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Daughters of Ruin
Meet rumor with quiet, treason with cunning, and vicious with vicious.
Rhea, Cadis, Suki, and Iren have lived together since they were children. They are called sisters. They are not. They are called equals. They are not. They are princesses. And they are enemies.
A brutal war ravaged their kingdoms, and Rhea’s father was the victor. As a gesture of peace, King Declan brought the daughters of his rivals to live under his protection—and his ever-watchful eye.
For ten years they have trained together as diplomats and warriors, raised to accept their thrones and unite their kingdoms in peace. But there is no peace among sisters, and all plans shatter when the palace is attacked. As their intended future lies in ashes, Rhea, Cadis, Suki, and Iren must decide where their loyalties lie: to their nations, or to each other.
Alliances shift and the consequences are deadly in this stunning fantasy debut from K. D. Castner.
Rhea, Cadis, Suki, and Iren have lived together since they were children. They are called sisters. They are not. They are called equals. They are not. They are princesses. And they are enemies.
A brutal war ravaged their kingdoms, and Rhea’s father was the victor. As a gesture of peace, King Declan brought the daughters of his rivals to live under his protection—and his ever-watchful eye.
For ten years they have trained together as diplomats and warriors, raised to accept their thrones and unite their kingdoms in peace. But there is no peace among sisters, and all plans shatter when the palace is attacked. As their intended future lies in ashes, Rhea, Cadis, Suki, and Iren must decide where their loyalties lie: to their nations, or to each other.
Alliances shift and the consequences are deadly in this stunning fantasy debut from K. D. Castner.
314 pages, Hardcover
First published April 5, 2016
24 people are currently reading
2913 people want to read
About the author
K.D. Castner
1 book33 followersK.D. Castner was once a farmer, once in love, and three times almost died in water. K.D. makes blackberry cider and dotes on a passel of grandkittens. A US citizen, she makes her home in Aberystwyth, Wales. Daughters of Ruin is her first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 179 reviews
February 8, 2017
Let's pretend you have a 12-year old nephew. You visit your nephew occasionally, see him during the holidays, play with him during the Fourth of July barbecue, buy him something off of his wishlist made by his parents for Christmas.
Okay, so when he was growing up, he was a decent snot-nosed, endearing whiner. You used to tease him, play tricks on him, and laugh when he grew flustered. He liked to show you his collection of shovels and dump trucks and you would pretend to be utterly fascinated - for the forty-sixth time.
But then you went traveling for a year, took a break from the menial life of office work and Friday night traditions with your buddies from high school, and you climbed mountains, enjoyed the beach sun, and grew an appreciation for the ancient structures around the world that breathed of a history much more illustrious than yours.
So you come back, unwind in your new apartment rented to you by a friend of a friend of a friend of a co-worker, and settle into your old life, but with an enlarged life perspective, a greater understanding of the undulating tides of the universe.
So remember that 12-year old nephew you have? Right, so while you've been gone, you hear news that his parents had secretly been getting busy with a new family surprise and poof! A new, sparkling niece appears! You sent your congratulations while sipping some pleasant, slightly fruity cocktail in the lobby of a moderately-priced hotel as you scrolled through the usual "adorable" (which really means "unique" which really means "witty" which really means "clever" which really means "ripped right off of Pinterest boards" which really means "seen first on Instagram posted by some B-list actress, who throughout her career, gained a following decently-sized enough to keep her relevant for some odd years after her last big hurrah in the industry") first baby photos.
The happy couple sends the whole family an email detailing the birth and first precious days with their new bundle of joy along with more pictures of the wrinkly potato-like thing and her sibling.
Fastforward to the next family gathering, the celebration of the new addition to the family, and you come armed with two presents: one for the "baby" (which really means for the parents), and one for the older sibling so as to give him some attention and still make him feel like he hadn't been replaced.
The first present is some jingly baby toy in the shape of an elephant meant for the baby to shake and grasp and squeeze and love - of course, the baby loves it.
The second present is a book: some adventure-thriller-fantasy type tailored to boys with a male protagonist and magic and spells and of course, zero romance, because after all, your nephew was still a boy and a boy didn't want cooties.
At first, you had questioned the gift, thinking to give your nephew a new gizmo or some trinket marked with the image of a popular franchise, but no: his parents said he was really interested in reading and writing nowadays.
And at that family gathering/celebration, you realize your 12-year old nephew had grown up to be a 13-year old teenager.
Angst and all.
Obviously, most certainly, he loved his little sister, but his new haircut, with bangs that swooped over his eyes, and his new wardrobe, an overly baggy busy shirt with too much design and clunky new kicks, told you immediately that he was absolutely wheedling for some attention.
And, as his eyes lighted up you - your new improved you who has figured out some of life's wonders - your heart grew heavy as you instantly realized who would have to be the one to give him such attention.
And so, for about two hours, you listen to him relate mostly everything about his life: school, girls, his new bike, books that he liked, some girls he didn't like, the teacher he secretly thought was super cool, his trouble with math, and blah blah blah blah blah - teenage stuff.
And since you love and adore your little nephew, you listen to the blah blah blah blah teenage growing pains.
Then, when you're about to leave - FINALLY - you remember to hand him your gift, and you see his expression absolutely light up because WOW! THIS WHOLE EVENT WAS FOR HIS NEW SISTER, BUT THIS LITTLE OLD GIFT IS FOR HIM!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
However, his excitement suddenly becomes abashed as you watch his expression change into a struggle of emotions before he quite abruptly flees with only a loudly exclaimed, "Wait here!" to give you a hint to what he wants you to do.
You wait, your coat and shoes already on and a box of leftovers in your hand.
He comes back, eyes sparkling, goofy grin on his face, as he presses a red notebook into your hands.
"I want you to read this and tell me what you think. It's awesome!"
Slightly wary, but wanting to go home, you promise him you will.
Twenty-four days later, you remember your promise after a phone call to your brother to remind him of your parents' upcoming anniversary becomes a conversation with the whole family with even the baby momentarily being allowed to babble into the phone.
"Have you read it yet?" he asks, all anticipation and nerves.
You promise again that you will and you even tell him that you're opening the notebook now, but before he can hound you some more, your brother gets back on the line to tell your nephew that it's time for bed and that surely adults (namely you) have more important and more grown-up things to do like work or cleaning.
After he hangs up, you look at the opened notebook. A quick skim leads you to realize that your nephew, your only nephew (so far), has written a story!
Immediately, you see some flaws in his technique as the first page presents you with a dramatic summary that spoils the entire plot, but you're curious about this little endeavor of your nephew so you continue to read.
Three minutes later, your brow furrows and you frown as you realize the monstrosity you've just opened.
It... It's not bad per say, it... It just needs a little work.
A little refinement. He's only 13 so it's not like you should be expecting a work of art from him.
But still, as you read the 16th description of another "epic fight," you can't help but judge him immensely as you slowly take in the words written on the page.
It reads like this:
"Then the badass ninja takes out his super sharp katanas and he throws them over the guard's head as he punches the guy in the face and knocks him out. He laughs as he sees his two katanas have hit two other guards in the head. But then seventeen more guards come rushing out with swords and other sharp weapons. He was totally outnumbered, but they didn't know about his training!
He closes his eyes as a white light envelops him. Claws grow out of his nails and he feels his fangs pop out. He was in his Grimswald form! With a battle cry, he lifts up his arms and speaks the words of the old Jeroku spell. Super sharp knives pierce the throats of everyone surrounding him, and when he opens his eyes, all he saw were dead bodies.
Too many dead bodies. He feels disgusted by what he did. He was a murderer.
'No!' He protests. 'I had to protect myself! I have to live!'
After all, he was the Chosen One, the only heir of Queen Vaslish and King Ferjanga, the next ruler of Imang, Protector of Minka, the Grimswald Incarnate, and the last-ever Micha of the Hufe Clan, destined to become Poling emperor."
The story ends so abruptly that you wonder if he meant to continue reading, but the "The End" written in his slanted writing tells you differently.
You close your eyes as you take it all in.
Your heart races as you wonder what you'll say so you won't break his little heart.
"Well, beloved nephew, ah - the idea's pretty good, uh, but maybe a little more, you know, character development would be nice? Add a backstory in there, explain some of the words and characters. Maybe take away some of the fight scenes. I'm sure if you just edit some, it'll turn out great."
