Early Review – Wooing the Witch Queen (Queens of Villainy, Book 1) by Stephanie Burgis (3/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy/Romance
Length: 304 pages
Publisher:‎ Bramble
Release Date: February 18, 2025
ASIN: B0D1P638KR
Stand Alone or Series:1st book in the Queens of Villainy
Source: eGalley for Review from NetGalley
Rating: 3/5 stars

“Queen Saskia is the wicked sorceress everyone fears. After successfully wrestling the throne from her evil uncle, she only wants one thing: to keep her people safe from the empire next door. For that, she needs to spend more time in her laboratory experimenting with her spells. She definitely doesn’t have time to bring order to her chaotic library of magic.

When a mysterious dark wizard arrives at her castle, Saskia hires him as her new librarian on the spot. “Fabian” is sweet and a little nerdy, and his requests seem a little strange – what in the name of Divine Elva is a fountain pen? – but he’s getting the job done. And if he writes her flirtatious poetry and his innocent touch makes her skin singe, well…

Little does Saskia know that the “wizard” she’s falling for is actually an Imperial archduke in disguise, with no magical training whatsoever. On the run, with perilous secrets on his trail and a fast growing yearning for the wicked sorceress, he’s in danger from her enemies and her newfound allies, too. When his identity is finally revealed, will their love save or doom each other?”

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got this on eGalley from NetGalley for review.

Thoughts: I keep waffling between 3 and 4 stars for this one. The story is cute, yet predictable. I liked the characters, but though they could have had more depth. The world building is there but thin. Mostly I struggled with something about the writing style; it just didn’t flow well for me. To be fair I had the same issue with “Kat, Incorrigable” when I read that book by Burgis…so I may just not mesh well with Burgis’s writing style. The whole thing (writing style, plot, characters) are all a bit simple for me.

The books switches viewpoint between Felix and Saskia. Felix is fleeing his home country and seeks refuge in the only place that could stand up to his uncle. That place happens to be the castle of the Wicked Queen Saskia. Saskia needs a evil wizard to organize her library; she assumes that when Felix shows up he’s the man for the job and blindly hires him. As efforts to find Felix ensue, Saskia is drawn more and more into the politics she hates. Meanwhile, Saskia and Felix are incredibly attracted to each other. Let’s just hope their attraction can overcome the secrets Felix is hiding.

This is all set up to have that whole dark villain thing going on, but none of the characters end up really being all that edgy or villainess. Basically, it’s evil but only for show. As mentioned above, the whole thing was a bit too shallow and cutesy for me; I think it’s the shallow part more than the cutesy part that bothered me. I also just don’t do well with the writing style here; it doesn’t flow in a way my brain can handle. I kept having to re-read parts, and that made it a bit clunky to get through. That happens to me with some authors, I have never been able to love Cassandra Clare’s writing style or V.E. Schwab’s writing style either.

I like the strange family in Saskia’s castle, and I generally like Felix and Saskia as characters. I just felt like the whole thing (plot, characters, world, emotions) was a bit thin.

My Summary (3/5): Overall this was an okay read. It is fun and quick. If you are looking for a cozy, fun, fantasy read with a little edge (and I mean a very small amount of edge) you might enjoy this. If you are a huge fan of Burgis’s writing style, you might enjoy this as well. I probably won’t be continuing this series, even though it is a cute premise. This also confirms for me that I am just not a bit fan of Burgis’s writing style.