Review: The Seventh Queen by Greta Kelly

The Seventh Queen by Greta Kelly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

If you loved The Frozen Crown like I did, you are going to love the ending to this duology. This picks up where that leaves off. The Frozen Crown left us with quite the cliffhanger, and we pick up where that left us. You really will need to read book 1 to understand what is going on in this book or I feel you will be completely lost. This series is filled with political intrigue and the movements of the players start in the first book. If you picked up with with this book, you will have missed the build up and be confused as to who the players are and what their motivations are. Like book 1 this is a bit on the slower paced side, and I don't mean that as a negative. The pace fits the book and the plot, While there are some action scenes, this fantasy is not filled with magical battles and fight scenes. This is more of a chess match and a battle of wits as Askia not only has to figure out how to save herself but the entire empire before Radovan steals her magic and takes her life. While she is a warrior queen, she is also well equipped in court politics ang the games that nobles play to gain information and use it to gain the upper hand.

We don't get a ton of explanation of the magic system in this book. The magic is pretty straightforward, but the magic system is mostly explained in book 1. We don't get much of a recap of what happened in the first book, which if you are like me you read it almost a year ago. The more I read of this the more I remembered what was happening, but the events and locations of the first book only play a small part in this book. They are connected but most of this book takes place in Radovan's stronghold, where he is keeping Askia captive while he takes her magic. While she can't wield her magic in her captivity, she is still able to use a bit of magic and is aided not only by those who have sworn to serve her in death but the queen who came before her. With the six queens on her side, she is able to gain valuable information not only about Radovan, but his court and the castle. She is able to strategize and maneuver around him while planning her escape and a way to save everyone she cares about. I really enjoyed how this all came together. This has magic, politics, a little romance, some action, and some good discussions about guilt, sacrifice, and doing what is right for the greater good. This is a solid duology and I highly recommend it!

While I enjoyed the ending and felt it was fitting, I do feel that some readers will take issue with the lack of closure. The ending is a bit open ended and doesn't give concrete answers to certain plot lines. This is one case that I feel like an epilogue maybe 5 years later would have been a nice touch. Then again it leaves things open for more books or for the reader to imagine what could be.

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