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Only a few months have passed since Daleina used her strength and skill to survive the spirits and assume the throne. Since then she’s managed to keep the peace and protect her people and her land, but she is hiding a terrible secret from the people as well — one that could destroy everything she’s worked so hard to protect. Daleina is dying. If she dies before Aratay can claim a new heir, the spirits that inhabit the forests will run wild, destroying and slaughtering all in their path.
The champions have been tasked with preparing a worthy heir in a very short time. Ven knows the task is nearly impossible. The students at the academy are mere children. They’re not ready to bear the title of queen, and they don’t yet possess the strength to command the spirits. If there is any hope to save Renthia, they’ll have to look somewhere other than the academies. They’ll have to find someone in the forest’s outer villages, someone whose talent has been overlooked — or kept hidden. Someone like Naelin.
When Champion Ven arrives in Naelin’s village determined to convince her to train to become an heir, Naelin refuses. Her children are her world, and they come first. She knows if the truth of her abilities became known, it would only bring death and separation from those she loves. It is only as the queen’s power begins to wane and the threat of a border attack rises that Naelin realizes the best — and perhaps only — way to save her children is to risk everything and fight for Aratay and the young queen.
While I enjoyed The Queen of Blood, I was not prepared for the wild ride that’s The Reluctant Queen. The pace is faster, the stakes are higher, and the ending is a whirlwind of action that kept me up way too late into the night trying to find out what happened. Overall, the story is vivid and visceral with a time-sensitive plot that is sure to keep readers on the edge of their seats.
Rated: Moderate, for frequent bloody, sometimes graphic, violence and a somewhat unsettling scene describing death wounds. There are only a handful of uses of mild language.
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