This is definitely my kind of book. I love these types of stories. How amazing that this was Scholte's debut. Very well done. I was so sure at times how I thought the plot was outlining and wow! The way the story develops is very entertaining. Keralie is awesome. She was full of surprises.

This book is arguably young adult, but it taught me, an adult, a valuable, never-changing lesson: it's always possible for someone to grow up and become a better person, to realize you've done bad things and work hard to move past those things. This book made me feel a variety of emotions, and I feel like that can be difficult these days. Great first book Astrid Scholte – I really enjoyed it.

My only complaint is that the book didn’t stay true to one of its basic premises. One might call that a twist, but I was kind of banking on something I read on the book’s jacket being true throughout the entire book. One of the exciting things about stories is sometimes knowing what is coming and watching how the author makes that idea come to life, but when it turns out that whole idea/scene was kind of a lie, then I just ended up feeling gypped. And part of me thinks I’m not the only reader who ended up feeling this way after finishing this book. Some readers might have liked said twist, but I did not. Makes it kind of difficult to become interested in any of Scholte’s other books or trusting any of their basic premises.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was a great sneak peek into Four Dead Queens. It definitely made me want to read the full book.

This book was interesting! I loved the idea of it, but it fell a bit flat sometimes. At times I couldn’t put it down, and others it was predictable and a bit blah. I was expecting some major twist at the end but the ending left me wanting more. I did appreciate the morally grey characters though. Overall I think the book could've been executed better.

Great sneak peek- it gave me enough of the book to make me want to keep reading. A mix of fantasy, mystery add drama.

I mean how could you not love this book?! From the secrets and lies to the murder, all of the suspense had me reading this book in almost one sitting. I definitely would love to see this book turned into a movie. The characters were so well developed and the plot was just amazing.

Perfect for fans of the book Three Dark Crowns, who are looking for titles with a similar feel. The world that the characters live in is somewhat reminiscent of the separation of societies found in Divergent, in this story the society is broken down into four quadrants ruled and governed by hereditary queens. I really enjoyed reading about the back stories of each of the queens and the different facets of life in each region. I also enjoyed the fast pace of the novel as the main characters raced to solve the mystery of who murdered the four queens. I think the novel could have benefited from fleshing out the main characters, Keralie and Varin, especially when developing their romance, it seemed a little too instant. However, this is a fun read overall and I recommend for those who enjoy their fantasy novels to have a little mystery to them.

This excerpt of 'Four Dead Queens' intrigued me enough to read the full book, with the sarcastic Keralie's reluctant partnership with the upright Varin in solving a high-stakes murder mystery. Despite the compelling premise, this young adult fantasy novel didn't quite live up to its potential. The quest/heist with its clever twist kept me trekking until the end. However, the mishmash of genres and ideas often interrupted the narrative flow and felt out of sync and jarring.

Unfortunately I decided not to read this one because I heard it had the bury your gays trope:/

Really disappointed cause it sounded good.

I dislike sneak peak arcs and did not know that this was one when I requested it . So will not be reading this sneak peak but who knows I may read the actual book sometime in the future.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the murder mystery aspect and I really enjoyed finding out about the queens. I actually sometimes even preferred these scenes to some of those we spend with our main characters. The writing was also very good and overall I had a fun time reading this book.

The reason why I didn't give this book a higher star rating though is because although the book was super enjoyable, I actually found it quite predictable. I also had a hard time connecting with Keralie and Varin. And because of that, I was never really invested in their romance.

That being said, this book was super fun and I do really look forward to reading more books by Astrid Scholte.

This book was truly terrible. The entire plot was thin and flimsy and barely made any sense. The romance was absolutely unbelievable and I kept thinking the love interest hadn't entered the book even though he was there pretty much from the beginning. Flimsy plot, unbelievable (and exceedingly moronic) characters who don't hold any substance. I would recommend this if you're in the mood to experience a truly bad book.

What drew me into this book before I had read it was that it reminded me of Three Dark Crowns, which was interesting enough, but wasn't my favourite. I really wanted something similar, but better and as far as I got I am super intrigued! I really want to know how this book will develop and hopefully it will be a true 5 star read for me. I will put it at 5 stars, since I'm anticipating that it will be 5 stars!

This snippet made me really want to pick up the whole book and read it in one sitting. I found the writing style incredibly enjoyable and the main character seemed quite intriguing, as well as the concept and the whole world building.

I wavered between a 3.5 & 4 only because this book could have been made into more than one. Parts felt rushed in order to make sure that everything was wrapped up at the end. Despite that, I enjoyed the book. I thought it made a great debut novel and I would easily have picked up the next book had it been a series. I appreciated the representation of POC and LGBTQIA characters and even though I was a little bit worried there were be too many similarities to other YA books Ive read recently I think there is just enough for it to stand out.

