Kill the Queen by Jennifer EstepMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
A superb start to a new fantasy series
I have been a fan of Jennifer Estep’s work for some time now and I have been looking forward to this book since it was first publicised. I am so happy that I was not disappointed in any way. This book takes all of the very best things from the previous series and none of the slightly niggly things.
The world-building, as always, is superb and I love how the magic is softly woven into the everyday existence without great fanfare during the introduction to the main character Everleigh, or Evie as she prefers to be known. Evie is a minor royal with supposedly little magic, whose parents were assassinated when she was 12. After being shunted around the kingdom she ended up at the main court, with her cousin the Queen. With no money, power, position or magic she was treated little better than a servant, who had to work for her living by apprenticing to the Royal Jeweller and attending all the annoying functions that no one else in the royal family could be bothered with. She is educated, but not particularly talented with a sword. She becomes very good at surviving the cutthroat politics of the court.
At age 27, she thought she was close to reaching her dream of going back to her parent's estate and opening up the house again, after saving nearly every penny she had ever earned from jewellery commissions when she attends a function. The events of this function change her life in ways she never thought possible.
We see Evie as she makes new friends and learns new skills, as she tries to survive betrayal and loss.
Evie is a fantastic character, she is smart and determined, she can be cold, calculating and ruthless, but she has a heart. She cares for people even when she berates herself that she is allowing herself to become too vulnerable. She battles and struggles with her weaknesses, working hard to overcome them. I liked the other characters in the book as they had depth and you know that future books in the series will flesh them out further.
I initially read this as an ebook in 2018 and decided to revisit it as an audiobook and I can honestly say that the narration enhanced my enjoyment. The narrator for this book really helped bring the story to life. I will definitely be listening to the rest of the series.
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