The Hedgewitch Queen (Romances of Arquitaine, #1 ) by Lilith Saintcrow

Dec 03, 2011 Katy rated it 4 of 5 stars

4.5 stars - Wow! What kind of ending was that?!?! I'm totally stunned. I can't say I didn't have my hesitation, but I had not seen that one coming WHEN it did. I thought I had about 10 more pages to read, but apparently, it was the acknowledgement and the preview for Book 2, which doesn't come out for another six months!

Setting my shock aside, I thought this was a pretty awesome book. I love how the first line had me hooked, and it didn't stop from there. There was action from the start, and eve...more

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Mar 29, 2012 E rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sequel-soon-please, old-school-fantasy

Also Found On: A Book and A Record

The Hedgewitch Queen was…well, it was. There were a lot of things about The Hedgewitch Queen that I liked, and a lot that – fell short of what I wanted to happen. Let’s start with the bad news and work our way towards the good stuff. First, this was long. Exponentially long, and slower than molasses. There were a lot of scenes that I kept thinking, “couldn’t that have been cut out?” Although I felt as though the book was original, the ideas and the love story we...more

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Apr 09, 2013 Dangermousie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: aaangst, codependent, fantasy, romance, tough-heroines

THQ is set in what is essentially a fantasy version of southern France during the High Middle Ages. Our protagonist and narrator is Viviane, a lady-in-waiting to the princess and distantly related to the royal line. When the novel opens, Viviane is a consummate court lady and the biggest problems facing her are keeping court intrigues from harming her princess and practicing her hedgewitch skills in peace (hedgewitching is viewed as peasant magic, as opposed to court sorcery). But within hours o...more THQ is set in what is essentially a fantasy version of southern France during the High Middle Ages. Our protagonist and narrator is Viviane, a lady-in-waiting to the princess and distantly related to the royal line. When the novel opens, Viviane is a consummate court lady and the biggest problems facing her are keeping court intrigues from harming her princess and practicing her hedgewitch skills in peace (hedgewitching is viewed as peasant magic, as opposed to court sorcery). But within hours of the opening, Viviane's world is in ruins - the king, the princess and all the ladies-in-waiting except for her are assassinated and the King's brother, the leader of the coup, declares himself the new King.

Viviane goes on the run with Tristan d'Arcenne, the captain of the King's guard and his men, who are determined to declare her the new Queen. In the process, she develops strength, confidence and pragmatism, decides what it is she really wants and is capable of, gets to be the owner (or is it the ownee?) of the magical amulet that activates in the presence of the true heir, deals with death, illness and nightmares. Oh, and finds out that there are dark secrets everywhere, some of which may destroy what is left of her world.

So, why did I love it so, when most medieval fantasy books annoy me like the plague?

a. I like the writing style. It's first person narrative, which can be a hit or miss, but here the almost-claustrophobic feeling being only in Viviane's head gives us, is oddly fitting. Viviane's world has been destroyed and narrowed to (for most of the book) escape and survival and a very small group of people. Plus, I think the main thread here is how Viviane grows into her role and, seeing how self-possessed she is, if we were looking at her from the outside, a lot of this struggle and inner growth would be lost to the readers.

b. It's not high fantasy. Sure, there is magic and some interference by Gods in the world, but there aren't dragons, multiple races of elves or whatever. It really is very close to High Middle Ages, an area of particular interest to me. In a lot of ways, it's like a darker, denser version of one of those Lais of Marie de France, which had magic of their own. (Caution - for worldbuilding purists, there might be things that bug you here - this is supposed to be a society with matrilineal descent but some things don't seem to fit what that would do to the society. It doesn't bug me, but MMV. Also some names for things are fake-medieval which might also be a drawback. I liked the rest of it enough to overlook).

c. The characters. There aren't any characters in this I love but all main characters are uniformly interesting and complicated (OK, maybe not the villain, who is just plain bad. I am mildly surprised we didn't see him eating a puppy).

d. The main relationship. If you guys like intense and really dysfunctional, come right in. Viviane/Tristan is pretty much a goldmine for a therapist, except I don't think they have them even in a fantasy version of High Middle Ages. It's a rare book where I ended it convinced both that (a) they really love each other (b) I don't think of a way they can stay together, and not due to outside forces, but due to their own stuff.

e. I really like the plot - there is a lot of adventure, twists etc. Nor is every twist predictable, though unlike a lot of people (if amazon is anything to go by), (view spoiler)

Tbh, I was perhaps wrong when I thought of Marie de France. It's more like a verbal pre-Raphaelite paintings - intense colors and beauty and middle ages through a very misty mirror.

I've seen some reviewers mention faint shadows of Jacqueline Carey's famous "Kushiel" series, but since I loathed that so much I not only stopped a quarter in, I actually threw out my copy, I am in no position to speak to that. (Yes, I know everyone loves it. The s&m is not my bag, to put it mildly).

So, go read. It's dark and smart and intense and wonderful.(less)

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Jun 09, 2012 Luthien rated it 2 of 5 stars

This author had a reasonably good concept, which I am sad to say she didn't have the skill to execute. She's obviously a fan of George R. R. Martin, because she borrows heavily from his writing, and not very subtly.

