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Kill the Queen

(Crown of Shards #1)

Jennifer Estep (Goodreads Author)

4.08 · Rating details · 2,640 ratings · 465 reviews

Gladiator meets Game of Thrones: a royal woman becomes a skilled warrior to destroy her murderous cousin, avenge her family, and save her kingdom in this first entry in a dazzling fantasy epic from the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Elemental Assassin series—an enthralling tale that combines magic, murder, intrigue, adventure, and a hint of romance. ...more

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ebook, 480 pages

Published October 2nd 2018 by Harper Voyager

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The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee

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Oct 07, 2018 Katerina rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2018-reads, fantasy

❝ Summer queens are fine and fair, with pretty ribbons and flowers in their hair. Winter queens are cold and hard, with frosted crowns made of icy shards.❞

Hooking. Engaging. Gripping. Encompassing.
I can cite the entire thesaurus, and the conclusion will still be the same: Jennifer Estep 's new high fantasy novel is wonderful!

There is a nation founded on gladiator tradition. A ruthless heir who does not hesitate to plunge her country in bloodshed and mayhem to pursue her megalomania. Schemin ...more

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May 01, 2018 Beth rated it it was amazing

Shelves: edelweiss, own, kindle, harper-collins, harper-voyager, fiction, fantasy, epic, series, favorite

Breath-taking! White Knuckle Reading! Epic Fantasy at its finest! Estep rocks the epic fantasy genre with Kill the Queen and I can't wait for PROTECT THE PRINCE!

I'm sure I'll want to re-read it at least once more before then...It is that AMAZING! This is going to the top of my list of favorite fantasy reads 2018.

I received this ARC copy of Kill the Queen from HarperCollins - Harper Voyager. This is my honest and voluntary review. Kill the Queen is set for publication October 2, 2018.

My Rating: ...more

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Oct 02, 2018 Astrid - The Bookish Sweet Tooth rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc

READ MY REVIEW ON THE BLOG

A first in a new Fantasy series always has that unwelcome potential to be an information dump. When that happens the story seems to drag on and you don't seem to make much progress. Now Kill the Queen is a completely different caliber. It's addictive, fast paced and captivating. There is another thing that can slow a fantasy story down and that's archaic language. Jennifer Estep's first in this epic fantasy reads like a modern fantasy novel which is a welcome change.

Ev ...more

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Nov 18, 2018 Maria V. Snyder rated it really liked it

I enjoyed this book very much! The characters and world were very engaging and I want to read the next book. My only complaint was the fact that the back cover copy pretty much gives away what happens in the first third of the book. Even Part 1 is titled "The Royal Massacre" so this isn't a spoiler. And knowing what was going to happen made the first third anticlimactic with no surprises so all the clues that "something isn't quite right" didn't increase the tension for me. Parts 2 and 3 were wo ...more

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Oct 08, 2018 Holly rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy-science-fiction, 2018-read

3.5 stars

Before I talk about why I liked this book, and I did like it, I first need to get off my chest the one thing I really didn't like: the trope of 'main character is told to say/do something specific and then spends the majority of the book NOT doing that thing because of stupid reasons just to drag the plot out more'. Why do authors do this? The reader spends a lot of the time frustrated thinking 'are they going to say/do it NOW? No? How about now? No? Ok, now?' But maybe that's just me.

I ...more

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Oct 11, 2018 Mogsy (MMOGC) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: review-copy, fantasy, magic

4 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2018/10/18/...

I’d never read Jennifer Estep before Kill the Queen, though I’ve often seen her name spoken of highly among readers in urban fantasy and paranormal romance circles. As a result, I’d long been curious about her work, so when I first learned that she was venturing into epic fantasy with a new book described as a royal revenge story about a female gladiator, I was instantly intrigued.

Kill the Queen follows Everleigh (who pref 4 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2018/10/18/...

I’d never read Jennifer Estep before Kill the Queen, though I’ve often seen her name spoken of highly among readers in urban fantasy and paranormal romance circles. As a result, I’d long been curious about her work, so when I first learned that she was venturing into epic fantasy with a new book described as a royal revenge story about a female gladiator, I was instantly intrigued.

Kill the Queen follows Everleigh (who prefers going by Evie), a minor member of the Bellona royal family. Seventeenth in line for the throne, she mostly passes through the halls of the palace as an afterthought or ignored all together, especially ever since she and her cousin the crown princess Vasilia fell out. People are also dismissive towards Evie because she doesn’t have much in the way of magical power, though secretly, she is glad for the lack of attention—the better to hide her true talent, which is an immunity to magic.

