Black Salt Queen is a Filipino inspired fantasy that has something for everyone! An interesting magic system, romance, betrayal, political intrigue, and no shortage of angst. Bansil created a beautiful world that I felt transported to. The writing was really impressive for a debut author, and I can’t wait to pick up everything she writes in the future! The cliffhanger was really well done and definitely made me want to read the next book immediately to see where the story is going to go.

My only complaint is that I never really connected with any of the characters. Eti and Ariel were my favorites, but none of the couples really hit for me. The author succeeded in making Laya and Luntok this toxic, love struck couple who couldn’t have each other. However, I think because they were toxic, I wasn’t invested in them. This could’ve also been because it took a long time for me not be annoyed with Laya and her power trip. The parallels between their mothers was far more interesting to me.

If you like political intrigue set in a lush and vivid world, you will probably enjoy this and I would recommend!

Thank you NetGalley and Bindery Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 - I'm Still Emotionally Wrecked

Black Salt Queen by Samantha Bansil absolutely wrecked me—in the best, most unforgettable way. This book is pure magic: rich, intense, and beautifully brutal. The island nation of Maynara is so vividly drawn, it feels like stepping into a dream (or maybe a nightmare, depending on which queen is winning).

Between Queen Hara Duja's crumbling strength, Laya’s chaotic power and heartbreak, and Imeria’s ruthless ambition, I was hooked from the first page. These women are fierce, messy, powerful, and real, and watching them circle each other with love, lies, and betrayal? Emotional damage. Actual emotional damage. I’m still thinking about it days later.

The politics, the passion, the magic—it’s all there. If you're into high-stakes power plays, divine elemental magic, and women who don’t flinch from hard choices, Black Salt Queen will absolutely own you.

I need a support group. Or a sequel. Preferably both.

When I first started this book, I wasn't sold, and honestly almost stopped. But I am glad I pushed on because as the story unfolded and the characters grew and changed, you felt like you were a part of the story itself! I will definitely be waiting for the next book!

3.75/5 stars

wow wow wow! a wonderful debut novel set in a pre-colonial filipino inspired setting. i really enjoyed the world building in this book, as well as the characters who were each bold and unique. we follow multiple perspectives of royals in maynara kingdom, each having a stake in the the throne. the female rage and dedication to their cause in this was palpable. while some of the characters (LAYA) were truly unlikeable, they were such fun to read from because of how passionate they were about their beliefs.

i had a few problems with the pacing. for the first half of the book, it was incredibly slow and it felt like we were just plopped into different scenes from one character to the next without any true cohesiveness. the second half, and especially the last third, things finally picked up and i was on the edge of my seat. the last 20%? oh my GOD. i was shook.

there were times too that i felt like the author did way more telling than showing, and the dialogue failed to reiterate what was told. because of that, i didn't truly resonate with any of the characters or believe their relationships with one another. but i think the last third of the book really enhanced everything they'd been through and it did help with my connection to the characters.

however, i loved being in this world and the plot had me engaged. i was shook to my core at the events that transpired by the end and am excited to see where the story goes from here. overall, a great debut and i'm literally frothing at the mouth for the next book in the series!

I started this book but have decided that this book is best if companioned with an audiobook—in my personal opinion. I think most fantasy books are better when read in tandem. This book is written so beautifully that it almost takes your breath away. But, for me I kept finding myself backing away because I simply do not read much fantasy of this caliber.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this book.

“Power liked to make its absence known, deprived of its embrace Laya felt cold.”


Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy Black Salt Queen as much as I thought I would. I never managed to get into the story. If I loved how the descriptions were written, there were so many characters that I had the impression to see them act but to never “get under their skin”, preventing me from understanding their motivations, feelings and thoughts. As a result, I couldn’t invest myself in the story or into what would happen to the characters. That’s a complete personal preference though, and I’m sure that readers who are more into action, politics than into psychology will adore the story.
What I loved was the magical system. Based on Philippines myths, it involves the use of elemental magic. The cost of magic, especially long term, was my favorite theme in this story. I loved that the “remedy” had also a lot of side-effects and that everything came with a price. The main cues about the threat of colonialism was another thing that I liked.
As it’s a trilogy, however, I think I’ll give book 2 a chance anyway as everything can change as the story progresses.