I am a fan of good fantasy and sci-fi, but as any fan of good fantasy and sci-fi knows, it's not enough to make up a few names and invent a vaguely unfamiliar kingdom or language (which in this case is a rather silly pseudo-French). The author must completely draw us in to his world a...more

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May 20, 2012 Stacy rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is probably more in the 3.5 range, but it got me to immediately search for the next book and then be disappointed that it wasn't out for a few more weeks, so it gets promoted rather than demoted.

I'd read Saintcrow's Night Shift when she was a B&N Spotlight author. I liked it all right, but didn't get that urge to devour the rest IMMEDIATELY, so it kinda stopped there. When this book showed up cheap, since it was a classic fantasy style from an established author (plus a pretty cover :),...more This is probably more in the 3.5 range, but it got me to immediately search for the next book and then be disappointed that it wasn't out for a few more weeks, so it gets promoted rather than demoted.

I'd read Saintcrow's Night Shift when she was a B&N Spotlight author. I liked it all right, but didn't get that urge to devour the rest IMMEDIATELY, so it kinda stopped there. When this book showed up cheap, since it was a classic fantasy style from an established author (plus a pretty cover :), I figured why not? It's been hovering near the top of my "what's next" list for awhile (I think 'cause the cover keeps catching my eye on my Nook Color) and it finally shoved its way to the top yesterday, even though goodness knows I've got plenty of other things to read. And...I couldn't put it down.

It's a solid story of magic, court intrigue, bloody coups, and an unlikely new queen with a dashing (yet dangerous and slightly mysterious) defender set in a fantasy version of France. The use of alternate/historical names and slightly altered, but recognizable versions of real places always entertains me; Jacqueline Carey's world remains my favorite version of this. But occasionally, some of the alternate spellings were mildly annoying--I think I'm smart enough to recognize this is a fantasy version of Europe (they gave us a map and everything) without having to change "ferret" to "farrat." It appears we're still talking about a small, weaselly pet, so was that really necessary? And it wasn't italicized, so I can't take it to be a bastardized French word, like the frequently used chivalier. Anyway, there were just various ones that popped up that I felt were taking it a bit too far; that were gratuitous to the establishment of the world and just made me have to run a little translator in my head for no good reason.

The action was nearly non-stop, if typical. Vianne's continuous musings on alternate escape strategies throughout the middle part of the book eventually got a bit repetitious, primarily because it was so obviously NOT GOING TO HAPPEN, but I give Saintcrow points for not actually having her impetuously run off on her own and forcing the guards to risk themselves to find her again, yada, yada, yada.

The romance was compelling in its own way--Vianne and Tristan are two remarkably hard-headed individuals, which is always entertaining in that "how long is it going to take?" way. I have to say, though, that it never quite got to me deep down--I believed it, I wanted it, but I didn't FEEL it.

Hence, the 3.5 stars--there's really nothing here you haven't read before, and I know I pretty much just called out the negatives, but there was still a SOMETHING that pulled me in and didn't let go. I tried to fight off sleep to just. Finish. The last. 40. Pages. Didn't happen, but the fact that I wanted to says something. And when I hit the end, I went "What? You're ending there??" and immediately went searching for the next book.

(Funny thing was, when it wasn't there, I ended up reading a sample of Saintcrow's other series, Working for the Devil, and now I'm sucked into that one!)(less)

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Apr 16, 2012 Fred Dickson rated it 1 of 5 stars

I almost want to erase this book completely from my memory, but it did make me laugh out loud a few times. So I guess there's that. Honestly, it started out fine, exciting murder plots, capable heroine, interesting characters. But for some reason as soon as they step out of the palace, or should I say 'palais' (The bizarre bastardized French almost drove me to the point of madness.) Vianne the main character is no longer a likable hero at all. She wanders around being oblivious of the fact that...more I almost want to erase this book completely from my memory, but it did make me laugh out loud a few times. So I guess there's that. Honestly, it started out fine, exciting murder plots, capable heroine, interesting characters. But for some reason as soon as they step out of the palace, or should I say 'palais' (The bizarre bastardized French almost drove me to the point of madness.) Vianne the main character is no longer a likable hero at all. She wanders around being oblivious of the fact that the super, sexy, amazing,awesome, wonderful, perfect, but with a shady past (le gasp!)Captain of the guard is totally in love with her. (Actually we find out he has been literally stalking her for YEARS and she never noticed him lurking constantly outside her window because she is...special.)
She spends the first few chapters alternating between being dense about the complete lack of relationship that they have, and wanting to run away from her new duties as heir apparent. Because even though the king has just been brutally murdered and the culprit is now ruling the kingdom, she just doesn't feel like being a Queen, okay?! When she's not doing that she is getting romantically feverish and her hair is constantly being slightly sexily mussed from fever dreams. I felt like she was 'feverish and sick' a thousand times during the book, but I think it was only 3 or 4. MORE THAN ENOUGH.
Eventually our intrepid heroine(?) finds a very Robin Hood-Esque gang of bandits along with their families. We have one scene where the matriarch of the village takes her on a walk and explains how shitty the old kings rule was and why all of these people are destitute, I think we talk about tax men also being rapists, it's very sad. Fortunately this village is BURNED TO THE FUCKING GROUND and Vianne is able to completely forget about it. I mean, she's sad, but this is no time to talk of changing laws and helping the citizens. There are men to swoon over. I have no idea why we bothered to point out the plight of the peasants if we were never going to talk about it again.
Vianne's highly trained and super dangerous Queen's guard manages to lose her during the raid on the bandit village and so she wanders through the mountains until she comes upon a gypsy camp (THANK GOD THERE WAS A THIRD PARTY NEARBY TO SAVE HER.) who take her where she needs to go as long as she's somewhat useful. You'd think this might be her chance to grow as a character, or at least describe her hands becoming calloused from work or some shit, but no. We get a brief description of the Gypsy lifestyle and customs and oh yeah, enough time has passed for her to learn the language. Wham. Done. Time passed, mission accomplished. It was like 4 pages on my kindle screen. With large print. Nothing learned.
Vianne finds her way back to the captain of the guard and decides yeah, sure, why not, seems like a nice guy, let's get married. The day after their wedding she asks him if she thinks they will still be friends after he gets bored of her in the sack. Seriously. A marriage built to last. Even though Vianne proposed to HIM, she realizes their is something suspicious about him, but the sex is great so she doesn't question it.
There is a 'big twist!' at the end that failed to wow me completely. A good half, no more than half of this book was internal dithering about whether or not she was in love with her perfect guard, and *blush* does he really like me back?! Is he mad at me?! Oh no!? I cannot express with human words how much I would like to leap into the book and throttle the main characters. Both of them.
If you enjoy sanity, stay away from this book.
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Apr 11, 2012 Deborah rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: available-on-kindle, fantasy-scifi, having-difficulty-finishing, netgalley-read, new-author-for-me, new-world-fantasy, woman-writer, ya-novel