But then one day during a foreign dignitary event, the power-hungry Vasilia finally shows her hand and together with her co-schemers, they unleash a coup on the unsuspecting court. The queen is killed, along with all those in attendance so there would be no living witnesses to Vasilia’s treachery. Thanks to her secret power though, Evie manages to survive her cousin’s magical attack. She flees to a gladiator school, taking refuge with the troupe there after they agree to take her in and train her in the ways of fighting. Not knowing whom to trust, Evie decides to lay low, until it becomes clear she must stop Vasilia from using her stolen crown to plunge the kingdom into war.

While trope-laden and not terribly original, this book nonetheless provided plenty of enjoyment. I think it says a lot about Estep that she was able to carry the story using the strength of her writing skills alone, giving me such a good time that I was willing to overlook all the glaring clichés. Much of it was due to Evie, whose charming personality and voice hooked me right from the start. An unlikely heroine, she’s a forgotten royal orphan with a special hidden talent that just conveniently happens to be the key to saving an entire kingdom—in other words, her character is as stereotypical and formulaic as you could get. And yet, it did not bother me as much as I thought it would. Like I always say though, tropes are popular for a reason and they only become a problem if not written well, and thanks to the author’s natural and flowing prose, her protagonist was immediately granted a high “likeability factor” which kept me reading.

I also thought world-building was on the sparser side, due in part to the lack of fine detail and description one would usually find in an epic fantasy. The book felt very streamlined in that regard, keeping background information to a bare minimum. There’s both a positive and negative to this approach. Of course, I would have delighted in getting more detail about the magic systems or the history behind the setting, but in doing away with lengthy explanations, the story was able to move along at a good clip. There’s also the book’s audience to consider, as Estep was probably aiming for an epic fantasy with enough crossover appeal to her urban fantasy and paranormal romance fans. Subsequently, you have a very readable book told in an easy and sassy style, with just a light touch of romance that did not feel too overbearing.

If Estep’s goal was to write a highly accessible and entertaining high fantasy, I would say she succeeded. At the end of the day, Kill the Queen was a surprisingly good read, despite the story’s overall predictability and heavy reliance on well-worn tropes. While hardcore epic fantasy readers will likely find the plot too simplistic, the world too shallow, and the characters too paint-by-the-numbers for this novel to be truly engaging, for those of us who do not mind something a little lighter and fluffier—or just want to kick back with something fun—this will do the trick nicely. Highly recommended for gladiatorial action and palace intrigue, with potential for the series to grow over time. ...more

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Sep 13, 2018 ❆Francesca (Mother of Cats) Selina❆ rated it did not like it

*Thanks to Edelweiss and Harper Voyager(Harper Collins) for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Sadly, this book didn’t work for me (despite the amazing premise) for multiple reasons.
I thought the world building was poorly flashed out (with bits of infos sprinkled in without a logic), the blurb describes it as “Game of Thrones meets Gladiator” but in reality the gladiators are used as plot device while the plot doesn’t have a smudge of the treachery and cruelty of GoT.
The divide b ...more

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Aug 18, 2018 Mlpmom (Book Reviewer) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: arc-book-read, kindle-books

It truly is hard to put down any book Estep writes but I have to say, Kill The Queen is one that was impossible to put down. From the very first few bloody chapters right up until the spectacular ending, I knew that this was going to be a series I wanted, no, needed, more of.

Right from the beginning this screams Estep with the classic allure of both food references and bloody fight scenes along with a strong female MC that you just know is going to kick butt and take names along the way.

I abso ...more

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May 22, 2018 Annie (Under the Covers Book Blog) rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc, author-jennifer-estep, series-crown-of-shards, read-in-2018, review-requests, genre-urban-fantasy

When I first heard about this series, I was very excited about it. I find that this entire concept in intriguing not to mention that the title of this book captures your attention very well.

Jennifer Estep excels at writing strong heroines and Lady Everleigh is no exception. This series is marketed as Gladiator meets Game of Thrones and I can definitely sense that here. It has a ton of emotion to it, most of it negative as it deals with revenge and anger. However, Estep’s writing style keeps it ...more

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Sep 04, 2018 Lady Heather rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 1st-in-a-series, 2018-release, arc-to-review, jennifer-estep, fiction, fantasy, magic, paranormal, shape-shifters, urban-fantasy

photo Kill the Queen Blog Tour Banner.1.jpg

Jennifer Estep is a New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author prowling the streets of her imagination in search of her next fantasy idea.

