I loved this book! It's been a while since I've read a good epic fantasy and this makes me wonder why it's been so long. I like the heroine in this story and her development as the story progresses. The main character is the underdog and I couldn't wait to see her defeat the villain. This isn't a story where you feel sympathy for the villain. There is no doubt that she is a terrible person and deserves retribution. I'll definitely be moving on to the next book in the series. ( )

First things first - about halfway through, when Evie had to fight, truly fight, to survive I realized why this book (and Evie) rang out so clearly in my head. Its the spiritual sister to my beloved POISON STUDY.

Evie starts out in a weak, vulnerable position - cowed, distressed, lost and grief-stricken. Surviving the massacre her cousin so carefully planned had less to do with skill and more to do with luck.

With the Black Swan group she's given a second chance to live and in doing so find a way to settle the disquiet in her soul. Nothing comes easy - not trust, not respect, not friendship, but she carries through by being the Evie she thought she lost years ago.

So much love for this. Estep's books have ALWAYS grabbed me and kept me going (incidentally her mains also always seem to start from a place of underdogness before rising spectacularly to wipe smug smirks from the villains).

Vasilia makes you want to punch her. A lot. I wish I could have. She's a right solid bitca of the first water.

And now I can't wait to see what happens next. ( )

Really enjoyed this book! Can't wait to see what happens in the next one! ( )

Aggressively average, but still fun and easy enough. Absolutely chockablock with all the best tropes from pretty much any fantasy book, television show, or movie you've ever enjoyed. Distant Royal Now the Only Hope to Save Her Country. Hot Bastard Foreign Prince. Bland Snarky and Sparky Heterosexuality. Gladiator Fights. Born Bad Villain.

The writing is simple; if the text hadn't mentioned that the protagonist, Everleigh, is in her late 20s the style and first person narration would have led me to believe she was a teenager. The cast of secondary characters are vibrant, and I liked that the author developed a genuine friendship between Everleigh and one of the female gladiators. Still, it was fun. A serviceable high (medium?) fantasy novel when you're not looking for anything emotionally taxing or difficult. ( )

The first thing I want to say about Kill the Queen is that although it is marketed as a YA book, it’s definitely an adult book. The protagonist is 28 and the language and cadence of the book reads like an urban fantasy but without all the lewd content. I’m not sure why this was marketed as a YA, but it simply… isn’t.

Otherwise I have some mixed feelings. I think that Kill the Queen is unnecessarily long. Estep’s writing style is extremely wordy without being elegant. There are a lot of info drops, but they are usually of irrelevant world building information. The pace of the book didn’t pick up until halfway through and once it got there, it went too quickly. The first 200 pages covered the course of a couple days, while the last 250 of Kill the Queen covered a month.

Estep also informs the reader of characters’s feelings and plot point rather than allowing a slow roll for tension and to draw the reader in. The closest thing to a surprise was Sullivan’s identity, and even then it was only “surprising” because it was hinted at once before in a fairly obvious way. Because of this directness, it was difficult to get invested in Kill the Queen because there are no mysteries.

The characters are also fairly unmemorable. They aren’t flat, not completely, but they are a bit like… deflated balloons. You know they have structure and dimension, but it’s just not showcased to its greatest potential. The characters are unmemorable. They’re not bd, they’re just not something special. For this reason, I found myself indifferent to Evie’s success (despite the very obvious title spoiling the ending) and especially indifferent to the very poorly executed, no-chemistry romance.

In complete contrast to all the rest, I genuinely liked the world. Other than the fact that magic had no consequences that I could see, the crafting of the world itself was interesting. I liked the different classes of magic and I really like the idea of gems as being vessels of magic. I liked the history of Bellona and the gladiatorial troupes. Despite the mediocre writing, I kept thinking that the book would make a great show – the actors would add dimension to the characters and the world itself would be interesting to see but not so magic heavy that it ostracized audiences who don’t particularly care for fantasy.

I’m not sure I would necessarily recommend Kill the Queen, but I also don’t want to push readers away from it. It was entertaining enough as a whole, and I’m going to read Protect the Prince. But please understand that this is not a masterpiece and it is highly flawed in many ways. Still, it was overall entertaining enough that it works for a light read for folks who are more mature readers and enough a touch of fantasy and intrigue. ( )