The Queen of Blood Book One of The Queens of Renthia

Loved the world-building. Characters were engaging. Story line was pretty good (it felt a little rushed at times). That plot twist was great! I finished it and immediately started the second book.

There's just something about this series... I can not give it a rating lower than 4. It's not my favourite of the three, but I really like how it all got wrapped up in the end. Honestly I am really happy with how it ended. Solid ending for such a well written series.

Solid fantasy. It was a refreshing atmospheric and fast-paced read.

I am so excited to read the next book. This left me breathless, especially that ending. This author is so imaginative.

I absolutely love the world Durst has built. She is an incredible writer and I have already purchased the sequel to this phenomenal first installment. The first thing that struck me when I began this book was the delightful--and blessedly familiar--Hogwarts-esque atmosphere of the Northeast Academy and the relationship amongst the candidates. It was that genuine feel of belonging that just really touches my soul. The classes, the teachers, etc. were all very authentic-feeling and I just freaking loved it. That's what I'm here for. It became very apparent as I read that Durst is extremely well-read--in the fantasy genre especially--and it is glaringly clear that her knowledge lends itself so well to this story. I think that is a prime reason I enjoyed this book so very much: she compounds upon quintessential fantasy elements in such a way that no one would ever say "oh, she borrowed this from Tolkien...Lewis...Rowling...Martin." I find myself thinking that often when I pick up YA fantasy novels..and then put them back on the shelf. The world, characters, and all other elements from this story are entirely original and fascinating. Her fast-paced writing keeps you on the edge of your seat. I truly couldn't put it down.

A little girl sees her village be destroyed by creatures but these spirits shouldn't have attacked like this. The queen is someone who has control over these and her champions are responsible for training girls who will one day become the Queen. Daleina joins the trials without any intention to become more than someone who can protect her people. She's determined and knows what she wants when she wants. I liked all the chapters in the "academy." I wanted to like what comes next with Ven, but the story kept focusing on parts I didn't care for. Also, the characters' motivations didn't grab me. Perhaps this is the type of series that has to be binged. I will update this review if I ever finish all books.

I enjoyed this one! Definitely got what I paid for in terms of bloodiness, so I'm happy there. This book pulls no punches with death or violence, but it's not as graphic as it could've been which is not a bad thing. Little nature-element sprites and faes all over the world just waiting for the opportunity to tear people apart? I love it 8D I especially appreciated all the great female friendships! It would've been easy to write Daleina's time at the boarding academy as a typical YA boarding school story with the "popular competition" pulling crap & having Daleina be "secretly perfect but unpopular because she's from a poor family" but no! Daleina works really, really hard, has the kind of self-doubts I really identified with & struggled with as a teen, was supported by her friends & in turn supported all of them. It was the brand of feel-good lit I wanted & appreciated. Until all the blood & death ofc ;D

Another trilogy finale where the ending went far differently than I expected, and was a little disappointing. Overall though, I thought this was fantastic! This series is weirdly underrated in my opinion, and kind of defies the pigeonholed genre of YA fantasy. The last time I read a fantasy that included the POV of a mom was N.K. Jemisin's The Broken Earth series, so frankly I don't get to see it enough. More people need to read this trilogy, it's worth it!

I absolutely love the world Durst has built. She is an incredible writer and I have already purchased the sequel to this phenomenal first installment. The first thing that struck me when I began this book was the delightful--and blessedly familiar--Hogwarts-esque atmosphere of the Northeast Academy and the relationship amongst the candidates. It was that genuine feel of belonging that just really touches my soul. The classes, the teachers, etc. were all very authentic-feeling and I just freaking loved it. That's what I'm here for. It became very apparent as I read that Durst is extremely well-read--in the fantasy genre especially--and it is glaringly clear that her knowledge lends itself so well to this story. I think that is a prime reason I enjoyed this book so very much: she compounds upon quintessential fantasy elements in such a way that no one would ever say "oh, she borrowed this from Tolkien...Lewis...Rowling...Martin." I find myself thinking that often when I pick up YA fantasy novels..and then put them back on the shelf. The world, characters, and all other elements from this story are entirely original and fascinating. Her fast-paced writing keeps you on the edge of your seat. I truly couldn't put it down.

не знаю, почему неплохая и даже оригинальная идея оказалась так плохо воплощена. невероятно скучно читать и очень поверхностные персонажи

Wow this series is fucking cool. And this world is so huge and I want toeet everyone else! All the queens! Also!! IT DID GET GAY! Definitely not as gay as the vibes suggested but like...small victories!? I guess!?

4.5 Felt gay. Wasn’t gay. I will be continuing for Mericot obviously

4.5 stars I thoroughly enjoyed this world and story. This high fantasy world is ruled by Queens. A new Queen is crowned only when the current one dies. The heir to throne has nothing to do with blood/birth right. One of the many unique and interesting parts of this book. We follow Deleina's life as a young child to late teenage years as she follows the path of becoming an heir with the one day possibility of being picked as Queen. Deleina is not the chosen one type of character. She is definitely the underdog in school. Though academically smart but not strong in her ability but she is persistent. Although she knows shes not the strongest she continues to try to work hard. She has a no give up attitude. She uses her brain over her power to help solve situations that others rely solely on power. I completely enjoyed her character and that is a big part of why I loved this book. The Queen is basically evil, she can definitely be a character readers love hating. As well as so many other characters in this book that I don't want to mention for fear of spoiling. I liked the love interest/relationship in this book also, filled with respect and friendship and kindness. i went into this book blind and loved it. That ending... I cannot wait to read the sequel.