Jennifer writes the Crown of Shards epic fantasy series. Kill the Queen, book #1, will be released on Oct. 2.

The Crown of Shards series focuses on Everleigh Blair, a member of the royal family who is distantly in line for the throne of Bellona, a kingdom steeped in gladiator tradition. But when the unthinkable happens, Evie finds herself ...more

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Oct 08, 2018 Carole (Carole's Random Life in Books) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: edelweiss, fantasy, 2018, reviewed

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.

This was a fantastic story! As soon as I saw this book online, I knew that I wanted to read it. Since this book is the beginning of a brand new series, I was really excited to give it a try. I did have a bit of a slow start with this book but that had everything to do with me and nothing to do with the book because the book was great. Once I had some time to dedicate to reading, I ended up devouring the bulk of this book in a single This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.

This was a fantastic story! As soon as I saw this book online, I knew that I wanted to read it. Since this book is the beginning of a brand new series, I was really excited to give it a try. I did have a bit of a slow start with this book but that had everything to do with me and nothing to do with the book because the book was great. Once I had some time to dedicate to reading, I ended up devouring the bulk of this book in a single day. This was a story that grabbed me and didn't want to let go.

Lady Everleigh's life is about to change. She lives in the royal court and is actually seventeenth in line for the throne but she is treated rather poorly. She is often the token royal sent to do the things that more important royals don't want to do like bake pies or learn complicated dances. Things go horribly wrong at an event at the palace and soon Everleigh is more focused on survival than anything else.

I try to go into books as blindly as possible and I don't think I even read the entire summary for this book before I got started with it. I do recommend going into this one blindly because I think that the book's summary gives a whole lot away. I was completely shocked by some of the turns this book took which I think added to my enjoyment.

I thought that Everleigh was a fantastic character. I loved how much growth we saw in her over the course of the story. She starts out knowing her place in the world and just trying to do what was expected of her to the best of her ability. She proves to be quite resourceful and has a lot of strength she didn't know she had. Even at her toughest, she never stopped thinking about others and was willing to make huge sacrifices in order to protect those she cared about.

This book had a lot going for it. There are some pretty intense action scenes that really kept the excitement level high. I thought that the world building was very well done and loved all of the different ways that magic could manifest in an individual. I thought that the relationships between the characters were very well done and felt quite authentic. I liked that there is just a hint of romance worked into the story.

I would highly recommend this book to fans of fantasy or urban fiction. I thought that this book was a fantastic story filled with a lot of action and characters that I grew to care about. I can't wait to read more from this wonderful series!

I received a digital review copy of this book from Harper Voyager via Edelweiss.

Initial Thoughts
This was really good! I kind of had a slow start with this one but that had everything to do with my life and nothing to do with the book. Once I had the chance to really sit down and read, I didn't want to put this book down for a moment. I just loved the characters and thought that the world-building was very well done. There was plenty of action to keep the story moving forward. I can't wait to read more from the series.
...more

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Oct 18, 2018 Mei rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

This is the first book I read from this author because I think the others were NA/YA and that's not for me.
Also, I'm not overly fond of 1st person narrative, but in this case it worked very, very well!
Anyhow, I liked it very much!

The action is logical and the heroine, Evie, is excellent! She's intelligent.

At the beginning she's repressing her nature because she knows that if she doesn't she'll be putting herself in harm's way.

But, when all hell's been loosen, and she's left alone and without a ...more

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Oct 10, 2018 Ian rated it really liked it

Shelves: a-audiobook, g-paranormal, g-scifi-fantasy, g-young-adult, t-fairies-trolls-goblins-elves

This book is Jennifer Estep at her most "Jennifer Estep-iest".

An orphan with a rare type of magic does battle with an evil queen to save the kingdom and prevent a war. If that doesn't sound familiar my question is, where have you been?

So yeah. It's pretty much every Jennifer Estep book but I don't think that's a problem. Most of those books were pretty damned entertaining and Kill the Queen is up there with the best of them.

5 Stars because it's great, minus 1 Star because it really is just li ...more

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Oct 15, 2018 Sunny rated it it was amazing

Shelves: a-1-favorite-series, a-1-favorites, a-1-favorites-pnr-uf-fantasy, a-pnr-uf-fantasy

4.5 stars

With a beginning reminiscent of The Red Wedding episode from Game of Thrones, Jennifer Estep starts her new series off with an unforgettable beginning. I was quickly drawn into the intrigue as I dropped into the life of the royal court of Bellona. Having grown up as the "throw away" cousin because of her lack of powers and her status in the progression to the throne, Evie is overlooked (unless she is needed to attend to a minor event that no other royals wants to attend).