You swallow a lump of guilt as you think about spilling the bad news or posing the question that would sound more like an accusation.
"Did you write it all by yourself?"
Because, as the words of the story rolls around in your head, you're sure you've read something like it before.
The undeveloped characters, the weak and unsatisfactory resolution, even the embarrassing trying-too-hard-to-be-cool names and "unique" lingo.
Yes, you think as the name of the book suddenly pops into your head, the style, the technique...
It all reminded you of Daughters of Ruin by K.D. Castner.
Okay, so when he was growing up, he was a decent snot-nosed, endearing whiner. You used to tease him, play tricks on him, and laugh when he grew flustered. He liked to show you his collection of shovels and dump trucks and you would pretend to be utterly fascinated - for the forty-sixth time.
But then you went traveling for a year, took a break from the menial life of office work and Friday night traditions with your buddies from high school, and you climbed mountains, enjoyed the beach sun, and grew an appreciation for the ancient structures around the world that breathed of a history much more illustrious than yours.
So you come back, unwind in your new apartment rented to you by a friend of a friend of a friend of a co-worker, and settle into your old life, but with an enlarged life perspective, a greater understanding of the undulating tides of the universe.
So remember that 12-year old nephew you have? Right, so while you've been gone, you hear news that his parents had secretly been getting busy with a new family surprise and poof! A new, sparkling niece appears! You sent your congratulations while sipping some pleasant, slightly fruity cocktail in the lobby of a moderately-priced hotel as you scrolled through the usual "adorable" (which really means "unique" which really means "witty" which really means "clever" which really means "ripped right off of Pinterest boards" which really means "seen first on Instagram posted by some B-list actress, who throughout her career, gained a following decently-sized enough to keep her relevant for some odd years after her last big hurrah in the industry") first baby photos.
The happy couple sends the whole family an email detailing the birth and first precious days with their new bundle of joy along with more pictures of the wrinkly potato-like thing and her sibling.
Fastforward to the next family gathering, the celebration of the new addition to the family, and you come armed with two presents: one for the "baby" (which really means for the parents), and one for the older sibling so as to give him some attention and still make him feel like he hadn't been replaced.
The first present is some jingly baby toy in the shape of an elephant meant for the baby to shake and grasp and squeeze and love - of course, the baby loves it.
The second present is a book: some adventure-thriller-fantasy type tailored to boys with a male protagonist and magic and spells and of course, zero romance, because after all, your nephew was still a boy and a boy didn't want cooties.
At first, you had questioned the gift, thinking to give your nephew a new gizmo or some trinket marked with the image of a popular franchise, but no: his parents said he was really interested in reading and writing nowadays.
And at that family gathering/celebration, you realize your 12-year old nephew had grown up to be a 13-year old teenager.
Angst and all.
Obviously, most certainly, he loved his little sister, but his new haircut, with bangs that swooped over his eyes, and his new wardrobe, an overly baggy busy shirt with too much design and clunky new kicks, told you immediately that he was absolutely wheedling for some attention.
And, as his eyes lighted up you - your new improved you who has figured out some of life's wonders - your heart grew heavy as you instantly realized who would have to be the one to give him such attention.
And so, for about two hours, you listen to him relate mostly everything about his life: school, girls, his new bike, books that he liked, some girls he didn't like, the teacher he secretly thought was super cool, his trouble with math, and blah blah blah blah blah - teenage stuff.
And since you love and adore your little nephew, you listen to the blah blah blah blah teenage growing pains.
Then, when you're about to leave - FINALLY - you remember to hand him your gift, and you see his expression absolutely light up because WOW! THIS WHOLE EVENT WAS FOR HIS NEW SISTER, BUT THIS LITTLE OLD GIFT IS FOR HIM!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
However, his excitement suddenly becomes abashed as you watch his expression change into a struggle of emotions before he quite abruptly flees with only a loudly exclaimed, "Wait here!" to give you a hint to what he wants you to do.
You wait, your coat and shoes already on and a box of leftovers in your hand.
He comes back, eyes sparkling, goofy grin on his face, as he presses a red notebook into your hands.
"I want you to read this and tell me what you think. It's awesome!"
Slightly wary, but wanting to go home, you promise him you will.
Twenty-four days later, you remember your promise after a phone call to your brother to remind him of your parents' upcoming anniversary becomes a conversation with the whole family with even the baby momentarily being allowed to babble into the phone.
"Have you read it yet?" he asks, all anticipation and nerves.
You promise again that you will and you even tell him that you're opening the notebook now, but before he can hound you some more, your brother gets back on the line to tell your nephew that it's time for bed and that surely adults (namely you) have more important and more grown-up things to do like work or cleaning.
After he hangs up, you look at the opened notebook. A quick skim leads you to realize that your nephew, your only nephew (so far), has written a story!
Immediately, you see some flaws in his technique as the first page presents you with a dramatic summary that spoils the entire plot, but you're curious about this little endeavor of your nephew so you continue to read.
Three minutes later, your brow furrows and you frown as you realize the monstrosity you've just opened.
It... It's not bad per say, it... It just needs a little work.
A little refinement. He's only 13 so it's not like you should be expecting a work of art from him.
But still, as you read the 16th description of another "epic fight," you can't help but judge him immensely as you slowly take in the words written on the page.
It reads like this:
"Then the badass ninja takes out his super sharp katanas and he throws them over the guard's head as he punches the guy in the face and knocks him out. He laughs as he sees his two katanas have hit two other guards in the head. But then seventeen more guards come rushing out with swords and other sharp weapons. He was totally outnumbered, but they didn't know about his training!
He closes his eyes as a white light envelops him. Claws grow out of his nails and he feels his fangs pop out. He was in his Grimswald form! With a battle cry, he lifts up his arms and speaks the words of the old Jeroku spell. Super sharp knives pierce the throats of everyone surrounding him, and when he opens his eyes, all he saw were dead bodies.
Too many dead bodies. He feels disgusted by what he did. He was a murderer.
'No!' He protests. 'I had to protect myself! I have to live!'
After all, he was the Chosen One, the only heir of Queen Vaslish and King Ferjanga, the next ruler of Imang, Protector of Minka, the Grimswald Incarnate, and the last-ever Micha of the Hufe Clan, destined to become Poling emperor."
The story ends so abruptly that you wonder if he meant to continue reading, but the "The End" written in his slanted writing tells you differently.
You close your eyes as you take it all in.
Your heart races as you wonder what you'll say so you won't break his little heart.
"Well, beloved nephew, ah - the idea's pretty good, uh, but maybe a little more, you know, character development would be nice? Add a backstory in there, explain some of the words and characters. Maybe take away some of the fight scenes. I'm sure if you just edit some, it'll turn out great."
You swallow a lump of guilt as you think about spilling the bad news or posing the question that would sound more like an accusation.
"Did you write it all by yourself?"
Because, as the words of the story rolls around in your head, you're sure you've read something like it before.
The undeveloped characters, the weak and unsatisfactory resolution, even the embarrassing trying-too-hard-to-be-cool names and "unique" lingo.
Yes, you think as the name of the book suddenly pops into your head, the style, the technique...
It all reminded you of Daughters of Ruin by K.D. Castner.
Want to read
June 30, 2015Hello, gorgeous cover. Be mine.
January 14, 2019
1.5 stars
I liked...the cover.
I (hated (the amount (of (bloody (parenthesis (please (dear (lord (stop)))))))))
And that's my review.
I liked...the cover.
I (hated (the amount (of (bloody (parenthesis (please (dear (lord (stop)))))))))
And that's my review.
June 17, 2016
3.5 stars
She knew now they would never truly be sisters, the way her father wanted. They would never reign together and usher in a generation of peace among the four empires. His great dream of a Pax Regina--Peace of the Queens--would be a disappointment he would have to endure. And she would be to blame for it.
Rhea's father, King Declan, instituted the Pax Regina at the end of a great War. He forced the surrounding nations to give their daughter heirs over to him as children to be raised alongside his own daughter, with the idea that as adults, the four Queens would rule their respective countries in peaceful coexistence with each other.
The young women are trained in combat and statecraft, live together and learn together, day in and day out. While some bonds of friendship are formed, they are not equal among the four, and hurts both old and new continue to divide them. But ten years later, King Declan's palace is attacked, and the time comes when each of the girls must decide where their true loyalties lie.
