Effie CalvinRezensionen

Fun and cute, but a lot of things were brought up very suddenly and dropped just as fast. A few too many distractions. Ended really swiftly too, there was one conflict then, OK all better now! Several good things here, but a real lack of focus.

This was really adorable!! The dynamic between Orsina and Aelia was so sweet. Orsina is so steadfast but also so caring and patient, and Aelia's joy in figuring out things while mortal was really fun. I love how their relationship grew, and I loved Aelia's character arc. Just really really cute dynamic, and you dont have to read the first book to read this one, although I enjoyed that one too.

Slow burn kisses-only f/f fantasy romance with a unique world and default queerness.

Full review on 10/24: www.loveinpanels.com/prose/queen-of-ieflaria

***WHO SUCKED ME IN ***
Jean Bookishthoughts on YouTube in their Reading Wrap-up | June 2019 video published on 2 July 2019

These magical words were uttered: "fantasy queer romance books".

In combination with a woman on the cover means FF romance! I need more of that in my life.

I think ultimately I agree with other reviewers who have said this is an ambitious book that tries to pack too much into too short a narrative. Calvin has designed a rich, complex, lovingly detailed world; unfortunately, there's a *lot* of infodump, especially in the first chapter, and much of that info could have been worked into the narrative more gracefully throughout the book. (And, additionally, some of it could have just been left out altogether for the sake of giving more time to plot and character development.) The relationship has possibilities and I liked seeing some of the ways Adale grew in response to it, but at the end I wasn't sure I bought the great, passionate love the characters professed for each other--the potential for it, sure, but I wasn't convinced that potential had blossomed during the novel. There were interesting seeds of ideas throughout the book--from the politics to the perception of science vs. religion--that didn't sufficiently develop, and that's a shame. Aside from having potential on their own, fleshing those possibilities out really could have breathed more life into all of the characters and made them more complex.

This is not a bad book at all, really. If you're interested, it's worth checking out. But it's not the book it could have been, and that's a sad loss of potential. I plan to read one of the later books in the series and see how Calvin has grown as a writer since this one.½

My experience with this story ended up being a pleasant surprise. I say that despite all the criticism i am going to give. Even with the problems, it was still a fun read with some great content. Even for a fantasy newbie like me, it drew me in with the setting.

First off, the characters were easily the best part of the story. Esofi and Adale are both well established characters. Both sides of the story are fun to read as well see very different perspectives on the arranged marriage. One thing that i was genuinely surprised by was the fact that the story doesnt make a huge point of condemning arranged marriages. From my experiences in other forms of media, that seems to be a trend. I thought this story took a balanced approach at examining the idea. While some might not agree with the idea, at least the story took the time to approach the concept from multiple perspectives.

Another thing i thought the story did well was capturing the feeling of grief. Very rarely do i see a story give me a sense of the void the character feels with the lose of a loved one. Albions death clearly left a massive void in Adales life, and we see that sprinkled throughout the story.

The biggest problem the story had was focus. The story was at its best when it was a smaller scaled story focused on the arranged marriage. The addition of other possible love interests was fine, but its when the main plot gets started that things fell of the rails. People gaining magical abilities seemed very abrupt and forced the story into focusing on that for almost half a chapter. Having now finished the story, i can say without a doubt that i wouldnt have minded that part being cut entirely. It didnt add anything and if anything, it made the twins holding a ball harder to buy into considering they were just starting to learn to control their powers.

The dragons were definitely interesting, and if the story's focus had to shift, im glad that it was to the dragons. The whole concept really should have had its own story to focus on it because as it is, its more potential than a fully realized idea. The final confrontation with the dragons felt unearned given we just realized they could speak. At least Adale had some good character growth during this part.

I suppose the problem with the split focus between the romance and the main plot is that neither felt particularly well realized. The romance has its moments, but it doesnt have the pull a romance usually does. The plot is interesting, but not enough time is given to it to make it a great story. The ending felt rushed and unfortunately, we probably wont be seeing the characters in another story. The character interactions are great, but there just arent enough of them. There is plenty of drama, but the drama close to the climax feels very forced and ultimately kind of useless. I could criticise other aspects of the story, but i feel as though i have complained enough.

I do enjoy this story though. I think the characterization, interactions and world really make this an enjoyable read. Despite feeling rushed, i liked the ending a lot. The action was fun and it made for some great scenes. I definitely recommend giving this a shot if you are like me and love lesfic, but are reluctant to try fantasy. While probably not the best example, it feels like the kind of fantasy that will get me to read more fantasy. It is also not super expensive if you are curious. Worth reading for sure

Lacks a strong antagonistic force, so there's very little tension.

I want this book SO MUCH. The Queen of Ieflaria was great and I can't wait to see the sequel!

Read on my blog.

