Reviews

A Tyranny of Queens by Foz Meadows

meep311's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

4.0

jas_kv's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

kapellosaur's review against another edition

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4.0

Absolutely raced through this book, which is always a good sign!

The narrative starts off from pretty much the same point the first book ends, with Saffron and Yena taking the main narrative voices for the book. I found the first third of the book a little slow-moving (Vekshi and Kenan politics not being overly engaging) but the second half more than made up for this.

I felt like most of the criticisms I had of the first book were made up for in this one; with some of them being explained by the expanding story, and some of them by other means. I particularly enjoyed the extra LGBT+ and neurodivergent representation. My criticism this time is that the only non-binary/genderqueer character(s) was
Spoilernon-human
. I also wasn't keen that
SpoilerLeoden became coded as a good guy merely through being more personable
.

Saffron continued to be a character I cared for deeply, and I found a lot of the other characters very relatable to as well. I would have liked to have spent a little more time on the resolution of Saffron's arc; there was some unfinished business on Earth in particular that I would have liked tied up (
SpoilerSaffron's school friends old and new; poor Ruby; and maybe her relationship with her parents though goodness knows how that would happen
); though the fact they weren't felt like a stylistic choice than an omission. The closing chapter though: perfect.

jojoinabox's review

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adventurous challenging tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

foggy_rosamund's review

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5.0

I enjoyed this even more than the first novel in the series. The narrative plummets us directly into the events following "An Accident of Stars" with a tightly-woven and engaging plot. Characters from "An Accident of Stars" return, and many mysteries set up in that book are solved here. If you found "Stars" a bit loose in places, you'll find the plot in "Tyranny" much tighter. I'm so impressed with the way Foz Meadows writes about so many different things: gender, sexuality, bullying, religion, and how well Meadows crafts the complex and vivid worlds within the story. The worlds are refreshingly diverse, and Meadows plays with the tropes of world-building and portal fantasy so imaginatively. Highly recommended, though this is not a stand-alone novel: it needs to be read in conjunction with "An Accident of Stars".

I hope there will be more books in this series!

buchanator's review

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

ryan_pardue's review

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adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

aurelia2's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

A nice follow up to An Accident of Stars. I really liked the look at "can you readjust to a normal life after an adventure" in the beginning, and I liked the different threads that were followed to converge at the end. Also this is probably the best example of a character death being acknowledged consistently throughout and how it affected the rest of the characters, not just shoved aside for the sake of plot/character growth. The only downside is the villain/antagonist is a bit underdeveloped. 

pixeluce's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

ray130's review

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adventurous fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0