tent, they snuggle for warmth in the cold, yada yada. That's not what happens here. I have never been so glad not to read a romance, to instead be taken on a journey across an imaginative Queendom, to be caught up a mystery, to have some great fight scenes and some intriguing political intrigue. 

This is a self-published book and so has a couple of problems that typically go along with reading self-published works. There are a number of typos (is it Elen-ai or Elenai, Gidyon or Gideon? I wasn't sure for a while because they were interchanged), grammar mistakes, and the beginning was a bit bumpy and a bit cliched. But there is definitely talent here and I hope with more books some of the roughness of this novel can be smoothed out. I definitely applaud Endacott for taking the leap and publishing; I wish more burgeoning writers would put their stuff out there! 

Queendom of the Seven Lakes tackles feminist themes, inverts tropes, and does it all with a great lead character: Elen-ai the assassin. 

My thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book.

... basically... this book was a little bit...meh? Like, don’t get me wrong, it wasn't BAD, and I liked the idea but the story just didn’t click with me and i didn’t like the relationship between Elen-ai and the prince as she felt very immature when she was supposed to be about eight years older than him. Not really for me, to be completely honest, but it was unique and new.

I received a copy of this from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much when I picked up this book but wow, I was definitely wrong. This was a great read and I've actually already purchased the second one in the series. I really enjoyed the world that the author created, the politics, the inclusion of magic, and the fact that women, for once, hold the power. The plot involves keeping the crown prince alive long enough to ascend the throne as his mother's heir, something completely unheard of and frowned upon since it would upset the balance in society. The queen hires an assassin from "the Family" to protect her son, named Elen-ai and she is seriously kick ass. While in her role of protecting the prince, we are introduced to the various families that make up the kingdom, their schemes, the dynamics, and ultimately their political aspirations. This is merely an introduction into the world and the characters and I can't wait to read the second book to see how the characters develop and their relationships with one another.

Great read, and I would definitely recommend.

I liked this engaging fantasy adventure. My rating 4.25.

Elen-Ai is a member of the Family of Assassins. Elen-Ai has been raised by a community that teaches their trade and craft from very young age. She is a young adult who practices hard to keep her skills sharp. She is surprised when she is hired by the Queen, not as an assassin, but as a guard to the Queen’s only child, her teenaged son. The Queendom is supposed to pass through the female line but she is about to announce that she will pass her position to Prince Gidyon. This is likely to cause a stir and she fears that rival families will seek to kill the boy.

Gidyon resents being baby-sat by a guard almost as much as Elen-Ai resents having to baby sit. But there are rumors and those who could be a threat. Both Gidyon and Elen-Ai are surprised and become cautious when they are attacked on a journey to the country. Instead of turning back, Gidyon insists that they travel on to seek who among the other royal families will be loyal to the Queen’s wishes. The are greeted with welcomes, neutrality, arrogant belligerence and betrayal.

This story shares a strong fantasy world with well-developed characters. I liked Elen-Ai as a shadow assassin guarding the young prince. They both grow as they face danger and change together. I liked the adventure and intrigue and would read more in the series to find out how the characters manage in the next phase. I recommend this to readers who enjoy fantasy with action and intrigue.

Wow, when I read the synopsis of this book, I thought "Hmm, sounds interesting, let's see what this is all about." Never did I think I'd be reading one of my favorite books of 2018! This is seriously a great discovery. Scrolling through bookstagram, I always see common books that people are raving about. I've never heard about Queendom of the Seven Lakes until I was browsing NetGalley, and boy am I glad I did.

Like some other fantasy books that you may guess, this follows an assassin who is contracted to protect the prince of queendom. However, unlike other fantasy books, the fantasy world building in this book is like no other. I extremely enjoyed the character development as well. The one thing that I think the book has going against it is the cover. From far away, you can't even see what's going on; it's just an orange square on a gray backdrop. But don't let that deter you guys. That is the ONLY bad thing I can see about this book. Please give it a read if you're a fan of fantasy!