"The Hedwitch Queen" started out with a courtly, fairytale quality that was captivating.

Introduction of one of the main characters, Vianne, then Duchess of a fantasy land much

modelled on old England/Arquitaine garnered a lot of pleasant interest from me. The story

swiftly moved in the first couple of chapters from the gardens of a palace to an uprising,

the King's pavillion, a darkended secret passageway and the Princesse's inner sanctum. I was

caught up in the story. Sadly, however, in fairly...more

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Mar 31, 2012 K rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: romantic, action-adventure, anti-hero, sword-and-sorcery, melodramatic

Romance with a fair chunk of plot that threatens to get in the way sometimes. At least that's how I imagine the author felt. Every time the story got going, the main character would pull away from the narrative to rehash her feelings for the love interest.

Liked:
~The voice - old fashioned court language that suffused the narrative and the dialogue and (mostly) stayed in character. The little French mots that may or may not be actually French. I couldn't tell. But it was fun reading.
~The beginning...more

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Feb 21, 2012 Jill Heather rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: sff, ya, fantasy

I wanted to like it. Vianne was a good heroine -- neither too capable nor too incapable, and though the does he/doesn't he like me storyline was way too long, well, more than about one chapter is too long, and it was much shorter than many other books. The alt-France was fun, though some of the Frenchish vocabulary and spelling were intensely grating (especially the accents). The way magic worked was interesting. It had so much going for it.

And yet. The "shocking twist cliffhanger ending" was a...more

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Feb 18, 2012 Whitney rated it 4 of 5 stars

My favorite part of this novel is the strength of Vianne, the heroine. She's fearful. She's unsure. She's obstinate. But as the novel progresses, she grows up. There's nothing overly magical about her transformation, and she seems real to me in a way few protagonists of fantasy novel are. Her romantic interest, while engaging and sweet, is not a fix-all, cure-all. Vianne's smart. Occasionally she is frustrating, but if she were perfect, she'd be less real.

While many fantasy novels function in bi...more

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Jan 16, 2012 Molly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

I would give this book 3.5 stars. I enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to the sequal. Two things bothered me about it. The first was that about 100 pages of the book were simply Vianne being sick, but insisting she's not sick and laying in bed oblivious to the fact that Tristan is in love with her, despite his mens attempts to set her straight. ok, I enjoyed the parts where Tristan was obviously in love with her and she misinterprted them, but it just went far too long with her being to sick to...more

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Jan 08, 2012 Tiffany rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: magic

I enjoyed reading this book. Though it is not as well written and the characters as well developed as I suspect the author is capable of. The book was only 2.99 for my kindle and I thought it worth it. I will be reading the sequel but if it is more the 2.99 I will rent it from the library rather than purchasing it.

What I liked:
1 - The story was pretty fast paced. It kept me engaged for a majority of the story and there was a nice dash of adventure, strength, and romance.

2 - The idea behind the...more I enjoyed reading this book. Though it is not as well written and the characters as well developed as I suspect the author is capable of. The book was only 2.99 for my kindle and I thought it worth it. I will be reading the sequel but if it is more the 2.99 I will rent it from the library rather than purchasing it.

What I liked:
1 - The story was pretty fast paced. It kept me engaged for a majority of the story and there was a nice dash of adventure, strength, and romance.

2 - The idea behind the characters. There was an interesting plot to the story and the characters the author sketched for that plot were also good. I look forward to her expanding on Tristan's background and actions as the story progresses.