Thank you to the author, ColoredPages PR and Bindery Books for the eARC sent via NetGalley. My opinions are my own.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy

Black Salt Queen by Samantha Bansil is a third person multi-POV political fantasy inspired by the Philippines. The Gatdula family rules over Maynara and the three princesses, Eti, Laya, and Bulan, are learning as much as they can to prepare for their future. Laya is in a forbidden romance with Luntok, the heir to the Kulaw family, and her relationship with him might help lead to the downfall of her whole family.

The best way I can describe this book is ‘intergenerational series of romantic tragedies between two powerful families in a pre colonial Philippines-inspired world’ and I was really into it. Imeria, Luntok’s mother, and Duja, Laya’s mother, once had a very passionate romance of their own and there was a chance for them to remain together as long as Duja did provide heirs by marrying a man, but she gives Imeria up. Imeria never fully forgave Duja and she has a negative opinion of Laya in part because of it and that adds to the tragedy. It’s not so much that Luntok and Laya didn’t love each other; it’s that everything around them, including the history of their own parents, is saying they shouldn’t be together.

The worldbuilding is fairly Queer-norm. If a high-level noble is only interested in someone of the same sex, it’s not viewed as an issue if they have children at some point. I didn’t see a lot surrounding legitimacy, but given one of the Gatdula princesses has a different father and Laya defends her sister’s status as a Gatdula, the implication seems to be that as long as the child is acknowledged, they are legitimate. Marriage is still fairly common and the union has a lot of power in this world. There are also implications of Spanish-coded individuals off on the horizon who are seeking to have some sort of influence of Maynara, but we only get hints of them through Ariel, Laya’s tutor, who spent a lot of time around them.

The magic system has an interesting twist that I haven't seen before: magic has basically disappeared within most of the noble bloodlines except for the Gatdula family, but there is a chance for it to come back. It is believed that if the Kulaw family has a child with the Gatdula family, their children could bring back the magic that exists in the Kulaw bloodline. The implications of this are very cool and I want to see how they are explored in later books because how far does this go? Is magic exclusively tied to bloodlines or are there or ways to bring it out?

I would recommend this to fans of political fantasy inspired by the real world and fans of multigenerational fantasies

I was sent this book by the publisher themselves via email as I reviewed a book from them before and I was really honored they remembered me for it.
I'm gonna totally honest which is what it's excepted is these reviews. I went to read the synopsis and I it wasn't the kind of book I usually go for but I'm open-minded and I've read books before there not my alley and I was surprised by them.
So I went for it but I have to say that for 3 times on different days I kept pushing through it a bit more and it really isn't my cup of tea and I DNFed the book. The pacing was not good, the characters felt bland and I'm a very character driven person but these lacked flavor, lacked something. I felt bored reading about them.
I'm so sorry to give this review as you kindly sent this to me and I'm very grateful for it, that's why even tho I thought it wasn't my kind of book I still tried. As I DNFed I never know which stars to give cause I think the correct would be none but as I have to put something oll out 1.
Once again I'm really sorry. I still hope the book is a success cause we don't all look the same and I saw on goodreads it has many good reviews🤞🏻

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

Black Salt Queen is a lush, sharp Filipino-inspired fantasy with powerful women, betrayal, and political intrigue.

I loved this one! The characters were captivating, strong, and well-developed. The betrayal was fantastic, and I enjoyed the character development. The romances were emotional and propulsive, and the political intrigue was gripping. I devoured the complex family dynamics, and the magic system was delightful. The world-building was immersive and vivid, and the plot was fast-paced and compelling. Samantha Bansil’s prose was beautiful, and I cannot wait to read the next book!

Thank you to the publisher for the free ARC!

I enjoyed this one. Interesting premise which pays off in the latter half of the novel. That’s really where the building exposition of the first half pays the most dividend. A solid novel that has me waiting for the sequel.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

Thank you to Bindery for the advanced copy!

Filipino fantasy has been on a tear recently and I'm absolutely loving it. With BLACK SALT QUEEN, we get multiple POVs surrounding the rulers of Maynara. Duja, the queen, realizes that her power is fading, and in her desperation, looks to a foreigner to help her hold on just a bit longer. Laya, Duja's daughter and heir, can't wait to be queen and feels her mother's hesitance to put Laya on the throne. She also happens to be in love with her family's rivals' heir.