Queendom of the Seven Lakes is an entertaining, if not wholly original, political fantasy; a quick read, which centres around the journey of the first male ruler of a Queendom, and the assassin that must protect him.

My overall impression of this book is that it had so much potential. I love political fantasy, and I was keen to see some really clever worldbuilding. Unfortunately, it fell a little flat on the character side of things.

Neither Elen-ai, the assassin, nor Gidyon, the prince, were particularly well-fleshed out. Gidyon in particular was very difficult to assess, since he flip-flopped between seeming about 13 and 25. I really couldn't decide if he was meant to be a love interest for Elen-ai - the idea is joked about, and hinted at, but they never seem to do anything about it. If so, the age gap is a little weird for me (he is 17 and a spoiled kid, she is 22 and an experienced assassin). Elen-ai was unfortunately a very trite YA character - an assassin with a heart, who we've all seen before. The Queen is aloof, and we do not get to know her, and the various nobles are pretty interchangeable (apart from one rather grim case of fat-shaming).

I very much liked the conceit that the queen's children had indeterminate fathers; how very different political machinations would be in real history if that were the case! A ruler who is guaranteed to be neutral would have a very different political environment than one tied by marriages and kinships to other families.

The magic in this book is minimal, and I hope will be explored further in future volumes. There appear to be healing powers, and also some sort of shadow powers, which are tied to the individual gods that are worshipped, but this is not touched upon particularly deeply.

This feels very much like a debut, but I would like to see the author develop, as I think she has real potential. If there had been more worldbuilding here, other than the paternity issue, then this could have been a really interesting world.

Two stars, but I would be interested in seeing more from this author in a few years.

The description for Queendom of the Seven Lakes piqued my interest because it was both intriguing and informative at the same time. It gave me little about what I really expect from what I was about to read and I was so pleasantly surprised when I started and everything was above and beyond what I could have ever thought possible. Endacott does an incredible twist and turn of intricate braids that weave political bonds and emotional relationships, in a setting that completely turns what we see, as a society, on its head.

Our story follows Elen-ai of the Family, a group of assassin's in the Second Country, who is tasked with protecting the life of Gidyon, the soon-to-be-named heir to the throne. Of course, it isn't always that simple – the Queendom prides itself on a tradition where the firstborn daughter of the Queen would take up the throne, any son's (whether older or younger) acting as advisors and the father of these children to remain unknown to maintain loyalties between noble families and the Royal House. I absolutely loved this concept for a Queendom, where it showed a united front within families but also the plots and double-edged words that come about in all politics. It kind of showcased this equality in the book, except that not quite – every time it was mentioned that men didn't have the same right to the throne, or to speak within a family, my gut twisted and I felt a little sick. This is not me being "not a real feminist" – if you know the definition of that word, you'll probably agree with me on some level but it was just those tiny details in some scenes that made me drop this book from 5 to 4.5 stars. Besides that tiny, itty-bitty little fact (which is more of my own personal opinion impacting how I read it) the entirety of Endacott's world-building was incredible, even the stuff I didn't like (because it still made sense why it was there too) and it was layered in a way that showed us glimpses of other facets of politics, religion, everyday life, all of which I really would love to continue exploring.

And I'm not usually one for politics (some people just don't seem logical in a political setting), and there are usually few authors who can write about politics so explicitly within their own well-built world and I find myself enjoying it. This also tied in well with the mystery component of the storyline, which sees the Queen suspecting her only child may be murdered before he can become King – ergo, the need for Elen-ai.

Elen-ai was great. For an assassin in a young adult book, Endacott wrote her superbly and without those over-used tropes often found. There was always an explanation for Elen-ai's training and life, which introduced us to the conflicting use of religion within the Seven Lakes (and also to other Countries). The world built, as I said, has so many layers that are simply unexplored in this first book and I really hope that they're seen more in the second! There are also no secrets that Elen-ai is not perfect. At all. She makes mistakes and must learn from them – another thing I loved about the Family is that they had a lot of the tough-love thing going on that wasn't this violent or brutal but instead this kind of balance between their loyalty to each other and their loyalty to their Shadow God. I absolutely would love to see more about the Family in detail, because they do and don't fit into this "assassins-found-in-YA" box and I love that.

