Caledon Holt is the Queen's assassin. This responsibility was handed down to him from his own father and it is his sworn duty to find the Deian Scrolls.

Shadow has been training to become part of the Guild her whole life. While living with her aunts on a bee farm, she has learned many skills that are preparing her for this responsibility. What she wants most is to become an apprentice to Holt and serve the kingdom that way. Unfortunately, it is not her decision. When she runs away to pursue this desire, she encounters many obstacles and possibly growing feelings for the man she means to apprentice under.

A fantasy book that is good for fans of action and romance. Overall it was a good book. I wouldn't say I loved it, but I certainly enjoyed the story and will read the next in line!

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. I got just a snippet and then went and found the book so I could get the whole story!

This sampler was amazing. It did a good job pulling me into the story. Unfortunately this was just a sampler and not the entire book... BUT this sampler makes me want to grab the book and read the entire story!

It was difficult to get into it and there were lots of things I didn't get, I suppose it is because I only got to read the first two chapters and it is all introduction. Even so, I would still like to read the book, it has something that drowns me to it.

I struggle with writing anything negative about a book if I haven't read it in its entirety, but this sampler fell flat for me. The prologue didn't draw me in, and I walked away lacking connection to any of the characters, even Shadow, whose chapters were told from first-person POV. The way this book is written didn't evoke an ounce of emotion from me, which I fully attribute to the amount of "telling" vs. "showing". While I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to read this sampler, I won't be picking The Queen's Assassin up.

Note, there was a lot of weird formatting in the sampler. I'm not sure if the publisher did that to prevent plagiarism, but considering that it's only a couple of chapters from the book, the formatting issues were extremely frustrating as a reader.

I really had high hopes for this read and really wanted to enjoy it. While I have only read the sampler, I struggled with finding uniqueness in the premise.

I will definitely give it a second look once I have the entire book, in hopes that it will peak my interest later on.

Sounds pretty good from the thirty or so pages but I can’t really review off of that. Characters seemed developed and interesting, I’d definitely read the series.

As I was reading this sampler of Melissa de la Cruz’s The Queen’s Assassin I was thrust into a world of magic, kings and queens, and assassins. After a brief history of the world, we are introduced to Caledon Holt, the queen’s assassin, formerly the king’s assassin before his death in battle, who must make an impossible vow to the queen. He must find the Deian Scrolls, which is the source of all magical history and knowledge, that was stolen and presumed lost. He will have to team up with Shadow, who longs to be a part of the guild after being taught by her two aunts while her mother serves in the Queen’s court. The writing in this book was beautiful and really well depicts this world of danger and magic. I cannot wait to read the rest of it and be brought on Cal and Shadow’s secret and lie revealing journey to find the Deian Scrolls and hunt down a threat to the kingdom of Renovia.

There was a lot of explanations concerning the history and the set up of the story within this sampler. It felt a bit info-dumpy at times and it doesn't leave as much room for the author to introduce the characters. However, I do have to say that my interest was piqued and that I would like to read the full book one day !

This preview of The Queen's Assassin starts off with a war and just how Cal entered the blood promise. Years later, we meet Shadow who is traveling through the forest and stumbles upon something forbidden and meets Cal. I'm sorry for the lackluster review but the sample didn't give me much to work with. I wasn't captivated like I had hoped. I grew up reading Blue Bloods so I had high hopes for this series. Granted, I am fourteen years older and much more critical of novels than my preteen self. However, the characters didn't grab my attention. I didn't care much for them at all, despite their unfortunate backstories. Maybe once the full book is released, I'll try again but I don't have much anticipation.

First off, I only received the first few chapters to give me an idea...and supposedly hook me...about the novel's writing. So, this 'review' is going to be relatively pin-pointed and only based on a glimpse.
But what I saw didn't overly impress me or make me dislike it, either.

The tale starts out with enough action. There's a war going on, hints at dark secrets, danger, tension, and all sorts of those types of things. The writing is in first person and, from the technical side, done well enough. The thoughts from the characters run deep and do draw in. If I had the entire novel, I would have kept reading...and that's why I'm giving it 3-stars. Because to say it was not worth a read would be wrong. It is a tale to enjoy. I think.

But I can't say I was horribly hooked, either, and won't be picking up the book when it comes out because, despite those first chapters, I honestly didn't care about the characters enough to fever for them. Although written from the character point of view, there wasn't enough heart to really develop tons of empathy. The tale might get better as the story goes on...there was plenty of room for amazing moments to come, but just from my glance, I can assume it will be a good read, just not great.

