#BookishFirst: Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte #BookReview

Title: Four Dead Queens

Author: Astrid Scholte
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy
Synopsis: A divided nation. Four Queens. A ruthless pickpocket. A noble messenger. And the murders that unite them.

Get in quick, get out quicker.

These are the words Keralie Corrington lives by as the preeminent dipper in the Concord, the central area uniting the four quadrants of Quadara. She steals under the guidance of her mentor Mackiel, who runs a black market selling their bounty to buyers desperate for what they can’t get in their own quarter. For in the nation of Quadara, each quarter is strictly divided from the other. Four queens rule together, one from each region:

Toria: the intellectual quarter that values education and ambition
Ludia: the pleasure quarter that values celebration, passion, and entertainment
Archia: the agricultural quarter that values simplicity and nature
Eonia: the futurist quarter that values technology, stoicism and harmonious community

When Keralie intercepts a comm disk coming from the House of Concord, what seems like a standard job goes horribly wrong. Upon watching the comm disks, Keralie sees all four queens murdered in four brutal ways. Hoping that discovering the intended recipient will reveal the culprit – information that is bound to be valuable bartering material with the palace – Keralie teams up with Varin Bollt, the Eonist messenger she stole from, to complete Varin’s original job and see where it takes them.
Add to Goodreads | Buy from Amazon

About the Author: Raised on a diet of Spielberg, Lucas and Disney, Astrid knew she wanted to be surrounded by all things fantastical from a young age. She's spent the last 10 years working in film, animation and television as both an artist and manager. Career highlights include working on James Cameron's Avatar, Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tin Tin and Happy Feet 2 by George Miller. She's a visual writer and aims to capture the vivid stories that play like movies in her head. When she's not writing, she's painting her favorite fictional characters and obliging her furry overlords, Lilo and Mickey. 

Four Dead Queens (Putnam, 26th of February 2019) is her debut novel.

My Review: This one was ok for me but it could have been so much better.  I really loved the main story of the book but my issues came when you were tossed into the POVs of the queens leading up to their deaths. It really made the story feel choppy for me.  I wished I could have loved it but it just wasn't working.  I really wished that the author (whom I loved her other books) would have summed up all the queens in the first few chapters then go on with the main story.  

I really thought that the romance wasn't needed. It felt flat and rushed.  I really loved Keralie but with being tossed back into the POVs of the queens I never really felt like we got the who perspective of her and Varin. 

I think this one with the great world building will appeal to some but it really, in the end, felt like it had taken a lot of things from other young adult novels than just kind of twisted them just a little.  

Go Into This One Knowing: Multi POVs, Dead Queens, Romance

 

Don't forget to check out our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and out other social media found on the side bar! 

Did you know that comments are DELICIOUS? Well they are and if you comment on any of these posts you could win some awesome goodies! 

 Disclaimer: "All opinions are 100% honest and my own."  Thanks to Goodreads and Amazon for the book cover, about the book, and author information. Buying via these links allows my site to get a % of the sale at no cost to you. 

FTC Guidelines: In accordance with FTC guidelines regarding endorsements and testimonials for bloggers, I would like my readers to know that many of the books I review are provided to me for free by the publisher or author of the book in exchange for an honest review. If am compensated for any reviews on this site I will state that post has been sponsored. 

Posted in: 3 Stars, BookishFirst, G.P. Putnam, Jessica P., Review, Young Adult