The Cursed Queen by Sarah Fine | REVIEW

 

The Cursed Queen by Sarah Fine
Published by Margaret K. McElderry Books on January 3rd, 2017
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Action & Adventure
Pages: 432
Format: ARC

LINKS: Good Reads | Amazon | Indigo | Book Depository

Ansa has always been a fighter.

As a child, she fought the invaders who murdered her parents and snatched her as a raid prize. She fought for her place next to Thyra, the daughter of the Krigere Chieftain. She fought for her status as a warrior in her tribe: blood and victory are her way of life. But the day her Krigere cross the great lake and threaten the witch queen of the Kupari, everything changes.

Cursed by the queen with fire and ice, Ansa is forced to fight against an invisible enemy—the dark magic that has embedded itself deep in her bones. The more she seeks to hide it, the more dangerous it becomes. And with the Krigere numbers decimated and the tribe under threat from the traitorous brother of the dead Chieftain, Ansa is torn between her loyalty to the Krigere, her love for Thyra, and her own survival instincts.

With her world in chaos and each side wanting to claim her for their own, only one thing is certain: unless Ansa can control the terrible magic inside her, everything she’s fought for will be destroyed.

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5 Stars

*** CHECK OUT THE REVIEW FOR BOOK ONE: THE IMPOSTOR QUEEN ***

** Received an ARC from Simon and Schuster for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion at all.**

First Line:

She’d never seen fire as an enemy, not until it crept like a snake along the grass to where she lay bleeding, not until it struck.

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Review

COVER 🌟🌟🌟🌟     PLOT 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

CHARACTERS 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟      ROMANCE 🌟🌟🌟🌟

WRITING 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟     WORLD 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

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The Cursed Queen by Sarah Fine is the sequel to last year’s action packed fantasy, The Impostor Queen. The story picks up across the sea with our new main protagonist, Ansa. She was part of the big take over that we see in the first book and as events intertwine with both stories, we get to explore a new side of this world!

The Good

New Characters

As this is a companion novel to The Impostor Queen, we get a whole new cast of characters to explore. In The Impostor Queen we met Elli, the one they believed to be the next Valtia but as we read wasn’t true. But in The Cursed Queen we meet an orphan to the Krigere tribe, Ansa, that happens to be the real Valtia without her knowing. I loved how strong Ansa was. She has fought her whole life to fit in with the people that destroyed her life and stole her away from her village. This shows in her bloodthirsty demeanor and attitude.

The Cursed Queen does not fall in terms of their strong representation of tough female characters. We also meet Thyra, the chieftains daughter. She was one of my favorites in the book. She proved that you didn’t need to kill to get what you want. She proved her skills on the battlefield as well in the mental fields!

World Building

We cross the sea in The Cursed Queen and get to witness life away from the Valtia’s reaches. Life across the sea is savage and primitive. They are filled with warriors that kill and maim their enemies and innocents alike. We explore new cities and villages and it shows how vast the world Fine has created really is!

Fine’s descriptions are vivid and beautifully depicted. I did not have trouble picturing what was going on!

LGBT Representation

LGBT representation is not a must have for me in every story I read, but when it’s there I jump for joy. Especially when it is harder to come by in the fantasy genre. Our main characters Ansa and Thyra both harbor feelings for each other. We see them struggle with them throughout The Cursed Queen. Do I think they are a good fit for each other? You’ll just have to read about it below. Just know that I really enjoyed having LGBT characters in the story.

The Bad

Bad Romance

As I said above, Ansa and Thyra have blossoming feelings for each other. But sadly it falls flat for me. I don’t think they connect well with each other and I don’t see a spark between them. Does this mean that one won’t develop in the next book? Who knows, maybe I will change my mind then. But as of now I just don’t see them being a a good fit for each other.

 

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I highly recommend this one if you are a fan of high fantasy and badass female characters. Let me know what you guys thought of The Cursed Queen by Sarah Fine! I would love to hear your opinions as well!

Until next time,

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Sarah Fine is the author of Of Metal and Wishes, Of Dreams and Rust, and the Guards of the Shadowlands series. She was born on the West Coast, raised in the Midwest, and is now firmly entrenched on the East Coast, where she lives with her husband and two children. When she’s not writing, she’s working as a child psychologist.