What I think could have been improved:
1 - The characters. I read other reviews where they criticized Vianne's weakness and I have to agree. She ended up crying "why" too many times and second guessing herself as well as disbelieving things that were obvious to the reader... I assume the author was trying to convey her tenuous position and the difficulty of her trials with this. If so, it was not well done. Instead Vianne comes across strangely weak and not a great heroine. Questions are posed that the character ignores for much too long and the reader is left frustrated with her blindness. An odd trait for what I suppose is meant to be a strong character.

2 - The disorientation in the book. There were periods where Vianne flits in and out of consciousness and I felt like those parts left me adrift... And not in a good way. I had too much trouble figuring out where she was and what was happening when I tried to visualize it. I understand the need to convey the disorientation, but there have been many books which did it so much better that I found I was disappointed in this authors approach.

3 - Sorry, there had to be a third... The story leaves you hanging at the end. Though the book was long enough, it definitely does not stand alone. Just as the intrigue that you suspect is finally brought to light, the book ends... So yes, I want to read the sequel of course, but I am also annoyed at the author's ploy to get me to read the sequel. It makes me hesitant to seek out other books that she has written.(less)

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Dec 25, 2011 drey rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-reads, fantasy, ebooks

I noticed the cover of The Hedgewitch Queen, then I saw it was by Lilith Saintcrow, who’s one of my favorite authors. So of course I had to pick it up…

drey’s thoughts:
The first in an anticipated duology (The Bandit King is due next June), The Hedgewitch Queen is a fast introduction to an orphan girl who gets involved in events larger than she wishes for, and how she rises to the occasion. Vianne di Rocancheil is a lady-in-waiting at the Court of Arquitaine who spends her days and nights keeping...more I noticed the cover of The Hedgewitch Queen, then I saw it was by Lilith Saintcrow, who’s one of my favorite authors. So of course I had to pick it up…

drey’s thoughts:
The first in an anticipated duology (The Bandit King is due next June), The Hedgewitch Queen is a fast introduction to an orphan girl who gets involved in events larger than she wishes for, and how she rises to the occasion. Vianne di Rocancheil is a lady-in-waiting at the Court of Arquitaine who spends her days and nights keeping her Princesse from court intrigue and plots, and her free time tending to her garden and reading her books. Life is as good as it gets…

Then her King and Princesse are murdered, the King’s brother is looking for her, and she barely escapes all the mayhem. Thank goodness for the Captain of the King’s Guard, whose presence of mind gets her to safety. Entrusted with the Great Seal of Arquitaine by her dying Princesse, Vianne has no idea how to proceed when it seems as though the Seal has awoken and chosen her for its bearer. Which means this orphan hedgewitch is now Queen of Arquitaine…

Danger nipping at her heels, Vianne sets off on a harrowing ride to seek safety. Dogged by assassins, she manages more than a few times to use the Seal’s power at sorcery to save her life, and those of her Guard. There’s a lot of unknowns to face, and she does it with aplomb – after bouts of illness, anxiety, and steadfast refusal to accept that the Seal is hers, and hers alone.

There’s politics (of course), there’s romance (once she realizes a certain someone’s been keeping an eye on her for ages), and there are regrets for a simpler life lost. Vianne is smart, plucky, and compassionate, and by the end of the story she’s making decisions and issuing orders. I wish she wasn’t quite so wishy-washy in the beginning, and Tristan’s initial crush on her is just a tad creepy. But overall I liked the story and I liked the characters. Can’t wait to see how this war plays out in The Bandit King!

drey’s rating: Excellent!(less)

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Dec 21, 2011 Haley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: action-romance, loveit

Review also at my blog: www.passingthepages.blogspot.com
*Spoiler Alert*

Ok...my head feels like it's been slammed with a particularly brutal hammer over and over again, with no breaks and constant taunting about fulfilling good promises and then saying a dainty little, "Never Mind!" and hitting me again.

And apparently I enjoy some good torture now and then.

Duchesse Vianne di Rocanchiel is the unknowing half heir to a king that was just murdered. All of the other hires to the thrown, illegitimat...more Review also at my blog: www.passingthepages.blogspot.com
*Spoiler Alert*

Ok...my head feels like it's been slammed with a particularly brutal hammer over and over again, with no breaks and constant taunting about fulfilling good promises and then saying a dainty little, "Never Mind!" and hitting me again.

And apparently I enjoy some good torture now and then.

Duchesse Vianne di Rocanchiel is the unknowing half heir to a king that was just murdered. All of the other hires to the thrown, illegitimate like Vianne, or quite correctly gotten, like the Prinesse Lisele that Vianne cared for have been killed by the Kings brother. And the reason the kings brother didn't kill Vianne was because he wants to get an heir with the royal blood on all sides off her...or something like that.

Also she might have this all powerful medallion that has chosen her for the next ruler...that might have something to do with it.

Anyway, enter the hunk, Mr. Tristan d'Arcenne-the left hand, bloody brutal killer with an unexpected-to Vianne-soft spot for our only remaining heir. But he's got secrets, yes yes sirrah, he does. (Key the part about being a killer for a king with lots of secrets.) There's really no choice though...you love him as much as Vianne does by the end...but their relationship could be crippled by lies. Or even worse, the truth come to light.