In a story of post-colonialism and isolationism, BLACK SALT QUEEN is a debut that explores how much we're willing to risk and the past that comes to haunt us. While I enjoyed the world, I found the story and characters to be lacking... something. The pacing felt off, and I found myself not engaged or invested in the beginning. I also thought the addition of certain POVs, especially Luntok's, was unnecessary and actually detracted from the story. A lot of the writing was clunky and had too much telling rather than trusting the reader to understand subtext. Overall, I am willing to return to this world because I do think that these fantasies are worth sharing; I'm hopeful that Bansil's writing will get better as the series unfolds.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC! This book hit me where I live. Magic? Royalty? An unlikeable main character? Powerful women with deep and complicated feelings for each other that they can’t handle? This checked so many boxes for me it was scary! The story is engaging from the start and moves at a nice pace, the characters are interesting, and everything about the book feels cohesive. I am really eager to read more from Samantha Bansil

The Gatdula family are very privileged. Their gods-given powers have placed them at the top of the heap in the kingdom of Maynara, where they’ve ruled with near impunity for generations. In Black Salt Queen, by Samantha Bansil, their imperiousness comes to bite them all in the ass in the form of an old enemy, disgruntled aristocrats, and the threat of foreign powers that are conquering every other nation in the area.

The first Gatdula scion we meet in Black Salt Queen doesn’t make a very good impression. Although Laya is more than willing to use her ability to control the weather to help her people (the more spectacular the feat, the better), she’s unintentionally cruel to the people around her. Her lover, Luntok, catches the worst of it because he has a family history of treason. They can never marry, but that doesn’t stop Laya from literally and metaphorically dismissing him. Laya’s mother doesn’t make a very good first impression, either. Duja is so afraid of violating tradition that she runs roughshod over the feelings of her courtiers and her family. It’s an emotional powder keg.

The arrival of Imeria Kulaw (Luntok’s mother) in the capital puts the match to the fuse. Imeria is very, very angry about how the Gatdulas have treated her family and she is ready to do something about it. This book got a lot more interesting once the political machinations and plots kicked off. The upheaval causes Laya to grow, gives her youngest sister a chance to step out of her sibling’s shadow, and forces Duja to confront the mistakes of her past. The first few chapters are a little rough, I’ll admit, but I was absolutely hooked after the magnificently furious Imeria appeared.

Bansil gives her characters a beautiful and fascinating stage to play on. Maynara is based on the Philipines. I could definitely see hints of it with the reports of imperialism and oppression in other neighboring countries. The only reason Maynara is independent is because of the Gatdulas. (They never let anyone forget it.) Bansil weaves gods and lore and traditions into the very human drama tangling up her characters. It’s all so well described that I could almost see the opulence of the Gatdulas’ palace and feel the tropical heat of the island.

Black Salt Queen is the start of a series. Readers should know that the book ends on a whopper of a cliffhanger and might want to wait to read this one so that they can dive straight into the sequel.

Reading Black Salt Queen reminded me a bit of the political machinations of a Jacqueline Carey novel mixed with Samanatha Shannon's characters, world building, and queerness.

The story itself is strong, the characters complex, and they move alongside one another at a parallel, but not horrid pace. The second half did have a bit of drama that was, as another reviewer, pointed out excessive, but it also worked with the narrative so it did not overly bother me.

All that said, I would definitely recommend Black Salt Queen. It's a wonderful read, and I cannot wait for it to hit shelves.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for the opportunity to read this as an eARC!

Political intrigue, betrayal, powerful queens, and elemental magic? Count me in! Black Salt Queen is a multiple POV epic fantasy that pulls you in with a unique pre-colonial island setting and doesn’t let you go once the plot kicks up a notch.

To start off, it took me a long time to really get into this book. The characters weren’t as fleshed out as I’d normally like in an epic fantasy, and the political maneuvering seemed to drag on for forever in the first half. I really didn’t care about the romances depicted in the book as well, but that’s pretty typical for me and nothing against the author. To be honest, the first 65% of the book dragged for me and felt like all Bansil was doing was setting the story up for the rest of the series.

But then the story shifts. Everything picks up speed dramatically, the magic is actually put to use, and the romances actually make sense to the story. I’ll be honest and say I was bored for the first half of the book, but when it all came together I could not put it down. Literally, I read the last 35% of this book in one sitting. It was that good! All of the set-up paid off and I’m so excited for the next book. Readers who love plot-heavy books will absolutely eat this up. Character-driven readers may end up DNF’ing it unfortunately as most of the characters are pretty one dimensional. I’m personally somewhere in the middle where I love a good character-driven fantasy, but if you can give me a great plot and promise of an even better second book I’m all in.

