i didn’t like the queen’s rising to begin with. i found it rather slow and boring. i thought i’d have to dnf if as i just wasn’t feeling it. it took a bit but i finally got into it (about 1/4 to 1/3 in). the plot picked up, and i really enjoyed the characters. admittedly, it was a little slow but that was perfect for me was i wasn’t after anything fast paced at the time i started.

one thing i need to point out is the family tree. please, don’t read the family tree at the start of the book. the main reason for this is because brienna’s ancestry is supposed to be some kind of surprise to keep you reading. unfortunately, it’s given away in the family tree on the first page.

the politics was rather boring in the queen’s rising. i just didn’t feel it at all. it had nothing to do with my liking of the characters either. it just felt irrelevant and didn’t intrigue me.

on the other hand, i really loved the world building. the setting, the history, everything. this is definitely a world that interests me. i felt more hooked from the world building than the plot in the beginning. i also really enjoyed the use of the passions. but it seems silly that they can only have one though. what if they were good at something and didn’t actually like it? or bad at something but loved it anyway? what if they were good at a couple things or none of the ones provided but amazing at something else? (does this even make sense?)

and the last thing i want to say to conclude this review: omg cartier. i want one.

“She walks with grace upon the clouds, and the stars know her by name.”

representation: none from the 23% I read.

[trigger warnings are listed at the bottom of this review and may contain spoilers]

DNF at 23%

Unfortunately this just wasn't holding my attention so I decided to DNF. It just seemed like a generic YA fantasy that I've read a thousand times and I didn't find the characters or plot engaging enough to keep going :(

trigger warnings (only up to 23%): loss of loved ones (in the past).

Thank you to HarperCollins Publishers Australia & NetGalley for the review copy!

"I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review"

Growing up in the southern Kingdom of Valenia at the renowned Magnalia House should have prepared her for such a life. While some are born with an innate talent for one of the five passions—art, music, dramatics, wit, and knowledge—Brienna struggled to find hers until she belatedly chose to study knowledge. However, despite all her preparations, Brienna’s greatest fear comes true—the solstice does not go according to plan and she is left without a patron.
Months later, her life takes an unexpected turn when a disgraced lord offers her patronage. Suspicious of his intent, and with no other choices, she accepts. But there is much more to his story, and Brienna soon discovers that he has sought her out for his own vengeful gain. For there is a dangerous plot being planned to overthrow the king of Maevana—the archrival kingdom of Valenia—and restore the rightful queen, and her magic, to the northern throne. And others are involved—some closer to Brienna than she realizes.
With war brewing between the two lands, Brienna must choose whose side she will remain loyal to—passion or blood. Because a queen is destined to rise and lead the battle to reclaim the crown. The ultimate decision Brienna must determine is: Who will be that queen?

First of all I need to make a confession. I put off reading this book for so long due to seeing not so great reviews and I just became put off from reading it.......but I am so glad I finally gave it a go because I really enjoyed it and I now wish I read it ages ago. It shows not to judge a book based off a couple of reviews and to still give a book ago because everyone has a different taste in books.

This book was captivating from the very beginning and I felt connected to the characters straight away. I have to say I did not see the direction the book was going to go but I loved that about it as well because it had me at the edge of my seat the whole book.

I ended up rating this book 4 out of 5 stars and I am in no way going to delay reading the second book. This was a perfect read for someone who is just getting into fantasy because it is a light fantasy but in no way drags along. One last thing I loved about this book is the strong sense of family even though not all of them are blood and the romance was just perfect.

The Queen’s Rising is Rebecca’s Ross’s debut novel and is an enchanting story of elegance, slow burning romance, beautiful familial bonds and a rebellion that will change a very kingdom forever.

Having grown up in the southern Kingdom of Valenia, seventeen year old orphan Brienna dwells at the renowned Magnalia House where young ladies study one of the five passions; art, music, dramatics, wit and knowledge. Though many display inert talents for one of these subjects, Brienna struggled for years to find hers before eventually settling on knowledge. As the summer solstice approaches where trainees will be claimed by a patron of their passion, Brienna fears that she will be deemed inadequate and passed over; a fear that later comes true much to Brienna’s horror. Remaining at Magnalia House, Brienna’s future takes a surprising turn when she begins to experience visions of another time, seemingly set in the neighbouring land of Maevana. Soon offered patronage by a disgraced lord, Brienna soon finds herself caught up in an intricate plot to overthrow the King of Maevana and restore the rightful Queen to the throne. As the plot thickens, Brienna quickly discovers that she herself is tied to this land of warrior queens and quarrelling territories in a way she never expected. Tasked with restoring a queen, Brienna must decide where her loyalty lies and ultimately what is stronger; passion or blood because her choice has the power to change the very course of a war……

I absolutely adored this novel; simply adored it! So much more than I was anticipating if I’m being perfectly honest. The story Rebecca Ross has woven together was elegantly told, perfectly paced and burning with romance and unexpected bonds of family. Set in a refined and aristocratic fantasy world reminiscent of France in the 16th century, The Queen’s Rising follows a strong willed and highly likable heroine who develops and grows immensely over the course of the novel.