This political fantasy is told from four alternating POV's, giving overlapping insights into how each of the four young women perceive their position living under Declan's rule as part of the peace treaty, and their relationship to each other. The writing style for each POV changes quite significantly to reflect each character's particular way of thinking, which I thought was pretty effective for the most part.
The story really picks up the pace after the attack and the four women are forced to make decisions on the spot about what to do. There were a number of little twists and turns in the plot that I didn't see coming and the book turned out to be quite engaging.
This book is supposed to be first in a series, but it has a complete enough ending to feel satisfying, yet still sets things up effectively for the next book. Overall this is a solid debut novel, with definite potential in future installments.
She knew now they would never truly be sisters, the way her father wanted. They would never reign together and usher in a generation of peace among the four empires. His great dream of a Pax Regina--Peace of the Queens--would be a disappointment he would have to endure. And she would be to blame for it.
Rhea's father, King Declan, instituted the Pax Regina at the end of a great War. He forced the surrounding nations to give their daughter heirs over to him as children to be raised alongside his own daughter, with the idea that as adults, the four Queens would rule their respective countries in peaceful coexistence with each other.
The young women are trained in combat and statecraft, live together and learn together, day in and day out. While some bonds of friendship are formed, they are not equal among the four, and hurts both old and new continue to divide them. But ten years later, King Declan's palace is attacked, and the time comes when each of the girls must decide where their true loyalties lie.
This political fantasy is told from four alternating POV's, giving overlapping insights into how each of the four young women perceive their position living under Declan's rule as part of the peace treaty, and their relationship to each other. The writing style for each POV changes quite significantly to reflect each character's particular way of thinking, which I thought was pretty effective for the most part.
The story really picks up the pace after the attack and the four women are forced to make decisions on the spot about what to do. There were a number of little twists and turns in the plot that I didn't see coming and the book turned out to be quite engaging.
This book is supposed to be first in a series, but it has a complete enough ending to feel satisfying, yet still sets things up effectively for the next book. Overall this is a solid debut novel, with definite potential in future installments.
January 21, 2016
I really loved this book and probably would have given it 5 stars but there were a couple things that bugged the crap out of me hence the 4 star rating.
Let's start by saying I freaking hate this cover! Hate it with a passion! If it weren't for the awesome synopsis I probably wouldn't have read this book. The story is about 4 girls and has 4 POV's I really think they should have all had representation on the cover.
Ok now what I loved! I loved 3 of the POV's Rhea, Cadis, and especially Iren's! I love that we get to view this world through each of their eyes! I loved the world building and all of the secondary characters. I wish there would have been a bit more romance but, I'm ok with what I got.
The one thing that stopped me from giving this 5 stars was Suki's POV. She was an obnoxious brat and her inner monologue and the way it was written drove me crazy! Absolutely freaking crazy!
But other than that I loved this story and highly recommend it! Also I truly hope this is a series (there's no info saying it is but I hope it is!) because I need more!!!!!
Let's start by saying I freaking hate this cover! Hate it with a passion! If it weren't for the awesome synopsis I probably wouldn't have read this book. The story is about 4 girls and has 4 POV's I really think they should have all had representation on the cover.
Ok now what I loved! I loved 3 of the POV's Rhea, Cadis, and especially Iren's! I love that we get to view this world through each of their eyes! I loved the world building and all of the secondary characters. I wish there would have been a bit more romance but, I'm ok with what I got.
The one thing that stopped me from giving this 5 stars was Suki's POV. She was an obnoxious brat and her inner monologue and the way it was written drove me crazy! Absolutely freaking crazy!
But other than that I loved this story and highly recommend it! Also I truly hope this is a series (there's no info saying it is but I hope it is!) because I need more!!!!!
Read
June 16, 2016DNF @ 26%. Don't like the characters, not engaged with the story and the parenthesis. My god the parenthesis. Stop. Just stop.
November 4, 2025
After winning a brutal war, Kin Declan takes three “queen heirs” of the rival kingdoms as adoptive daughters to keep the piece. He raised them with his own daughter making him a father of 4 queens in training. Training for war, training for battle and training to rule under King Declan’s hand.
Murmurs of unrest, rumors of a rebellion and political machinations all set in motion a plan that will rock all the kingdoms to their core.
The story is written from each of the future queen’s perspectives with lots of unexpected twists, turns and outright I didn’t see that coming.
I found the beginning extremely interesting but found my interest tapering off. I do blame part of that to the way Suki’s story is written by I can truly say I wasn’t a big fan Rhea as well, making me have issues with half the characters made it very difficult to invest in the rest of the story.
I would recommend this story to most teen fantasy readers with an interest in romance, action and of course medieval fantasy. Overall, it was easy, entertaining and quite inventive, it just wasn’t fully my cup of tea.
I received this ARC copy Daughters of Ruin from Margaret K. McElderry Books in exchange for a honest review. This book is set for publication April 5, 2016.
Murmurs of unrest, rumors of a rebellion and political machinations all set in motion a plan that will rock all the kingdoms to their core.
The story is written from each of the future queen’s perspectives with lots of unexpected twists, turns and outright I didn’t see that coming.
I found the beginning extremely interesting but found my interest tapering off. I do blame part of that to the way Suki’s story is written by I can truly say I wasn’t a big fan Rhea as well, making me have issues with half the characters made it very difficult to invest in the rest of the story.
I would recommend this story to most teen fantasy readers with an interest in romance, action and of course medieval fantasy. Overall, it was easy, entertaining and quite inventive, it just wasn’t fully my cup of tea.
I received this ARC copy Daughters of Ruin from Margaret K. McElderry Books in exchange for a honest review. This book is set for publication April 5, 2016.
December 21, 2016
Title: Daughters of RuinAuthor: K.D. Castner
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Action
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ || 1.0
This is a long one, guys.
I came across this book a few months ago and it looked so good and the premise was so promising that I was instantly intrigued by its intrigue. Four heirs to four crowns in four warring kingdoms are brought together to live in the victor’s castle to be raised as sisters, forming a Pax Regina––a peace of Queens––in order to avoid further war. They were meant to be friends, equals, but instead, three of them are prisoners, and they are all of them enemies.
I expected a lot from this book from its description. Fantastic (and I use the term in the sense of Edgar Allan Poe’s Fall of the House of Usher and not in the sense of “Wow that food was fantastic”) romances (and I use the term in the sense of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, not in the sense of Harlequins) that feature politicking and posturing, when done well, are an especial favourite of mine––it should shock a total of zero people that The Queen’s Thief series is one of my favourite series to exist on this earth in the history of ever. But the key words are these: when done well.
If I’d been expecting girls who pretended to love each other, but actually schemed against each other in order to move their own agendas on behalf of their own kingdoms (which yes, I was, and which yes, would have made for an interesting conflict), then I was sorely disappointed. Because what the novel featured instead were girls who were openly antagonistic towards each other in a way that betrayed all promises of subtlety and grace in maneuvering, such that when one of the girls, Rhea, remarks at the close of the novel that “for ten short years, [she] had had three sisters, and she loved and hated them,” it rings false, because one never felt any indication that she harboured anything but ill-will, resentment, and self-victimhood towards them. That’s how the entire novel felt: it could claim one thing, but the substance of the matter speaks differently. No one outside of Iren (one of the princesses) had an agenda. Their politicking was clumsy as best, incompetent at worst.
Good politicking in novels relies on good plotting. The subtle manipulation, the movements below the surface. Everything here was brash, and plans are explicated mere moments after they’re introduced, with no room to linger and no space to play themselves out. There were also––to be honest––no stakes, mostly because I couldn’t bring myself to be invested in any of these girls or any of their problems.
To be honest, I wasn’t even sure that I wanted to––or, in fact, that I even could––review the novel for this blog, as it didn’t initially seem as if the novel were particularly diverse. At least, it wasn’t particularly explicit about its diversity (though with names like Suki and Reiko, who could argue that at least one of the kingdoms was being racialised?). But as the novel grew worse and worse and worse at handling race and mental illness, the only character who, though she’s not given explicit race, is racialised enough, and her treatment by the narrative is ableist enough, that I could justify complaint.
But first, a tangent.
If in any way you are expecting, as I was, a dissection of empire, even one that is as surface level as The Winner’s Curse trilogy (which I really enjoyed, but not necessarily for its commentary on colonialism, because “you are being just as bad as they are” is really super boring and overused as a displacement of guilt over institutionalised injustice, Kestrel), it becomes immediately and almost shockingly obvious whose side the narrative is on, and what sorts of attitudes it bears.
