I appreciated that this book starts with a background for the kingdom and the history which helps the reader quickly understand the situation.  Although just a few chapters in this sample, I feel that I already know the potential 'twist' which may be in place, however, enjoyed the writing style and characters so far so will likely pick up the full version when I'm looking for some escapism.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Books for the chance to read this sample ahead of publication for an honest review.

I understand it was a sample and I may be willing to give the full book a chance in the future, but from what I read this just isn’t my type of fantasy.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book though I shouldn’t have been since Melissa de la Cruz always writes amazing, unique stories.

This book had a lot of information to take in at the beginning of the book which was great because it gives the reader the knowledge on what has happened in the past so that they have a better understanding of what is happening in the book. It was a great first 3 chapters I look forward to getting a chance to read the rest of this book so that I can find out what happens with these characters.

This preview was everything. I am so excited to read the rest of this book! If this is anything to go by, I am sure it will be amazing!

Thank you to the publisher, and Netgalley for this 42 page sneak peek!

I'm very intrigued by snippet! It was quite the info dump at the beginning, but I understand we needed that back story to be able to get into the story so I pushed through it. I do feel it was hard to keep the names and places straight though.

I wish there had been a second person in these first scenes with Shadow, to have some dialogue to break it up after the info heavy introduction. 

I am excited to see where Shadow's story goes and I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for when this releases!

I only had the chance to read an excerpt of this book, and what I read intrigued me. I want to know more about Shadow, I think that there is a lot more to her than what I’ve seen so far. Caledon is another character that has a lot more to him than what is seen in this excerpt. This excerpt caught my attention enough to make me want to get my hands on the whole book to see what will happen to Shadow and Cal.a

There are some minor spacing errors, but overall it's a great story. It has a very interesting plot and even more interesting characters. Would definitely recommend!!

The sampler was a bit hard to follow since it was just an intro into the book. I have read from this author before and have liked her writing.

I have to approach this review in two parts: the front matter, then chapter one and onward. 

Were I not actually evaluating this, I would have put it down long before getting to chapter one. I have no problems with front matter or prologues, I read them all the time. But I found the history and prologue sections of the book nearly unreadable. Every page was packed with new names and places, making it just impossible for me to juggle all at once - not only that, but the writing style feels completely different from what you get in chapter one. 

All that said, I was able to retain almost nothing from the front matter, and yet the book still made sense from chapter one. Which is problematic, because the thing that was written in such an off-putting way wasn't even necessary at all. Starting from chapter one I would say it's a decent start to a book, and while it didn't captivate me in a deep way, I would have pushed onward through at least another couple of chapters.

My rating is for chapter one onward, since I would have put it down otherwise.

First things first: this was a hundred times better than blue bloods. What a beautiful roller coaster this was. I loved the secrets, the chaos, the twists and turns. WHEN CAN I HAVE THE SEQUEL

I got to read the sampler for this book, and it left me wanting to know more! I can already tell that the main character, Shadow, is going to make things quite interesting with her rebellious side. Since it is only a “sampler” I have so many questions starting with Caledon Holt. He saved Shadows life while she was exploring in the woods far from her home. I’m left to wonder what he was doing out in the woods? Or was he the person/thing following her the whole time? Because I didn’t get to read further, I’m wondering if she is the possible heir he was sworn to protect and that is why he was following her through the woods? The last question I have is why do we only know her nickname and not her actual name? I have so many theories I’m going to have to find a way to get my hands on this book quick!

This is definitely an interesting start. I want to know more f the world history and how everything plays out.

You know a book is going to be good when the introduction has you hanging on the edge of your seat. I'm hooked and need to know what happens to Shadow!

Caledon Holt is the Queen's assassin.  This responsibility was handed down to him from his own father and it is his sworn duty to find the Deian Scrolls.  

Shadow has been training to become part of the Guild her whole life.  While living with her aunts on a bee farm, she has learned many skills that are preparing her for this responsibility.  What she wants most is to become an apprentice to Holt and serve the kingdom that way.  Unfortunately, it is not her decision.  When she runs away to pursue this desire, she encounters many obstacles and possibly growing feelings for the man she means to apprentice under.  

A fantasy book that is good for fans of action and romance.  Overall it was a good book.  I wouldn't say I loved it, but I certainly enjoyed the story and will read the next in line!  

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.  I got just a snippet and then went and found the book so I could get the whole story!

This sampler was amazing. It did a good job pulling me into the story. Unfortunately this was just a sampler and not the entire book... BUT this sampler makes me want to grab the book and read the entire story!

It was difficult to get into it and there were lots of things I didn't get, I suppose it is because I only got to read the first two chapters and it is all introduction. Even so, I would still like to read the book, it has something that drowns me to it.

I struggle with writing anything negative about a book if I haven't read it in its entirety, but this sampler fell flat for me. The prologue didn't draw me in, and I walked away lacking connection to any of the characters, even Shadow, whose chapters were told from first-person POV. The way this book is written didn't evoke an ounce of emotion from me, which I fully attribute to the amount of "telling" vs. "showing". While I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to read this sampler, I won't be picking The Queen's Assassin up.

Note, there was a lot of weird formatting in the sampler. I'm not sure if the publisher did that to prevent plagiarism, but considering that it's only a couple of chapters from the book, the formatting issues were extremely frustrating as a reader.

I really had high hopes for this read and really wanted to enjoy it. While I have only read the sampler, I struggled with finding uniqueness in the premise. 

I will definitely give it a second look once I have the entire book, in hopes that it will peak my interest later on.

Sounds pretty good from the thirty or so pages but I can’t really review off of that. Characters seemed developed and interesting, I’d definitely read the series.