There was so much about The Queen’s Rising I enjoyed; from the beautiful writing, vivid setting and likable heroine to the bonds of family and friendship that developed to the soft but passionate undertone of romance that complimented the story. Though some parts were slower than others, I loved the way Rebecca Ross built the story; I felt like Brienna’s transformation and growth was believable as it occurred over a number of months.

I also found it very refreshing that for once, the main protagonist was not destined to be queen. She was not the one who would be tasked with ruling a land and overseeing her people. Rather our heroine Brienna was someone whose actions would help bring this individual to power—I liked that; very much. I also enjoyed reading about the land of Maevana where people value daughters above sons. It’s often quite the opposite in societies, both real and fictional, so I felt it empowering that this wasn’t the case in The Queen’s Rising.

Wonderfully completed, The Queen’s Rising races towards a powerful and important battle between two opposing sides. There are a number of surprises and developments throughout the book you may, or may not, see coming as well as a perfect ending to this chapter of the series. I’m already excited to see what Rebecca Ross has plans in the sequel for Brienna, I for one cannot wait until it’s in my hot little hands and I can enjoy the beauty of this world once more!

I'm so sorry! I thought I sent in this review months ago when I read it! Here it is:

That was definitely something different! I really wish I had bought it now, so that I could have the beauty of the hardcover on my shelves as well as discovering the beauty of the story at the same time.

I love how there wasn't <spoiler>any romance in that one, although I really sense it coming in the second one.</spoiler> I also really liked how <spoiler>Cartier was actually one of the three rebelling families. I didn't see that coming.</spoiler> I loved the friendship element of this novel, it was very appealing. Also the level of trust between all of the characters. I really like Breanna as a character, how she's always honest and is very loyal and knows her duty. She's inspirational.
Can't wait for the second book.

Firstly I’d like to thank NetGalley for providing me with a copy of The Queen’s Rising in exchange for an honest review.

Wow what a book! I’m so annoyed with myself that I took so long to read this one because it was fantastic! I had a lot of trouble putting it down during the day when I needed to do, you know, responsible adult things like eat and hang out the washing. But I still feel like I flew through it and that was because it was just so good.

Brienna was a very likeable character and I really enjoyed watching her grow from a naive young schoolgirl, to a strong and capable young woman, all in the space of a few months. I was wary of her new patron father at first and was expecting him to be a ‘bad guy’ of some sort, so was pleasantly surprised when she found a authentic and caring family in him and Luc. I also wasn’t expecting the love interest to be who he was, but was also pleasantly surprised with how this played out.

The twists and turns were really fun to read, although I have to say that I predicted who Brienna’s father was, but I don’t know if this was meant to be some big surprise anyway. I also really enjoyed how ruthless the author was with the killing off of some characters and the big war/fight at the end. It reminded me of Sabaa Tahir’s writing and ruthlessness in regards to her characters, which was great.

I cannot wait to read the next installment and will have to buy myself a physical copy of The Queen’s Rising in the meantime. I would recommend it for those that like An Ember in the Ashes, Graceling and Poison Study. 4.5 stars!

This debut and start of a trilogy was a smash hit! I had such beauty and the beast vibes from this story. I loved this book and I'm really excited for book 2!

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I couldn't get into it as much as I tried, it felt very familiar as though I'd read much of it before in other books. I ended up DNFing it.

The Queen's Rising is a brand new fantasy book about a young girl sent to a boarding house to keep her occupied and away from finding out the identity of her father. Despite asking for the truth for most of her life her grandfather refuses to ever speak her father's name and instead she is pushed away and spends seven years working towards mastering a passion in one of the five fields - art, music, dramatics, wit and knowledge. Brienna attempts four passions without any success until she finally come to knowledge as a last resort. Now the day they showcase their talents in the hope of finding a wealthy patron to adopt them is closer than ever and Brienna's mind is on an entirely different manner when strange memories of another person's life come to her with a quest.