Rhea––the daughter of the victorious King Declan––is given the first opportunity to speak, the most number of pages to occupy, the most accessible style to speak in, a love interest who has the largest role to play, copious space to play the victim and justify herself and her attitudes, and she is the one who comes out best of the four girls at the end of the novel. Even when she is wrong or prejudiced, it’s framed as an understandable reaction to unimaginable circumstance, and her apologia for her father is conveniently obscured by the realization that––shock of shocks––he never loved her to begin with, so that the reader is encouraged to sympathize with her sense of betrayal.
The next girl, Cadis, who buys into Pax Regina, is also given an accessible stylistic voice similar to that of Rhea’s, and though she comes to realize later that the peace is a farce, her initial loyalty to King Declan and the idea of peace is rewarded with a return to her own country, though by the end her lapse in loyalty to Meridan and to Declan is refracted back onto her, and she’s forced to injure herself mentally and physically as a reward. She’s also portrayed as a blonde girl with dreadlocks (described explicitly as thus), which. My eyes almost rolled out of my head after reading that.
It should be pointed out (and where better than here) that the action that makes Declan the fraud, the Big Reveal of His Big Badness, is not a realisation on the part of Rhea (the obvious POV character) or the reader (who, LBR, probably already knows) that Pax Regina was a lie meant to expand Declan’s own power and create another war (the part of the novel that massively doesn’t make sense, because isn’t Pax Regina supposed to prevent war? So why does he want another war? Why are the girls being trained to fight each other if the aim is peace? I don’t know, you don’t know, I’m not sure the narrative knows, so it’s best to make like Cadis and not ask too many questions). No, the Big Reveal—the definitive shift in the novel’s attitude towards Declan—is that he had killed the former king and queen and was, in fact, a usurper. And that the True Heir is still alive.
Which, okay, is horrible, only thrones change hands like that all the time. Li Shimin assassinated his own brother so that he could become crown prince, yet he was still widely acknowledged to be a highly competent and gifted ruler who is celebrated even today, a thousand years after his death. Surely the worse thing is that Declan coerced three children from their homes, essentially kidnapping and imprisoning them, in order to cover up and then create false pretenses for war, thus killing and displacing thousands more.
Meanwhile, the two girls who are in on the scam to begin with (i.e. they knew they were being imprisoned, they knew they were hostages and not guests, prisoners of war and not sisters) are given the least accessible voices (Iren is a blunt staccato that’s meant to suit her methodical, observant thinking, while Suki’s is rife with parentheticals and self-centeredness, but we’ll come back to her later) and the least satisfying endings. Both of them are stranded by the narrative, far from their native lands, having destroyed their ties with everyone around them. And when Iren is not explicitly demonised by the narrative, Suki is, which is such a shame, because these two are arguably the most complex and compelling characters in a land made otherwise of soggy cardboard. Suki is spoiled—not necessarily a bad thing, narratively speaking––but of the four she is extraordinarily clear minded about her role in the Pax Regina and is the one most openly resistant to her role in it, while Iren is quieter, seemingly more complacent, but is a spy for her mother within the walls of Meridan, turning dogs against their owners and with contingency plans in place.
Yet Suki, Suki, Suki. She was my favourite from the very beginning, and that’s in part because I like a good growth narrative (spoilt brat to gracious, farsighted, kind young adult–hello, hi, I’d like to telephone my first two great loves, Mary Lennox and Amy March) and in part because she’s the only racialised one (if only implicitly; her name, Suki, is coded as Japanese (though it should be noted it’s not actually a very common name in Japan), as is her mother’s, Reiko). But she’s the one treated most abominably by the narrative.
She’s Rhea’s romantic rival, she’s a spoiled brat, and her legitimate concerns about being made a captive are ascribed alternately to her megalomania and self-centeredness or to an unnamed, unspecified “madness” (which is literally how she is first introduced––"spoiled and twisted by a rank delirium/slowly and sure she…went…mad”)—that is to say that her claims are framed as invalid, as delusional, as her aspiring to a grandiosity that she could not feasibly have a claim to, even though the substance of what she is saying is true—she is a captive. Rhea is condescending ("He wrapped his arms around her shoulders––so obviously as a big brother would, though Suki wouldn’t know it"). She is given the fewest number of pages in which to speak, and those pages are used less to justify her narrative of victimhood (as Rhea’s do), but to hammer in her “broken” (a word used by the text itself to describe her; and I can’t put to words how insulting that word is to use on someone who is framed by the narrative as being “unstable”) mind through the physical form and lack of decipherability her words. To make us doubt her perception of reality.
Would it be fair to call this narrative gaslighting?
She’s framed as the most abominable of the four, a status that is retroactively justified by her behaviour at the end of the book. All of the other girls have at least some sympathetic aspects, and at least some sort of hope towards the end, but she has become monstrous, indeed, made monstrous because of her mental state. Another way to say this is that her unspecified mental illness has made her monstrous, which a roundabout way of saying that the text supports the idea that mental illness is monstrous, creates monstrosity.
There were ways of giving Suki a mental illness––if an unspecified one (which never, ever bodes well in a narrative tbh)––that are not so offensive. There are ways of making her a villain, even a villain who is the only racialised one (and it should be noted that her specific racialisation is East Asian, and that she is an extraordinarily infantilised character, one who is simultaneously portrayed as dangerous and delusional, all of which, I should add, are stereotypes that are often used to describe East Asian women, if not in that specific combination) and the only one whose perception of reality we are encouraged to doubt, whose entitlement and self-aggrandisement is presented as disgusting (as we should; those aren’t good qualities, but why is she the only one whose faults are demonised to this extent?).
But this was not it, not by a million miles, because she is never shown the empathy we are expected to show to the other characters, none of whom, I may add, is as compelling as Suki is. She was the one taken from her family at the youngest age, the only one whose family’s death (her elder brother and sister’s) were the directly at the hands of King Declan. Her relationship to Meridan, to Rhea and to Declan, could have been so fruitful a relationship for its tension, but instead she is brushed aside, both in the treatment of her character, plot-wise, and in the more structural form of page numbers. (She is unconscious for a good portion of the second half of the novel, and is at one point thrown at armed guards, which is played for laughs.)
Junot Diaz once made a point that for young people of colour, for marginalised people in general, not having reflections in the mirror can often make us feel as if we are monsters. But what if the thing we see in the mirror, over and over and over again, are the monsters other people make of us? I often struggle with the question of representation—yes, ideally, we would have nuanced, good representation, but so, so often what it actually comes down to is a choice between no representation or shitty representation, and it both cases we have been made monstrous. So while this was a promising concept, and while it was a quick read that I pushed myself through for the sake of writing this review, I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. It was neither a great book nor great representation, and just not worth the time or the discomfort.
April 4, 2016
2.5/5
I really did not like the format of this book, perhaps it didn't work for me particularly but it would for you? Hear me out.
The idea for the plot is great. Four future queens training together in order to bond into Pax Regina, so when they go back to rule their kingdoms they will feel about each other as sisters and won't start another war. The reality is something different.
We get a glimpse of training in their early years, and then suddenly transported into the present times. All the girls are in their teens and there is much dissent in their ranks. The narration is split between Cadis, Iren, Rhea and the youngest Suki. Suki's narration is the most annoying. I understand that she has mental problems and the attempt is made to show it with the disjointed stream of thought reading which was giving me a headache.
Rhea's character is another one built only loosely. She is caring but at the same time, insensitive, preoccupied with her father's politics, distrustful of her fellow sisters and at the same time wanting them to love her. She is blind and stumbling in the dark, unable to see what's happening and I did not feel for her.
Cadis and Iren were the most coherent and interesting characters, but they had too little time to develop. If it was a book just dedicated to one of them (my personal favorite is Iren), it would have been a much stronger read. Otherwise despite multiple points of view very little happens and the whole book is just a prelude to what will happen in the next few books in the series. The author skipped the things deemed boring and just jumped over 2 weeks of traveling, for God's sake! This book was like bullet points. I am not a fan of such practice, too little meat for my taste, which is why a low rating.
Read it at your own discretion but I do not recommend.
I really did not like the format of this book, perhaps it didn't work for me particularly but it would for you? Hear me out.
The idea for the plot is great. Four future queens training together in order to bond into Pax Regina, so when they go back to rule their kingdoms they will feel about each other as sisters and won't start another war. The reality is something different.
We get a glimpse of training in their early years, and then suddenly transported into the present times. All the girls are in their teens and there is much dissent in their ranks. The narration is split between Cadis, Iren, Rhea and the youngest Suki. Suki's narration is the most annoying. I understand that she has mental problems and the attempt is made to show it with the disjointed stream of thought reading which was giving me a headache.
Rhea's character is another one built only loosely. She is caring but at the same time, insensitive, preoccupied with her father's politics, distrustful of her fellow sisters and at the same time wanting them to love her. She is blind and stumbling in the dark, unable to see what's happening and I did not feel for her.
Cadis and Iren were the most coherent and interesting characters, but they had too little time to develop. If it was a book just dedicated to one of them (my personal favorite is Iren), it would have been a much stronger read. Otherwise despite multiple points of view very little happens and the whole book is just a prelude to what will happen in the next few books in the series. The author skipped the things deemed boring and just jumped over 2 weeks of traveling, for God's sake! This book was like bullet points. I am not a fan of such practice, too little meat for my taste, which is why a low rating.
Read it at your own discretion but I do not recommend.
July 8, 2016
From the moment that I read the synopsis of DAUGHTERS OF RUIN, I knew that I absolutely HAD to read it! It sounded like everything I wanted in a book- Princesses? Enemy kingdoms? Sign me up please! I was lucky enough to snag a copy at ALAMW16, and I was freaking out because I was oh so looking forward to it. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to my expectations...at all.
POVs
By now I’m sure that most of you know that I’m iffy about multiple POV’s. Sometimes they are great- other times, not so much. Unfortunately this fell in the latter category. It starts out with a couple of chapters in Rhea’s POV, then it moves to one chapter with Cadis’ POV, then one chapter with Suki, and then one chapter with Iren. The chapters were not distributed evenly and that really bothered me. After all, I wanted to know about life from all of their perspectives, not just Rhea’s! Also, Suki’s POV really bugged me. There were parentheses inside of parentheses inside of parentheses inside of...I think you get the point. Honestly, I counted 8+ parentheses next to each other in one sentence! It was very confusing to read and really threw me off.
Characters
To be honest, I didn’t even like the characters. They weren’t relatable, and only one of them intrigued me. The four princesses were Rhea, Cadis, Suki, and Iren. Rhea was the princess whose kingdom they were all living in, and she was always frustrated because she didn’t know why the other girls didn’t like her. Cadis was known as the one who seemed perfect in every way (at least according to Rhea), and she was the oldest. She came from the kingdom that was recently at war with Rhea’s kingdom, so most people didn’t like her. Suki was the youngest and as I mentioned before, her POV was extremely confusing and honestly made me want to close the book and throw it across the room. It was horrible to read. Ugh- I’m shuddering just thinking about it. Iren was the only character who actually intrigued me. It turns out that she wasn’t exactly who everyone thought she was. While I found her interesting, she wasn’t anything special.
Timing
This book dragged on forever...and then when the twist happens, it goes super fast and I felt like everything happened at once. I was reading it and all of a sudden I was like- wait, what? Did that just happen? Also...that ending...I hated it. Everything wrapped up in a weird way and it just left me unsatisfied.
Overall
Blargh, the more that I’m thinking about this book, the more I disliked it. It had a great premise, but it just wasn’t for me. I give it 2/5stars.
POVs
By now I’m sure that most of you know that I’m iffy about multiple POV’s. Sometimes they are great- other times, not so much. Unfortunately this fell in the latter category. It starts out with a couple of chapters in Rhea’s POV, then it moves to one chapter with Cadis’ POV, then one chapter with Suki, and then one chapter with Iren. The chapters were not distributed evenly and that really bothered me. After all, I wanted to know about life from all of their perspectives, not just Rhea’s! Also, Suki’s POV really bugged me. There were parentheses inside of parentheses inside of parentheses inside of...I think you get the point. Honestly, I counted 8+ parentheses next to each other in one sentence! It was very confusing to read and really threw me off.
Characters
To be honest, I didn’t even like the characters. They weren’t relatable, and only one of them intrigued me. The four princesses were Rhea, Cadis, Suki, and Iren. Rhea was the princess whose kingdom they were all living in, and she was always frustrated because she didn’t know why the other girls didn’t like her. Cadis was known as the one who seemed perfect in every way (at least according to Rhea), and she was the oldest. She came from the kingdom that was recently at war with Rhea’s kingdom, so most people didn’t like her. Suki was the youngest and as I mentioned before, her POV was extremely confusing and honestly made me want to close the book and throw it across the room. It was horrible to read. Ugh- I’m shuddering just thinking about it. Iren was the only character who actually intrigued me. It turns out that she wasn’t exactly who everyone thought she was. While I found her interesting, she wasn’t anything special.
Timing
This book dragged on forever...and then when the twist happens, it goes super fast and I felt like everything happened at once. I was reading it and all of a sudden I was like- wait, what? Did that just happen? Also...that ending...I hated it. Everything wrapped up in a weird way and it just left me unsatisfied.
Overall
Blargh, the more that I’m thinking about this book, the more I disliked it. It had a great premise, but it just wasn’t for me. I give it 2/5stars.
August 20, 2016
Got about 200 pages in before I decided that DNFing was for the best.
What is with books with pretty covers having crap stories?
This is a short novel for crying out loud and the amount of eye-rolling was off the charts.
The book had an interesting premise. Four princesses raised together, three being "hostages". It could have worked so well but it fell so flat. Also didn't help that two out of the four POVs were grating characters and a third suffered from weird formatting in her section. With a book that relies on the characters(as there was only the beginning of something resembling a plot where I dropped the book) they are ones that can make or break a book.
First my hated characters:
Rhea-Just a stupid love-sick girl. There are ways that this kind of character can be written correctly but this was not how you do it.
Suki-Oh god, the formatting. The amount of parentheses, who accepted this!? Her sections are a pain in the butt to read. She's also a downright infuriating fifteen year old who feels like she is twelve. Also, for the youngest one, she's very attached to her country despite leaving it when she was five. I don't think five year olds remember much.
My okay characters:
Iren- The short sentence format of her sections bothered me. Personality wise, she's fine.
Cadis- Probably my most favorite out of the bunch. Nothing else to be said about her.
Oh and besides character issues? Nothing happened in the first 170 pages or so. Like it was all about an exhibition they did. That is more than half of this book with nothing happening.
Quite salty since the cover was pretty.
Whatever.
Next.
What is with books with pretty covers having crap stories?
This is a short novel for crying out loud and the amount of eye-rolling was off the charts.
The book had an interesting premise. Four princesses raised together, three being "hostages". It could have worked so well but it fell so flat. Also didn't help that two out of the four POVs were grating characters and a third suffered from weird formatting in her section. With a book that relies on the characters(as there was only the beginning of something resembling a plot where I dropped the book) they are ones that can make or break a book.
First my hated characters:
Rhea-Just a stupid love-sick girl. There are ways that this kind of character can be written correctly but this was not how you do it.
Suki-Oh god, the formatting. The amount of parentheses, who accepted this!? Her sections are a pain in the butt to read. She's also a downright infuriating fifteen year old who feels like she is twelve. Also, for the youngest one, she's very attached to her country despite leaving it when she was five. I don't think five year olds remember much.
My okay characters:
Iren- The short sentence format of her sections bothered me. Personality wise, she's fine.
Cadis- Probably my most favorite out of the bunch. Nothing else to be said about her.
Oh and besides character issues? Nothing happened in the first 170 pages or so. Like it was all about an exhibition they did. That is more than half of this book with nothing happening.
Quite salty since the cover was pretty.
Whatever.
Next.
April 2, 2016
***I received the ARC ebook from the publisher Margaret K. McElderry Books through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review***
A rich tale of betrayal and courtly relationships between four Queens from warring countries, brought together to be raised as sisters, in order to secure peace under King Declan’s thumb. Told from four points of view all the girls had such unique voices (granted Suki’s drove me up the wall! There were too many brackets by which I mean 9 at once which is 9 too many); from a glance you could tell whose perspective it was and their outlook played a part too. Each had different experiences, goals and opinions which shaped their personalities and relationships with others.
Admittedly I did find it hard to connect with any of the 4 main characters (to be honest I only genuinely liked 2) so while that means it was never going to be a 5 star book for me, it’s still a great read. Written emotively the sister’s connections with each other, and lack thereof, took centre stage over the action. Decisions led to changing dynamics until people’s motives became unclear and people’s thoughts clouded by often ill-founded emotions. It promises a lot more to come.
Posted on Enchanted by YA
A rich tale of betrayal and courtly relationships between four Queens from warring countries, brought together to be raised as sisters, in order to secure peace under King Declan’s thumb. Told from four points of view all the girls had such unique voices (granted Suki’s drove me up the wall! There were too many brackets by which I mean 9 at once which is 9 too many); from a glance you could tell whose perspective it was and their outlook played a part too. Each had different experiences, goals and opinions which shaped their personalities and relationships with others.
Admittedly I did find it hard to connect with any of the 4 main characters (to be honest I only genuinely liked 2) so while that means it was never going to be a 5 star book for me, it’s still a great read. Written emotively the sister’s connections with each other, and lack thereof, took centre stage over the action. Decisions led to changing dynamics until people’s motives became unclear and people’s thoughts clouded by often ill-founded emotions. It promises a lot more to come.
Posted on Enchanted by YA
April 16, 2016
Daughters of Ruin by K.D. Castner
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Release Date: April 5, 2016
Rating: 2 Stars
I would like to thank the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of Daughters of Ruin for an honest review.
Daughters of Ruin was one of most anticipated reads of 2016 and the synopsis when I read it made me so excited for this book. I have to be honest the book for me did not live up to my expectations. The prologue is over 20 pages and honestly could be summed up in 4 to 5 pages. It was so drawn out. The first 125 pages of the book are relatively boring and not much happens.
I wanted to relate to some of the POV’s but couldn’t. My favorite POV was Cadis, she was honestly the most relateable and least annoying. Suki was the most irritating as a spoiled, brat. Rhea was the one I wanted to connect to the most but just couldn’t. I felt her POV sometimes was cold, and then not, almost contradictory in emotions. The story-line at times made no sense to me and I felt it was not what I signed up for. The second half of the book flowed a little better and did pick up as far as the pacing.
FULL REVIEW GO TO: https://takemeawaytoagreatread.com/20...
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Release Date: April 5, 2016
Rating: 2 Stars
I would like to thank the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of Daughters of Ruin for an honest review.
Daughters of Ruin was one of most anticipated reads of 2016 and the synopsis when I read it made me so excited for this book. I have to be honest the book for me did not live up to my expectations. The prologue is over 20 pages and honestly could be summed up in 4 to 5 pages. It was so drawn out. The first 125 pages of the book are relatively boring and not much happens.
I wanted to relate to some of the POV’s but couldn’t. My favorite POV was Cadis, she was honestly the most relateable and least annoying. Suki was the most irritating as a spoiled, brat. Rhea was the one I wanted to connect to the most but just couldn’t. I felt her POV sometimes was cold, and then not, almost contradictory in emotions. The story-line at times made no sense to me and I felt it was not what I signed up for. The second half of the book flowed a little better and did pick up as far as the pacing.
FULL REVIEW GO TO: https://takemeawaytoagreatread.com/20...
December 2, 2020
great cover and intriguing plot; but not enough for me to love it.
✨so let's meet the characters✨
rhea: the brave sister
cadis: the beautiful sister
iren: the clever sister
suki: the jealous sister
✨bonus✨
endrit: that one guy that's always shirtless
✨so let's meet the characters✨
rhea: the brave sister
cadis: the beautiful sister
iren: the clever sister
suki: the jealous sister
✨bonus✨
endrit: that one guy that's always shirtless
May 3, 2016
Well...that was unexpected.
Daughters of Ruin puzzles me. I just finished it and probably should wait to write a review until I have processed it more, but I don't think I have the care factor at work. I'll never get around to writing a review if I don't do it now. As time passes, though, I think I will remember only that I enjoyed this book. It was different. Dark. Unique. But not...quite...enough.
Plot
In an attempt to bring peace to four warring countries, the victor, King Declan, decides to raise the heirs of the 4 kingdoms together as Sister Queens. The idea is that their bonded relationship will lead to peace during their reigns. Rhea is Declan's daughter, suddenly saddled with 3 unwanted sisters. Cadis, Suki, and Iren, the other queens, consider themselves hostages, snatched from their families and constantly reminded of their own countries' treachery. They are meant to be sisters...but nothing can change the fact that they are enemies. When the castle is attacked, the 4 girls are left in crisis and forced to choose their own allies and enemies. Can they trust each other?
Thoughts
The story is told with revolving POVs from the 4 queens. In some ways, I liked the POVs. They provided insight and depth into each queen and helped differentiate them. I liked the way it allowed glimpses of each girl through her sisters' eyes. However, some POVs were better than others and by the end I was distracted by nearly all of them.
Rhea should have been more relatable but she never does anything. She whines and bemoans her fate . At the end, her character hints at strength and purpose, but it is a scary, dark strength.
Cadis was the easiest to like, and she stays easiest to like. Her character growth is also real and weighty. At the same time, I felt her story tapers off at the end. Iren steals the show.
Iren, who I found absolutely boring at the beginning. Iren comes out of left field. She is the INTJ to Cadis's ESFP. Their relationship had immense potential because both were such rich, interesting characters. However, instead of exploring it in depth, the book skims and flips back to the stupid love triangle of Rhea/Suki/Endrit. The ending is inconclusive (setting up for a sequel?) and frustrating. I felt like their friendship gets the short end of the stick, a victim to the sloppy way the author ended the story. I'd have stuck another dagger into Jesper for good measure.
Suki's POV was obnoxious. It runs (sort of random (majorly spastic (distracting and weird) and the author throws everything in parentheses (to explain tangents (that aren't always tangents.))) She is in charge of the final, climatic chapter and she ruins it through spastic parentheses. I couldn't follow what was going on. It was out of order and weird. I get that she's going insane (I assume she is going insane? She is super crazy, right??) but she didn't have character change as much as a mental disorder. At first, she is like any teenage girl in her puppy love. But then...her already weird character goes off the deep end. 'Twas bizarre.
I will hand it to the author...she's not afraid of going dark. The ending isn't happily-ever-after wrapped up in a bow. If she leaves it like this and doesn't write a sequel - or at least maintains this dark, uncomfortable growth in her characters - I'd be even more impressed. As far as characters go, this one is memorable. Yet the plot doesn't hold together long enough to make it...believable.
An interesting read, worthwhile, and with a clever plot concept. However, the unanswered questions, confusing climax and love triangle kind of ruined it for me.
Daughters of Ruin puzzles me. I just finished it and probably should wait to write a review until I have processed it more, but I don't think I have the care factor at work. I'll never get around to writing a review if I don't do it now. As time passes, though, I think I will remember only that I enjoyed this book. It was different. Dark. Unique. But not...quite...enough.
Plot
In an attempt to bring peace to four warring countries, the victor, King Declan, decides to raise the heirs of the 4 kingdoms together as Sister Queens. The idea is that their bonded relationship will lead to peace during their reigns. Rhea is Declan's daughter, suddenly saddled with 3 unwanted sisters. Cadis, Suki, and Iren, the other queens, consider themselves hostages, snatched from their families and constantly reminded of their own countries' treachery. They are meant to be sisters...but nothing can change the fact that they are enemies. When the castle is attacked, the 4 girls are left in crisis and forced to choose their own allies and enemies. Can they trust each other?
Thoughts
The story is told with revolving POVs from the 4 queens. In some ways, I liked the POVs. They provided insight and depth into each queen and helped differentiate them. I liked the way it allowed glimpses of each girl through her sisters' eyes. However, some POVs were better than others and by the end I was distracted by nearly all of them.
Rhea should have been more relatable but she never does anything. She whines and bemoans her fate . At the end, her character hints at strength and purpose, but it is a scary, dark strength.
Cadis was the easiest to like, and she stays easiest to like. Her character growth is also real and weighty. At the same time, I felt her story tapers off at the end. Iren steals the show.
Iren, who I found absolutely boring at the beginning. Iren comes out of left field. She is the INTJ to Cadis's ESFP. Their relationship had immense potential because both were such rich, interesting characters. However, instead of exploring it in depth, the book skims and flips back to the stupid love triangle of Rhea/Suki/Endrit. The ending is inconclusive (setting up for a sequel?) and frustrating. I felt like their friendship gets the short end of the stick, a victim to the sloppy way the author ended the story. I'd have stuck another dagger into Jesper for good measure.
Suki's POV was obnoxious. It runs (sort of random (majorly spastic (distracting and weird) and the author throws everything in parentheses (to explain tangents (that aren't always tangents.))) She is in charge of the final, climatic chapter and she ruins it through spastic parentheses. I couldn't follow what was going on. It was out of order and weird. I get that she's going insane (I assume she is going insane? She is super crazy, right??) but she didn't have character change as much as a mental disorder. At first, she is like any teenage girl in her puppy love. But then...her already weird character goes off the deep end. 'Twas bizarre.
I will hand it to the author...she's not afraid of going dark. The ending isn't happily-ever-after wrapped up in a bow. If she leaves it like this and doesn't write a sequel - or at least maintains this dark, uncomfortable growth in her characters - I'd be even more impressed. As far as characters go, this one is memorable. Yet the plot doesn't hold together long enough to make it...believable.
An interesting read, worthwhile, and with a clever plot concept. However, the unanswered questions, confusing climax and love triangle kind of ruined it for me.
April 23, 2020
I loved everything about this book, except for Suki's personality.
January 19, 2017
Oh how much fun it is to write a negative review.
1. This book was boring. I was about 2/3 of the way through the book before I cared two pins for anyone.
2. Sure, the writing styles were distinct among the different perspective, but Suki's style was OBNOXIOUS! I couldn't stand her at all.
3. Everyone was childish. (especially Suki)
4. No one was three dimensional.
5. The ending sucked.
6. I'm almost sorry that I stuck with it as long as I did. I had such high hopes.
1. This book was boring. I was about 2/3 of the way through the book before I cared two pins for anyone.
2. Sure, the writing styles were distinct among the different perspective, but Suki's style was OBNOXIOUS! I couldn't stand her at all.
3. Everyone was childish. (especially Suki)
4. No one was three dimensional.
5. The ending sucked.
6. I'm almost sorry that I stuck with it as long as I did. I had such high hopes.
April 5, 2016
I actually liked this book and am surprised by its average rating. I'd say I'm at like a 3.8 rating.
It's a whole unique world that the author has to build, and it reminds me of a Westeros/ ancient world mixture. Four future queens from each of the four major empires are brought at a young age and trained with the king of the kingdom of Meridan to attempt to keep the peace between them.
As the girls age and train together, they each grow powerful and tough; some of them are also hiding secrets. When an attack on the palace during a ball occurs by the supposed residence, each girl must decide who to trust. Do they trust their home kingdoms where they haven't lived in over a decade? Or do they trust each other like they never have before?
It's a political drama, complete with strong female characters and lots of violence. I liked it. A solid read.
It's a whole unique world that the author has to build, and it reminds me of a Westeros/ ancient world mixture. Four future queens from each of the four major empires are brought at a young age and trained with the king of the kingdom of Meridan to attempt to keep the peace between them.
As the girls age and train together, they each grow powerful and tough; some of them are also hiding secrets. When an attack on the palace during a ball occurs by the supposed residence, each girl must decide who to trust. Do they trust their home kingdoms where they haven't lived in over a decade? Or do they trust each other like they never have before?
It's a political drama, complete with strong female characters and lots of violence. I liked it. A solid read.
January 31, 2017
DNF
This book grabbed my attention at first and then went downhill from there. I just started to really have a hard time relating to the characters and the concept was one that I could not grasp. Not my cup of tea.
This book grabbed my attention at first and then went downhill from there. I just started to really have a hard time relating to the characters and the concept was one that I could not grasp. Not my cup of tea.
March 6, 2018
Picked it up because it was free on Riveted without checking any reviews.
Although it was occasionally difficult to understand because the text seemed to flow all over the place, it was entertaining enough for a quick read. Some of the girls were infuriatingly childish and petty in their behaviour, but then I reminded myself that they were supposed to be 15-17 years old (and in one case mentally unstable) and that put it in a better perspective. Which is why I, naturally, loved Iren, as I always love those characters who can pay attention, shape their image, plan ahead and be ruthless if necessary (so basically... the spies). We could also see that she was not actually cold and uncaring - just taught to be rational above all.
If this does not turn into a series somehow, then I wish there were an epilogue to give a glimpse of how the everything was resolved - what became of the relationships between both the kingdoms and the rulers when they ascended to the thrones? What were the outcomes of the power struggles within the kingdoms? And so on.
I also liked how there were women in positions that I am not used to seeing them - guards, trainers, leaders - and how unquestioned it was. The book treated it like it was obvious that a lot of the guards were women, no jabs at decorated war heroes being women were made, and no one commented on the princesses taking up their mothers' or fathers' thrones like they were somehow 'less than a prince would have been' or doubt their skill. I might be overlooking some, but I think most of the books I have read have had these subtle or not so subtle hints derived from a typical patriarchal background - commenting on the differences of men and women and questioning if girls and women are 'strong enough' or 'rational enough' or 'competent enough'. In that sense I really loved this book, because it made me question the assumptions I make myself and the things I have learned to take for granted in stories (and life).
Although it was occasionally difficult to understand because the text seemed to flow all over the place, it was entertaining enough for a quick read. Some of the girls were infuriatingly childish and petty in their behaviour, but then I reminded myself that they were supposed to be 15-17 years old (and in one case mentally unstable) and that put it in a better perspective. Which is why I, naturally, loved Iren, as I always love those characters who can pay attention, shape their image, plan ahead and be ruthless if necessary (so basically... the spies). We could also see that she was not actually cold and uncaring - just taught to be rational above all.
If this does not turn into a series somehow, then I wish there were an epilogue to give a glimpse of how the everything was resolved - what became of the relationships between both the kingdoms and the rulers when they ascended to the thrones? What were the outcomes of the power struggles within the kingdoms? And so on.
I also liked how there were women in positions that I am not used to seeing them - guards, trainers, leaders - and how unquestioned it was. The book treated it like it was obvious that a lot of the guards were women, no jabs at decorated war heroes being women were made, and no one commented on the princesses taking up their mothers' or fathers' thrones like they were somehow 'less than a prince would have been' or doubt their skill. I might be overlooking some, but I think most of the books I have read have had these subtle or not so subtle hints derived from a typical patriarchal background - commenting on the differences of men and women and questioning if girls and women are 'strong enough' or 'rational enough' or 'competent enough'. In that sense I really loved this book, because it made me question the assumptions I make myself and the things I have learned to take for granted in stories (and life).
August 22, 2020
I always get nervous when I’m past the halfway point in a book and the main action hasn’t begun and are still in the preliminary world-building....
This book is told in alternating chapters by the four sister-queens. That was creative and the distant writing styles were extremely well used.
I was a bit annoyed that the HUGE reveal was told in the crazy sister’s POV with its unique sporadic feel, but I was left wondering how much of it was accurate and how much was simply her insanity breaking through.
And do we not get an ending?! Mother of all that is good- why is this not part of a series?! Where’s my happy ending?!
This feels like the author was simply exploring a very deep philosophical idea of “what if”:
What would it look like to raise four girls together, train them in all things kick ass and then hope they rule their countries in peace with one another? Oh wait, but they’re GIRLS. And sisters inevitably do not get along unless they are actually allowed to get all their resentment hate and grudges out.
So politics of a fantasy kingdom to explore a philosophical idea but told in a YA genre....hmmmmmm
That’s ok though... twist ending: it wasn’t supposed to work! They all hate each other. There is no follow up ending. Just a huge experiment let loose to go wrong.
This book is told in alternating chapters by the four sister-queens. That was creative and the distant writing styles were extremely well used.
I was a bit annoyed that the HUGE reveal was told in the crazy sister’s POV with its unique sporadic feel, but I was left wondering how much of it was accurate and how much was simply her insanity breaking through.
And do we not get an ending?! Mother of all that is good- why is this not part of a series?! Where’s my happy ending?!
This feels like the author was simply exploring a very deep philosophical idea of “what if”:
What would it look like to raise four girls together, train them in all things kick ass and then hope they rule their countries in peace with one another? Oh wait, but they’re GIRLS. And sisters inevitably do not get along unless they are actually allowed to get all their resentment hate and grudges out.
