Kill the Queen

by Jennifer Estep

October 2, 2018 · Harper Voyager

Buy →

B+

Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy

More Info →

View Book Info Page

Kill the Queen by Jennifer Estep is the first book in a fantasy series that features a badass female gladiator on a quest to reclaim the throne from her murderous cousin. It’s tremendous fun, although it wraps up quickly.

Lady Everleigh Saffira Winter Blair is a low ranking member of the royal family of Bellona. She’s never going to inherit the crown and, in a world that values magic, she has no real magical power. That means she does her best to earn her keep at the castle and avoid the Mean Girls who torment her, including her cousin, Vasilia.

In this world magic is largely elemental although there are supernatural creatures like shapeshifters and gargoyles as well. Evie has no elemental magic; she does have the ability to smell magic, but this is considered a lesser, inconsequential power. What Evie hasn’t told anyone is that she also has an ability to snuff out another person’s magic after touching them, a gift she calls her immunity. Evie’s late mother knew the royal court was a treacherous place, and advised her to hide her gift, which she did.

That’s pretty convenient because during the ceremony that is intended to see her betrothed to a noble from a neighboring kingdom, Cousin Vasilia stages a coup and murders everyone in the royal family, including her own mother, the Queen. Evie’s ability to smell magic prevents her from drinking the champagne that’s been magically poisoned, and she manages to escape with her life.

Evie makes her way to a gladiator troupe run by the former head of the (late) queen’s guard. She manages to find employment there, but her literal nose for magic helps her foil an attempted murder (AGAIN) and gets her thrown in a life-or-death battle in the ring.

Evie isn’t a gladiator or a warrior, but as she trains as one (first to survive, later to retake the throne) she becomes more and more aware of how powerful she is. She morphs from the girl who was picked on by the cooler kids to a woman who has very dangerous hidden talents and is secure in them. It’s a delightful journey.

There’s also a little romance between Evie and Lucas Sullivan, one of the troupe’s trainers. It’s mostly a set-up for future books, so if you’re looking for heavy romantic content, you might be disappointed.

If the first part of the book is Evie coming into her own and crushing a little on Lucas, the second half is her burning shit down, which I strongly approve of.

Select members of the troupe eventually learn Evie’s identity, and as a royal family member she has the right to challenge Vasilia to the throne in a battle to the death. Vasilia has been training to be a warrior queen her entire life, and she can call lightning, which is pretty scary.  That means Evie must hone (and hide) her immunity power and train to be a warrior who can survive Vasilia’s magic and skill in combat.

Evie is always the underdog, but she pulls her strength from a sense of cold rage. She’s been tormented, was almost murdered several times, has seen her friends killed, and has been on the run. She has a lot of anger inside of her so that when she finally feels confident enough to confront Vasilia, it’s pretty epic.

I’m always here for a woman who has Had Enough bringing a shitstorm down on those who’ve wronged her.

This book is largely plug-and-play magical fantasy which means there isn’t a ton of time devoted to world building. We’ve got some elemental magic, shapeshifters and a few fantasy creatures and that’s about it. Despite the whole regicide element, there also isn’t a ton of time devoted to the internal politics of the kingdom. I was actually fine with that as I tend to lean more towards burning shit down and less toward political intrigue in my fantasy.

I was bummed that the romantic relationship between Evie and Lucas didn’t go farther, although I understood that it’s a set up for later books.

The only thing that really didn’t work out well for me was how quickly the ending wrapped up. I spent so much of the novel training and fighting and scraping by with Evie that I really wanted the satisfaction of seeing her wield her newfound power. The final battle with Vasilia didn’t feel quite long enough to justify the build up.

Despite that, Kill the Queen is a fun, action-driven fantasy. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series and, hopefully, more between Evie and Lucas.