This book reminded me so much of one of my favourite, possibly the number one favourite, fantasy novel and that's the Queen of the Tearling series. I was absolutely in love with all three books in that series and the moment Brianna started having memories she couldn't explain of someone else's life I was instantly transported back to that same sort of glee and fascination of that book. If you loved that series I would definitely recommend this book because the world building and great fantasy was very much the same but this book came into its own too with wonderful relationships between the main character, her friends and her handsome tutor.

Anytime Brienna and Cartier were together as well I was so happy and I really wanted them together despite not knowing much about their relationship and the slow build-up towards some adorable parts between the two of them. I loved the history of this book too and it was explored in deep detail because Brienna herself was studying the historical side in most of her knowledge tutoring. That means the author was really able to write so much into the past of the character's family, country and neighboring countries and enemies too so that helped towards understanding the world. 

Overall I'm glad I read this book since it was a very enjoyable read but it did take me a few tries to really get into the start of the story since it was a slow-moving plot. Plenty of events did happen over the course of the book but it was more of a creative and thoughtful story and less action packed like a lot of the fantasy books I'm used to reading. I might not have been in the right reading mood for a slow-paced fantasy so I really would have taken my time with this one if I had the time because it was a perfectly calm-paced and lush world with so many mysteries and secrets brewing it the background ready to hopefully come to action in the next book.

*I received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

I loved this! This story was set in such an interesting world. All the characters, from Brienna, our main, to the side characters like the Ariels and the Ardens, were really given a lot of life.
I loved the different passions and really identified with Brienna who enjoyed a lot of things but wasn't necessarily brilliant at them.

Obvi I thoroughly enjoyed the romantic tension between Cartier and Brienna- it was such a slow burn (tbh too slow)but I loved where it was at the conclusion of this book.

I loved all the history and that while there was magic involved, for once it wasn't the main focus and for once the main character wasn't involved with it, which I found quite unusual.

Overall I really liked the writing and the characters, and hope to see more from this author.

Wow! Something unlike anything I have read recently in YA. Passionate and thrilling Brienna is a wonderful character tog at behind and heroic story is one you can’t put down!

I picked up The Queen's Rising because I find it pretty much impossible to pass up a book being sold as "perfect for fans of Six of Crows and Sarah J Maas" (yes I'm a marketer's dream haha). This comparison wasn't far off the mark - The Queen's Rising delivered a tough young woman main character and a bunch of espionage and political intrigue.

So, I thought this was really fun! There were lots of things (tropes, I guess) that I've seen and loved in other YA fantasy books, but it was done in a way that felt fresh and a bit different to me.
One of the things I really liked was the friendship and camaraderie between Brienna and her fellow passion trainees - I feel like so often we see competition between young women in books, but these women really supported eachother.

I'm not entirely sure whether this is intended to be the first book in a series (it seems like from the Goodreads entry) - I would love to follow more of these characters' stories beyond the finishing point of the book, but also felt like it had a satisfying ending if it were to be a stand-alone.

I gave this 3.5 stars, and would recommend it to readers looking for a quick, fun, lightish-on-the-fantasy read, without the commitment of a multiplle biik long series. I have an ebook of this one, but the cover is gorgeous, and I'll be keeping an eye out for whatever Rebecca Ross does next.

4.5 STARS

Well, to start off with—WOW! The Queen's Rising built up into an amazing read; packed with crafty planning, plenty of action and a hint of a romance... I was hooked! Our main character Brienna may not have understood who she was or where she was from, but it didn't hold her back from creating her own destiny.

Right from the beginning, I could see that Brienna had a bond with Master Cartier, and although it took her a while to figure out she wanted to master knowledge, she worked hard to ensure she would graduate with the other girls. I liked her determination and the easy way she was able to interact with her master, despite their student/teacher relationship. However, Brienna's journey didn't go as planned, and soon she was on a journey of self discovery, and was involved with a plan to bring order back to her rightful country.

I really loved how this story unfolded, and even though it was a little obvious at times, it didn't detract from the way the story was headed. I liked getting to know Brienna's new Patron family and realising how important these people were to a whole nation. Special bonds between strangers were created that I'm sure will last a lifetime and a few old friends also returned who added a little extra support where needed.

For Rebecca Ross's debut novel, I was pleasantly surprised as to how much I enjoyed it! She was able to create a world that I could easily get lost in. I was intrigued by the characters, and the storyline became so exciting and dangerous, that I could not put it down! It truly was a well crafted read and I'm looking forward to how things will go next for this group I've come to adore! Bring on the next book, The Queen’s Resistance due out in 2019!