The last hundred pages of the book were exceedingly painful for me. I love Tris and I love Vianne and I love them together. I hate how much Vianne is changing to accommodate her rise to power but I understand it and even applaud it. Change is needed! There are horrible scenes in this book, nothing for weak hearted men, or women. People die, Tris is mercieless-he is so sexy, he reminds me a bit of Chris from Stange Angels.

This book is nothing like any book I have ever read of Miss Saintcrow's. Nothing, nada, zip, zilch. The writing is perfect, brutal in it's reality, heartbreaking in it's love, and this is what this book is...a painful battle to fulfill love, and to win over the injustices of life.

It's everything I would ever want in a book.

I am so sad that this book is only an eRead. I really wanted to feel the pages on this one. (less)

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Dec 20, 2011 Anoolka rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, female-protagonist, historical, romance, series, witches-and-wizards, long-lost-family

It's not quite what I expected. Though I liked it, over all. There's the language to get used to. And the cliffhanger at the end. The heroine spends a lot of time ill, pale, told to rest or fainting and some of her thought process annoyed me so much in the first half (the denial, over and over, of her being Queen and trying to escape the people who helped her, denial of the possibility of Tristan's feelings for her, and of her being pretty - I hate the 'she's so pretty but she can't see it' thin...more

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Dec 12, 2011 Felicia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: vaginal-fantasy

OKAY. So I read this author religiously, and was particularly excited about this book, the description was SUPER yummy. I enjoyed the book on several levels, the setting was interesting, a classic fairy tale land. The heroine was a bit wallow-y for my taste but whatever. My primary problem was the following (and please say if you agree with me):

I swear to God, it's so WEIRD how this author's men are so emotionally retarded, and then she treats them SO BADLY. Having read like 15 books by her it's...more

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Dec 12, 2011 Maggie rated it 5 of 5 stars

At first, I didn't know what to expect of this book, but it all too soon became a book that sucks you in and leaves you hanging!

From court conspiracies to romance to mystery, The Hedgewitch Queen has it all. The best part of this book is that the characters and the setting come from a fictionalized Europe, with different countries. The language that these people use seems like some archaic form of French or blend of modern languages, like m'chri or m'dama. The setting creates a mood that you cou...more At first, I didn't know what to expect of this book, but it all too soon became a book that sucks you in and leaves you hanging!

From court conspiracies to romance to mystery, The Hedgewitch Queen has it all. The best part of this book is that the characters and the setting come from a fictionalized Europe, with different countries. The language that these people use seems like some archaic form of French or blend of modern languages, like m'chri or m'dama. The setting creates a mood that you could be sucked into for all its intrigue and spice.

I had no idea what this book was to be like when I first opened it - you can imagine my sudden fervor for MORE when I read the coup happening and Vianne's narrow escape from capture and slaughter. The best part of this story is the development of Vianne as a whole; she goes from a demure lady-in-waiting for the princess and gradually becomes the queen that she is forced to become as a result of the bloody results of murder that she witnessed. For someone in her role, I think it admirable that she could adapt so well in such a short amount of time and still keep a level mind.

The romance in this story is touching in that Tristan has had a one sided love for Vianne since she was thirteen. It's even more cute as readers find out the attempts that he tried to get her attention, and she diverted them without even knowing; Vianne is used to being told she is not pretty and that no suitors would ask for her, and so she could not believe that Tristan actually held affections for her.

I'm definitely hanging around for the next novel in June. The intrigue and the big surprise at the end is something that must be resolved, poor Vianne. And like some of the other reviews on here - do NOT read the excerpt from the next book unless you seriously are masochistic enough to want that kind of a cliffhanger/spoiler (because it is both!!)!!! I personally love spoilers (not so much cliffhangers) but the excerpt's events were hinted at earlier, only now confirmed. But still. Proceed at your caution.

This is definitely recommended for others to read!(less)

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Dec 11, 2011 Lisette Walker rated it 4 of 5 stars

I bought this book because I've been aware of Lilith Saintcrow (love the over-the-top name) but have never previously read one of her books (although I think she did a series I was interested in at one point, I just had no money). Anyhow. I bought this book specifically because the publisher ran a sale on the e-book version. I grabbed the first chapter sample, liked it, and bought it. When I say I liked it, I started reading the sample, bought the book, and read it in one setting, to the point t...more I bought this book because I've been aware of Lilith Saintcrow (love the over-the-top name) but have never previously read one of her books (although I think she did a series I was interested in at one point, I just had no money). Anyhow. I bought this book specifically because the publisher ran a sale on the e-book version. I grabbed the first chapter sample, liked it, and bought it. When I say I liked it, I started reading the sample, bought the book, and read it in one setting, to the point that I skipped dinner to finish it and stayed up past midnight reading it.

The book concerns Vianne, a lady-in-waiting to the princess Lisele. As the book opens, Princess Lisele and her father are murdered in a coup (the Queen has been dead for years: Lisele is the only child). Before Lisele succumbs to her injuries, she gives Vianne a quest.

