The Seventh Queen was one of my most anticipated fall 2021 releases, and Greta Kelly did not disappoint!

This second book picks up exactly where The Frozen Crown left us, as Askia finds herself kidnapped by the evil Emperor Radovan. The rest of the book is basically her figuring out how to escape his clutches and save the world. Easy peasy.

I loved that while the book took the plot in a completely different direction, it also felt like a natural continuation from the first book. More court intrigue. More political maneuvering. Even higher stakes.

Greta Kelly is a fantasy author to watch, that’s for sure. Can’t wait to see what else she writes!

I liked these two books but I didn’t love them. I think I might have liked them better as a teen…. I found the villain just a bit much. Sure I’m going to kill you slowly but I’m doing it for the right reasons! Why don’t you like me and go along with your murder? I’m absolutely not doing this because I’m power hungry. I have every cause to kill a string of wives because I want to.
Askia is likable though and I had a fine time reading it. If the author writes another series I’d try it, these two books were good and I suspect the author will get even better with time and writing.

This is the sequel to THE FROZEN CROWN and it helps to have read the first book before diving into this story. It continues Askia's story as she becomes the emperor Radovan's prisoner/fiancee.and has her magic slowly siphoned off by a necklace that's tied in to Radovan. There are complex characters, excellent world-building and fast-paced action that keeps the reader guessing just how she will escape this seemingly fatal situation. The ending leaves some very loose ends which suggests that this is not the last book in the series, but it is a very enjoyable read and I would definitely recommend it.

The Seventh Queen was a pretty good end to the series that I had started quite some time back. As the previous book left the readers at the cliffhanger moment, it was nice to see that this is the end of the series. It's a good fantasy series for readers who are interested in a quick and small series. I liked the ending and the surprises over there but did feel slightly rushed. The characters were so well developed that the storyline felt really smooth.

Enjoyed this series overall, but the first book felt superior to this one. I still will reread it later!

Guys, after the biggest cliffhanger ending in the previous book I was basically counting down the days until I could get a copy of The Seventh Queen. And now here we are! I completely binged this and while I missed all the set up we had in the previous book, I was excited to see some new characters and a new setting. I really ended up missing the desert setting and many of the characters we left behind though…

The Seventh Queen begins where we left off - with Askia in the clutches of Radovan. Askia has a mere 30 days to find a way out of Radovan’s grasp before he kills her to claim his magic because if that happens, Seravesh will be lost. Vishir is also in turmoil since the assassination of both Ozura and Armaan has left the Empire with two possible heirs. I expected there to be much more focus on Vishir since we spent the entire first book building up the politics and characters, BUT I was wrong. It very much takes a back seat since Askia is now in Roven and clearly the story is only following her. We instead focus on what is happening within the castle Askia is trapped within and the immediate problem of Radovan. 

There’s quite a few new characters to introduce in this book, most of which are ghosts. You’ll recall that Askia is a death witch and seeing ghosts is an inherent part of her magic. Even though her magic is suppressed by the Radovan’s gem around her neck, she can see the ghosts of those bound to her and to the aforementioned gem. And thus most of our characters in this book are dead queens, which was quite cool actually! This helped flesh out Radovan more, since each queen was able to offer her own perspective on him along with their history.

I do think this book rushed through the plot (toward the end especially) and I was sad to see Vishir’s intense political drama was all but forgotten aside from a few passing mentions. It was an intensely fascinating story that really sucked you in and Askia was a heroine who was easy to sympathize with. Though Askia is more of a blunt force warrior, she made the transition to spymaster more effortlessly than I expected. I do love some good blackmail and intrigue in my books! Overall, I did really enjoy this and can’t wait to see what other books Greta Kelly will release in the future.

The Seventh Queen is the seventh book in The Frozen Crown series by Greta Kelly. I devoured the first book in The Frozen Crown series this summer and could not wait to read The Seventh Queen. A young adult fantasy that is sure to pull you in from the beginning and hold your attention until the very end. The author wrote the story from a dual point of view but kept it mostly on Askia, a warrior witch queen. She finally decides to take something for herself instead of sacrificing everything for her kingdom. I do recommend reading the first book in the series before reading The Seventh Queen.

