SPOILERS–Kill the Queen, by Jennifer Estep | Book Review

Hello loves! Today I have my book review of

Kill the Queen, by Jennifer Estep.

Kill the Queen is the first book in the Crown of Shards trilogy.

Trigger Warning: Assassinations, Murder, Stabbings, Fighting, Fighting to the Death, Poisoning, Attempted Murder.

Gladiator meets Game of Thrones: a royal woman becomes a skilled warrior to destroy her murderous cousin, avenge her family, and save her kingdom in this first entry in a dazzling fantasy epic from the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Elemental Assassin series—an enthralling tale that combines magic, murder, intrigue, adventure, and a hint of romance.

In a realm where one’s magical power determines one’s worth, Lady Everleigh’s lack of obvious ability relegates her to the shadows of the royal court of Bellona, a kingdom steeped in gladiator tradition. Seventeenth in line for the throne, Evie is nothing more than a ceremonial fixture, overlooked and mostly forgotten.

But dark forces are at work inside the palace. When her cousin Vasilia, the crown princess, assassinates her mother the queen and takes the throne by force, Evie is also attacked, along with the rest of the royal family. Luckily for Evie, her secret immunity to magic helps her escape the massacre.

Forced into hiding to survive, she falls in with a gladiator troupe. Though they use their talents to entertain and amuse the masses, the gladiators are actually highly trained warriors skilled in the art of war, especially Lucas Sullivan, a powerful magier with secrets of his own. Uncertain of her future—or if she even has one—Evie begins training with the troupe until she can decide her next move.

But as the bloodthirsty Vasilia exerts her power, pushing Bellona to the brink of war, Evie’s fate becomes clear: she must become a fearsome gladiator herself . . . and kill the queen.

When I saw that Jennifer Estep came out with a book that looked like there was an assassin on the cover, I jumped on the chance to read it. Thank you library e-books!

I, per usual, did not read the full synopsis, lmao. Instead, I think I read only a few sentences to get a feel of what Kill the Queen would be about.

Something that I admired–and ultimately loved–about Evie’s story was the character development that Evie went through. ~~Omfg, Evie went through an Evie-lution.~~ During the beginning we see what Evie’s life is like at the castle. She’s a somewhat meek character in the beginning, and I love how we got to see change and grow into a person who can tell people “No” and actually have the backbone to reiterate herself. I like seeing Evie be able to fight beyond the castle walls, earn a name for herself within the Gladiators, and become someone that the country can depend on.

The friendships and relationships that she makes with the people in her story are great to see. Especially when you find out that she was ostracized pretty soon after she came to the castle. And it’s great for Evie to finally have some genuine friendships.

In total, there are three parts in Kill the Queen. In the first part we see Evie live in a circumstance that she doesn’t want to be in–but because of her lineage, Evie has to be where she ended up.

During the second part of the Kill the Queen we see Evie get on her feet and start to run towards who she grows to be in the third part of Kill the Queen: a badass warrior who does what needs to be done to keep her country, and people, safe.

In the third, and final part in Kill the Queen, we see that Evie has begrudgingly accepted that she’s now going to fight for her queendom. In this third part we see the fruition of Evie’s hard work and training. We also see that the third part is where a good portion of the plot unravel–which, honestly, was great to see.

I’m curious enough to want to read the second novel in the Crown of Shards series, but I’m not excited about the things that will inevitably happen to Evie. Especially with her new responsibilities, and her crowning as queen.

I give Kill the Queen, 3 stars.

Have you read Kill the Queen?

I enjoyed Kill the Queen about as much as I thought I would.