I really enjoyed reading from the perspective of an island monarchy that was inspired by pre-colonial Philippines as the setting and traditions were so different than a typical western epic fantasy. There were many mentions of westerners colonizing nearby nations, and you can tell that will be a big plot point later in the series. I’m excited to see where Bansil takes this story as this first book centered around conflicts within the noble families connected to this one nation.

There’s so much I could say just about the last portion of the book, but for the sake of not getting into spoilers I’ll leave it here. In my opinion, the slog in the beginning was absolutely worth it to get to the absolute RIDE that was the second half of the book. If you’re looking for a fresh take on epic fantasy, give this book a try!

Thank you NetGalley and Bindery for the opportunity to read this book early in exchange for an honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a decent read. It’s a slower fantasy that leans more into politics and relationships than action. While that made it drag at times, the buildup did make the big moments feel more intense. The characters are complex and hard to pin down… I still don’t know whose side I’m really on. I do think I’ll check out the next book though!

I really enjoyed this! The setting is very vivid and immersive, and I was invested in the characters. I would have loved to have Bulan's perspective as a POV - I think it would have brought more balance to a very Laya-focused story. But this is only book 1, so hopefully we get some more Bulan in the future.

The political tensions feel very narrowly focused, so while they are compelling, they ultimately boil down to conflict between just two families - this doesn't have the depth and breadth of something like The Drowning Empire series by Andrea Stewart (although I'm invoking that as a comparison precisely because there were elements here that felt similar, and I really enjoyed that series too).

Things start to feel a little more rushed and less plausible towards the end, and I got the sense that the characters weren't taking the right lessons from this whole mess, which took me out of the story.

The epilogue was intriguing and I'm really looking forward to reading book 2. (Also, the cover is gorgeous.)

Black Salt Queen by Samantha Bansil is an incredible debut novel that skillfully combines court politics, complex relationships, and generational power struggles. Through multiple pov characters, the book explores loyalty, betrayal, and the high price of power.

I loved that this was so full of morally grey characters. Even with the characters that end up being the story's antagonists, Bansil has made them all so deeply human that the choices that they make are relatable and understandable, even if/when you don't agree with them.

The world-building is exceptional, drawing from precolonial Filipino culture to create a setting that feels both fantastic and real. I loved the magic system, and I'm looking forward to learning more about it in the next book.

I will say that the letters interspersed throughout can be a little heavy handed on the info-dumping, but it didn't bother me enough to affect my overall enjoyment of the story.

I'm legitimately mad at myself for waiting so long to read this arc. I think I got about 12% into reading this before I stopped to preorder a copy. Many thanks to Bindery for the opportunity to read and review this early. Y'all are costing me money this year (please don't stop).

I don’t think I gave proper attention to the first half of this book, and for that I apologize. The first half of this book was heavy on character introductions, world building, and subtle political scheming, and I struggled to really sink into the story. It was a slow start, but I came to understand necessary for establishing the characters and motivations. The characters were incredibly well done, with complexity and nuance that made them feel so real. Laya in particular fascinated me. I didn’t like her at the start of the book, but as the book progressed she developed so well and I came to adore her. I also liked her relationship with her family, especially Duja. I liked that we got so many perspectives, though I do wish we had gotten Bulan’s as well. As for the plot, as I said it started slow. I wish there had been more magic earlier on to bring some action, but I more than satisfied with the final climax. It was so action packed and intense, and I loved it. So while this book may have started slow, I am definitely looking forward to book 2, and I recommend!

“Laya knew that a Gatdula’s reign was about more than ruling a country. To become a queen of Maynara was to become a god.”

A rich, luscious story full of morally grey characters, political intrigue, and love in its complex iterations.

On the tropical island of Maynara, three women battle within and without for power, glory, and for revenge. The Queen Hara Duja’s strength is failing, her daughter and heir Laya is young and impulsive, and Imeria Kulaw wants to claim the crown for her family.

“Most Gatdulas blazed brighter than the sun, as likely to burn the island to cinders as they were to bathe it in their glory.”

“What good was love in the face of power?”

I do enjoy a story where every character is a little bit awful. These characters had me simultaneously rooting for them, pulling my hair out in frustration, and feeling sorry for their circumstances.
I liked how the complexity of relationships within a royal court was portrayed, and the conundrum of valuing duty and power over love. In a world where many political fantasies are developed in Euro-Centric worlds, this was a refreshing take on fantasy and court intrigue with a tropical, Filipino-inspired backdrop.

Thank you Netgalley and Bindery Books for this ARC.