Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book. Sadly I am about 60% of the way through and I just am not interested in continuing the book.

I did enjoy this book at first, I really enjoyed the writing style. Its super easy to read and flows really well. This author has a great writing style. But the weak part for me was the characters and the motivations. I really did not like a single character. Bal and Tass are the main point of view characters and while Tass wasn't too bad, Bal was awful. I couldn't stand being in his head. There was nothing likable about him, not even his crew liked him. Supposedly they did at one point, but every interaction with Bal and the other characters is a fight and they can't seem to stand him themselves. I do not understand why Bal was the leader of this gang... even Tass asked that question at one point.

Further, Bal's motivations were extremely one-sided, all he cared about was this one girl that no one else could stand. And this motivation never changed. He didn't care if the whole world was falling apart, all he cared about was this girl.
"There was only one thing to do; get Mira out of the city and rescue Shasheba. In that order." You hear this over and over and I was hoping for some dynamic growth of Bal but there was nothing. He would throw everyone under just for Shasheba.

I thought from the blub that this book would be able a thieving crew that was going to save the world but instead you get thrown into a crew that is falling apart and just wants to run away from everything. None of them appear to have any special abilities (except for the Queen of Days) and there were never any heists. One scene has Bal crashing a party...as himself. I was just hoping for more adventures and a tight-nit crew.

As I mentioned though, the author has a great talent for writing, I enjoyed this writing style, I just did not feel like the book delivered on the story and the characters. I did enjoy this at first but after a while I didn't feel like the story was moving and I got tired of the characters constantly fighting.

Thanks netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc!

The Queen of Days is the perfect read for anyone looking for a fast-paced heist story.

There were a lot of elements that I enjoyed from this book. I think my favorite was the magic system. It was unlike anything I had seen before. Learning about it was so fascinating. The chaotic family of thieves quickly grew on my. Though their relationships are pre established I found that I still enjoyed it. Because it was pre established there was a believable sense of how far they'd go for each other.

One small thing I didn't like that the switch between first person and third. But that's just a me thing.

It's an overall enjoyable read.

✅Heists
✅Battles
✅Banter
✅Magic (Time)
✅Gods
✅Family

Great story packed with heists and action that will keep you on your toes. I did not particularly enjoy the switching from first to third party POV (personal preference), but I feel like they were spread out enough to still keep me interested. The world building was easy to picture and enjoyable.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

This book had really excellent world building and enjoyable writing style.

I do wish the characters had been a bit more fleshed out, and I had some issues with plot and pacing.

Overall though an enjoyable read.

3.5/5

The premise of Queen of Days is fantastic and had so much potential. Unfortunately, it fell a bit flat for me. I’ll start with what I enjoyed. Greta Kelly did an amazing job with the world building and that part of the book kept me interested throughout. The rich world she created was my favorite part of this book. Her prose is easy to follow and she threw in some fun, but predictable, twists. Now onto what I didn’t enjoy as much. The plot had a lot of potential but wasn’t executed as well as it could have been. It felt a bit disjointed at times. Tass started off as my favorite character. I thought she was so cool. I expected her to be a badass with a big role in the story, but I was sad to see that at the end her character became quite boring. None of the characters had much development going on for them. I enjoyed Kai’s character the most, I loved his sarcastic personality. Overall, this was a good but not great read. If you like heists and fantasy I’d say give it a try!

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager for providing an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All thought and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

A thrilling fun read with a heist, rag tag group of friends, magic and amazing world building.
I also liked how action packed this story flowed, the characters were good but I did want them to be a little more fleshed out.

3.5 stars

I really enjoyed the uniqueness of the plot and the world building was extremely well written. The author did a great job spacing out information in a way that kept me informed about the religious and magical order without being overwhelming.

It took me a while to get into the book, I’d says almost to the 40% mark, even though some major events happen around the 25-30% mark. Even once things started to pick up, I felt this one was way more character driven than plot driven. And for me, there wasn’t quite enough of the characters to be invested in that type of plot device for this story. Bal and Tass are great leads, but this is one of the instances where I felt the POVs of the entire team would have added nuance and depth to the story, especially Kai’s and Miraveena’s. I also would have liked Shasheba’s POV. So much of the story revolves around a woman we only initially see through a minor snippet of conversation.

When it comes to the Valaden family, and their tragic backstory, I wish there had been some initial prologue or overview of their demise. I, at times, felt like I’d been dropped into a story missing the first several chapters.