Review Scheduled to go live on blog on April 23rd @ Naomi’s Reading Palace—http://nomisparanormalpalace.blogspot.com.au

I really enjoyed this book. It was well written with interesting characters and plot. Definitely worth a read!

Brienna has struggled to find herself, she does not know her Maevan father's name and she struggles to find her passion at the prestigious Magnalia House in Valenia. Those who attend Magnalia House are born with an innate talent for one of the five passions, but Brienna tries them all before choosing to study knowledge, but is it too little too late for her to master her passion and be chosen by a patron?

This was a delightful read which portrayed strong relationships between the arden sisters of Magnalia House while weaving in political instability between nations and the civil unrest of Maevana. This book was engaging throughout and I wanted desperately to reach the end and know, would Maevana have a queen once more?

There were issues in this book that I find are prevalent through YALit but I was so engaged with the plot that I found them easy to ignore. The main romance was a little uncomfortable if you thought on it too much but I enjoyed it at face value nonetheless, and even now I am still unsure of some of the characters roles and why they played them but these are easy things to forgive when I feel that the plot really carried you forward. The familial relationships in the book are evocative and although they were perhaps a little rushed they were still believable and emotional. It was also refreshing to read a Young Adult novel that did not feel it necessary to insert ridiculous trademarks of the genre such as perpetual eye-rolling.

It might be worthy to note that I did not read the family trees in the beginning of the book before I read the story save for a quick skim that I quickly forgot. I think that I enjoyed the book more after going back to look at them after I'd finished as I feel like they would have taken much of the mystery of the book away.

3.75 stars actually! It's not quite worth that 4 star rating... <i>Many thanks to netgalley for the arc, my opinions below are my honest opinions and were by no means influenced by this.</i>

First, I want to point out, this book would have been a BIG favourite of mine when I was thirteen, maximum like seventeen. Since it's DEFINITELY filled with all the things I would have liked back then, and all the bad things I wouldn't have noticed. When I say bad things I just mean things that would put me to sleep now, or make me frown the devil's frown if I was in a not so great mood. In saying that, of all the bad books I've read recently, this is NOWHERE near it. And of the good books I've read this is also NOWHERE near it. Basically it's somewhere in between. Good enough that I liked it okay (Gee, I read it faster than I thought anyway) and not bad enough for me to want to critique the hell out of it. SO, below I'm going to list some of the things that readers might not like, and then after, I'll say why it's good.

<b>The stuff of headaches for hardcore fantasy, character building and everything in between</b>

<b>{1} A near Mary Sue main character</b>. Brienna isn't quite the Mary Sue, but her character was close to it. There were many moments in which (had I been in a different mood) would have annoyed me. But, it seems Ross skirted (and caught me at a good time) the fine line between Mary Sue and someone more empathetic. For example, in search for the stone, Brienna asks, or rather demands, that she be the one to make decisions about the Stone and give it to the Queen-to-be. This in itself was my first questionable moment. I mean, the girl has yet to prove herself, or prove her value, therefore what right does she have to make such demands? But of course, her passion father sets the boundaries on what she can and can't do. Other moments include...having her ride next to the Queen when really...she doesn't have that much swordfighting ability and whatnot, or everyone listening to her when she announces her plan idea....as if she is the only one to come up with it. But for it to work, most of it was coincidental!

<b>{2} Part A and Part B</b> - Not the accurate titles given in the book, anyway, these two part seemed to both a) flow, and b) not flow. We learn about Brienna's beginnings at Magnalia House, which in itself was really interesting! Except, much of what we are told that she has done isn't really referred to in Part B, even though her learning as a passion of knowledge would have been really useful to Part B!

<b>{3} The Passions</b>, I thought was really interesting idea in terms of world defining. It's similar to Divergent, but at the same time, not really. It's more similar to the way we look at majoring in university. Basically each passion is like a major. You can choose to be a passion in art, wit, music, knowledge, dramatics. Some of them have streams, i.e. under knowledge, you can choose to eventually become an arden to a patron under teaching/education, something biology/physician related, and the last in history. I thought this was very interesting. My only disappointment, of course, as a linguist, that language was not included anywhere (from what I remember). Language is a very important asset! Then again, there are only two notable languages in this world, and tbh, the representation of language and acquired language didn't feel great (?) not awful but more like taken for granted.

