❝ “Sometimes failure is the beginning of success” ❞

This was a book I had been very excited about. I loved the concept of four sister queens, the intrigue of a good mystery, and a potential thief now having to turn “good" to help her kingdom. But in the end, none of these things happened. I was so let down by this book, so utterly bored, that I had to DNF it at 45%.

My first clue that I was in for a rough ride was when the author started assaulting me with all these rules and history lessons about how the queens came to be (granted, the main character seemed annoying but this was the first thing that truly bothered me). I really hate it when authors info dump. Sometimes I just felt like I should be straight up taking notes.

The characters were the next issue I ran into because as we were introduced to the queens I could not for the life of me tell them apart. There was nothing really distinguishable about them. They were all pretty bland and honestly, I couldn't care less about them. I never formed any sort of connection to them or Keralie (unless you want to count irritation).

I was hoping that at least Keralie would be interesting but that was a dead-end too. She didn't seem to care for anyone but herself; she was very selfish. She also didn't take anything seriously. Her character was just a joke. She threw away her family and a good life just because she “wanted” to be a thief. How lazy is that?

And just because I can't end this review without touching on this: the laws for the kingdom we're stupid as hell. I don't see how it is helpful to forbid relationships and not let queens visit the territories they are in charge of. Ugh, no logic there. The rules just felt like they were made up to create false/unnecessary drama.

As for the plot, it moved agonizingly slow and that was really the last nail in the coffin for me. Only my natural curiosity drove me to read this far as I did. I had kind of already guess who was behind things and just skimmed some later chapters and online reviews to confirm my theory. Overall, for dead queens was just poorly written and a complete waste of time for me.

This was a great sampler! It sucked me into the story and I dove into the book when I first got it.
I especially love the rules that proceed the chapter. I wish there was a little more explanation of the quadrants up front, but I definitely picked it up in the full story.

A sampler, but was enough to pull me into reading the finished copy of FOUR DEAD QUEENS. Love the premise and the quick drop into an action packed story. Each POV feels distinct and memorable. Recommended for fantasy fans.

Beautiful writing, beautiful cover; this is one pretty book! Inside out!! I fell in love with the characters and the plot. Fantasy at its best!!!

Stilted, cliched, and with world-building that simply does not allow the reader to suspend disbelief, Four Dead Queens disappoints. What should have been a refreshing take on fantasy tropes (the queens die at the beginning?! How unusual!) quickly submerges into stiff dialogue and flat characterizations, with bizarre descriptions of a segmented world that are, again, too cliched and nonsensical to fit together.

I like a novel I can't put down and this is one of those. I will say, though, there were some disappointments, namely in the main character "falling out of character." Keralie is portrayed as strong and yet there are moments when she takes a course of action completely unexpected, given what the reader learns about her. For a debut novel, it is pretty darn good!

I am not sure how I feel about this. It feels very generic to me with full of tropes. I am unsure if I wanna read the full book or not.

Fantasy/Murder Mystery that will make you feel like you are entering an escape room that takes place on a roller coaster ride!

I wasn't sure how I would feel about this book but I couldn't put it down, it has a really intriguing concept, however I can't say it reached my expectations. It started out good but the more I read, the more flaws I started to discover. And with those flaws, my enjoyment went down.It has a great permise though so hopefully others will like it more!

An excerpt of four dead queens. I'm so excited to finally dive into the whole novel (since it's out now!)

I received a copy of this story from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I've been interested in this book for a little while now. It has an attractive, appealing cover and I've seen enough people reading it that when I received an excerpt, I was very excited.

There were a few chapters - enough to familiarize myself with the world and some of the characters. And it kept me interested. I'm curious to see where the story goes. I didn't care much for the Queens, which is unfortunate because they're the titular characters, but I liked the characters from different cultures. I could possibly see Keralie getting annoying as the story continued.

I'm very seriously considering getting the full book to read!

I received this ARC and immediately dove in.. The title drew my eye, and the story won my heart <3
I absolutely loved this - The characters were well rounded and always left you hungry for more.

Very generic opening of a book, and does not make me want to carry on reading; it feels as if I have already read this book before, and is very forgettable.

Great little except. This is definitely a book that I'll be reading in the summer I'm super excited to delve into this world that Miss Scholte created

Thank you Netgalley

This sampler has me excited to read the full novel, I’m excited to get to it and get more o to this world and this story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this sneak peak.

This will be a must read to finish. I am loving the story line and the plot. I know we have sort of been seeing this the past few years but I don't think you can go wrong with a great dead queen! Battles among themselves are amazing plots.

OOOH I can't wait to read this whole book, like I"m going out first thing and getting it so I can finish this one. Teasers like this just aren't fair lol. I loved the writing and the plot is just WOW!

3.9

The issue with this book is that it would have been better off being a duology. I think it's a decent attempt at a debut; the writing is good, most of the characters are fleshed out (well enough), and there were enough twists that it can keep people guessing without being ridiculous. The plot itself, and the romance specifically, felt very rushed. I felt little to no chemistry between the characters which was a shame because they were interesting on their own - it would have been great to feel their yearning for each other.

Part of the reveal was ... meh, and the other part was cool. I think that's what's keeping me from rating this higher: had a lot of potential, fell a little short of the mark.

Regardless, I'll be checking out what Astrid Scholte writes in the future!

I liked this book! I saw a few of the plot twists coming, but it was still an enjoyable read, if a little slower than I prefer. 4 out of 5 stars.

I enjoyed this book, but I was expecting a bit more from the story and the twists. Since it was marketed as a murder mystery, I was hoping for more of a mystery but the culprit was pretty clearly telegraphed from the beginning. I also wanted to see more of the worldbuilding aside from the surface differences among the quadrants.