A Court of Queens

by Emory Brown

In this dark fantasy reimagining classic 'Fairy Tale Princesses' are 'Blessed' Queens, the matriarchal rulers of their respective Kingdoms/ territories. When Jia, the young Queen of Albukhar, makes a grave error with her Djinn's power she flees her home in search of another Queen to reverse her wish.

Genres: Fantasy, Retellings

260 pages, Paperback

Published July 27, 2024

Reviews

[Emma Calhoun · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sorry to be harsh because I really do believe in every author's right to share their stories. However, right from the start, this book moves a little too quickly through events that could benefit from a nice, lingering description. I'm not asking for a verbose, three page description of a single rug, but I would appreciate a few more descriptive phrases to set the scene. Additionally, everything happens in a very step-wise manner: first, Jia is running through the city; then, she is upset her parents don't include her in more discussions or share information; then, she sneaks out and learns sketchy information; then, she traps her parents in a ceiling tile unintentionally. And that's just the first 40 pages. There is no build-up to any tension, and answers come too quickly and with minimal effort on Jia's part. Also, pet peeve warning, there are so many spelling and grammatical errors!! I'm not convinced this went through an editor at all...

Although I love giving new authors a chance, and I really do love a good twisted fairy tale, this one fell so flat that I was ready to quit after Chapter 3. It feels like the typical BookTok trap of "good premise, bad writing."

[Divya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an interesting and different take on fairytale retellings. The story starts off with young princess Jia and her grave mistake in unknowingly capturing her parents by mistiming a wish. The story them sees her travelling to meet different queens with the company of her trusted friend to undo this. The story is nicely written with a good amalgamation of fairytales. I enjoyed reading this amazing story.

[Maddison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a fun spin on fairy tales! The concept of the princesses all intertwining something I haven’t seen before in this style and honestly I wish it was longer because I feel like there’s so much more potential. Sequel?? Yes, as in many indie books there are some grammatical errors but nothing that deters from the reading. It’s a fun premise with a fun storyline and I’m excited to see what else the author puts out.

[Grace · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book reads like crack fic, which is great if that's what you're into. The premise pulled me in, but the execution was horrific. Writing and publishing a book is difficult, so kudos to the author for putting in the time and effort to do so. However, similar books can be found on Wattpad, not bookstore shelves.

[Amanda Chipman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some problematic things

I really wanted to love this book. There are some redeeming qualities in this book such as the idea of the queens having a different blessing each, the different queens and lands having cultural and linguistic differences, and there is a coherent, yet unfinished story. However, the language in the story is very simplistic, Jia seems pretty flat as a character, Aldin just seems to be there, and the relationship between those two is…problematic. The romance arc appears to primarily consist of the two of them existing together and then Jia groping him while he sleeps. This is not okay for characters to do to each other regardless of which one is being groped. Overall, the bones of the story are good, but it would be much better if the story focused on possibly one leg of the story and expanded upon it, adding in more interaction between Jia and Aldin indicating growing feelings, having more instances of Aldin doing the job of a guard (protecting Jia, planning their travel, and identifying threats to their safety) rather than just being in the background, and showing more of the intricacies in the lore of the story rather than the crash course we got with this book. Overall, I would probably give this series another shot if the writing went through more of an editing process.

[Carleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

great story. good enough that all the grammar errors didn't deter me. lacking an ending. it just stops.

[Lyndsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it one sitting! I loved the premise of this book and it was really cool to meet the author in person and hear his thoughts on the book. Now onto my review:

I love the idea and thoughts that went into this book. It fits into a spot of it’s not YA but it’s not quite super adult so I would put this as New Adult. It’s a different take on twisted fairytales and it’s one of my favorite genres.

I just wish this book was longer! There were certain parts that could have been expanded on such as the world or even character relationships. Some of the language could be clunky at times but not at an extreme fault to the story. The character development of Jia was nice as with each stop of her journey she learned a bit more of how to communicate like a queen and how to hold certain cards to her chest and when she should reveal things or not. Her character development didn’t feel too rushed or even forced as with each realm she visited she took to heart what she learned.

All in all, I’m excited for the next book and can’t wait for it to be out!

[Caryn Oles · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I can appreciate the creativity in this retelling of the main Disney Princess stories, it was difficult to really get into the story. Parts of it felt really rushed, the world-building a bit lacking. Jia, the main character whose story we are following, is obviously the most interesting of the bunch but I still didn’t quite have enough to feel an emotional connection with her. The relationship with her parents was almost non-existent and so off-putting that it is hard to believe she would feel any regret for how her first wish left them.

As for her relationship with Aldin, there’s no chemistry.

And the other Queens held so much potential but fell so short on delivery.

And that ending felt like it got cut off mid-scene. I enjoy cliffhangers but that was something else entirely.

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am torn between the rough, unpolished dialogue and rushed plot, and the overall idea of the story, which I was intrigued by. The world, coupled with the dark take on all of the Disney princesses has great potential. But the author lacks the experience to world build and properly write out relationships between characters to give them depth and meaning. The whole journey for the FMC was very rushed and simplistic.

It’s self published, most likely went right past any editing process, and reads like someone printed off their Disney princess fanfic and put it into book form.

I almost filed it under DNF, but I did want to get to the end. So I ended up reading through the dialogue only and skimming scene descriptions.

[Camy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did love the new take on the different queens. They were all well written and loved how they all used their blessings. I do like the basis of the story and the characters.

I do wish there was a bit more to everything though. A little more world building. A little more depth to the characters, like a little more background to them. I feel like some parts moved a little quickly, and I wished there was a bit more time spent on what was going on.

It was a good story! I'd definitely read the next book if there is one.

[Mbur · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the author's first books, and I did enjoy the fairytale spin concept. Unfortunately, it read like a first book with no proper build-up or important emotional beats. The story was very sequential without any moments for the main character to process what they were experiencing. Also, the sub-plot of the Godmother and Djinn fell flat as well.

[kylie thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting writing

Not alot of action. The story built up to what should have been a massive battle but was only like 2 pages and not alot to it. And the sexual tension between Jia and Aldine was intense but never really addressed well.