Emily May's Reviews > The Queen of Blood

Don't trust the fire, for it will burn you.
Don't trust the ice, for it will freeze you.
Don't trust the water, for it will drown you.
Don't trust the air, for it will choke you.
Don't trust the earth, for it will bury you.
Don't trust the trees, for they will rip you,
rend you, tear you, kill you dead.

I did not expect to enjoy this book so much.

How many YA fantasy novels have I read that are called something like "The Queen of ____" or "The ____ Queen"? Too many. Way too many. How many feature a throne that is up for grabs and both a male and female POV? Pretty much all of them. Somehow, though, The Queen of Blood takes a familiar concept and does something that - for me - was completely different.

For one thing, I absolutely loved the setting. Aratay is a place where everything, every village, every city, is built on giant tree branches. Unlike the usual Medieval-style fantasy novels, this one is entwined with nature. The forests of this land are alive with spirits that represent the elements (as seen above in the rhyme) and the spirits are inherently evil and violent towards humans. However, some women have the ability to summon and control the spirits, to varying degrees.

Below her, above her, and all around her was the academy. It was a circle of trees whose trunks had been fused together into a ring and whose bark had been smoothed and polished to gleam like marble, a hollow tower with rooms within the walls. Spiral stairs ran up the inner ring, edged with ornate vine-coated banisters that looked like lace. On each level, the stairs produced a platform that cut into the air and also recessed into an archway that led into the interior of the tree.

This is pretty much how I picture this world:



In Aratay, the Queen controls all spirits and protects the citizens from their violence. Other women with the affinity are trained to be potential heirs to the throne so that Aratay is never left unprotected. However, as the story unfolds, it looks possible that the Queen may be losing control. The book starts with Daleina discovering her own ability when she saves her family from a spirit attack. The rest of her village perishes and she vows to become stronger and better so this tragedy will not happen again - therefore, she goes to the academy.

If this had been your average fantasy novel, there is no doubt that Daleina would have battled her way to the top, doing no wrong, being the best at everything, delivering empowering speeches and having a once-in-a-lifetime epic romance. Or three. But this is not that book.

Daleina is actually not the best. In fact, as potential heirs go, she's one of the worst. She gets through by using smarts and strategy instead of power and strength. Her attempts to control spirits often do not go as planned, but the underlying message seems to be that thoughtful consideration and hard work trump innate talent. And I kind of like that. She's not special, she just works really hard.

I found the story very compelling. Some things I saw coming, others not so much, but either way it was a difficult book to put down. The book moves from dramatic action scenes full of raging spirits to quieter, character-driven scenes between the female students. All of them were enjoyable. Though the two perspectives are the standard male and female POVs, they are not starcrossed lovers. In fact, Ven is a mentor and kind of father figure for Daeleina, and the small romantic subplot remains firmly in the background.

It's also extremely bloody and nasty, sometimes terrifying. Don't make the mistake of thinking that any character is safe - because the author is just the right amount of evil.

There's also so much female friendship. It is, in many ways, a matriarchal society and many of the characters are female. And though they are competing for a limited number of positions, they remain friends throughout. They support one another, encourage one another, and cheer for each others' successes. It's diverse in colour, sex-positive and contains no woman-hating. Jealousies exist, as they always do, but even the most talented, beautiful girl is not an enemy.

"They're jealous of me."
"No one is jealous of you." Daleina resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Sometimes Merecot got in these moods. Daleina was never sure if she meant it or not. Merecot never sounded upset, but she excelled at hiding her feelings.
"Except you."
"Except me, of course," Daleina said, "but it's not because of your incredible powers, or the fact that you're at the top of every single class."
"Oh, really?"
"It's because of your hair," Daleina said with a straight face. "You have the best hair."

The ending is a grisly combination of awful and perfect. I'm so excited about some of the things the author has set up in this book. A few things have been briefly mentioned that I know must surface in the sequel and, honestly, I cannot wait!!

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