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A review by bookrecs_bysara
Queen of Roses by Briar Boleyn
4.75
Brief summary:
Morgan Pendragon, a shunned part fae princess, should have been queen. Instead after the death of her cruel father, the throne passed to her younger, equally cruel, human, brother who—with the kingdom on the brink of war—has sent her on an impossible quest to retrieve the fabled sword, Excalibur.
My thoughts:
This was a decently fast paced Arthurian retelling with a fae twist. The world building was well done, the backstory was believable, the family dynamic was pure chaos, and the action-packed hero’s journey perfectly cues up a sequel. This wasn’t a dark fantasy in the way I was expecting, and I think lovers of Throne of Glass or From Blood and Ash would enjoy this book. I didn’t love the emergence of a sort of love triangle and found the romance component a little lacking (this is where the book lost half a star)—but the ending leads me to think that will be remedied in the second book. The FMC was a bit timid/naive throughout the story, but that didn’t bother me as I think this is an intentional detail that will change as she grows throughout the series—stay tuned to see if my prediction is accurate. MMC was *chefs kiss* perfection, and I’m excited to see what’s next for him/them. And the ending…I think I’m going to start book 2 tomorrow because there’s no way I can walk away from that cliffhanger
content warning: references of sexual assault.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Morgan Pendragon, a shunned part fae princess, should have been queen. Instead after the death of her cruel father, the throne passed to her younger, equally cruel, human, brother who—with the kingdom on the brink of war—has sent her on an impossible quest to retrieve the fabled sword, Excalibur.
My thoughts:
This was a decently fast paced Arthurian retelling with a fae twist. The world building was well done, the backstory was believable, the family dynamic was pure chaos, and the action-packed hero’s journey perfectly cues up a sequel. This wasn’t a dark fantasy in the way I was expecting, and I think lovers of Throne of Glass or From Blood and Ash would enjoy this book. I didn’t love the emergence of a sort of love triangle and found the romance component a little lacking (this is where the book lost half a star)—but the ending leads me to think that will be remedied in the second book. The FMC was a bit timid/naive throughout the story, but that didn’t bother me as I think this is an intentional detail that will change as she grows throughout the series—stay tuned to see if my prediction is accurate. MMC was *chefs kiss* perfection, and I’m excited to see what’s next for him/them. And the ending…I think I’m going to start book 2 tomorrow because there’s no way I can walk away from that cliffhanger
content warning: references of sexual assault.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault