⇒ PDF Kill the Queen A Crown of Shards Novel Jennifer Estep 9780062797612 Books

Kill the Queen A Crown of Shards Novel Jennifer Estep 9780062797612 Books

Download As PDF : Kill the Queen A Crown of Shards Novel Jennifer Estep 9780062797612 Books

Kill the Queen A Crown of Shards Novel Jennifer Estep 9780062797612 Books

Since Game of Thrones is included in the first 5 words of the synopsis, it’s fair to say that in Kill the Queen Estep has shamelessly recycled high profile GOT elements, like the Red Wedding, Joffrey’s sadistic insanity, and assigning Fire and Ice . . . er, Winter and Summer, to her major royal line.

It’s rare for an author to sell the female gladiator. It took Ilona Andrews a couple of novels to develop Kate Daniels to the point where she worked for me. Everleigh’s training and development timeline in KtQ is just silly. I’m also exhausted by the number of authors who think Villains must be Universally Rabid Crazy Sadistic Nutjobs Period. I’m exhausted by the special snowflake heroine (a disclaimer to being such a thing is actually used, without merit, by Everleigh at one point in the story).

Kill the Queen is what I consider a fast, brainless read that is usually offered by Indie authors at $2.99 to $5.99. I look for more originality and polish from a long-established author like Estep. I look for a better story when I pay $10.99 for a novel.

Wait until the next few books are released and they drop the price to KtQ to a teaser level before you make the investment!


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Kill the Queen A Crown of Shards Novel Jennifer Estep 9780062797612 Books Reviews

Kill the Queen is Jennifer Estep’s first fantasy and hopefully will not be her last and it spins an epic tale about family, betrayals, and magic! Though it had a somewhat slow start, the story was quick to draw me in once the plot started to roll. By its end, I was thoroughly hooked and eager for the next installment.

Everleigh, aka Evie, is seventeenth in line for the throne though she has no ambitions to be queen or rule over anything. It’s enough that she’s the “chosen one” who gets to do all the boring public appearances that the queen cannot do. Then one day the unthinkable happens, Vasilia the heir to the throne and Evie’s cousin slaughters her entire family and it’s only by luck that she manages to survive and escape.

Evie heads for the gladiator camps to find Serilda, a former guard of the late queen. She’s not sure what her plan will be but it soon becomes clear that she might be the last member of her family alive. Vasilia will be queen unless Evie challenges her, but being queen doesn’t quite make Evie’s to-do list. Instead she finds herself joining the gladiator troops and training with them. Convincing Serilda’s crowd to take her on was its own challenge, but soon she finds a place for herself. And of course, what would a story be without a little friction in the romance area?

Sullivan helps train the gladiators to be in fighting shape and naturally, he and Evie butt heads a lot. Their interactions were quite comical in the beginning and really from the start, you know there’s going to be something brewing between them, I was a tad upset that it happened so quickly. Yet they still don’t actually get together right away, but the feelings are all there.

While I did really enjoy this one, I still had a few issues with it too. The speed of the romance being one of them, but also the passing of time went by rather quickly. Within a blink of the eye weeks would pass by and I just felt like a lot of good could have come from seeing those weeks pass by other than just jumping ahead. I think this is where the romance kind of failed for me. What felt like seconds of Evie and Sullivan possibly falling in love might have really been months. Time is a tricky thing here.

The other problematic area was the beginning, we already know what’s going to happen to Evie’s family, yet it seemed to take a great deal of time to actually happen. The book is divided into three parts and we slog through a bit of everyday life for Evie before the massacre happens, which I get that we needed a bit of buildup to the tragedy but some parts just seemed to drag and you kept waiting for something to happen and I noticed little hints to what was to come.

The pacing after that first part though was pretty spot on. Evie keeps her identity a secret from her new friends for she’s not entirely sure she can trust that they would have her well-being in mind if they knew the truth. Which that built up a kind of tension because you knew things would eventually come to pass and the fallout that followed would definitely have some repercussions.

All in all though, this was still an enjoyable read. It’s not without flaws, minor ones though, but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the story. It builds up an exciting storyline and the characters were all fantastic. I truly enjoyed the magical elements Jennifer added to the story and that there weren’t just humans in this world either, and I’m not talking about animals either! It made for an exciting world and there’s definitely going to be more excitement in the series to come, I can feel it!

The ending was satisfying and fulfilling. You can kind of guess where things are headed but there’s still plenty left unsaid that makes you wonder what the future will hold. Especially in regards to Evie and Sullivan’s possible future, yet those dang roadblocks that stand between them will have to be overcome at some point. Kill the Queen was by far one of the more intriguing fantasy reads I’ve read and its world is one I will be happy to revisit next year with its sequel! I hope Jennifer spends a good amount of time in this place, because I am not quite ready to say goodbye just yet.

Overall Rating 4/5 stars
I wanted to like this book but I have difficulty with the author's writing style. Evie is supposed to be 28 years old but her thoughts and speech make her come across as about 10 years younger. Also, the author will drag out a point with redundant streams of thought and then rather than leave some meaning up to the inference of the reader, the author will explain things inside of relying on her story telling capabilities. I prefer being shown rather than being told, and this author does a lot of telling.

The main character is super annoying, doesn't think very critically, and is prone to silliness in a way that is not endearing. Evie would be more likable if she weren't almost 30. She's whiny and kind of dumb. It makes no sense for her to focus so much on her childhood experiences with the villain (which werent that bad honestly) and not on the severely traumatic event the book opens with. I can't help but feel this is a limitation in the author with a lack of research and refinement in skill.

Then the story, which starts out with potential, veers right off the path an into cheese town. I mean *MINOR SPOILER*** There's a literal dance off. I just can't.

And then, there is a lack of character development. The story is handled in small bouts of Evie's stream of consciousness, some minimal dialogue, an action scene, and then fast forward through time and all of a sudden relationships have developed. Evie will look at characters and think "there's sly zerelda, and strong Sullivan" etc, but we are literally never shown these things about the characters. We just hear evie tell us who these people are.

Minor Spolier
*
*
*
Finally, you have Evie who knows she is in line for the thrown, who has presented herself as caring and selfless, but has to be convinced to save her people from a war? She literally was willing to die over a dance off but drew the line at becoming queen. And she admits to being confused all the time but NEVER does anything to figure stuff out for herself. She will eavesdrop and be all "hmmmmmmm what they're saying seems important but I dont know what it means" and the just dismiss it without investigating. She is the worst.
Since Game of Thrones is included in the first 5 words of the synopsis, it’s fair to say that in Kill the Queen Estep has shamelessly recycled high profile GOT elements, like the Red Wedding, Joffrey’s sadistic insanity, and assigning Fire and Ice . . . er, Winter and Summer, to her major royal line.

It’s rare for an author to sell the female gladiator. It took Ilona Andrews a couple of novels to develop Kate Daniels to the point where she worked for me. Everleigh’s training and development timeline in KtQ is just silly. I’m also exhausted by the number of authors who think Villains must be Universally Rabid Crazy Sadistic Nutjobs Period. I’m exhausted by the special snowflake heroine (a disclaimer to being such a thing is actually used, without merit, by Everleigh at one point in the story).

Kill the Queen is what I consider a fast, brainless read that is usually offered by Indie authors at $2.99 to $5.99. I look for more originality and polish from a long-established author like Estep. I look for a better story when I pay $10.99 for a novel.

Wait until the next few books are released and they drop the price to KtQ to a teaser level before you make the investment!