The Queen’s Rising by Rebecca RossMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Hallelujah - finally, a complete fantasy story in one book!
And yes, I notice there is a sequel, but I had to double check because this beautiful story is complete so I can only imagine the next book introduces new troubles to expand on the lives of these characters just for fun more than out of necessity.
Anyhoo!
This story follows Brienna, essentially an orphan (mum dead, father's name unknown because grandpa refuses to tell) who is dumped by her grandfather at a 'passion' institute - a place where people master one of five 'passions': art, music, drama, wit or knowledge. But that's only beginning - Brienna is a girl of two continents, one of which is ruled by a tyrant king. So naturally she's going to get herself involved, and her mysterious past will somehow come to light through it all.
I really enjoyed how this was structured. At first, I felt the first part was a bit unnecessary, but when this turned out to be a complete tale it made more sense. Brienna's humble beginnings show us the importance of her 'sisters', and the mystery of her father is overshadowed by her just knuckling down and doing the work. I really enjoyed that.
Hot tip though: If you want Brienna's father to remain a mystery until it is revealed naturally in the story, DON'T READ THE FAMILY TREES AT THE START OF THE NOVEL. Honestly, who was the genius who thought it would be smart to include that at the start?!
I wasn't really keen on the budding relationship between her and Cartier, what with the whole student/teacher thing. But thankfully it wasn't too much of a focus and the story was allowed to blossom first. Brienna meets many interesting characters along her journey and I really loved the comraderie of it all - there was respect, love, admiration ... nothing too nasty or fake. The relationships seemed quite organic to me so they were fun to watch unfold.
The story is simple enough, so again I'd like to voice my appreciation for it all being contained in one book. There's no awful prolonging of battles, clues, searches or back stabbings etc. It all happens quite fast and naturally.
There were a few times I was confused by some details, and other things I felt might have been expanded on further, but they haven't stuck with me so obviously not major oversights. Mostly I just enjoyed being swept up in this story, and even though there were quite a few predictable moments and mysteries that weren't really mysteries, I never really knew where we were going to end up.
Overall, this was a fun fantasy novel that has some wonderful characters and some great moments. Highly recommend, particularly if you're someone who is tired of having to read 3+ books just to finish the story.
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