I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This book had me from the very beginning. I love that it kept me engaged the entire time. I couldn't wait to see how it ended. I would highly recommend to all my fellow readers. Thank you for the chance to review this book!

Cathy Williams is taken, from the Missouri tobacco farm where she has been living in slavery, to serve as a cook’s assistant in the camp of Union general Philip Sheridan. When the war ends she is determined to continue to serve so she enlists as William Cathay and is placed in the army infantry unit that will ultimately become known as the Buffalo Soldiers, the first unit of all black men. Because Cathy is large and strong and not particularly feminine she passes as a man, finding ways to accommodate her need for privacy and concealment.

Very little is known of the real Cathy Williams so Sarah Bird builds this character and places her in many well known situations based on military history. Her experiences shed light on the existence and the harsh conditions endured by the black soldiers as they are ordered to eradicate the menace of Indians in sparsely populated western portions of the country post-Civil War. Through it all Cathy is desperate to remain undetected, to survive, and to reunite with her family.

The story of Cathy Williams is one that deserves to be told. Sarah Bird has done so with extensive research, respect, strength, and beauty. Thank you to net galley and St Martins Press for this advance readers copy.

A very interesting story about a former slave who joins the army. She undergoes so much lifelong abuse for the sake of following her passion. Many, many interesting scenes and situations. Well written to the point of losing yourself in the story rather than looking for disbeliefs. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

A fast paced read about an African American woman taken by General Phil Sheridan during the Civil War and then served as a Buffalo Soldier out west. She passed herself off as a man and during the course of her enlistment had many adventures. She was even reunited with her sister, but lost the rest of her family. An interesting tale.

I will posting a full review on my blog https://livereadandprosper.wordpress.com on Sept. 3rd as part of the St Martin's Press Blog Tour for this book.

This is not a book I would typically pick up, but I really did enjoy it. The dialect for the characters were so true to the time period and it really felt like you were right there with them. I am a teacher by trade and I feel like this would be a wonderful asset to a High School History class. It has such character and emotional depth to it, you can't help but feel for Cathy. What a brave woman. It's a fast-pace story that flows quite nicely. I could easily follow along and never felt myself getting too side-tracked. Am I the only one who got some Mulan vibes here? There are some slow parts in the middle of the book that I felt weren't necessary, but it did make the story well-rounded.

4/5 Stars

I received a copy of this on NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This type of book is usually right in my wheelhouse - historical fiction, African-american and spunky heroine. However reading it just felt like a chore. I wanted to like it but never wanted to read it. The story and the characters just aren't speaking to me. I've finally given up. DNF.

The Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen is a fictional story about a bigger than life historical U.S. figure, Cathy Williams. I've never heard of her place in our history so I am very glad to be able to follow her (fictional) life in this book as she seems to have been lost in our country's history books. Ms. Williams does an incredible job taking us on a historical adventure into the daily hardships of the lives of slaves, the Civil War, the life of a Buffalo Soldier, prejudices of all types, the war waged by our government on the American Indian in efforts to confiscate their land, the treatment of women and lack of respect for so many.

Understanding this is a fictional read and the author takes liberties filling in their story line, in my opinion, I believe she has many of the details on point. Cathy Williams was fierce, brave and underwent many hardships in pursuit of a better life after being taken as contraband from a slave plantation. She spends two years as a Private in the U.S. Military where she poses as a man. How she pulls this off is nothing short of a miracle.

Reading the entire story I thought I will be rating this book 5 stars. All the drama, spectacular details and fulfillment of the story were completely let down in last two pages. I'm still not sure if she went to Mexico or not. Was it a dream? A vision sent by her Grandmother? Did she actually ride off with Wager on Belle (did she still have Belle 20 years later?) How did she find Wager? The closure was critical for such a great story, sadly the end left me uncertain and wanting for details.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Sarah Bird and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read an ARC of this amazing book. Highly recommend.

