Audiobook Review – The Queen’s Rising (The Queen’s Rising, Book 1) by Rebecca Ross, Narrated by Suzanne Elise Freeman (3.5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 12 hours and 51 minutes
Publisher:‎ HarperAudio
Release Date: February 06, 2018
ASIN: B077MFTJ57
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in The Queen’s Rising Duology
Source: Borrowed Audiobook from Library
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

“Brienna desires only two things: to master her passion and to be chosen by a patron. Growing up in Valenia at the renowned Magnalia House should have prepared her. While some are born with a talent for one of the five passions – art, music, dramatics, wit, and knowledge – Brienna struggled to find hers until she chose knowledge. However, Brienna’s greatest fear comes true: 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, she reluctantly accepts. But there is much more to his story, for there is a dangerous plot to overthrow the king of Maevana – the rival kingdom of Valenia – and restore the rightful queen, and her magic, to the throne.

With war brewing, Brienna must choose which side she will remain loyal to: passion or blood.”

Series Info/Source: This is the first book in The Queen’s Rising duology. I borrowed a copy of this audiobook from the library.

Thoughts: This was okay. It’s a politically driven fantasy with some romance and rebellion. The story ties up very nicely and I didn’t really feel driven to pick up the second book in this duology after finishing the first. Prior to reading this book I had read Ross’s “Sisters of Sword and Song” which I absolutely loved.

This book follows Brienna, an orphan who is submitted to Maganlia House to become a Passion (an expert) in one of five areas (art, music, dramatics, wit, and knowledge). Brienna’s father is a mystery to her and she struggles to find her Passion. She ends up studying to become a Passion of Knowledge. When she fails to find a patron right away, she is worried that her future is uncertain, then a disgraced lord offers to become her patron. Suddenly Brienna finds herself embroiled in Maevana politics and part of a plot to overthrow the king himself.

I enjoyed the beginning of this book with Brienna and her fellow students learning their studies and talents. However, then things pretty much devolve into a rebellion scenario after that. I am not a huge fan of politically driven fantasy so I was a bit bored and disappointed by where the plot went. Everything in this book goes fairly smoothly and without a lot of conflict, which is odd considering there’s a rebellion going on here. Everything just seemed to go a bit too well and everyone was a bit too nice; the situation never seemed truly dire or dangerous.

The characters were okay, but again I found them to be lacking. Brienna is a heroine who is perfect and can do no wrong. She is nice to everyone, good at everything she tries (with maybe the exception of music), and everyone likes her. She does end up in a forbidden romance with her master and teacher; which I always feel is a bit yucky. Granted the two meet whenBrienna is in her mid to late teens but the whole teacher/student romance always feels gross me.

I was surprised out how well things wrapped up. Everything is pretty much settled with our characters and the rebellion. As for the writing style, there is some beautiful description in here and the story was easy to follow. I did think it felt a bit overdone and dry; there was very little humor or wit throughout. I listened to this on audiobook and the narration on the audiobook was well done, so no complaints there.

My Summary (3.5/5): Overall this was okay, there really isn’t anything blatantly wrong with this book but I also didn’t love it. Everything was a bit “blah” for me. The challenges were resolved too easily, the characters were too perfect, and the story tied up very conveniently. I have absolutely no desire to pick up the next book in this duology. Those who like political fantasy with a slow-burn forbidden romance might enjoy this more than I did. I do plan on checking out other books by Ross since I absolutely loved “Sisters of the Sword” and it looks like she has some other intriguing novels out and upcoming.