I am impresse ...more

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Oct 11, 2018 Geri Reads rated it really liked it

“The day of the royal massacre started out like any other. With me doing something completely utterly useless.”

All it took was that line and I was instantly hooked.

Kill the Queen is a fast paced, exhilarating new fantasy series from Jennifer Estep. Filled with magic and intrigue, Kill the Queen will leave you breathless with excitement as you follow Evie’s journey from a meek orphan girl to a force to be reckoned with.

Part Gladiator, part Game of Thrones, Kill the Queen is about Evie’s journey. In a world where magical abilities determines a person’s worth, Everleigh is at the bottom rung of the ladder in Bellona. No one thinks she will amount to anything. Everleigh of course is hiding a magical ability that could change the power structure in the palace. When Evie’s murderous cousin violently took the throne, Evie was forced to fight for her survival. She found help in the most unlikely place, the gladiator troupe with connections to the murdered queen. With her cousin intent on wiping out her family line and no one to trust, Evie has to learn not only how to fight not just for her survival but fight to win the kingdom for herself.

The most striking and enjoyable aspect of this story for me was Everleigh’s journey. When readers first met her, she’s meek and tends to hide away from everyone. Not that I blame her, of course. Her family treated her horribly so when she finally served them their revenge cake, it was glorious.

Another element that I really enjoyed was the gladiator troupe that took Evie in especially Serilda and Lucas Sullivan. They are two very intriguing characters that I’m really hoping will get more page time in the next books.

I’m also intrigued by the budding relationship between Lucas and Evie. While there isn’t technically romance in this book, Estep is definitely laying the groundwork for one. So I’m intrigued and hopeful that there is more romance in the next books because I definitely see the sparks between Lucas and Evie, so I want that relationship go somewhere.

I highly recommend this book even if you’re not necessarily a fantasy reader because I think this is great gateway book for the genre. But seasoned fantasy readers will have something to latch on to with this book as well. It’s definitely intriguing and action packed. ...more

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Jan 21, 2019 Brittany rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audios-i-own, fantasy, favorites, fiction, i-need-a-copy, magic, year-2019

5 Stars!!
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

“Summer queens are fine and fair, with pretty ribbons and flowers in their hair. Winter queens are cold and hard, with frosted crowns made of icy shards.”

This was my very first Jennifer Estep book- But it will not be my last! I'm a FAN! I don't know what I was expecting with this book. I knew the Game of Thrones Comparison was a reach...and other than that, I had no idea what this book was about other than seeing it around on Goodreads. So- if you haven't read it- go into it b ...more

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Jan 04, 2019 Emma rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, historical-fantasy, magic

Someone always wanted to kill the queen.

This was great! I’ve only read Estep’s Elemental Assassin books, not any of her other UF tales, but as soon as I saw this, even before its release, I knew I’d be excited to see Estep writing something different. I loved it. This is a more traditional style fantasy, a historical medieval vibe. There are gargoyle and ogre shifters, and magic of different kinds, although not any that Evie possesses. Evie transitions from something of a weakling with no friend ...more

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Apr 03, 2018 Jeffe Kennedy rated it it was amazing

I'm just thrilled to welcome Jennifer Estep to the Fantasy Romance Dark Side. She brought the BEST FREAKING COOKIES! She's calling it epic fantasy, but I think the romance - a sizzling, very slow burn, as in, you don't even get a kiss, people - is too delicious not to mention.

Her heroine is awesome, storytelling flawless. Great characters and conflict. I devoured it over the weekend which I now bitterly regret because I wish I could be still reading it.

Cannot wait to get my mitts on the sequel: ...more

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Jan 02, 2019 Angela rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, yes-please, need-it-now, kindle, edelweiss, review-books-done, 2018-read

I've been a fan of Jennifer Estep since the first Elemental Assassin book came out back in 2010. When I heard she was writing a straight-up fantasy series I was literally clamoring for it. I could not wait to get my hands on it. Life got in the way a bit and I ended up reading this a lot later than I'd initially intended. Lucky for me that means that book 2 is already out.

Crown of Shards takes place in an interesting fantasy world. There's magic, shifters (known as morphs), and royalty. There ar I've been a fan of Jennifer Estep since the first Elemental Assassin book came out back in 2010. When I heard she was writing a straight-up fantasy series I was literally clamoring for it. I could not wait to get my hands on it. Life got in the way a bit and I ended up reading this a lot later than I'd initially intended. Lucky for me that means that book 2 is already out.