I really liked Vianne. One of the things that made her character for me was her grief over the death of the princess, and the fact that she didn't want the quest (or the resultant implications) but that she kept up with it, at some points merely because her princess had requested it of her. I could have become quite annoyed with Vianne's reactions at points except that I knew why she reacted the way she did. I really feel that I come to know Vianne as a person, which happens too rarely in books these days: usually characters rush from one event to the next, and we are left watching what they do rather than understanding why they choose to do it.

This has a twisty plot, and we aren't quite sure who to trust, or what is accurate, as intrigues and betrayals come to light throughout the course of the narrative. The first-person narrative (from Vianne's POV) helps with this.

It's been quite a while since I've found a book that I've wanted to gobble up like I did this (the last were His Majesty's Dragon and Shades of Grey). Sometimes I fear that I've become too jaded a reader. It's such fun to have that fear disproved.

I've been pondering how to rate this book. I can easily imagine re-reading it, but don't quite yet know if it qualifies to go on my very favorites shelf or not.

The quibble I have with this book is that it ends on a major cliff-hanger. Argh!!!!! The next book doesn't come out for a while.... and I will so totally be reading it, as well as looking up other of Saintcrow's work.

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Dec 05, 2011 WillowBe rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: a-big-secret-hovers-in-the-backgrou

Note to readers: DO NOT READ THE EXCERPT FOR the NEXT BOOK at the end of the book!! It will FREAK YOU OUT. It did me.

OK. This is LSC's first foray into ebooksm;I bought this through a special web deal for $2.99. Now I like LSC. I have read all the better known series: Jill Kismet, Dante Valentine and Dru. I loved her novella Selene- Ithink it'sthe best thing she wrote, though more about that inmy review for Defiance.I generally like her short stories.

I applaud her effort to give teens something...more Note to readers: DO NOT READ THE EXCERPT FOR the NEXT BOOK at the end of the book!! It will FREAK YOU OUT. It did me.

OK. This is LSC's first foray into ebooksm;I bought this through a special web deal for $2.99. Now I like LSC. I have read all the better known series: Jill Kismet, Dante Valentine and Dru. I loved her novella Selene- Ithink it'sthe best thing she wrote, though more about that inmy review for Defiance.I generally like her short stories.

I applaud her effort to give teens something more REAL and less snarky teen. I applaud that she has managed to write a historical romance with almost no romance at all. It's really more Court intrigue and To Save the Queen. Or lets be honest. This is Jacqueline Carey for teens. Now, LSC may have had her idea for her book in iinfancy for all i know, but surely, referring to the "Blessed One" or how the Blessed One and his Companions wandered? The psuedo French-speak? Obviously she is tipping her hat in admiration to Ms. Carey. And Ms. Carey's books are assurredly NC17,drawn from Anne Rice afeter a fashion, IMO. So, Teens wouldn't be aware of this close association. But nobody does Ms.Carey like Ms.Carey- and while sort of borrowing a backstory,is good, bec I knew the context and the themes of inescapable duty, a pawn of the gods (rather like Phaedra) or inescapable calamity set in motion a generation before(rather like Imre)were familiar- you know noithing is going to go well for these characters! But detailed world-building has never been LSC's strong suit. She has excellent backstories for characters, but the world as a whole- the details get sort of lost in the mix. And the devices through which Vianne's help comes are tropes in this kind of literature- traveling in disguise with the Roma who come to love her as their own? the scrappy bandit villagers who come to the rescue? Unseen Magical attacks as they flee through the woods? That's the problem with being 47 yo reading books for teens- I've read a LOT of books, many books in this genre, and they all start to blend together if the author can't somehow can't distinguish them.(Pls note that I've given Ms.Carey's books all 4a and 5s in my ratings.)

Back to THQ, LSC does not beleive in happy endings- hear that readers? NO HAPPY ENDINGS! Though she may make an exception for Jill Kismet- I haven't read Angel Town or Reckoning (Drew) yet. She always puts her characters through hell, tortures them with loneliness and self-doubt, betrayal around every corner, physical abuse and grueling stress. In the end, the heroine learns the only person she can depend on is herself and for justice to be done,she must lead and if she leads, others will follow.

So do I recommend this book? If you are the type who likes realism in their fiction, heroines who must survive brutal circumstances, some repetition in the dialgoue that makes you go "what?" and who believes the most we can expect from Life is happy for now not happy for always, then I think you will enjoy this book. As a HEA preferrer, I'll wait til the series is complete and available from my library to read it.If I even read it then. That exceprt was damnably intruiging,I was shocked, though LSC is so heavy-handed with her foreshadowing. I'll just have to see.That excerpt was TOO MUCH.(less)

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Jan 21, 2013 Julia rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, fiction, historical, dropbox

After an auspicious start, I hit a rough patch at about 25%. The heroine is having a break down, and it's most unpleasant going along for the ride through her narration. From sensible and strong and loyal, Vianne becomes irrational, self-damaging, and ridiculous. She won't eat, and her doubts would be comical if they weren't so damn repetitive and annoying, and unfortunately, are associated more with the sad "heroine doesn't know she's beautiful" trope than any more interesting character growth....more

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Apr 21, 2012 Mellissa rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 28, 2012 heidi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

Vianne is a pampered princess in all but name. She is the princesse's agemate and favored lady-in-waiting, and a Duchesse in her own right. She is both a friend and a counselor. Her life in constrained, but not bad, until everything goes to heck.