The Seventh Queen is the final installment in the Warrior Witch duology. Since the series is continuous, it is highly recommended to read the first novel, The Frozen Crown, before reading this novel. This novel picks up where the last one left off and further explores the different empires, the war between them, and a lot of political intrigue. While the setting is different between the two novels, the politics, the twists and turns, and the stakes remain the same. Askia is a strong and determined character and it was nice to see her transition from a warrior to a spy to adapt to her circumstances. I eagerly anticipated finding out how everything would end.

The story begins with Askia separated from those close to her as she is held captive by Emperor Radovan as his potential seventh wife. Not only is there a possible marriage on the horizon, but there is the impending danger of him stealing her magic and killing her. As a rare death witch, she begins to interact with the ghosts of the six previous queens of Rovan. She must use her magic to not only find a way to escape, but also continue to protect her people. Radovan proves to be a worthy opponent, so her quest is not easy. While she navigates from the inside of the palace, her guard, who also loves her, is set to try to rescue her. There are a few chapters from his POV, which I loved and there were more as he is an important character from both stories and it was great to see events from his perspective. The POV still mainly stays with Askia, but it was nice to add a little from Illya considering they are separated in this story compared to the first.

While there are some readers that may not find this as strong as the first novel (and some that feel the opposite), I find both on fairly equal ground. The two novels worked together well as a duology and while there were some moments in this installment that I would like to be explored further in depth, I could wish the same for the first novel. The pacing of this story was a little slower than I would expect in a final installment as there is a lot of time invested into her navigating the Raven court. For me, I would have preferred the last 100 or so pages expanded on more and shorten the other parts. It was still an entertaining end to the duology with many twists along the way.

Overall, this unique duology was very entertaining. While there is some action, there is a lot of focus on politics and the game that exists between rulers. With a lot of focus on the court of Vishir in the first novel and the court of Roven in this novel, it was nice to see the different politics in the world within the duology. As Askia is in Radovan’s presence, it was great to explore the villain and see more about his motivations. With Illya vying to reunite with Askia, I wish there was more from his perspective to further explore his character, but I appreciated the chapters that were included. This was a great duology with politics and ghosts and I cannot wait to read more from the author!

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Harper Voyager, for the chance to read this ARC. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

For just one moment, Askia had thought that she’d be able to save the people of her conquered kingdom. For a single glorious moment, Askia had thought that marrying the emperor of one of the largest territories in the world would be able to save her as she stood against another emperor, one who only wanted her for her power. But that moment was destroyed when Radovan killed her husband and left the empire in turmoil. Now, Askia is a captive of Radovan, the seventh in a long list of wives, all with powers that Radovan has been carefully collecting. Askia has only one month to live. When the month is up, her powers will be taken by Radovan and she will be killed, just another wife that he took for himself. But Askia has never been the type of person to accept what life has in store for her. Instead, she knows that this month is her only chance to escape and to bring the empire down around her as she flees. And she’ll do whatever she can to bring Radovan down with her.

I received an advanced reading copy of The Seventh Queen in exchange for an honest review.

The Seventh Queen is a fantasy novel by Greta Kelly. It’s also the sequel to The Frozen Crown, and the second and final book in the Warrior Witch Duology, a duology I started reading last year and thoroughly enjoyed! I loved reading about the many political games that Askia played in trying to gain support, and how she worked her way to the top. Of course I was excited to see this advanced reading copy show up on my Kindle!

Before I continue, I should warn you that there may be spoilers to the first book in the series in this review, so just be aware that you might want to avoid the rest of this if you want to go into the first book thoroughly unspoiled.

As in the last book, Askia is a fascinating character. All the women are, to be honest. We have our usual determined Askia here, but we also have all the dead queens who Radovan has killed, and yes, this includes Ozura, although she was Armaan’s wife and not Radovan’s. We’re introduced to these six queens fairly quickly, but I never got them confused. They all had such different personalities, had led such different lives. They stood out as strong women, not because they were all warriors, but because they were strong and did what they had to to survive. Some were mothers, whose love for their sons helped them try to defeat the odds. Others were actual warriors, able to wield weapons and kill others. Others knew the power of words, or even of a single glance. Strong women support Askia throughout this entire book, and I loved that Kelly chose to integrate this into the entire narrative. This was one of my favorite parts of the entire story, and one I was glad to see carried over (somewhat) from the previous novel, where we had Ozura as one of the big main characters working both with and against Askia.