It was difficult to see Gidyon as younger than Elen-ai – I think mostly because these two didn't fit the usual mould for young adult fiction cliches that a lot of us are used to. Not that I don't love them all the same; their relationship was actually really refreshing to read (and that's a lot, coming from me, the reader who loves romance). Endacott doesn't rush anything, and everything that's written has a purpose – <i>everything</i> came back as something that should have been noted down in the first place.

There are actually so many other characters I want to comment on – the Councillors? I want a story just on them. I'd read it. I'd love it. And I'd get to see how the other Countries function as well, which would be amazing to read about because Endacott has a way with world-building so well that it reads <i>real</i>.

It's a surprise to me that this book was a debut. It was even more of a surprise that it was a self-published debut. And that it was a really fresh outlook on a whole different kind of world that brought fantasy to fiction. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in reading a YA book about assassin's, royalty and a new take on those tropes you always see.

YA books featuring female assassins have become a hot topic within the past few years with the success of the Throne of Glass series. I was intrigued by the concept that Queendom of the Seven Lakes presented, with the main character Elen-ai protecting a life rather than taking it. Her skills are well-touted in the book, so I expected her to be at Arya Stark's level of badass-ery. However, it seemed like when she needed to pay attention or take action, she dropped the ball and it led to devastating results. Skills and characteristics that had been ingrained in her since she was a small child suddenly departed at key moments. So I didn't love her as a character. Her personality wasn't really developed much beyond being an assassin, and not a very good one at that.

One of the highlights of this book is the world-building and attention to detail the author used when describing the setting. Elen-ai and Gidyon move throughout their country and encounter many different landscapes which are beautifully described each and every time. The distinction between each prominent family in both their land and the services or items they were valued for was an interesting concept that I thought was very unique.

Speaking of the families, although I enjoyed the varying levels of intrigue and deception Gidyon and Elen-ai encountered when visiting each, there were so many names to remember that at times I couldn't remember which character belonged to which family unless it was clearly stated, especially when more that one was gathered together.

I think beyond Elen-ai's subpar assassin skills, I had a really difficult time loving this book because of it's pacing. The story moves along, but it's slowly and without a lot of action. When the story is finally building to a climactic moment, it's quickly glossed over without much fanfare or wording. This was a bummer since I feel like two key parts of the plot could have been so much better with some more excitement added. As it reads, it felt like the author wanted to keep the book's excitement at a middle-of-the-road level and didn't let the appropriate climactic moments expand into anything memorable. I did think that the book frequently had issues with "telling" rather than "showing" and I think that might have added to this problem.

Sometimes when it comes to a series, the first book is a bit disappointing due to the need for world building and the introduction of characters. Since there were so many characters and different areas of the country to introduce the reader to, I think that the book lost some of the action and character development/relationships that I would have liked. I am hoping that the second book will bring these elements to the forefront as I am looking forward to continuing the story of Gidyon and Elen-ai in the second book, Kingdom of the Seven Lakes.

*I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

**Actual Rating: 3.5/5

This was one of my first requests when I originally signed up to NetGalley and it has been pushed to the bottom of the pile for a while, which is a great pity as I absolutely loved it! Before I go any further I'd like to thank NetGalley for the eARC of this book.

This story follows Elen-ai as she is enlisted, as an assassin, to guard the Queen's son. In this world, only women may rule the Queendom as it allows for any familial lineage to be unknown and therefore leaves the seven families of the Queendom at the same level, with no rise in power coming from having a child with the monarch. Elen-ai must protect Gidyon, as the Queen has decreed her son will be the first ever Prince of the Queendom. Obviously, this makes all the families lose their footing and scramble to get one up over everyone including the Queen herself.