Crown of Shards takes place in an interesting fantasy world. There's magic, shifters (known as morphs), and royalty. There are battle queens, and intrigue, and wars for the throne. I'm hoping to explore more, deeper, and further into the world in the future books. It's worthy of it. I can't wait to see what the next books bring these characters and how they deal with it.

Speaking of characters - Evie is the one that I want to talk about most. I really enjoyed her. She's pretty no-nonsense, kick-ass, and determined. But she doesn't shove it in everyone's face either. She just takes care of business, because she knows that she needs to - for herself. I love that. That she made the decision on who she was, and she's stuck to that. Regardless of how hard it may make her path. And her decisions and choices do sometimes make her path harder. Thankfully, she's never stupid. She thinks, is cautious, and doesn't trust easily. I love all of this. I need more heroines like her.

And this is really her story. Regardless of the world, or the many other characters peppering the story and helping (or hindering) her progress, it's Evie's story. This is something I love. And I appreciate that the romance isn't over-developed here. The potential is there, but not deeply explored. Because Evie's nature doesn't allow her trust easily, so it's not like we're going to get deep, meaningful relationship building between the two of them. But I hope for it. Yes, I do.

There are a handful of other characters that I can't wait to see again, too.

I won't give anymore of the plot away, which the blurb summarizes well. I did really enjoy the story and how Evie grew into her own skin. She always knew who she was, but the events make her more firmly herself. I love that.

Now, excuse me while I go try to beg for a review copy of the second book, Protect the Prince, due out October 2019. ...more

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Nov 08, 2018 Angela (Angel's Guilty Pleasures) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: bought, library-love, paperbacks-i-own, 5-stars, favorites, fav-urban-fantasy, fav-magic-books

WOW, what a fabulous start to a new series by Jennifer Estep. When I first heard about this series I was very excited. I had just discovered Estep, Elemental Assassins series, and feel in love, so finding out a new series was coming I couldn’t pass it up.

Everything about this book captured me. We’ve got a spoiled villain, gladiators, magic, and a young women who must accept who she is, transform to save herself, and her kingdom.

Bellona is a kingdom steeped in gladiator tradition and history. Lad ...more

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Oct 02, 2018 Douglas Meeks rated it it was amazing

This book starts in the middle of a big palace event and gives you a taste of palace intrigue and some slow moving parts for a chapter or so and then everything erupts into chaos. Since I can't tell you what occurs over the next few scenes it was shocking and surprising since I am used to anything calling itself "epic fantasy" moving at the speed of mud. This story grabs you and really never lets go, if something is not happening, she/he/they are planning on something happening. The other thing ...more

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Oct 06, 2018 Grüffeline rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I was getting tired of people laughing at me, but I tightened my grip on the pillow. I had stolen it fair and square and I wasn't giving it up.

This was amazing! Jennifer Estep once again proves that she deserves her spot among my favorite authors. She herself called this book an epic fantasy and I have to say... I agree!
Once I got over the fact that Evie was complaining about having to make a pie (with me literally going: C'mon, I'd love to bake a pie right now!), I came to love her and the ...more

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May 04, 2018 Kira rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, magic, edelweiss

3.5 stars

The blurb states that this is “Gladiator meets Game of Thrones” but only on the surface of things. It was only like Gladiator in the sense that it had gladiators. Although it has family treachery, it doesn’t even compare to the level of deception and cruelty of GOT. This greatly differs from GOT because the bad guys are obvious and only certain characters are likely to die. This had a massacre, but it was no red wedding.

The royal family was brutally murdered except for Evie. The massac 3.5 stars

The blurb states that this is “Gladiator meets Game of Thrones” but only on the surface of things. It was only like Gladiator in the sense that it had gladiators. Although it has family treachery, it doesn’t even compare to the level of deception and cruelty of GOT. This greatly differs from GOT because the bad guys are obvious and only certain characters are likely to die. This had a massacre, but it was no red wedding.

The royal family was brutally murdered except for Evie. The massacre scene didn’t do much for me. The brief part of the book before the massacre only painted those killed in a bad light. They didn’t deserve to die, but I couldn't have cared less that they did. After that Evie was in hiding, knowing she was likely to be killed if discovered.

