Publisher: Harper Teen
Series: The Queen's Rising #1
Format: Hardcover, 464 pages
Source: Bookstore
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When her seventeenth summer solstice arrives, Brienna desires only two things: to master her passion and to be chosen by a patron.
Growing up in the southern Kingdom of Valenia at the renowned Magnalia House should have prepared her for such a life. While some are born with an innate talent for one of the five passions—art, music, dramatics, wit, and knowledge—Brienna struggled to find hers until she belatedly chose to study knowledge. However, despite all her preparations, Brienna’s greatest fear comes true—the solstice does not go according to plan and she is left without a patron.
Months later, her life takes an unexpected turn when a disgraced lord offers her patronage. Suspicious of his intent, and with no other choices, she accepts. But there is much more to his story, and Brienna soon discovers that he has sought her out for his own vengeful gain. For there is a dangerous plot being planned to overthrow the king of Maevana—the archrival kingdom of Valenia—and restore the rightful queen, and her magic, to the northern throne. And others are involved—some closer to Brienna than she realizes.
With war brewing between the two lands, Brienna must choose whose side she will remain loyal to—passion or blood. Because a queen is destined to rise and lead the battle to reclaim the crown. The ultimate decision Brienna must determine is: Who will be that queen?
After reading a series of "ok" Fantasy books, this was just what I needed to get out of my rut. To be totally honest, I was expecting something complete different to happen than what was on the synopsis. But it was a pleasant surprise when it did not go in the direction that many Fantasy books usually go in.
Even though we only got a small snippet of the world building of the two warring lands, it was just enough for the story. The first half of the book is spent in Magnalia House, where Brienna is studying her Passion, which is Knowledge. Her Passion sisters have all been chosen by patrons while she is left to continue her studies in hopes that someone will choose her before she is labelled as "Inept." That means that someone will never master their Passion and they will have to do ordinary mundane jobs in life. At Magnalia House for the summer, Brienna experiences some mysterious things that put her in the middle of a war for the throne in the North. She goes on a journey of self discovery and most importance to her home country of Maevana. Brienna knows that no matter what, she will never be the same girl she once was.
Brienna was a character that I liked from the beginning because she is essentially ordinary. There is nothing special about her that we know of. She does not excel in any of the Passions, but she is determined to be a Mistress of Knowledge despite the fact that she has to work harder than anyone else. I liked that about her. She never gave up no matter her insecurities. It helped that she had her supportive sisters and her Master of Knowledge, Cartier. I instantly liked him even though I knew there was going to be some kind of instant relationship with him and Brienna. It wasn't instal-love per say, but you definitely knew that they were attracted to each other throughout the entire book.
The best relationship in the story was between Brienna and her patron father, Jourdain. When someone fully passions and is accepted by a patron, that person adopts him/her into their family as if they were really their child. A real father is important for Brienna because she grew up in an orphanage with her grandfather as her only living relative. It was such a great relationship because neither had to fully accept the other, but they did and it was beautiful.
I could go on about everything I loved, but it would be too much. While the pacing was decent, there were parts that lagged a little, such as Brienna's time at Magnalia. Also there was not much action, so if you are going into this one expecting lots of magic and fighting, you will be disappointed. The only real action happens toward the end of the story. But it is still a great book, and I will definitely be picking up the sequel.
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