I wasn't too sure how this story was going to develop, would there be a cheesy romance? Would the plot be stereotypical and obvious? The answer is HELL NO! This fantasy read did everything in such good proportions, with the relationship between our protagonist and her charge developing in a way which felt very natural and realistic and makes you root for their side intrinsically. Although there is much about the world that I feel I do not know, I knew what I needed to in order to comprehend the events in the book and I am sure that the sequel (yes there is a sequel, I am so excited!) will explain further about the world and develop this fantasy read even more.

I am very glad I picked this up and was able to read it and I 100% recommend that you at least read the synopsis to see if this is your sort of book, as I had believed I would be getting an averagely told fantasy with a mediocre plotline (because I am apparently an idiot/have been let down by a lot of books lately) and instead I am now finding myself with a new favourite world that I can't wait to return to! Definitely, need to get to King of the Seven Lakes when I can!!

I thought it was ok, promising story but I think that this genre it’s so hard to come up with something completely original. Just felt like I had read this somewhere before. I did enjoy it though just not enough to have me gripped.

I loved this book and its twist & turns....think Game of Thrones VS Sarah J Maas Novels.
Would highly recommend and cant wait to read the next book !

I very much enjoyed this book! It’s a mix of Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas with the female assassin, and The Power by Naomi Alderman with the switch of gender roles throughout the entire world. I’m a sucker for assassin tales and this one hit the spot. Also, the switching of the gender roles was very well done. there is at one stage a hint that a neighbouring country has applied strict rules for all men to cover up. Small things like that I truly enjoy. It gives the story more width.

It was fun and compelling and I did tend to forget the time when I read it, which to me is very important. So I have not worked out for five days because of this book (you know “oh I’ll just finish this page then do the workout…” which never happened).

The Story: The story is very political and focuses more on the intrigues and interrelationship events, rather than the action all the time. I enjoyed the journey and meeting all the member of the seven families. And I was entertained by the development of the two main characters.

The Characters: I really liked reading about Elen-ai. She is a great character and a great person. She is a little bit detached, as an assassin should be, but it prevented me from connecting fully with her. However, that might appear in the next book.

The Prince, or Gidyon, is a sixteen-year-old heir-to-be. He starts off as a brat towards Elen-ai but always well mannered to others. He has no interest in Elen-ai’s presence and wants her gone. After some travelling and serious event, he comes around. All in all, he is a highly intelligent young bloke who knows what he needs to do to be an heir.

These are the two most important characters in the book. There are also the Queen, her three advisors, two counsellors from the Third Country, and the occasional family member of one of the seven families. It would be nice to have more of the Third Country councillors in the story as they play an important part in the beginning, but I’m sure we’ll see more of them in the next book to tie it all in.

I would have liked a few more characters, but again I’m sure there will be some in the next book.

Writing: The writing was short and precise with a lot of potentials which wasn’t always used to the fullest. There are two issues I have with the writing and I’ll keep it short: the action scenes were slowly written, and the banter felt forced. Don’t get me wrong, the banter is great; it’s funny and makes me smile and giggle. However, the reaction from the character who provided the banter is, to me, on the over-done side (I prefer mine medium or medium-rare 😉). The potential is there for both issues, and I’m looking forward to seeing this author evolve through her writing book by book.

First off, I would like to thank the publisher and author for providing me this ARC to review. Please note that the version I read was an advanced copy, and certain events/language may be changed in the published edition.

Stars (Out of 10): 7.5/10 Stars

Favorite Character: Elen-ai

Spoiler Free: Ever since the release, and popularity, of the Throne of Glass, tons of books following the lives of teenage/young adult assassins. While there have been many hits, and very many misses, I have to count this one amongst the hints.

