FOUR DEAD QUEENS
Series: N/A
Source: Indigo Staff Pick of the Month
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: February 19, 2019
Overall Rating:
Diversity Rating:
Summary:
Seventeen-year-old Keralie Corrington may seem harmless, but she's, in fact, one of Quadara's most skilled thieves and a liar. Varin, on the other hand, is an honest, upstanding citizen of Quadara's most enlightened region, Eonia. He runs afoul of Keralie when she steals a package from him, putting his life in danger. When Varin attempts to retrieve the package, he and Keralie both find themselves entangled in a conspiracy that leaves all four of Quadara's queens dead.
With no other choices and on the run from Keralie's former employer, the two decide to join forces, endeavoring to discover who has killed the queens and save their own lives in the process. When their reluctant partnership blooms into a tenuous romance, they must overcome their own dark secrets in hopes of a future together that seemed impossible just days before. But first they have to stay alive and untangle the secrets behind the nation's four dead queens.
An enthralling fast-paced murder mystery where competing agendas collide with deadly consequences, Four Dead Queens heralds the arrival of an exciting new YA talent.Seventeen-year-old Keralie Corrington may seem harmless, but she's, in fact, one of Quadara's most skilled thieves and a liar. Varin, on the other hand, is an honest, upstanding citizen of Quadara's most enlightened region, Eonia. He runs afoul of Keralie when she steals a package from him, putting his life in danger. When Varin attempts to retrieve the package, he and Keralie both find themselves entangled in a conspiracy that leaves all four of Quadara's queens dead.
With no other choices and on the run from Keralie's former employer, the two decide to join forces, endeavoring to discover who has killed the queens and save their own lives in the process. When their reluctant partnership blooms into a tenuous romance, they must overcome their own dark secrets in hopes of a future together that seemed impossible just days before. But first they have to stay alive and untangle the secrets behind the nation's four dead queens.
An enthralling fast-paced murder mystery where competing agendas collide with deadly consequences, Four Dead Queens heralds the arrival of an exciting new YA talent.
Amazon | Chapters | TBD
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book and chose to review it. This in no way impacts my opinion.
Please note: There is discussion about eugenics and killing of lesbian characters in this story. Read more about this in Cait's review.
Please note #2: I am going to spoil the book in my review to explain my opinion on one aspect.
I do not condone the use of eugenics or creating characters to rid them of disabilities and killing them off quicker because of said disabilities. I do not think that this was handled well in the story - but it did have the potential to be. However, we cannot judge based on potential for things.
With respect to the icing of the gays, I am torn. I identify as bisexual, not lesbian, so I cannot speak in terms of the actual representation of the characters and how they are portrayed in that regard. I didn't, however, have that much of an issue with their deaths. I mean. It's right there in the title, folks. I understand that one of the queens lived and, yes, it could have been that this queen had been one of the gay characters. But I'm not super mad about them both dying.
I thought overall it was a pretty well told story, with a few mishaps along the way. The story felt a little flawed in how it was told: I liked the vignettes of the queens interlaced with the forward plot but I thought that parts of it lagged a bit. I would have liked a faster pace throughout, especially since Keralie thought the queens were murdered. There wasn't as much urgency as there should have been based on the context of the story.
This one started a little slow, and I think because it is a standalone it tried to do a little too much, but I did really enjoy it. I was right about a lot of my theories but there were some surprises as well. If you like genre mashing, especially between mystery and fantasy, this is the book for you!
Please note: There is discussion about eugenics and killing of lesbian characters in this story. Read more about this in Cait's review.
Please note #2: I am going to spoil the book in my review to explain my opinion on one aspect.
I do not condone the use of eugenics or creating characters to rid them of disabilities and killing them off quicker because of said disabilities. I do not think that this was handled well in the story - but it did have the potential to be. However, we cannot judge based on potential for things.
With respect to the icing of the gays, I am torn. I identify as bisexual, not lesbian, so I cannot speak in terms of the actual representation of the characters and how they are portrayed in that regard. I didn't, however, have that much of an issue with their deaths. I mean. It's right there in the title, folks. I understand that one of the queens lived and, yes, it could have been that this queen had been one of the gay characters. But I'm not super mad about them both dying.
I thought overall it was a pretty well told story, with a few mishaps along the way. The story felt a little flawed in how it was told: I liked the vignettes of the queens interlaced with the forward plot but I thought that parts of it lagged a bit. I would have liked a faster pace throughout, especially since Keralie thought the queens were murdered. There wasn't as much urgency as there should have been based on the context of the story.
This one started a little slow, and I think because it is a standalone it tried to do a little too much, but I did really enjoy it. I was right about a lot of my theories but there were some surprises as well. If you like genre mashing, especially between mystery and fantasy, this is the book for you!
Skipped your review since you gave this a high rating and you said you were going to spoil something; I wasn't sure if I'd read this, but I'm thinking I might. Pretty sure it's on my TBR.
ReplyDeleteI didn't think anything about the deaths except for... it being their death & being murdered. Even as BI, I didn't find it any kind of way??
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I agree that this had just too much going on. Fantasy, sci-fi, dystopian and just all over the place!
I've read about some about some books of queens here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book:Queen but this book not listed you can get help they make actor wikepida page and they will also help you to add this book in wikipage
ReplyDeleteFour Dead Queens was being parted with when I went to the Penguin talk at Comic-Con back in July 2018. Prior to this, I thought nothing about it, however I was promptly attracted by the guarantee of a homicide secret in a dream setting. I'm a sucker for homicide secrets by and large, and adding this to a dreamland appeared to be a formula for greatness. And Read something important here Hope it will help you How Much Does It Cost For Someone To Edit A Book In 2021
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