I received a copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Release date: February 19th, 2018 by Nine Star Press

I remember seeing this wonderful cover on Twitter and hearing that the book would be about queer princesses, and I immediately fell in love. And let me tell you, when I finally got to read it, The Queen of Ieflaria turned out to be everything I hoped for and more.

To say that The Queen of Ieflaria has queer princesses is technically true, but it's a huge understatement. In fact, The Queen of Ieflaria has a main cast made of several unique, funny, supportive and fleshed out characters, most of whom are female. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I was in love with not only both Esofi and Adale, but every single one of their ladies-in-waiting - all of whom had their own unique personalities and beautiful moments. (Lisette is definitely my favourite though, hands down.)

The only reason why I didn't devour this book in one sitting is that I started reading it too late and had to go to sleep at 1am and finish the next morning. I adored the writing style, the characters, the plot... This book has princesses fighting in duels in dresses, princesses fighting dragons, talking magical creatures, good dragons, baby dragons, princesses kissing, princesses in love... I'm sorry, why are you still here reading this review when you could be pre-ordering The Queen of Ieflaria?

I loved how different Esofi and Adale were, and yet they worked together well and both helped each other grow, or see things from the other's point of view. I especially enjoyed their different views on science and religion and how they changed (and yet still stayed true to themselves) during the book.

Note: While this first book unfortunately didn't have any major trans characters, it did have minor nonbinary characters (referred to as neutroi) and even a nonbinary god, and referenced a canon magical way to transition, so I hope this will change in the future installments.

This is my new favourite book, and it might be yours, too.

My rating: ★★★★★

This fantasy series deserves so much love. I mean, come on! Pansexual princesses in love! Talking dragons! Goddesses and warriors! What's not to love?

The Queen of Rhodia follows the pansexual F/F couple who got together in the first book, now in an established relationship, with the F/F couple from the second book appearing as side characters.

Esofi and Adale are married now, and they never run out of things to do. Adele is finally learning how to govern from her parents, Esofi is working on establishing a university for magical students, and they are raising a son together, who just happens to be a baby dragon. But when both news of a dragon wanting to talk to Esofi AND Esofi's mother arrives in Ieflaria, they have even more to deal with than they would have thought...

I loved how realistically their differences and occasionally relationship problems were written. Esofi and Adale both have their own insecurities, and Esofi, like many abused children, has views that she doesn't even realise are wrong, because they were normal when she was growing up. I love how Adale doesn't judge her, but still makes it clear that those things are wrong, and Esofi's mother was wrong to do them.

We learn more about the dragons and also Lisette, who was one of my favourites in book one, which was great. Svana and her brother are back, which is also great! There is so much worldbuilding potential in this series, and I'm eager to learn more about the elves and the Nightshades and the Empire. I admit I skipped book two, but I'm fully intending to go back and read it eventually, and meeting the characters here only gave me more motivation (but unfortunately, not money).

That being said, there were a couple of things in the worldbuilding that felt like missed opportunities to me. In the world of the series, a third gender, here called neutroi are officially recognised - but at least in the two books I read, we don't actually meet a single neutroi who has more than a few lines.

There is a ritual called Change, where basically they can change one's sex with magic - it's something many people use to experiment or to have children, but it is mentioned that there are people who chose to stay permanently Changed, which would be equivalent of transgender people. Again, we never actually MEET anyone who is like this, or at least we don't know about it. I know it's probably a personal topic so it would be more difficult to bring up, but I don't think it would be a stretch to have someone drop a comment about it.

There is also a kind of weird scene where Adale mentally compares gay and straight people (those who are only attracted to one gender) to a woman who refuses to date taller than her. She actually corrects herself, because gay and straight people don't have a choice about their attractions, and it's clearly just Adale's opinion, but it was still weird and I want to mention it for others.

Finally, humans in the series are called Men instead of just Humans, which is... something I would have expected in a "mainstream" fantasy that replicates real-world sexism, but it was jarring to read in a book with pansexual princesses that has very different gender roles from ours. There is also a scene where Adale is speaking about a culprit whose gender she doesn't know and she defaults to saying "him" instead of "them" (even though her main suspect is a woman, so it can't even be a Freudian slip). It's not necessarily bad, but male default language in this world didn't make much sense to me.

Overall, I loved this book, and I absolutely adore this series and I'm eager to see the other countries that we'll visit in future books. The next one is titled Empress of Xytae, and the princess of Xytae was mentioned briefly in this book, so I'm excited to see more of her - although she's a liiitle too young for a YA protagonist.

NOTE: The book does give a trigger warning about past child abuse, but I didn't really feel like it was accurate/enough. It is true that Esofi is not a child anymore and currently living away from her mother, so the abuse is less obvious, but it's still clearly there in their present-time interactions, along with its effects on Esofi's own views. So, consider this an extra warning that the child abuse is a central part of the story, not just a passing thing.