I really enjoyed The Frozen Crown. I loved the political machinations, all the court scenes. I loved reading about how Aksia’s past and the history of the empire affected her actions and the way that court functioned around her. And we certainly get a good amount of that in The Seventh Queen too! We get some good scenes of Askia making her way around a brand new court, desperately trying to gain allies before her last month of life is up. A familiar structure, and one I enjoyed. I do have a tiny but coming up, though. My but here is that I felt like The Frozen Crown set up a large amount of backstory, and specifically used that to create a conflict between Askia and some religious and/or political figures in the empire she was trying to become a part of. It was fascinating, and it gave her a great internal conflict. This book, however, ended up taking her away from all of that, literally half a world away, where I just couldn’t see those tiny plot threads come to fruition. Sure, the plot was exciting, I always felt the ticking time clock and I knew all too well what the consequences of Askia failing were, but I just wanted to see all those elements from the past novel get resolved. The resolution of the book also felt incredibly quick, so, I’m going to be honest here, for a moment I wondered if we’d get a third book. We aren’t, and this is very much still a duology (which is nice, since I have so many other longer series I’m trying to keep up with), but I really wish some of those other loose ends had been resolved. Or maybe that some of the plot had taken place in that other empire from the first book, so we could see this all get figured out in the end.

Although, I guess that makes it a more realistic story, leaving room for the reader to fill in certain blanks without the author fixing up everything for them. And, I have to say, if Kelly ever plans on coming back to this world and adding more in the form of a companion series, I’m pretty sure she has enough room to do so. There’s a couple of loose ends left, and some countries are still stuck in the middle of some major struggles. Easy enough to find a good compelling plot in there!

The Seventh Queen was an exciting sequel to The Frozen Crown, and a thrilling conclusion to the Warrior Witch Duology. I do recommend this duology to lovers of more political fantasies, with court machinations and nobility whispering in the shadows.

The Seventh Queen will be released on November 2. You can pre-order your copy from Harper Voyager here.

In a bid to share my spoiler free thoughts on the electronic advance reader copy I received of The Seventh Queen on NetGalley, I will start by saying: this could have been a trilogy.

In The Seventh Queen, we are trapped but not grounded. Pinned but never with our backs to the ground. Wriggling, learning, rescuing, sacrificing, portal hoping, espionage plotting, handsome good-for-nothing layabout noblemen conscripting, fiery revelations spilling, negotiating warrior without a sword to wield, politricking, marriage dodging, power hungry and enacting the dissolution of oppression. We are chaos workers.

Having to figure out the age, attachments and chronological order of the Queens we come across felt like a nice spot of puzzle work - as if we were auditioning to join the spy team. There are moments when the blunt wisdom of Ozura is missed, though one also appreciates that Askia herself, stubborn as she may be, is learning on the job despite all odds, and as frustrated and worried as one may be for her, you do have to just follow along, Lady Night help us.

While I appreciate the effort it took to keep this a duology, considering one of the reasons I started The Frozen Crown was the prospect of enjoying a book that had a clear end in sight -and no sneaky intention of becoming a long winded series- I was very surprised to find myself wishing there was another instalment to come. This is testament to the world Greta Kelly created, with each character having the potential to lend more stories to chapters.

That said, I miss the time I didn’t get to spend with some characters in The Seventh Queen. I wish some provinces were given more than a hurried update on the state of their affairs and a chance for us to witness the consequences of events that occurred in book one. There were several threads in both books that I felt were left flaying and working against the clock as we were, I certainly missed a lot of people and potential things. There’s a character in The Frozen Crown for instance that I imagined none other than Oscar Isaac playing -were this to ever get a screen adaptation- though by the end of The Seventh Queen, I had to set that dream entirely aside.

A lot of things happen very quickly towards the end. So much so, I found myself going back over sections to try to piece together fragments I had in disarray. Even with the spots of sweet endings Greta Kelly gave, with some satisfactory resolution for themes raised, I miss the trilogy The Warrior Witch could have been.

