The Queen of Blood by Sarah Beth Durst
(The Queens of Renthia, Book 1)
Released: September 20, 2016 | Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Adventure
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An idealistic young student and a banished warrior become allies in a battle to save their realm in this first book of a mesmerizing epic fantasy series, filled with political intrigue, violent magic, malevolent spirits, and thrilling adventure
Everything has a spirit: the willow tree with leaves that kiss the pond, the stream that feeds the river, the wind that exhales fresh snow . . .
But the spirits that reside within this land want to rid it of all humans. One woman stands between these malevolent spirits and the end of humankind: the queen. She alone has the magical power to prevent the spirits from destroying every man, woman, and child. But queens are still just human, and no matter how strong or good, the threat of danger always looms.
With the position so precarious, young women are chosen to train as heirs. Daleina, a seemingly quiet academy student, is under no illusions as to her claim to the throne, but simply wants to right the wrongs that have befallen the land. Ven, a disgraced champion, has spent his exile secretly fighting against the growing number of spirit attacks. Joining forces, these daring partners embark on a treacherous quest to find the source of the spirits’ restlessness—a journey that will test their courage and trust, and force them to stand against both enemies and friends to save their land . . . before it’s bathed in blood.
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The Queen of Blood was inspired by Sarah Beth Durst falling flat on her face at a writing retreat. After cutting her lip and tasting blood, she looked at the surrounding trees and thought, “Bloodthirsty nature spirits!”
REVIEW
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ☆ ☆
Weirdly, not enough exposition.
I appreciate that this book didn’t waste time on heavy exposition, but at the same time, I feel like it needed to, especially when it comes to the setting and the spirits. Aside from their elemental alignment, there’s very little description to help visualize them. Combined with the lack of a clear sense of the world’s geography, it sometimes made scenes hard to picture.
Eventually, I just decided to imagine the spirits as humanoid, fairy-like beings shaped from their respective element. (I’m sure that’s completely wrong, but the text didn’t give me much else to work with.) That mental image fell apart, though, when one of the spirits got cut and started bleeding… like, actual blood.
I don’t want to harp on the author’s world-building, especially since I never felt like I fully understood it, but an elemental spirit bleeding like a human seemed a little weird to me.