She is caught up in a coup and forced to flee the palace carrying a magic talisman. She spends her whole time scared spitless and dealing with survivor's guilt, but as much as she has been trained to be frail and cossetted, she does manage to get herself...more Vianne is a pampered princess in all but name. She is the princesse's agemate and favored lady-in-waiting, and a Duchesse in her own right. She is both a friend and a counselor. Her life in constrained, but not bad, until everything goes to heck.

She is caught up in a coup and forced to flee the palace carrying a magic talisman. She spends her whole time scared spitless and dealing with survivor's guilt, but as much as she has been trained to be frail and cossetted, she does manage to get herself going when she needs to.

I can certainly see how some readers will be annoyed by her constant desire not to be who the fates are conspiring for her to be, but I think that for someone trained to be a lady, it is probably a pretty huge transition to become a leader. To move from keeping track of romances because they matter in the world of gossip to keeping track of alliances and the world of diplomacy is a pretty big scale change.

I really appreciated how much Vianne gave up and had to grow up over the course of the book. She couldn't afford to be uncritical of anyone. The King, her princesse, everyone she met needed to be evaluated or re-evaluated in light of her new roles and duties. Does her Captain of Guards love her? Was the King bleeding the country? Are her new allies just using her? She can't afford to be trusting, although she does attempt to hang on to kindness as much as possible.

She is not the sturdiest heroine. She has migraines. She spends much of the book dragged down by a fever. She cries a lot. I am pretty sure I would not cut a stoic figure if you dragged me two weeks by horse when I was suffering from the loss of all I had known. I am inclined to forgive her that, although it is an interesting authorial choice to make her so frail and yes, a bit whiny. I don't think it was an accident, so I want to think about what it means to be a heroine without being strapping.

Possibly the best part of the book was the worldbuilding. Everything from the matrilineal descent to the two kinds of magic to the pantheon of gods was interesting and thought-through. I enjoyed the puzzle of figuring out who was what, and it was sometimes highly amusing, like the Pruzian Knives (ninjas!).

I think the weakest part of the book was that sometimes you wanted to shake Vianne for not trusting herself. Once, she makes a decision against strenuous advice, and ends up saving herself, but then promises not to go against advice again. You were right, Vianne! Have some faith!

I thought the captain of the guard and the bandit king were both compellingly interesting, each with his own flaws and strengths. Tristan (the captain) is pretty humorless, but he has his reasons.

On the whole, I am looking forward to the sequel.

Read if: you like palace intrigue. You enjoy watching people have greatness thrust upon them.
Skip if: a whiny heroine is going to bother you. You want an uncomplicated happily ever after.(less)

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Jun 03, 2012 Anne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: age-young-adult, genre-fantasy-scifi, genre-romance, read-in-2012

This book had some great potential and the world building was nicely done (the strong parallels to Europe made it easier to get into the "landscape") - but in the end I could not really empathize with the heroine and the story could have easily been told in half as many pages. Drawing the story out and splitting it into two books it unnecessary IMHO but then again, I have not read the second one yet and probably will not do so when it comes out, either.
What I especially disliked (but which other...more

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Jan 31, 2012 Ruby Rose rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

at first i'm struggling to read this one because the names are hard to pronounce! what can i do, it's in french-era. but knights and damsels in distress is one of my faves, so I continued reading it.

Vianne, not knowing she's a half-royal, a down to earth maiden, who's only wish is no more deaths bec. of he, shown great bravery and strength when the Aryx chosen her to be it's Queen. Nonetheless, trust has more value on her and her love to Tristan.

Oh Tristan, Tristan! the way you behave and acting...more

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Jul 27, 2012 Lydia Presley rated it 1 of 5 stars

It says something that I pushed my way through 250 pages of this book but was unable to garner enough interest to finish it. I did everything I could for four days to avoid picking it up - I cleaned my room, played endless bouts of Sims 3, baked a peach pie, and even went outside into the blazing heat to scrounge for tomatoes in our garden (I came up with two.. this drought is a killer).

This was a case of me being suckered in, again, by a beautiful cover and title. I've read Lilith Saintcrow's o...more It says something that I pushed my way through 250 pages of this book but was unable to garner enough interest to finish it. I did everything I could for four days to avoid picking it up - I cleaned my room, played endless bouts of Sims 3, baked a peach pie, and even went outside into the blazing heat to scrounge for tomatoes in our garden (I came up with two.. this drought is a killer).

This was a case of me being suckered in, again, by a beautiful cover and title. I've read Lilith Saintcrow's other series, and it was long enough ago that I figured I'd give her another shot - maybe I was just being too hard on her then? But a mere 50 pages into this story and it all came flooding back.

First, the italics. Oh, how they drive me crazy. Vianne says one thing, then elaborates on it in her head with a snarky, italicized voice that is ... somehow? supposed to encourage us to get to know her more. But this girl protests too much. I was driven crazy by her simpleness. No, Vianne, there really aren't any more heirs, no you cannot give this position away, yes, the King's Guard has to do some bad things to protect you... and my goodness, can you be any weaker in body and spirit?

