The thrilling first novel of the Crown of Shards epic fantasy series combines magic, murder, and adventure when a member of the royal family becomes a contender in a clash for the crown…
SYNOPSIS
In a realm where one’s magical power determines one’s worth, Lady Everleigh’s lack of obvious ability relegates her to the shadows of the royal court of Bellona, a kingdom steeped in gladiator tradition. Seventeenth in line for the throne, Evie is nothing more than a ceremonial fixture, overlooked and mostly forgotten.
But dark forces are at work inside the palace. When her cousin Vasilia, the crown princess, assassinates her mother the queen and takes the throne by force, Evie is also attacked, along with the rest of the royal family. Luckily for Evie, her secret immunity to magic helps her escape the massacre.
Forced into hiding to survive, she falls in with a gladiator troupe. Though they use their talents to entertain and amuse the masses, the gladiators are actually highly trained warriors skilled in the art of war, especially Lucas Sullivan, a powerful magier with secrets of his own. Uncertain of her future—or if she even has one—Evie begins training with the troupe until she can decide her next move.
But as the bloodthirsty Vasilia exerts her power, pushing Bellona to the brink of war, Evie’s fate becomes clear: she must become a fearsome gladiator herself . . . and kill the queen.
Purchase links:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2DfzmuU
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Google Play: https://bit.ly/2NBXrGa
“Jennifer Estep takes the world of high fantasy by storm with a book so perfectly plotted and executed that I gasped out loud at each new reveal and unexpected turn. Evie is the heroine we all want to read about: as compassionate as she is ruthless, as cunning as she is kind, and as fierce and focused as anyone must be in order to KILL THE QUEEN.” (Amanda Bouchet, USA Today bestselling author of The Kingmaker Chronicles)
“Kill the Queen rocked my world! With court intrigue, a cast of fantastic characters, epic political sweep, and a slow-burn romance to die for, this book had me rapt. I only regret I devoured it so fast. And that I didn’t write it. More please!” (Jeffe Kennedy, RITA® Award winning author of The Pages of the Mind
“Estep starts an exciting new fantasy series full of magic, fierce women, and revenge.” Booklist
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jennifer is currently a full-time author. Before that, she worked as a features writer and page designer for a daily newspaper and has more than 10 years of journalism experience. She’s a member of Romance Writers of America, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and other writing groups.Jennifer’s books have been featured in Cosmopolitan, Entertainment Weekly, Southern Living, and a variety of other publications. You can follow her on Facebook, Goodreads, and Twitter. You can also sign up for her newsletter to receive updates, book recommendations, recipes, and more.
Jennifer’s books are available in print, audio, and e-book formats from a variety of retailers, including the following: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Books-A-Million / iBooks / Kobo / Audible / Brilliance Audio
REVIEW
Kill the Queen by Jennifer EstepTitle: Kill the Queen
Series: Crown of Shards #1
Author: Jennifer Estep
Release date: October 2, 2018
Summer queens are fine and fair, with pretty ribbons and flowers in their hair. Winter queens are cold and hard, with frosted crowns made of icy shards.
Kill the Queen immediately attracted me because it has:
✔︎Gladiators
✔︎Revenge trope
✔︎Strong female lead
✔︎Royals with magic
The Gladiators meets Game of Thrones description had me at hello. I was anticipating an action packed fantasy to get my adrenaline rushing, and I'm happy to report that this delivered the goods! Chapter one begins in the calm before the storm, just before the royal massacre that's sure to keep you on the edge of your seat. The day starts out like any other, and when the sinister assassination plot is put into motion, Lady Everleigh will be the last of the Winter Blairs that lives to tell the tale.
When Everleigh was orphaned at twelve, she moved into Seven Spire palace in the kingdom of Bellona. At first, she had hopes that she could fit in and have some form of the happy life she lost, but those hopes were to be in vain. We learned about some of what she went through during brief flashbacks. These were somewhat jarring as there was no lead up to them, and they weren't in italics, so it took me a paragraph of confusion to realize what they were. However, the reader discovers that her new home at court held a nest of backstabbing vipers, and that forced her adapt a protective layer around herself. She knew she needed to hide the unusual magic she held so that it couldn't be exploited or harmed by others. She blended into the shadows and did as she was told, when she was told to do it. Fifteen years of making herself invisible molded a quiet and meek personality, but that was all about to change with her cousin Princess Vasilia's treacherous plot.
The culture of this world was an interesting one that held my interest. There are two types of Royals that held magic: the summer and winter Blairs. Summer Blairs were often powerful magiers who could control elements. Winter Blairs could either be magiers or masters. Masters were people who held an innate mastery of a specific skill. Then there were the mutts. Those whose skills were much less powerful and didn't allow the holder to create anything of importance. Like a social scale, your magic was a gauge of how respected you were. Everleigh's heightened sense of smell placed her on the bottom rung of the magic scale, but what no one knew is that she held a vital survival skill that would give her a secret advantage over any opponent. Add the gladiator tradition into their ancestry, and you have a formula that's compelling to read about.
Everleigh takes shelter with the Black Swan gladiator troupe at the slain queen's urging, and this is where she meets the mysterious Lucas Sullivan. She and Lucas get off to a bad start, and that fosters an antagonism that keeps them butting heads for a good portion of the book. Slowly you start to see his derision for her change to a grudging respect, and beyond that, there is hope for a future romance. If you're looking for that in this book, you will have to wait until further into the series. There is potential built here with a slow growing attraction, but only a tease. Lucas had some secrets of his own, and when they are revealed, they have intriguing consequences.
Some things in the story didn't quite add up to me, for example, Everleigh's heightened sense of smell allowed her to smell the poison that was in the champagne at the massacre, yet she didn't immediately identify what it was. She thought it smelled off, so she refrained from drinking it. Which isn't bad in itself, but she was already very familiar with that poison as it was the same one that had been used to kill her parents. I wasn't clear on why she wouldn't know what it was until it was too late.
Another thing was Everleigh hiding her identity from Serilda for so long. It makes sense that she'd be hesitant to trust anyone at first, but she continued to put her life in danger on numerous occasions by keeping quiet. She promised to stay alive at any cost, and protect the kingdom. Yet she eavesdrops on Sarilda saying she needs to find a Blair who survived, and she thinks she may want to harm her? That didn't seem logical since she vehemently despised the princess, and the queen told her she would help her.
I was hoping to see more of an explanation about who killed her parents and why. We aren't told anything about the matter except that it happened. I'm hoping that will come out in future installments, because I kept waiting for more information and it never came. Especially since the queen strangely brought it up when she was dying.
The things I loved most about this story was watching Everleigh transition from quiet victim to a fierce heroine for Bellona. She found an inner strength and courage to challenge her cousin, who had intimidated and tortured her throughout her whole life. There was a rage bottled up inside of her over hurts, injustices, and betrayals that became her wildcard. She used that rage to reinvent herself into a formidable fighter. The showdown at the end was gripping fantasy storytelling at its best, and I was hanging on every word to see who the victor was in the death match.
If you love fantasy with plenty of action, adventure, and magic, look no further. Small complaints aside, I thoroughly enjoyed my reading experience, and look forward to continuing the Crown of Shards series with Protect the Prince next year.
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