Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte

Pages: 432
Publish date: March 2019
Publisher: Allen and Unwin
ISBN:9781760524418
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – QBD

Four Dead Queens:

I received an arc of Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte from Allen and Unwin in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book. 

This was one of my most anticipated books for 2019. But I also went in not knowing much, I wanted to be taken away with this world and I am so glad that I did that because I loved Four Dead Queens. It had everything that I was looking for in a standalone fantasy. It’s full of court intrigue, death, great worldbuilding and a romance that warmed my heart. 

Four Dead Queens follows thief Keralie, who unexpectedly steals a very important and valuable package from a messenger.  Now she is entangled in the world of the court and has the knowledge of how the four queens of Quadara are murdered. Not only that Keralie is now on the run from her former boss with Varin Bollt, the messenger from Enoist. They both try and discover who has killed the queens and maybe even stop their deaths from happening. But both Keralie and Varin hold secrets that could untangle everything that they are fighting for. 

I really enjoyed Keralie as a protagonist. She was tough but also sensitive at the same time. This lead to her creating a great dynamic for the book. She was a really easy character to fall into and get to know. I liked that we didn’t know too much about her first off, but as the novel went on the reader gets to know her story. How she came to be ‘friends’ with Mackiel, the head of the thieves. And then slowly more about her life. I liked seeing the different sides of Keralie, with Mackiel she is very timid at first, but then with Varin she tells him how it is. It’s a really cool contrast. Keralie character arc is also something that I really enjoyed throughout Four Dead Queens. 

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Varin was an awesome character and love interest for Keralie in Four Dead Queens. He was such an interesting character, and I do wish that the reader was able to get to know him a little more. But for a supporting character, he really added something to both the story itself and to Keralie. I think Varin was an intriging character because of his origin. He is the total opposite from Keralie, and that made their interactions so much more interesting. 

Now on to the queens. The four queens of Quadara are such interesting characters. They are all very different from one another. They all have different values, different ways of being queen. But in the end, they all want one thing. They want for their kingdom’s to be safe and for them to be great queens. I found the world that Astrid Scholte created here in Four Dead Queens was really fascinating and different. Four Queens with no kings working somewhat together to run a whole kingdom. 

Talking about the Four Queens, the next part is a little spoiley to some people, but I do need to discuss it. There are two queer characters that do die throughout the novel. And although I do wish that they weren’t killed, the two queer characters in question are two of the four queens. And with a title like Four Dead Queens, you can kind of guess what happens.  Obviously, you can decide if you are okay with reading that, however, I felt that I did need to talk about this when reviewing this book. If anyone wants to talk about this further, I am happy to chat with you. 

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Other than the court system and the fact that there are four queens, the world that Astrid Scholte is really interesting. It’s a mix of fantasy and science fiction, but together it all works. With each quadrant different from each other. But they all fit together like a puzzle. I liked that each quadrant had different elements and things that they were good at. And their queens represent that as well. 

The plot of Four Dead Queens was really interesting. I thought I knew where it was going to a while, but then I was taken on a totally different direction. Which I loved. I like being wrong, reading-wise. I like that I was taken by surprise. Especially towards the end, it shook me a lot. I was so taken back, but it worked so well here, and I loved it. 

One of the things that Four Dead Queens focuses on is court intrigue. I think that sometimes may turn people off. But I loved this so much. I found that it added another depth to the story and grabbed from the get-go. I liked seeing how not only the world worked, but how the court of Quadara functioned. 

Overall, I loved Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte. It has so many elements that just make the story even better. I loved the world, the characters, and I adored the storyline. Keralie was such an interesting protagonist and at times even an unreliable narrator and that just made everything much more interesting. Four Dead Queens is a fantastic debut that explores court intrigue, women in power and what it’s like to stand up for yourself. With fantastic writing and a plot that has many twists and turns, Four Dead Queens is sure to take you on a ride. 

Have you read Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte? What did you think of it? Are you planning on reading it? Let’s Chat!