<b>{4} Worldbuilding,</b> I did quite like the worldbuilding! It's very clear what is what, and you get a very specific feel about Valenians and Maevans. Valenians feel like they've been inspired by medieval French, and Maevans by almost celtics but more medieval? The worldbuilding was a little less developed when it came to the Maevans. And asides from running a court and having distinct families and a strong history background (that Valenia was not developed well in this sense), I didn't get much of a feel for Maevans except that they dealt justice with a sword - eye for an eye and all - and were more brutal than Valenians.

<b>{5} Romance,</b> this was not really necessary and it wasn't world shattering either. It was predictable and it was nice. Master Cartier was the perfect love interest, but he was also nothing spectacular, while not unspectacular either. What is likeable about him, is that he has his own story, and he also, is not the main focus of Brienna's story. He plays a part, but Brienna goes about her own story, doing her own thing, right up until they reunite. Unfortunately (or perhaps not unfortunately), their romance is also plagued with scenes I would have loved when I was much younger (I appreciated it now, because other more hardcore stories are less focussed on beautifying these moments and more focussed on the twists to come). These scenes paint a pretty picture of their interactions. Light and fluffy and romantic in a clean kind of fairytale way. But I like that the romance doesn't take away from the story, acting as a side even though it also has a somewhat big part, if that makes sense? I guess in a way I was pushed to read more because I wanted to see Master Cartier and Brienna reunite.

<b>{6} Other characters...?</b> Were nice, but they mostly seemed to fill up the cast and support the main character. Like Luc and Jourdain, etc. But in saying that they all had their own stories, that tied into Brienna's but there are not complicated threads either. Without Brienna, their stories are pointless. Their fight pointless because she wouldn't be there, a catalyst for the change. And that was a bit of a shame.

<b>{7} Brienna as central figure</b>. The thing is, I'm not even mad or annoyed or frustrated this time, maybe because of the way Ross writes Brienna's story that I don't hate her character, but she is pretty much always the central figure. Like I said in the previous point, without her, nothing would have happened. She's special for very little reason, and I wish she toned it down. But in saying that, at the end there when she was in a fight between herself and her father which I did find unbelievable due her minimal skills in the sword vs. his many years of the sword, that scene was saved by the interference of someone with more skill than her. It was little things that diverted my mind from thinking that I dislike this book.

<b>{8} Going back to other characters!</b> Since I almost forgot. I was not happy with the insta-family dynamics of Brienna and her patron family, and the weak twist with Brienna and her biological father. Firstly, I saw it coming that Brienna's real father would play a role. That wasn't much of a surprise after we learn she is the receiver of her ancestors' memories. Secondly, her biological father is unfortunately reduced to a very two-dimensional character. His eldest son as well. His youngest son served to have a more rounded character except that his final actions weren't all that clear. Thirdly, as for Brienna and her patron family, they were all too close far too soon. I would have liked more angst.

<b>{10} Major plot twists & Complicated backstories or characters</b> are totally missing from this. It's like I said, I would have loved this so much more if I was younger. I've read a lot of fantasy fiction, and I will say I enjoyed this a lot more than say ACOTAR, mostly because it retains the 'Young-ness' of Young Adult whereas Maas strides into New Adult territory. Why I say I would have loved it more if I was younger? Because there are no heavy moments of angst for me. When facing the false King of Maevana, retrieving the stone, even leaving her own room, Brienna has very little trouble for any of these. Yes, she does have trouble with one or two things, like not getting a patron when she was supposed to, or being able to tell Master Cartier the truth. But mostly, she's in a difficult position and she gets out of it without anyone knowing or wiser about it. That was somewhat irritating, except my mood was clearly in for something this uncomplicated...after all the complicated books I've been reading lately...

<b>{10} And the last point, any more can be found in other brilliant reviews, the good and the bad.</b> This book will either do one of the follow: 1) Cruise! You'll not be surprised or angry or happy or sad or anything. It will just cruise for you. 2) You'll get bored. It'll be boring, repeated, and far too happy-go-luck. And then there's 3) you'll like it, enjoy it, or love it. I fell into 3, under I liked it. But I'm not surprised if I would have felt any of the other two at some other point in time. SO if any of the above annoyed you, don't suit your tastes, then this is probably not your book - it is nearly 500 pages after all!

This book was provided to me for an honest opinion from Netgalley.