Excellent reading and skillful writing. Each character was fully developed and the plot was easy to follow.

Highly recommended!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Sarah Bird, and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my candid review.

I loved this book! It is historical fiction and is loosely based upon the life and history of a real African American woman who served as a Buffalo Soldier.

Cathy Williams, aka, William Cathay, was born a slave and was commandeered into service for the Union army during the Civil War. After the war, she posed as a man, served in the army as a Buffalo soldier. This is the fictionalized story of how this could have happened and how she may have fooled the army for close to two years. It is an amazing story of the struggle of both free blacks and slaves both before and after the Civil War. Becoming free was not the panacea that many believe it was. Northerners may have fought to end slavery, but that did not mean that they treated blacks as equals.

This book is an amazing story of an amazing woman. It is a great read about the realities of the Civil War and the Indian Wars.

For the most part, I enjoyed Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen. The story of Cathy Williams began during the Civil War and continued through her service as a Buffalo Soldier and beyond. The pace of the action was quick--there was always something happening, which is not always the case with historical fiction.
Cathy's voice is very unique, but at times, I found the slang and grammar to be a bit exhausting. (In fact, I took a break towards the middle of the book. I wanted to know what happened to Cathy, so I kept reading after a few days away from it.) There were a few scenes I found problematic, especially the one with prostitute.

Do I Recommend this book? Yes!

Notes and Opinions: This really not a story I've ever read before nor would have willing picked up. But omg I'm so glad this was requested. Cathay is so inspirational. To dress and act like a man and join the Union Army would be terrifying for me. This is based on a true, real-life story and that just makes it even more beautiful. The love story was added in for this book and I'm kind of on the fence about it. On one hand, I love romance and sappy stuff but on the other...it would have still been great without it. This story is such an epic tale of adventure and bravery!

As far is historical fiction goes, this book was a great read! I was hooked to the storyline most of the time. There were a few parts that’s were slow here and there, but it didn’t take away from the story too much!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

This beautifully written historical novel is based on a real woman, Cathy Williams, who was the only woman to serve with the Buffalo Soldiers. It immerses the reader in this woman's experience, first as a cook to General Sheridan during the Civil War and then, disguised as a man, as a cavalry soldier serving in the expanding American West. Despite this being about a real woman in a much faded past, there are so many similarities to life today in America that it feels incredibly fresh and topical.

This was such an interesting and well researched story. I have read similar stories of women but this was the best one. I recommended this for book club.

I don’t read historical fiction. I don’t like it. The few historical fiction novels that I have read bored me. I almost decided not to read Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen. But, seeing that it was about a woman who joins the Buffalo Soldiers, my interest was caught. I am glad that I decided to read this book because Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen was fantastic!!

Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen starts with Cathy being taken from the plantation by the Union Army. Mistaken for a boy, Cathy is soon found out by the cook for General Philip Sheridan. After the Civil War, Cathy was ready to start a life with Solomon, the cook, when he was killed by ex-Confederates. Grief-stricken, she joins the Buffalo Soldiers as a man. But fate has a funny way of throwing wrenches into the best-laid plans. Cathy is confronted by a past love that she thought was long dead. What will happen if she is found out? Does her story end with the Buffalo Soldiers? Or does she get the happily ever after that she deserves?

I liked Cathy. She was able to adapt to any situation that was thrown at her. She deeply respected her mother and father. She took all the lessons that her mother taught her and used them during her time with Sheridan’s army and the Buffalo Soldiers. I did feel bad for her when she realized who Wager was. Even more so when she couldn’t tell him who she was because she was masquerading as a man.

I thought the way Cathy dealt with her enemies in the book was great. Except for Old Mister, she didn’t have to resort to violence to deal with them. Old Mister, though, was a special case. He was sexually abusing her younger sister. She did what she felt was right to protect her sister.

