The Queen’s Rising - Rebecca Ross
Brienna has struggled to find herself, she does not know her Maevan father’s name and she struggles to find her passion at the prestigious Magnalia House in Valenia. Those who attend Magnalia House are born with an innate talent for one of the five passions, but Brienna tries them all before choosing to study knowledge, but is it too little too late for her to master her passion and be chosen by a patron?
This was a delightful read which portrayed strong relationships between the arden sisters of Magnalia House while weaving in political instability between nations and the civil unrest of Maevana. This book was engaging throughout and I wanted desperately to reach the end and know, would Maevana have a queen once more?
There were issues in this book that I find are prevalent through YALit but I was so engaged with the plot that I found them easy to ignore. The main romance was a little uncomfortable if you thought on it too much but I enjoyed it at face value nonetheless, and even now I am still unsure of some of the characters roles and why they played them but these are easy things to forgive when I feel that the plot really carried you forward. The familial relationships in the book are evocative and although they were perhaps a little rushed they were still believable and emotional. It was also refreshing to read a Young Adult novel that did not feel it necessary to insert ridiculous trademarks of the genre such as perpetual eye-rolling.
It might be worthy to note that I did not read the family trees in the beginning of the book before I read the story save for a quick skim that I quickly forgot. I think that I enjoyed the book more after going back to look at them after I’d finished as I feel like they would have taken much of the mystery of the book away.
★★★★✰
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.