Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte

*This review will not contain spoilers*

Seventeen-year-old Keralie Corrington may seem harmless, but she’s, in fact, one of Quadara’s most skilled thieves and a liar. Varin, on the other hand, is an honest, upstanding citizen of Quadara’s most enlightened region, Eonia. He runs afoul of Keralie when she steals a package from him, putting his life in danger. When Varin attempts to retrieve the package, he and Keralie both find themselves entangled in a conspiracy that leaves all four of Quadara’s queens dead. With no other choices and on the run from Keralie’s former employer, the two decide to join forces, endeavoring to discover who has killed the queens and save their own lives in the process. When their reluctant partnership blooms into a tenuous romance, they must overcome their own dark secrets in hopes of a future together that seemed impossible just days before. But first they have to stay alive and untangle the secrets behind the nation’s four dead queens. 

This is one of the most intricately woven stories I have ever read. It was hard in the beginning, when you start out with a single thread, to be immersed in the world. But as the the story progressed I became more intrigued and more eager to go on.

I think one of the reasons it was so hard for me to get into was because I just didn’t like Keralie. She is supposed to be “this girl you can’t trust, this girl with darkness inside of her”, but I just simply wasn’t getting that from her. And in trying to get that point across, I felt like information was repeated too much and some lines just felt cheesy. I’m happy I stuck with it though, because she grew on me and now, I truly have developed a fondness for her.

It comes as no surprise that the queens are dead, considering the title, but it is interesting how much they are involved in the story. They’re not just dead queens that are mentioned, they are made into real people with real lives. I cared about their deaths. That was one of my favorite things about this book, the queens were truly a part of the story in more than just their deaths.

Everything felt scrambled for me in the beginning and looking back, it makes sense. I’m not sure if everything was intentional, but it works for me. The loose threads and off feeling I got at the start of the book now make complete sense now that I’ve finished it. It might have frustrated me in the beginning, but I guess I can appreciate it now. Though, I would have liked to see more of the development of one character since I feel like some of it was lost in the scuffle of everything else.

I did have a theory towards the end of the book and it definitely would have been shocking. The more I thought about, the more all the pieces fit, which is rare for me since I always miss something. But, that didn’t pan out. What did happen was so close to falling flat for me, but was saved with Keralie’s brilliant character development and where this took her story.

My favorite part would have to be the queens, which is weird, I know. I want a book just on them! I can almost see what the story would have been if this had been a book just on these four queens. I bet it would have been just as good.

Oh, the ending was so great. I can’t say more without revealing spoilers, but it wraps things up so nicely and I love it so much. I’m so glad I was able to get a copy at BookCon (thank you Dad for enduring that madness for me!) and I’m SO looking forward to whatever Astrid writes next!

Four Dead Queens comes out February 26, 2019!

Pre-order link: https://www.amazon.com/Four-Dead-Queens-Astrid-Scholte/dp/0525513922/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=