Overall, this was a creative fantasy and I like how the author left the door open for future stories. I would love to see more of Tassiel and the Ankaari.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Bal and his band of thieves are hired to make a high stakes heist with a payoff of so much coin it could mean the end of their long years spent as criminals. Their patron has one requirement before the job can be done. The crew must solicit the help of the Queen of Days—a renowned con artist who has pulled off seemingly impossible heists all on her own. There is something OTHER about this Queen of Days. She requires no coin as payment but something much more precious. Hidden behind a mask and black hood, this person seems to be more shadow, mystery, and magic than human. She also seems to have some otherworldly connection to the chaos about to befall this world —a particular brand of chaos that could mean destruction to humanity.

Read of you like:
•High-stakes Heists & Hijinks
•Badass Female Characters
•Malevolent Gods
•Sarcastic Banter
•Fast-paced timelines
•Unique Magic Systems
•Found Family

The Queen of Days is written in dual POV switching between Bal the leader of the Talion and the Queen of Days herself. Great choice because I loved these characters so much. In fact, every character in this story is so well done. (Kai might be my favorite because I love the sarcastic humor.)

Greta Kelly writes in such a way that keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time. She throws one crazy thing after another at her characters —and her readers—and I love it. This is the third book I’ve read of hers and all three received a five star rating from me. I will recommend anything written by her forever. This is definitely my brand of fantasy. You should absolutely read this book! It’s a goodie! 👍🏻🖤

DNFed at 30%

Unfortunately, I just wasn't able to connect with the characters in The Queen of Days. I wasn't sure how they had were considered good thieves and Bal was not a great leader. I was quite sure how he was getting from A to B with some of his ideas for revenge. (He wanted the person who hurt his family to know it was him who stole an object, but not with enough proof to jail him, but the guy he's stealing from is the most powerful person in the city? That doesn't seem like it could end well ever.) Tassiel was a little more interesting, but her magic was kind of ill defined (at one point she does something that she then can't do later and we aren't give an explanation) and for how much she seemed upset about taking time without consent, she didn't seem worried when Bal consented for other people without them knowing. The book also tended to like to give info dumps, which made the opening feel longer than it actually was.

Queen of days

Started 02.08
Finished 04.08

⁃ Heist
⁃ Time magic
⁃ First and third person POVs
⁃ Good writing
⁃ Multiple povs
⁃ Good word building

Bal and his crew take on a new heist, with the addition of one new member ,- the Queen Of Days - one of the best thieves around. However, things start to go terribly wrong and although their were rumours that the Queen of Days wasn’t human nobody expected them to be true.

I loved the premise of this book when I first started it - an epic heist and a stranger that has time magic - but around the 30% mark I just couldn’t get into it anymore.

The plot wasn’t anything that special and my attention fizzled out pretty quickly. In terms of characters, I personally couldn’t get attached to them, my favourite was probably Tass and that’s only because she had cool powers. You just don’t really get attached to them or learn too much about certain others.
Bal for instance has the worst leadership skills I’ve ever seen but he’s still somehow the leader of a team that his family follows despite it risking their lives? His obsession with his ex fiancé is also questionable as again, he puts his teams lives on the line for her despite her being indifferent to him.

The writing though was amazing throughout, with the world building being done really well throughout the book. However, the switch from first person in Bals pov to third person in Tass’ was initially a bit confusing; it would have made more sense if the world book was in first person or vice versa.

Thank you so much to Wunderkind PR and NetGalley for an arc of this - All opinions are my own 💗

The Queen of Days is a perfect story for anyone who loves a good heist (and when a good heist runs into all sorts of extra problems). The relationships between the characters are real and heartwarming, and the plot is fast-paced with twists and turns that keep you turning the pages.

Selfishly, I would have loved a full Tass reveal at the end. I'm extremely curious! The story ends in a way that's wrapped up, but still leaves the story open to a possible sequel.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Premise: Messy family seeks revenge for being overthrown, accidentally learns that evil beings are trying to invade their world, has to do something about it.

The Vibe: Lies of Locke Lamora x Secrets of Immortal Nicholas Flamel

What I liked:
- The blurb implied a found family, and they were already a blood family, not found. I think it was well-done and I wish it was featured more in marketing.
- Fast-paced, but with good amounts of slower scenes for a break.
- Most of the book is in Bal's POV, but Tass has some (3rd person) POVs and I thought they were well spaced out.

What I didn't like:
- Overall, it's just not super memorable.
- I don't feel like the worldbuilding brought anything new. It is detailed and consistent, but just not super interesting.
- Bal isn't like...a good crew leader of a mediocre group of thieves. All of their abilities are just informed, not really shown in-text, so it was not super believable.

I loved the premise of the book, a powerful supernatural being whom a gang of thieves led by an ex-princeling enlists to help in a dangerous heist of an idol in exchange for a month off their lives. Initially, I loved the characters as well. Bal was an interesting character, bent on revenge after his whole royal family was killed, and I loved Tass at first, who was a total badass.

But the execution just didn’t work for me. Tass’s character took a back seat in the last half of the book, which was disappointing. And I didn’t see the chemistry between Bal and his former fiancee, Seshana, who he’s still obsessed with despite her treating him with indifference and resentment.

He’s continually willing to risk his crew’s lives for the love of this woman who clearly doesn’t return his affections, and for his sister, which does make more sense; sometimes he fills the crew in on his plans, sometimes they don’t. He didn’t show much leadership ability; I wondered why they trusted him at all. He started off as self-absorbed and pretty much stayed that way. The character motivations were all over the board and did not make sense to me. These weren’t even very complex characters, they were just all meh.

And that Tass is so willing to trust them after just three days? Not believable.

Also annoying is the switch between first person POV from Bal’s POV and third from Tass’s. It would have been less disorienting sticking with one or the other even with multiple POVs.

This will appeal to fans of Dungeons and Dragons or litRPG, but it just didn’t work for me. I ended up skimming the last half of the book despite the pace of the heist.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A HUGE thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book early.

I’ve never read a fantasy book quite like this! The world building was beautiful and I felt like I was right there with the characters for every twist! The adventure these characters go on is great and I honestly didn’t know what was going to happen. Most of all with this story I loved the characters and the family aspect they have. I could tell they cared and loved eachother so much which made it all come together! Will definitely be buying the book when it comes out!

I really liked this one. I'm not big on "fantasy heist" as a genre (I think I missed the boat on that because I never read SIX OF CROWS which is what every fantasy heist is compared to, but I'm sure it's good!) but THE QUEEN OF DAYS was a fast-paced and quick read, and there was a lot more to enjoy about this one than simply the "heist" part, which is over fairly quickly, giving way to an adventure with even higher stakes. I thought that the strife between the "gods" and human world was compelling, and the worldbuilding was fascinating. It would be cool to see more books in this series!

THE QUEEN OF DAYS
Thank you to Harper Voyager for the digital ARC on Netgalley in exchange for a review. All thoughts are my own.

SYNOPSIS (in my own words): Balthazar and his young crew of thieves have one major goal: steal from the man who brought their family ruin, embarrass him in front of the entire city, and then get the hell outta dodge with their bounty to live comfortably. But one thing stands in their way – to complete this deal, they have to work with the mysterious Queen of Days and it seems that once she joins, their simple job becomes larger than life…larger than the reality of this world. Enter gods, a Nethersphere, and the most powerful beings threatening this world’s way of life. Suddenly Bal and friends have to make a choice: let it happen or kill a god, both of which mean certain death.

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW: I’m not going to lie, I read this as I was watching the latest season of Shadow and Bone, which features my beloved Crows from Six of Crows & Crooked Kingdom. It was hard not to directly compare the two while I was consuming both at the same time. The plotlines were completely different as were the dynamics of each group and both had their strengths. I would say if you’re looking for a straight-up heist story with experienced thieves, go to Six of Crows. However, if you’re looking for nonstop heart-pounding action with a heist on the side, Queen of Days is your girl. While this book started as Bal and his family doing one last job to set themselves up for life, it very quickly deviated from that track to become more of a save-the-world kind of story, which I was not expecting based on the brief descriptions I had read before starting. I have to say it was a pleasant surprise because it very much became it’s own creative world and story that could easily host sequels if the author chooses to return to Cothis.

I love the realism of why Bal felt compelled to “save the world.” It was a very Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 moment of “why do we have to save the galaxy” “Because I’m one of the idiots who lives in it!” kind of moment which I appreciated. The motivations were clear the entire time and I don’t think anyone acted out of character. I’m not sure if this is going to a be a series or not, but I think the main characters (Bal & Tass) had appropriate character arcs and growth over the course of a single book if this story does not continue. I feel like it would be difficult to try to jam an entire arc of a character in a single fantasy book without it seeming forced or like the character took a 180 for no reason and in my opinion the author nailed it.

With her third book, Greta Kelly has proven that she should be a household name in the fantasy realm. Between this and her Warrior Witch duology (which I will recommend until my dying breath), her level of detail, world-building, and understanding of magic is top notch. If asked which I would recommend more, I would say I liked Frozen Crown/Seventh Queen better than this book, but she set a very high bar for herself. I’m definitely excited to read anything else she does!

Overall, I say this is a 3.5/5, rounded up to a 4 for Netgalley/Goodreads rankings.

