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Brienna’s 17th summer solstice is fast approaching. Growing up at the renowned Magnolia House in Valenia should have prepared her for being chosen by a patron and becoming a master of her passion, but while some are born with a talent for one of the five passions — art, music, dramatics, wit and knowledge — Brienna spent years floundering to find the right passion, until she finally settled on knowledge.
She’s had less time to prepare than the other girls, but with the help of her tutor, she’s determined to work harder and longer in order to be ready for the choosing. However, Brienna’s greatest fear comes to pass when she is left without a patron.
Months later, a disgraced lord offers Brienna his patronage in exchange for her help. Suddenly, Brienna finds herself thrust into the center of a dangerous plot to overthrow the king of Maevana — the rival kingdom of Valenia — and restore the rightful queen to the northern throne. Brienna just may hold the key to their success, but with war brewing and people she is closer to than she realizes tangled in the plot, Brienna must choose whose side she will remain loyal to — her patron and her passion or her blood.
The Queen’s Rising is a slow-paced tale filled with lovely, visual writing and intriguing world-building with kingdoms reminiscent of French and Celtic cultures.
I quickly fell in love with the story — from its richly described locations to the subtle magic and underlying history. It isn’t a perfect debut. Brienna leans toward being a flawless protagonist, the story lags a bit in the middle, and it wraps up a little too easily. But one of my favorite things about this tale is that it does not follow the “chosen one” trope. It may be Brienna’s story, but she’s only a small part of a much larger plot.
Overall, the idea of the book itself is very simple. Coupled with the political nature of the plot and crossed with the story’s lyrical writing, The Queen’s Rising proves to be a polarizing read. Readers will either love it or hate it. But for anyone (like me) with a deep love of Celtic-inspired fantasy settings and beautiful prose, it’s definitely a book I would recommend.
Rated: Moderate, bordering on mild. Violence is a large part of the plot and at times it can be bloody, descriptive and subtly gory. It includes mention of decapitation, with heads staked to walls; a man being killed by a dog, and countless deaths, both on and off a battlefield. A character contemplates if she was a product of rape. A wounded girl is helped to undress (to her chemise) and tended to by a man. There is no profanity.