I had some issues with Evie. She had the skill with a blade and savviness of Sansa Stark but was trying to be like Arya Stark. For a member of the royal family raised in a castle along side the princess, she was very uninformed about the political aspects of being in a royal family. This caused her to vastly underestimate her importance in the role of her country after the massacre. She made many bad decisions, putting her life at risk, without even considering the consequences for her country if she died. It wasn’t believable that Evie went from being weak to powerful in such a short period of time.

Overall it was good. The world was not complex, so it didn’t get bogged down with lengthy descriptions, which is something I appreciate. I love the idea for the story. It needed more depth and intensity for me to have liked it more. The groundwork for a romance was laid, but it appears that it’ll be a slow burning one. I really liked many of the side characters especially Sullivan and Serilda. It would be great if more of their history is revealed because they seem to have lead interesting lives. Although I didn’t love it, I definitely plan on reading the next one. It didn’t end on a cliffy but left many open possibilities for where this can go.

Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
...more

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Oct 23, 2018 All Things Urban Fantasy rated it really liked it

Shelves: reviewed-by-kristina

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy

KILL THE QUEEN is a thrilling new urban fantasy series which has some familiar fantasy story beats but it is such a fun read that it really doesn't matter. I enjoyed its usage of duality in Evie being an orphan living with her extended family; being a royal yet having to work with the servants; and the overarching theme of summer vs winter queens. I also loved that this society has a gladiator tradition with women being the main gladiators and ones with ...more

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Oct 03, 2018 Roxana rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, paranormal, part-of-a-series

3.5

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Dec 13, 2018 Danyelle rated it really liked it

I received this from Goodreads in a giveaway in return for an honest review

I just noticed that I finish this book a while ago and never updated my status on it so here goes...

I very much enjoyed the story how it was a fantasy world and yet almost historical at the same time. I definitely enjoyed the gladiator theme to the story and how at some points it felt like I was in ancient Rome in a Coliseum but also in a almost modern fantasy world I do look forward to the next book.

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Oct 11, 2018 Mara rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, rip-off-prices

3 1/2

I was quite a bit esitant before buying Kill the Queen: I had stopped reading her books quite early as they really seemed a carbon copy of each other, plus everything was too easy. So I was particularly reluctant to pay such a price for the ebook.
But the reviews were good and the sample exciting.

And I admit that I enjoyed very much this adrenaline fueled run towards a throne, even if I still think her stories aren't fully believable (yes, I know it's fantasy...). Here for example I simply ...more

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Oct 10, 2018 Terri ♥ (aka Mrs. Christian Grey) rated it liked it

Shelves: audio

So much to say.

First, the positive. I love this author and her imagination. She is a one click author for me. (that hasn't changed). The premise of this book is promising, but failed for me. Why? See below.

SPOILER ALERT - please note I listened to audiobook. spellings of names and places may not be correct.

Everleigh (Evie) is Gin 2.0.
Gin - Stone magic to harden skin to protect against magic. Evie - Null magic she summons through her to protect against magic attacks.
Gin & Evie - parents die ...more

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Oct 11, 2018 Alison rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018-read, annoying-siblings, dancer, fantasy, read-anything-by-this-author, royalty, secret-identity, swords-and-sorcery, young-adult-new-adult

Smashed it out of the park!

For a woman who grew up on David Eddings and those glorious fantasy coming of age novels this was both a flashback to those halcyon days and a fresh reboot.

Lady Everleigh "Evie" Saffira Winter Blair lives in the court of Queen Cordelia, a penniless cousin rolled out to do the dirty work that the royal family don't want to do (opening hospitals, baking cakes for visiting royalty etc. In a world where having magic is everything, Evie is a "Mutt" her only magical talet be ...more

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Sep 04, 2018 ☕ Kimberly rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

strong>Caffeinated Reasons to Grab Kill the Queen

Gladiators, a treacherous, spoiled villain, magic and a young lady who must transform herself to save them all!
Lady Everleigh, whose parents were killed and whose lack of magical ability keeps her to the shadows of the royal court. Bellona is a kingdom steeped in gladiator tradition.
Lady Evie has a secret. A magical gift she never shares. Vasilia, the crown princess, assassinates her mother the queen taking the throne by force. As she di ...more

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Fantasy

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Fantasy > Magic

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Adult

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About Jennifer Estep

Jennifer Estep

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Jennifer Estep is a New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author, prowling the streets of her imagination in search of her next fantasy idea. She is the author of the following series:

THE ELEMENTAL ASSASSIN SERIES
The books focus on Gin Blanco, an assassin codenamed the Spider who can control the elements of Ice and Stone. When she’s not busy battling bad guys and righting wron ...more