My review for Kill the Queen (Crown of Shards #1) by Jennifer Estep.

Kill the Queen by Jennifer Estep

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I received an ARC of this wondrous book and it doesn't influence my opinion on it.




Jennifer Estep's books have always been pretty epic especially as they're usually tinged with Fantasy but Kill The Queen puts the epic in the fantasy!!.
This book can totally blend with different age genres, the characters are complex and brilliant, the writing splendid and the worldbuilding simply phenomenal.
Kill the Queen is about the Kingdom of Bellona and the life of Everleigh Blair.
Evie is the second cousin to the Queen of Bellona, Cordelia. In the vast Royal family tree, she is seventeenth in line to the throne. She moved into the Seven Spire Royal Palace as a child after her parents were murdered.
The Royal Court and the nobles are vicious vipers who use anyone and anything they can for power, In a kingdom where magic is revered, Evie's seeming lack of magical talent makes her an anomaly and brands her as practically useless. Exempt from important Royal duties, she is delegated with meager dealings around the palace.
This luckily gets her out of the path of the cruel Crown Princess Vasilia.
Being the apprentice to Alvis, the Royal Jeweler also helps as he's like a father to her.
The magic system of Kill the Queen is quite impressive, the Masters who have strong magic which are specified (either over elements or objects), the mutts who have a small spark of power, basically something about themselves is enhanced like a punch, or the eyes or in Evie's case, a superior sense of smell.
Evie can smell people's emotions and all the ingredients in contents like food, drinks, materials etc.
This has been useful for her a lot of times as it's easy to spot someone's intentions for her.
Everything comes to a halt when A Royal Massacre is initiated by the Princess Vasilia.
Vasilia has been terrible ever since she was a child but her animosity is further buoyed in adulthood by her mother betrothing her to the third Prince of Andvari, another kingdom, without her consent.
But Vasilia is pushed over the edge when she discovers a secret of her mother, She decided to take matters into her own greedy hands and take over Bellona.
She plots for every single royal in the Blair line to be in attendance for what is to be her Engagement announcement. The wine is poisoned and their powers are snuffed out as Vasilia and her accomplices murder them all including her mother and her pregnant junior sister.
Evie is present for it all and she's only saved because her superior sense of smell could detect something wrong with the wine. She's first shocked when everything happens but she quickly tries to save the few loved ones she has to no avail. Instead of fleeing she rushes to the Queen who is in her dying moment, with her dying breath, Queen Cordelia gives her instructions on how she'll survive Vasilia's callous clutch.
A stroke of luck and a strike of lightning is what saves Evie's. Vasilia blasts Everleigh with her lightning magic and she's thrown over a cliff. But Everleigh survives, that's because she does have a power no one except her parents know about. She is immune to magic and can snuff out the effects, and also nullify magiers. Evie's late parents had warned her to keep it hidden lest she is used for a nefarious purpose.
Another stroke of luck or should I say Fate? had Evie's using a magical crystal to record the whole event, having proof of Vasilia's treachery.
As per the late Queen's instruction, Evie heads into the dark parts of Bellona and seeks the Black Swan. A gladiator troupe being led by the formidable Serilda who used to work with the Queen a long time ago.
At first hiding her identity, Evie is begrudgingly accepted into the troupe as she bribes her way in as a talented baker (The Cook of the castle Isobel was like a mother to Evie and thought her a lot). Luckily, every member of the troupe still has to get basic training.
She catches the attention of the Warden(of sorts) of the Black Swan, Lucas Sullivan. An enigmatic and sinfully sexy man who has his own secrets. And the best gladiator in the Troupe, Paloma who is a morph. Morph's are kinda like shapeshifters, only they have tattoes of the creature they shift into on their skin.
Evie begins to make a place here, surviving and making friends. But unfortunately for her, this life is not her destiny. Both lives collide and she has to figure out who she's meant to be and what she can be to Bellona. Because she might just have to Kill the Queen.
I loved everything about this book, the magic, badass female characters, the slow burn romance, the complex world and epic cover.
I can't give justice to how good this book is but frequent readers of Jennifer Estep (Like me who has read every single book she's ever released), know just how great her writing is.
Kill the Queen is a wonderful addition to her bibliography and I happily it to fantasy readers, you will not regret it.
The journey of Evie from the wallflower to the Warrior Winter Queen she's meant to be is not to be missed





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