I loved reading about Cathy’s time with the Buffalo Soldiers. It was informative and eye-opening at how released slaves were treated after the war. The soldiers were used as free labor at the Army base. They were treated horribly. I also thought it was eye-opening at how long Cathy went without being discovered. It was a long time.

There was a twist at the end of the book that I wasn’t expecting. I did have to reread the last chapter a few times to get it through my head that what was being implied was true. That twist was something that I didn’t see coming and made me think about what happened after the book ended.

The author did include a historical note about General Sheridan and Cathy. Up until the note, I didn’t think she was real. Then I googled and oh, boy did I feel silly. I am not going to say much, google the name. There is a lot of information there.

What I liked about Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen:

A) well researched book

B) 3D characters

C) excellent world building.

What I disliked about Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen:

A) Cathy’s enemies. They just didn’t leave her alone

B) How the ex-slaves were treated after the end of the Civil War

C) Old Mister.

I would give Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen an Older Teen rating. There is sex but nothing graphic. There is violence. There is language. I would recommend that no one under the age of 16 read this book. I will add that I went back and forth about the rating of this book. But, I feel that older teens should read this.

There are triggers in Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen. They would be war, attempted rape, child sexual abuse and racism. If you are triggered by any of those, than I recommend not reading the book.

I would reread Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.

I would like to thank St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen.

All opinions stated in this review of Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

Although historical fiction usually leaves me cold and fictionalized biographies even colder, I chose this book because of my respect for its author. And was rewarded.

Cathy Williams relates her own story in first person with eloquence and wit. Her story begins on the day she is liberated from the hardscrabble tobacco farm she's lived at her entire life, taken as "contraband" by Philip "Tear it up" Sheridan as assistant for his cook. Life under slavery was brutal, but even worse are the conditions detailed when Cathy now calling herself William Cathay enlists in the Buffalo Soldiers of the Union Army, and disguised as a man, plays a part in the winning of the west. Her methods of hiding her femininity read as truly harrowing, and in one case, hilarious. What brings a layer of intrigue to this tale is that Cathay Williams existed, and while Sarah Bird has shifted facts in order to write a sweeping epic of adventure, romance and bravery, she was inspired by the real woman and her life.

I've been a fan of Bird's ever since reading The Yokota Officers Club many years ago, both charmed and intrigued by her choices of material and her execution, and I have one question -- how is it that Sarah Bird is not a household name?

Lots of people will enjoy this book, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. I was expecting more.
I.received an ARC of this book from Netgalley. Thank you, Netgalley.
All opinions are my own.

I would like to thank the publisher for giving me a digital copy of this novel via netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I have a hard time reviewing this book. It was well written and featured an interesting character and storyline, but I got a little bored of it and halfway through was ready for the book to be over. I can't pin down what bothered me about it, but I couldn't connect to the story and lost interest in it. I disagreed with how she handled some choices in her life and found it overall to be depressing and heavy.

Based on the real-life experience of on Cathy Williams, Daughter of A Daughter of A Queen follows a young girl as she goes from being a slave to a cook's assistant to masquerading as a man in the army.

The language and crudeness in this story...! Most of the really foul language is blanked out (although a reader KNOWS what words are there). This fact is the only reason I kept reading past the first chapter. The story is written as an old woman telling the story of her life. While I am sure the facts described happened, I didn't need the gritty details to understand this,

Cathy herself was a difficult person/character to like. Her 'voice' was abrasive, at times insulting. She often spoke of drawing on the strength her grandmother (who had been a queen in Africa) but this was never clear in her actions. The entire time I was reading, I kept questioning how much was fact and how much was fiction. (I'm still not sure on this point.

With sex scenes and crude language, this was not a book I enjoyed.

What an amazing woman Cathay Williams was! What courage! Before reading this novel, I never contemplated that there might be women serving in the Civil War instead of tending the fires back home. The fact that she was a former slate made the story even more interesting. Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for providing me a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.