The Queen's Rising is about Brienna who was born out of wedlock, with a Maevan noble father and a Valenian mother. She sent to Magnalia House by her Grandfather so she could 'passion'.. Magnalia House is in Valenia where girls choose what they want to passion in. There are five passions, Art, Music, Dramatics, Wit and Knowledge. Brienna tried all of the passions before finally finding a home in Knowledge under her master Cartier.
The Queen's Rising is a fantasy novel with the evil king to overthrow, it was fun, it had great characters, and I loved the relationships that Brienna formed. From her sisters at Magnalia House to her 'adopted' Father Jourdain, they were beautiful and real. I loved Yseult, she was such a strong character and will make a fine Queen.

If you like YA fantasy, then you'll enjoy this book. There are a lot of themes seen often in the YA fantasy genre, but the passions was one of my favourite things about this book. It makes it stand out and be different from every other fantasy YA book. I love that it inspires people to look into themselves and find something that they are passionate about.

The Queen’s rising was an easy to read fantasy and could be recommended as a fairly straight forward introduction to the genre as it has all the familiar tropes, an orphan heroine, an evil king who must be overthrown, brave resistance fighters and romance, to make it very readable. In addition Brienna is a most likeable heroine and even though brought up initially in an orphanage, she knows what is important in family life and is loyal and steadfast to those she loves. She has to make difficult choices about who is the rightful queen of Maevana and how to act when she arrives there.
What makes this different from other fantasy stories is the school where Brienna is placed by her grandfather. When she arrives at Magnalia House she has to choose one of five passions -art, music, dramatics, wit, and knowledge – to study. She quickly makes friends there but tries all areas of study until Cartier, the Master of Knowledge, takes her as a pupil and tries to teach her all she needs to know to become a passion of knowledge in three years instead of seven. From the other girls studying there the reader finds out about the different passions and how they feel and act about them, giving an indepth understanding of what people passionate about the arts and knowledge experience. This could encourage readers to consider what their own passions could be and what is needed for them to develop.

Born illegitimately, with an unknown father, and her mother dead, Brienna is raised by her grandfather until she turns 10, when she is handed over to Magnalia House to be educated in one of the five passions. And she tries them all, before finally settling on Knowledge. Her indecision costs her though, and she has considerably less time to prepare for Solstice, and things do not go according to plan. Left without a patron, Brienne unexpectedly finds herself in the middle of a dangerous plot to overthrow the King of Maevana.

That I found myself awake till two in the morning, unable to put the book down, and needing to finish the last couple of chapters, is likely indication enough that The Queen's Rising for me was a five star read. It was incredibly well written, and it was easy to imagine all the little details of the characters and the world as the story is told.

I loved that Brienna is far from perfect, her failures surprised me, and it made her all the more relatable and believable. I adored her friendships with the other girls at Magnalia House, particularly with her room mate. And of course, her Master, Cartier. While the romance side of things, definitely did have a bit of a slow burn, it did feel like a bit like she fell in love with him near instantly at the start of the story. But that doesn't really take into account the 7 or so years she spent with him being taught 'off-screen'.

For me there was plenty of action going on to keep me reading, and struggling to put this book down every night, but towards the end, things seemed to wrap up just a little too perfectly, which doesn't leave much room for a sequel, given the book is the first in a trilogy. I would loved to have seen a few more unexpected twists and perhaps just a couple more things going wrong at the end.

5 out of 5 Stars.

* This ebook ARC was provided by HarperCollins Publishers Australia through NetGalley for an honest review.

I have to confess – I was the sceptic at first but after just the first few chapters, I was helplessly glued to my kindle. This book preys on my soft spots: fantasy and RPGs (role-playing games). The whole premise about Brienna studying one of five ‘passions’, is the basic model of fantasy RPGs that make you choose one of numerous ‘classes’ (e.g. warrior/mage/rogue etc) for your character. It’s easy, it works like a charm. This part makes me reminisce about my game-playing days… ah to be carefree again! And then Rebecca Ross throws in just a pinch of clean romance – so cheesy but I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m loving it!

A fantastic theme that crops up often throughout this book is wanting two opposing things at once. It’s mostly centred around conflicts within Brienna herself. It’s opportunity cost, if you’re after one thing, automatically that costs you the opportunity of doing another. Brienna has to choose numerous times and especially during the climax of the plot, as the Goodreads synopsis puts it: “Brienna must choose which side she will remain loyal to: passion or blood”.

I love that The Queen’s Rising has maps and lineage trees in them, although I’ll have to be frank and say even without them you could imagine and understand the plot just fine. Having them definitely doesn’t hurt, though!