4.5 stars

I absolutely loved this book! I am a big fan of fantasy with the school/academy trope. I also love following a character from the time their abilities first manifest to adulthood. This book had a lot of my favorite things. The magic is great. I loved this world. I can just imagine the towns in trees with connecting bridges. I can't wait to read the next one!

I am so excited to read the next book. This left me breathless, especially that ending. This author is so imaginative.

I feel so conflicted about this book. It was nothing like I expected, in a good way, yet I can't force myself to give this anything higher than 3 stars. The Queen of Blood is a fantasy YA book that follows the story of Daleina, an idealistic young lady who gets chosen to study at a school where all those who have shown "affinity" towards a certain type of spirit -that is, control some type of spirit- get to attend. Yes, in this world, queens are not chosen by hereditary means, instead, any potential heir needs to be trained at a school and learn to control the 6 different types of spirits that threaten the lives of everyone. The basic premise of the book is interesting; it's unique, something that is rarely seen among the YA genre, especially if it is fantasy. It's always the same plot, the same tropes, and I have to say this book did surprise me in that aspect. The world is made up of different types of spirits needed for everything in the world to work out, and queens, who get to keep said spirits in check so that they don't go rampant and kill everyone. Our MC is a breath of fresh air as well. Daleina is not good at what she does, she struggles with her power, she is not strong like the other students, and she never does things as she is supposed to. It is refreshing seeing a MC not nailing everything that she learns at the first try; it takes time before she can use her power well. But we don't get to see that. The book had so many time jumps, even within the same chapter, that we don't get to see how her training went, how she was able to learn what was so hard for her to do, we just cut right into the future where she is in her last year of training and she has finally learnt how to controll the 6 types of spirits. And that really bothered me, because the transitions were never smooth. Besides the unnecessary time jumps, another thing that bothered me were the characters. I didn't feel attached to ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. Not even one!! Because there were so many time jumps, and so much going on -but at the same time nothing happened- the characters felt completely flat, without any sort of personality whatsoever. Even our MC felt flat! And don't even get me started on Ven. At first I got some sort of Chaol vibes from him, which I loved, but by the end of the book I couldn't help but wonder why was Ven being so fucking blind!! He had known EVERYTHING since the very beginning, and still, his main concern was to think about how the poor queen must have been feeling. SHE WAS KNOWINGLY LETTING PEOPLE GET KILLED! YOU CAN'T FEEL SYMPATHY FOR HER! Ugh. If I had cared at all about the characters, then the ending should have wrecked me, yet there I was, unfazed, reading the last scene like nothing was happening at all. And yet, I think this book had so much potential to be an amazing YA fantasy book. The world-building could have been more detailed, the fact that certain people lived in trees and they had created these platforms and wire paths to travel from tree to tree was so fucking cool, and yet it was barely mentioned as a means of transportation. There were no passages dedicated to how the world was supposed to look like, or how the villages were supposed to look like, and I can't help to think how it was all wasted. And the same goes to the "magic" in this world. We don't know who gets to have this affinity towards spirits or why, or how it works. We are only told that they can control them, and that's supposed to be the whole explanation. To sum up this mess of a review, I think the author had an amazing idea, but one which was poorly executed. Everything could have been further developed for the readers to have a better sense of understanding of the world and the magic in it. I will be reading the second book since I have an arc, but I'm not expecting much from it if I'm being honest.

*3.5 This is one of the most unique fantasy worlds I’ve read so far. It is a world full of violent spirits, that long to kill humans, and can only be controlled by the queen and other women with the affinity. It started off really slow and it took some time for me to get into the story, and I didn’t like the main character’s sister. However, I really liked Daleina and was happy to see her struggle with her power instead of becoming the most powerful person overnight. The ending was fantastic and I’m looking forward to reading the sequel.

Wow, I didn't expect that. But, yet, I did. The Queen of Blood opens with a punch to the gut, and a few more in the end, but I will say I saw the end coming. I kept thinking that it wouldn't, but I was right. What makes this a brilliant book is the writing and characters. I absolutely loved the characters in this. Except for Fara, for she was terrible. But these characters are so interesting and go through so, so much! If you are looking for a fantasy adventure, this is one of the best options I have read lately!

I really enjoyed this one! I listened to the audiobook and the narrator (Khristine Hvam) is one of my favorites! (She also does Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy). The magic and world in this book is so unique, it was a real joy to just spend time in this world and try to figure out how it all works. Basically, every piece of nature is infused with spirit which can take on a physical form and harm humans. It is up to the Queen, hedge witches, and heirs to the Queen to protect the people from the nature spirits. Heirs to the Queen are not born, but are selected based on their skill in controlling spirits. Our main character is in training to become an heir and we follow her journey as she learns to master her skills and uncover secrets about her past and her Queen. I highly recommend for fans of interesting and unique high fantasy!

A beautifully unique fantasy that definitely reminded me of stepping into Valenwood in the Elder Scrolls franchise. The storytelling is rich, the characters (especially Ven) have deep dimensions to explore, and I really loved the worldbuilding behind this one. I’ll definitely be continuing this series!