The Queens of Renthia

I received a notice from Goodreads that I had won an advanced copy of The Reluctant Queen by Sarah Beth Durst. This book is the second in the Queens of Renthia series. The synopsis sounded really interesting so I dove right into the first book, The Queen of Blood. I love the world that Sarah Beth Durst has created. I also love that these stories read like young adult novels even though they are categorized as adult fantasy.

In the world of Renthia, there are spirits that control the land and have a lust for killing humans. This is why a queen is needed to keep the spirits in line. The queen has the power to stop all of the spirits in her land from harming anyone and being able to put them to use doing things such as creating new houses and libraries.

The first book, The Queen of Blood, primarily follows Daleina first as a child and through her challenges to become an heir to the queen. Daleina struggles with her power throughout the story and only really begins to hone that power with the help of Champion Ven. Together they work to help keep the people of Renthia safe.

The second book, The Reluctanct Queen, follows a few more characters. We still get to follow many of the same people from the first book but a few more are added as well. In this story, the queen is dying and needs to find someone to replace her when she dies. There are a lot of twists and a lot of good characters. I do not feel that this one fits quite as well in the young adult category but I believe that is because the characters are older.

I really enjoyed both of these books and cannot wait until the third installment releases next year. If you want to find out more about these books and more from this author, you can check out her page at this link.

Comments

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