I received several chapters through Netgalley and am leaving my honest thoughts.

I want to believe that the rest of the book is better and I will read it (sooner or later). However, this is the sample I'm reviewing and I didn't like it. The most important thing you have to know about this sneak peek is that it is all info-dump. Was it really necessary to have the explanation of the history of the kingdom all together in the prologue? Furthermore, it completely destroyed that little "surprise effect" that there might have been when the protagonist true identity is going to be revealed (I'm totally convinced they pulled a "Sleeping Beauty" on her and sent her living in the forest with the three "aunts" while in truth she is the princess, hidden for her protection... and seriously, I've had enough of princesses whose identity has been hidden for protection. I'm pretty sure she would not have risked her life like that and would have been a lot safer if she had known she was the princess.)
As I said, before, I will read the rest of the book, but not thanks to this sneak peek.

I read a lot by this author as a teen like I remember positively binging her Blue Bloods series in high school and waiting for each new installment to come out eagerly. It's because of that that I picked up this sampler. Her writing made me very nostalgiac for those days. I do think her writing is best for binging and perhaps a younger audience as I'm now a lot older but it was still an enjoyable sampler. i could definitely see me running through this very quickly as an audiobook but it might be a slower read than I used to do for her writing.

I love this snippet. I want to keep reading. It has all the makings of an immersive fantasy with fun characters and high stakes adventure. If this sounds like something you like, I highly recommend reading this sneak peak.

It wasn't for me. Although the blurb sounded interesting, the sampler didn't manage to hold my interest into this book. I couldn't really get into the story and the characters weren't interesting enough to consider giving this book a go. The writing and pacing felt a bit off to me and I wasn't interested in finding out anything else about this book or the characters. The cover looks interesting, but the content doesn't match up for it.

I received a free sampler by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Queen's Assassin // by Melissa de la Cruz (Sampler)

The Queen's Assassin has a very intriguing premise and starts out really well in the way the book is set up at the start. I like that we immediately learned about the history of the country as well as about some of its key players. I also like how we get to hear about the thoughts of the characters rather than only looking in as outside observers. But while the story itself seems very interesting and I like how there is action right from the start, I still struggled to stay engaged and lost focus easily during Shadow's first adventure. This is a fast-moving story though so far so it is possible that I could get pulled in more deeply a little further along in the book, though I am not sure if at this time, that is something I want to wait for.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with this sampler in exchange for an honest review.

I quite enjoyed this little intro into The Queen's Assassin. You get a look at one of the main characters, Shadow, and an understanding of the world and her motivations. I will say there was probably a bit too much world building going on at certain points, it started to get a little info dumpy.

There is definite promise here though and it succeeding in piquing my interest into reading the entire book.

Positive reviews and the colorful cover drew me to THE QUEEN’S ASSASSIN (sampler), a fine preview of this YA fantasy/romance now out in paperback. I found it an engaging escape during the current pandemic. Book 2 in the series, THE QUEEN’S SECRET, comes out next March. Happy reading!

4 of 5 Stars

Pub Date 02 Feb 2021

Thanks to the author, PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group, and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

#TheQueensAssassinSAMPLER #NetGalley

Many years ago, Avantine was ruled by a Tyrant King. Rather than solidify the bond between the four regions, the death of the King fractured Avantine into four separate kingdoms. Peace treaties were made between Renovia, Montrice, Argonia, and Stavin, but chaos and war still ensued.

Centuries later, Shadow ventures into a long abandoned abbey. While there, she discovers not only that the people who killed the beloved Renovian king, but that they seem to be chasing her.

I was only able to review a sample of The Queen's Assassin, but it was enough to make me anxious for more! I am looking forward to reading more of Shadow's tale!

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me the chance to read and review a sample of "The Queen's Assassin" by Melissa de la Cruz. I really enjoyed the sample and I wish it would have been longer. The sample centers around Shadow, an eighteen year old girl, trying to find her place in the world. Shadow explores a forest area and stumbles upon an area she shouldn't be in but she is drawn to it Shadow is nearly attacked by a panther and someone else is following her as well. She is saved from the human attacker by the Queen's assassin, Cal.. The sample ends with Shadow being invited to royal court, where her mom works. Shadow had more hopes for herself but will try to use this summon to court to her advantage. Honestly, I can't wait to read the rest of this I am hooked!

This was a nice introduction to the book. There’s was a lot of information crammed into the first bit of it, so it was kind of dry at times. But the story seems to have promise so I’ll definitely get it so I can read the entire book.