So politics of a fantasy kingdom to explore a philosophical idea but told in a YA genre....hmmmmmm
That’s ok though... twist ending: it wasn’t supposed to work! They all hate each other. There is no follow up ending. Just a huge experiment let loose to go wrong.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 10, 2017
2 stars,
i'm being completely honest when i say i chose this book only because the magnificent Charlie Bowater illustrated the cover. this book had lots of potential and the plot sounded good enough but a lot of the time i didn't know what was going on and i was reading about stuff i didn't even know about. Lot's of imformation dumps and i only really liked one charactee, Rhea.
Suki's chapters annoyed me a lot because of the way she whined about everything and also the way it was written with a millon brackets. )))
okay that's enough
i'm being completely honest when i say i chose this book only because the magnificent Charlie Bowater illustrated the cover. this book had lots of potential and the plot sounded good enough but a lot of the time i didn't know what was going on and i was reading about stuff i didn't even know about. Lot's of imformation dumps and i only really liked one charactee, Rhea.
Suki's chapters annoyed me a lot because of the way she whined about everything and also the way it was written with a millon brackets. )))
okay that's enough
June 11, 2020
It’s not that bad. It’s just terrible pacing.
August 21, 2019
This book blew my mind, I read it so quickly. It was written in a way that you just need to know what happens and the ending wasn’t what I was expecting. I will read this book again.
July 25, 2023
Literally could not do it. I cannot stand stories where it’s just a bunch of women who hate each other and are competing for a man’s attention. It’s gross lol. Will be donating to my local library. Maybe it can bring someone else joy :)
February 3, 2016
Fast-paced, addicting, and unpredictable.
King Declan has managed to keep peace in the kingdom after winning a brutal war by installing the Pax Regina (Queens peace). He takes in the three heir apparents from the warring lands, all daughters, as wards and raises them alongside his own daughter. The four little Queens are raised to believe they will return to their families to rule when they come of age and have spent their lives training for battle and participating in spectacles for the public, reassuring the people that all is well. This peace lasts 10 years until an uprising occurs and the Queens begin to realize that all is not as it seems. The complications continue as each queen strives to find their place in the kingdom, analyzing relationships and attempting to unravel the puzzle of who they can trust.
The story is written from the perspective of each of the four Queens in turn and is quite captivating as far as twists and turns go. I have to say I had to remove an entire star because I couldn't take reading Suki's chapters....the brackets drove me crazy....you'll see when you read it. I did feel like I was missing pieces to the puzzle but I've noticed that's the way of things with young adult. All action, as little explanation as possible.
I received a free copy of this novel through goodreads giveaways
King Declan has managed to keep peace in the kingdom after winning a brutal war by installing the Pax Regina (Queens peace). He takes in the three heir apparents from the warring lands, all daughters, as wards and raises them alongside his own daughter. The four little Queens are raised to believe they will return to their families to rule when they come of age and have spent their lives training for battle and participating in spectacles for the public, reassuring the people that all is well. This peace lasts 10 years until an uprising occurs and the Queens begin to realize that all is not as it seems. The complications continue as each queen strives to find their place in the kingdom, analyzing relationships and attempting to unravel the puzzle of who they can trust.
The story is written from the perspective of each of the four Queens in turn and is quite captivating as far as twists and turns go. I have to say I had to remove an entire star because I couldn't take reading Suki's chapters....the brackets drove me crazy....you'll see when you read it. I did feel like I was missing pieces to the puzzle but I've noticed that's the way of things with young adult. All action, as little explanation as possible.
I received a free copy of this novel through goodreads giveaways
September 5, 2016
This book was BAD, REALLY BAD. If you want to see how BAD this book is... Blog Review
So, I read about 56% of this book on RivetedLit. I was either going to read this, or The Scorpion Rules. I made the worst mistake by reading this first/reading it. I DNF this book with pure joy.
What's wrong with this book?
For starters, the writing is horrendous and whoever proofread/edited this book should be fired. The writing is monotonous and lacked a lot of important elements. Not a lot on appearance, I don't know if this book is diverse or not. No setting development and there are I for dumps! The amount of parentheses in Suki's chapters is an ABOMINATION. I can't believe that the editor didn't do anything about it!
The characters were also terrible. I liked two characters (Iren and Cadis because they're Arya Stark af) and I hated Suki and Rhea. They're the equivalent of Sansa's and Langanja's love child. They are the most obnoxious characters. They're constantly whining and complaining. They're so juvenile! Don't even get me started on the love interest... His mother is similar to Brienne of Tarth, and he does not deserve her.
So, I read about 56% of this book on RivetedLit. I was either going to read this, or The Scorpion Rules. I made the worst mistake by reading this first/reading it. I DNF this book with pure joy.
What's wrong with this book?
For starters, the writing is horrendous and whoever proofread/edited this book should be fired. The writing is monotonous and lacked a lot of important elements. Not a lot on appearance, I don't know if this book is diverse or not. No setting development and there are I for dumps! The amount of parentheses in Suki's chapters is an ABOMINATION. I can't believe that the editor didn't do anything about it!
The characters were also terrible. I liked two characters (Iren and Cadis because they're Arya Stark af) and I hated Suki and Rhea. They're the equivalent of Sansa's and Langanja's love child. They are the most obnoxious characters. They're constantly whining and complaining. They're so juvenile! Don't even get me started on the love interest... His mother is similar to Brienne of Tarth, and he does not deserve her.
March 14, 2016
Four girls, princesses from enemy kingdoms, came together after Rhea’s father vowed to protect them all after his victory. They were raised together, trained together, and fought like sisters together, but now that the kingdom has been attacked the girls will have to decide whether they’re truly enemies.
With a fast-paced opening, the rich world-building that Castner unravels in this fantasy novel will have followers who root for the girls. All four narrate, moving the book quickly through the book where readers learn about each of the girls through their quasi-sisters’ perspectives. And some readers will take sides. Each is in jeopardy because they don’t know who to trust. The movement keeps a break-neck pace, which makes up for the lack of a deep story. Rather, the book is about the personalities of the princesses and their internal and external battles and though there are layers of understanding, the plot is simple. It’s swashbuckling at its best though the cover could be a deal-breaker. Readers advisory should focus on the relationships between the girls and their trustworthiness like DeStefano’s Chemical Garden trilogy.
With a fast-paced opening, the rich world-building that Castner unravels in this fantasy novel will have followers who root for the girls. All four narrate, moving the book quickly through the book where readers learn about each of the girls through their quasi-sisters’ perspectives. And some readers will take sides. Each is in jeopardy because they don’t know who to trust. The movement keeps a break-neck pace, which makes up for the lack of a deep story. Rather, the book is about the personalities of the princesses and their internal and external battles and though there are layers of understanding, the plot is simple. It’s swashbuckling at its best though the cover could be a deal-breaker. Readers advisory should focus on the relationships between the girls and their trustworthiness like DeStefano’s Chemical Garden trilogy.
September 2, 2021
(Idk if what I say would technically count as spoilers so here's this)
It's been a bit since I've done a review but I wanted to for this because of the complaint I see most for it, which is about the ending. I've seen so many people complain that the ending is totally unsatisfying and honestly, fair. But I don't think it should be, or was meant to be. However it is fitting in my opinion.
This feels to me very character based instead of plot focused. This is a dark story, with characters that respond to a dark situation very realisticly. They've basically been raised up so theres no chance that they will make up. They were in a position there would be little to no chance of them recovering mentally from much less wanting to be reminded of by staying together.
I don't know if this could be categorized as grimdark but it definitly has a darker vibe. And whether the ending is a happy one or not must remain subjective.
But overall I believe this was a very well written and super interesting novel.
(Despite even the parentheses)))))
It's been a bit since I've done a review but I wanted to for this because of the complaint I see most for it, which is about the ending. I've seen so many people complain that the ending is totally unsatisfying and honestly, fair. But I don't think it should be, or was meant to be. However it is fitting in my opinion.
This feels to me very character based instead of plot focused. This is a dark story, with characters that respond to a dark situation very realisticly. They've basically been raised up so theres no chance that they will make up. They were in a position there would be little to no chance of them recovering mentally from much less wanting to be reminded of by staying together.
I don't know if this could be categorized as grimdark but it definitly has a darker vibe. And whether the ending is a happy one or not must remain subjective.
But overall I believe this was a very well written and super interesting novel.
(Despite even the parentheses)))))
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