Prefacing this, I am not sure if the copy I read is a finalized copy or not, but there were admittedly a ton of editing mistakes. Some had typos that ended up changing the meaning of the sentence (although I was usually still able to determine the true meaning), but the most annoying issue that came from this was the constant changing in spelling of names. At first I mainly noticed this for characters with suffixes in their names, such as Elen-ai, alternated between having that dash and having the two parts connected with no space (ex: Elenai). While this I got used to, near the end Gidyon’s name also started being spelled as Gideon, and this was much more off putting. Basically, the book needs a look through by an editor to catch all these tiny mistakes, as it did end up drawing a bit from the book itself.

However, that is probably the biggest issue I had with the book! When it came to the characters, the author showed us the traits of the characters, not simply told us (a issue many people had with Celaena from Throne of Glass), and this especially applied to her killing skills. No matter the scene unfolding, you constantly see her on alert and paying attention to her job. And even with that, you grow to like her, and see her as more than just an assassin. Additionally, you see this in the relationships between all the characters, specifically the familial relationships. Having Elen-ai as our narrator means we also have a close eye on all the characters and how they interact, and whenever Elen-ai told us a revelation, it was backed up constantly throughout the story.

Additionally, while the book is shown as only 250 pages, it reads almost like a 300-350 book. Every moment means something, and I found myself enjoying every line and page. I also wasn’t left with the feeling the book had gone by too fast or had been rushed! (I am dying for the next book though! Wish there was a clear release date somewhere for that.)

In terms of the world, there were some minor issues in the beginning with an overload of information, as we had numbered countries, seven Families, and The Family all to learn about and keep separate from each other (personally I think the assassin’s guild should’ve been referred to as something else). But in the end, I fell in love with the world and quickly caught on to the secrets each held. (Just don’t quiz me on the goods of each Family!)

Lastly, I really enjoyed the plot. It kept a good amount of intrigue and tension without having to rely on overused and annoying tropes (which I see many smaller novels do), and I was hooked from the first chapter. I am super excited to see where the next book takes the world!

I enjoyed this book tremendously yet am left with the nagging feeling that I should not have done. The heroine is, after all, a cold blooded assassin who at one point kills a young pregnant woman for no better reason than that she is ordered to. Admittedly this is only recounted, it does not occur in the story itself, but this hardly makes a difference. I do have difficulty with a kindly and loving order of assassins too.

The story is entertaining and the characters well developed but the descriptions are confusing sometimes and the plot makes you think about other similar books. However, I applaud the feminist side of this book and that the main character is a strong and independent woman.

Queendom of the Seven Lakes was definitely and interesting read to me. After reading the summary I was hooked and the book kept me hooked as well, it held my attention through out. This is my first time writing a review for netgalley and I am really thankful my first book was Queendom, because now I have found the next series I will be reading and agonizing over in the future especially in between release dates.
Queendom is about Elen-ai, a assassin who is given the task of protecting the crown prince in a kingdom where males do not inherit the the crown but the females do, hence the tittle. This was a concept that I really enjoyed, usually we always read about the struggles a female character has to inherit, but now we see the males struggles to inherit the crown through the eyes of Elen-ai. Family plays a big part in this world, Elen-ai's own Family of assassins and the Queendoms major families. There is a touch of religion and beliefs that I think will be later explored in the series, in my opinion I think we just got a taste of it. I really admire Elen-ai's dedication to her family and her growing dedication to the prince, I love their talks and their lessons, their whole relationship was heartfelt even when they weren't even speaking . I just wish there could have been more action for Elen-ai's skills as an assassin can be shown. I couldn't help but compare Elen-ai with Celaena from Throne of Glass, I felt that they were both bad asses and they knew it and made sure you knew it.
This was a great read, and I am looking forward for the next book, King of the Seven Lakes!

*I received an advance copy of this book from Netgalley. With that being said, here is my honest review of Queendom of the Seven Lakes* Wow. It has been a long time since I come across a book that I COULD NOT put down. It is very well written. Although I wish there was a little more action. I loved Elen-ai and Gidyons friendship. Could it lead to be more than a relationships in King of the Seven Lakes?? Maybe more action? I can’t wait to find out!