And then there's Tristan, this flop of a "hero" who is tortured to pieces by Vianne. When did we decide that in order to make "strong" women in a book, men had to be emasculated? There was nothing enjoyable about this character - nothing at all.

I read some okay reviews after I put this book down, and some reviews that blasted this story. Each one of them makes very, very valid points about what all went wrong with The Hedgewitch Queen, and they even referenced a surprise ending... so I skipped ahead - thinking I wouldn't want to miss it. Trust me, it was something that made no difference to me. I still did not want to read the rest of the book.

Approach this one with caution. Be prepared to be thoroughly frustrated by Vianne and angry with the character of Tristan. I'm so upset that I wasted four days on this nonsense.(less)

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Jul 05, 2012 Amanda Huffman rated it 4 of 5 stars

I've read this book twice in less than a week.

I really enjoyed the French feel of this novel, and thoroughly appreciated the mysterious Tristan d'Arcenne. I found Vianne's character a little whinny, and terribly insecure, yet I found her truly endearing most of the time. The characters and plot are well developed, for the most part, and Saintcrow does a good job building tension between characters and suspenseful plot. Saintcrow can be a little vague in her descriptions, leaving a little too mu...more

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Mar 19, 2012 Katie Montgomery rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: i-want-those-hours-of-my-life-back

OK, Hedgewitch Queen, we are about to have some words.

i) Stop whining or I will cut you.
ii) That dude over there that you don't think is into you despite the fact that EVERYONE IN THE WORLD has told you he's into you? He's into you.
iii) I totally fail to understand why he's into you.
iv) If you are feeling sick, here is a thought -- let's try an Advil and a nap as opposed to ignoring your symptoms for 100 pages.
v) Have I mentioned yet that I totally don't get what your man friend sees in you?
vi)...more

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May 05, 2013 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book starts out and, even with a cliffhanger, ends well. The author has a great story going and I did enjoy it. However, most of the middle of the book annoyed me. I enjoy reading books to understand the motives, thoughts and feelings of the characters. However, I heard Vianne's thoughts far too much and struggled with wanting to read the book at times. She had the potential to be a great character, but she was so dense spending half the book (or more) not believing that the male lead reall...more

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Jan 19, 2013 Maria rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: romanticky, fantasy

I wasn't expecting too much from this book. I got it mainly because it looked like good fantasy with some romance and it was cheap in the iBook store.

The good things about the story were that it was fairly interesting and the Aryx sounded cool. I was held against my will. There were a lot of times when I was rolling my eyes or face palming because of something either Vianne or Tristan did (mostly Vianne) or because their conversations were just silly, but I still somehow wanted to know what hap...more I wasn't expecting too much from this book. I got it mainly because it looked like good fantasy with some romance and it was cheap in the iBook store.

The good things about the story were that it was fairly interesting and the Aryx sounded cool. I was held against my will. There were a lot of times when I was rolling my eyes or face palming because of something either Vianne or Tristan did (mostly Vianne) or because their conversations were just silly, but I still somehow wanted to know what happened at the end. The story isn't a brand new story: basically there's been a hostile take-over and some work has to be done to get the rightful heir to the throne back in charge. There's a lot of magic flinging and some sword fighting and a little bit of kissing. The Aryx, a magical artifact of royalty, for some reason was the most exciting part of the story for me, and I wanted to know more about it.

One of the things that I didn't like so much was the random words that were weird (mostly donjon and farrat) because instead of building a stronger world, they just seemed forced. Also, I swear the author referred to a hand as a "paw" in the beginning and I spent the first two chapters wondering if there were cat people in the story. That might just be me. This is a very personal thing that I don't like, so it might not be as much of a problem for others. The world that it is set in seems like a veiled version of historical Europe (Arquitaine sounds a heck of a lot like Acquitaine) and the languages seem to be French derived. I actually liked that part of the writing.

The characters were another weak point. I sort of got tired of Vianne's constant whining that she was the wrong person for the job and that she couldn't do it. And the whole romantic aspect felt a little forced/sudden. Not that the main male lead was boring. He may have been my favorite character (maybe I'm shallow and it's just because he sounds quite handsome). I didn't get a sense of depth to the characters. Vianne was the reluctant heroine who grows in confidence a bit, but is still a tiny bit whiny. Tristan is the intriguing man with a dark side. That was about it. Also, some of the conversations they had just had me rolling my eyes at the corniness. That doesn't mean it was terrible though, just sappy.

Overall, it was an entertaining read. Nothing world-changing. I'm just annoyed at the ending because it means I have to keep reading the series. Which I guess is a good thing. I hope that the characters get a little more depth and a little less oblivious in the second book. And hopefully less sick, because there were a lot of fevers in the first one. A lot of them.(less)

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Jun 17, 2012 Deniz rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

4.5 stars

it somehow reminded me of reading Dumas. Dumas with magic that is, naturally. Dumas is one of my all time favorite authors so it was a pleasant surprise.

Love the story line, the action, the characters up until the end. The end, omg, that was a shock! I felt so taken aback! it was like being thrown into cold water and left to drown... REALLY i kept on thinking (actually shouting) I kept on checking if i maybe missed a page or 10..but no. that was it. i guess it means i got to read the ne...more

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The Hedgewitch Queen (Romances of Arquitaine #1)

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