This is an excerpt of the book. Enough to get the ready interested on this highly anticipated story.
I gave it 4 stars as it met its purpose and intrigued me enough to read the whole book.

Fantastic debt novel by Astrid Scholte!
Thanks to NetGalley, Edelweiss and Penguin Random House for the opportunity to read and review Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte!
Quadara is a nation divided into quadrants. Each quadrant plays a part in the nation’s economy. Archia provides crops and natural resources;Eonia develops medicine and technology; Ludia provides art, fashion and entertainment; Toria arranges imports and exports. The story is told in alternating points of view between the queens and Keralie, Kera for short. When Iris, an 18-year-old Queen is murdered in the Palace Garden, the mystery begins. Kera is a thief working for Mackiel. He’s sent her to steal a comm case containing memory chips. The messenger she steals from is smart and ends up tracking her down at the auction house. Mackiel becomes cruel and Kera escapes with the messenger, Varin, after dissolving the chips in her mouth, watching and absorbing the memories. She sees a palace full of blood and murdered queens. Varin and Kera go to the palace to help find the assassin and share the chips as evidence. They realize that they’re ahead of the assassin when they reach the palace and they try to warn the queens of the danger they’re in. The mystery builds as the queens are murdered, one at a time. The twists are enjoyable and I love Kera and Varin. Unique world building and storyline filled with dynamic characters, 4 stars!

**I received an early release excerpt from the publisher through NetGalley; however, I did not submit review until I had read the full work which I acquired through my public library.**

Astrid Scholte's debut novel, Four Dead Queens, checks all sorts of boxes for fantasy fans. Court and political intrigue, various factions of diverse people brought together in unlikely ways, charming and witty thieves, and the emotionally distant handsome lad who is actually a cinnamon roll (and chronic health condition rep!). On top of that, there is LGBTQ rep and the way it is set up seems to imply that the land is perfectly accepting of same sex relationships. Scholte is already doing a lot with that kind of list, but she also manages to do it well.

The reader follows Keralie primarily, a master thief from the slums of Toria. Keralie winds up stealing from Eonian messenger, Varin, and accidentally finds that she and Varin are the only people who might be able to prevent the assassination of all four Quedaran queens.

Scholte manages to incorporate the multiple layers and dimensions that are required for well-executed court/political stories while still making them accessible and fast-paced enough for wide appeal in the YA realm. Scholte also incorporates representation (POC, LGBTQ, disability) without making the representation itself the focal point of the character.

I feel that this was a strong debut from Scholte with a lot of broad spectrum appeal. I look forward to what Scholte writes in the future.

❝ “Sometimes failure is the beginning of success” ❞

This was a book I had been very excited about. I loved the concept of four sister queens, the intrigue of a good mystery, and a potential thief now having to turn “good" to help her kingdom. But in the end, none of these things happened. I was so let down by this book, so utterly bored, that I had to DNF it at 45%.

My first clue that I was in for a rough ride was when the author started assaulting me with all these rules and history lessons about how the queens came to be (granted, the main character seemed annoying but this was the first thing that truly bothered me). I really hate it when authors info dump. Sometimes I just felt like I should be straight up taking notes.

The characters were the next issue I ran into because as we were introduced to the queens I could not for the life of me tell them apart. There was nothing really distinguishable about them. They were all pretty bland and honestly, I couldn't care less about them. I never formed any sort of connection to them or Keralie (unless you want to count irritation).

I was hoping that at least Keralie would be interesting but that was a dead-end too. She didn't seem to care for anyone but herself; she was very selfish. She also didn't take anything seriously. Her character was just a joke. She threw away her family and a good life just because she “wanted” to be a thief. How lazy is that?

And just because I can't end this review without touching on this: the laws for the kingdom we're stupid as hell. I don't see how it is helpful to forbid relationships and not let queens visit the territories they are in charge of. Ugh, no logic there. The rules just felt like they were made up to create false/unnecessary drama.

As for the plot, it moved agonizingly slow and that was really the last nail in the coffin for me. Only my natural curiosity drove me to read this far as I did. I had kind of already guess who was behind things and just skimmed some later chapters and online reviews to confirm my theory. Overall, for dead queens was just poorly written and a complete waste of time for me.

This was a great sampler! It sucked me into the story and I dove into the book when I first got it.
I especially love the rules that proceed the chapter. I wish there was a little more explanation of the quadrants up front, but I definitely picked it up in the full story.