SPOILERS START HERE:

What I really liked:
-Bal & Tass’s relationship growth. If this crew comes back for a sequel (which it very easily could with the amount of world-building and setup for more powerful gods to try to come into the world), I hope they remain friends. I never got a romantic connection between them, which is refreshing in this new age of SJM romantasy. Sometimes people can just be friends, not everyone needs to be a freaking soulmate. If anything, Tass & Mira’s connection was the most pure and I loved that!
- I’m not sure if this was intentional or if this is just because it’s a digital ARC, but I really enjoyed how the chapter titles that were from Tass’s POV went from her full title of “Spetiniri Tassiel Janae” to “Tassiel” and then finally “Tass.” I read this as her going from being the isolated, banished demi-god that had no friends or family to growing to be a part of Bal’s crew and finally their family too.
-the glimpse of the Nethersphere! More please! If this becomes a sequel, there’s a whole new world of gods to battle and the entire space felt like the Upside Down from Stranger Things. It was intense and creative.

What I could’ve used more of:
-Kai for sure. I feel like his sarcasm and witty remarks provided some great comic relief and his banter with Tass was fun to read, especially once she started playing into it towards the end.
-the rest of the crew. I felt like the team was kind of neglected when Tass & Bal went off on their own and we lost out on a lot of the group. If the book is written in different perspectives, I think adding a Zee or Kai or even Mira while she’s captured would’ve tied them together a little more instead of feeling like they were super secondary characters that felt a little one-dimensional.
-heisty hijinks. This book was originally described as a heist book which is how it started but it spaced out a little unevenly. It started with the heist that immediately went wrong in the first 20% and then didn’t get back to a twist with Zee & Edik coming back until about the 90% mark. The bulk of the middle was a lot of conversations and learning about the bigger threat, which is fine, but I would’ve liked a few more twists from an experienced band of thieves. They felt a little amateur at times.

Balthazar's whole life is upended when Paasch, a small time politician gains the means to overthrow his family, killing off everyone except Balthazar, his younger sister Mira, half brother Malakai, and cousin Zee. Forced to flee their home of Cothis they and Zee's husband become thieves, risking their lives to steal from the nobility that abandoned them in the hope of financing a better future. Tass, the Queen of Days, is a mystery; arguably one of the best thieves around she takes no money from her clients only asking for their time. When one of Balthazar's wealthiest clients requests he and his team complete an absolutely wreckless heist with the Queen of Days they will find that they had more to lose than they ever imagined.

Alright, this was just meh. I tried really hard to get into it but I just found that I really didn't like any of the characters, they were very cookie cutter. Especially Balthazar and especially his obsession with his ex fiancé. He just tries to hard to please her while disregarding everyone else, not to mention he spends all of his time being the hero that no one really asked for. Tass is probably the only likable character and she's just barely likable.

The plot itself was predictable from the beginning. There was not one thing in this book that surprised me and that was highly disappointing. It didn't feel original either, the whole time I was reading it I felt like I'd read this before.

Overall, nothing really stood out for me with The Queen of Days. It wasn't horrible don't get me wrong but it wasn't great either. It was just meh. Definitely not my cup of tea but I think those who enjoy YA fantasies will like this.

As always thanks to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the eArc!

To preface, I rounded up my rating because I do feel like this book would be really fun for the right person, but I'm not sure that I was the right person to read it...

Aside from having a stunning cover, and a cool title, I was pretty intrigued by the "perfect for fans of Six of Crows" which is a bold statement because aren't we all? The blurb sounded like it would be right up my alley, I live for found family vibes and I love a good war with gods.

The plot itself of this story WAS really cool. Greta Kelly has a wicked imagination, because the world building here was great and I loved the concept of the magic system at play and the race that the huamans know as "the gods" really just being a ruthless immortal species that existed before mankind. Our main characters, our band of thieves, are all interesting characters in theory with complicated pasts and Tassiel (The Queen of Days), given her nickname for trading time rather than money, offers that element of mystery as you unfold her story. Unfortunately, the characterization kind of stopped there and never gained any depth for me. Everyone seemed very one-dimensional - nothing made me love them - some of them actually annoyed me to the point of wanting them to please sail away on a ship and never come back. Which is sad, because they had potential to be SO interesting and complex.

I read a review that said this reads like a Dungeons and Dragons fantasy novel, which I have never read, but maybe that is where the disconnect was for me. The swap between first and third person was disorienting. The stakes in this story were so high, but it never felt like it. There is lots of action. Hundreds of nameless people are killed, and we skip over it with like 2 sentences and no emotional impact. There is plenty of banter, but like 75% of it came from Kai who seemed like his only role in the story was "comedic relief" and I really did not find him that funny :( It felt like a very serious story, that just didn't take itself seriously.

***Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review***

I loved Greta's Frozen Queen duology, so I was looking forward to this one. It did not disappoint! It's a classic heist story with LOTS of magic, multiverse, and all powerful beings thrown in.

* Received a copy for review.*
Gah. There is a ch potential in this book. The world building is well done and the main character is interesting.
However, the jumping between first and third person was distracting and unnecessary.
The story never really found it’s footing and was disappointing overall.