Author: Melissa de la Cruz
Series: Queen’s Secret #1
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Released: February 4^th
Received: BookishFirst
Rating:

I received a copy of The Queen’s Assassin through BookishFirst in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Queen’s Assassin is the first novel in a brand new series from the one and only Melissa de la Cruz. This time around, her latest novel is being compared to Red Queen, and that’s what really caught my attention.

The Kingdom of Renovia is facing a significant threat, with the king being dead, and plots on the queen and princess’ life spreading like wildfire. That’s where Caledon Holt comes into play. He’s the Queen’s assassin, and he’ll do whatever it takes to finish the job and earn his freedom.

But there’s a slight complication by the name of Shadow. She’s a spirited young woman who wants to choose her path in life. And that path matches that of Cal. Together they’re about to set off on a quest to save the queen and her daughter.

“All the answers you seek are there, but only if you are willing to hear them.”

The Queen’s Assassin was a fantasy heavy romance, full of plotting, espionage, and intrigue. I’ll confess that I fell in love with this novel the minute I saw the cover, and with good reason, I believe. It’s simply stunning.

So it took me a little bit of time before I sat down to write this review, if I’m being completely honest. There were some solid elements in this story, and then there were parts that were more disappointing. I needed some time to work through all of that, before I could be honest with how I felt.

What it comes down to is this: The Queen’s Assassin had SO much potential. And there were parts of this story where I genuinely enjoyed reading it. It started off really strong, with an independent young woman who knew what she wanted in life.

But there were also parts of this story that I didn’t love. For example, there was a very heavy feeling of predictability with some of the major twists. You can see them coming from a mile away. Which isn’t automatically a bad thing – this isn’t a thriller or something where I’d be disappointed by the lack of surprises. But it did take away from some of the impact.

The Queen’s Assassin felt like a different book at a certain point. It started off as a journey of Shadow trying to forge a new path for herself. And it ended as a romance with fantasy and political themes surrounding it. Again, that’s not a bad thing. But it wasn’t what I was hoping for, or expecting.

On the whole, I did find The Queen’s Assassin to be a decent read. It was a great escape for me, especially at the end of a long and less than great week. I didn’t love it, but I certainly didn’t hate it either. I’m not entirely certain that I’ll read the next in the series, but I’m going to hold final judgment until I see the description for the next book.

If I had to give this novel a rating (and I do, as far as I’m concerned), I’d put it somewhere around three and a half stars. There’s a lot of potential and enjoyment to be found here, but it wasn’t the best available.