This book was the second in the series by Greta Kelley. It puts the big bad from the first novel, who is mostly alluded to, front and center, and continues the story with the strong protagonist starting off in an unenviable position. Her resourcefulness, and truth to herself serve her in good stead as the novel progresses. The pages turned quickly for me-this novel spent most of the time as a court drama, but there are plenty of action sequences spread around, especially towards the climax of the book. People who are into Novik may want to give this series a try. It isn't a difficult read, and while it is familiar enough to be comforting, it is different enough that it does not feel derivative. My only criticism lay in that I kind of wanted a bit more-the backstory of the antagonist is referenced but the dynamic between him and his son, and maybe how he got that way is of interest to me. But that probably just means the author did her job well, which is to serve this story and not get sidetracked. People should definitely check out this book! Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Voyager for providing an e copy of this book.

The Seventh Queen was a satisfying end to the series. It picks up right after the first book and keeps going all way to the end. Kelly writes her main character well, exposing the flaws and strengths within their personality. This would be a great addition for a collection looking for new fantasy.

I’ve been struggling with final books in a series lately, but I was delighted to find that The Seventh Queen delivers as both a follow up to the first book and a conclusion. The story picks up right where if left off with that terrible cliffhanger in the first book. Although it takes a little while for Askia to find her feet, it has just as much political intrigue as the first book with the stakes being even higher.

Askia is separated from all of the people who were friends and allies in the first book, but they are replaced by the ghosts of the previous six queens of Roven and it is so much fun to see each of their personalities and how they interact with Askia. I love how Askia uses her magic to spy and gather information, weaving magic with strategy. Illya is given a couple of POV chapters, but mostly so we can see what’s going on outside of Roven. It is really interesting to finally see from his perspective and it helps flesh out the mysterious character we saw in the first book while not feeling out of place.

The Seventh Queen has all the political intrigue of the first book and continues to explore the nature of empires, the effects if has on cultures and people, and the way different cultures interact, while also being a fun, magical adventure. This duology is a solid fantasy series and would be great for fans of YA who are looking to explore adult titles.

I absolutely adored The Frozen Crown and was very excited to receive an ARC of The Seventh Queen. The Seventh Queen picks up directly at the cliffhanger of the first book. The first half of the book was Askia being held captive and the politics surrounding Rovan. I think I would have preferred this series as a trilogy instead of a duology. The second half and resolution felt very rushed and didn't allow for continued character development. Overall it was a good story. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4

Askia has been imprisoned, awaiting her coerced marriage and subsequent draining of her powers and murder. All alone, and with only her magic to rely on, Askia must use all within her control and her wits to try to survive, escape, and protect her people from the Roven empire. But Radovan is as wily as he is powerful and erratic, making every step a political game where losing means not only losing her kingdom and her people, but also losing her life.

This sequel is decent, but it unfortunately is not as strong as book one. The parts I enjoyed about book one - Askia learning about magic and the romantic tension - were absent. However, I enjoyed the manifestation of Askia's powers and the increasingly complex political maneuvering. And the interactions between Askia and the members of the court and the former queens were interesting and entertaining. However, I got a bit confused about how the magic worked and the end. I would've liked to see this book tie more strongly to book one as they almost seemed like different stories. Overall, I did enjoy it and would still recommend the duology.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Harper Voyager for a gifted advanced e-book!!!

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Heather Burns-Schmidtke's reviewSep 12, 2021 · edit
it was amazing

The story was captivating and kept you reading for the most part. It can drag a little in the middle but the ending and it's surprises are worth the wait! Greta's characters are very well written, you want to reach through the pages and give comfort or wipe a tear! Highly recommended. This was read as an ARC through Netgalley for an honest review. The opinions are my own

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. It was interesting finally seeing Radovan as a character. I loved seeing Illya again, too. I was pretty bored for most of this book because of the slow pace of everything, but everything picked up at the 70% mark. I was pretty happy with the ending, but of course not everything I wanted to happen, happened, with how Askia handled things, but that only makes this story more realistic.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Avon/Harper Voyager for allowing me to read and review this book!

After the explosive ending of The Frozen Crown, THE SEVENTH QUEEN starts where we left off: Emperor Radovan has captured Askia and is keeping her prisoner in the Roven Empire. The amulet placed around her neck is pulling magic from her body and she only has 30 days to remove it and escape the clutches of Radovan. With the help of seeing the six dead Queens of Roven, Askia becomes a spy to find out anything that could help her destroy her enemy and bring down Roven once and for all. In the Vishir Empire, the two princes left without their mother, the Queen, and their father, the Emperor, they both have to now fight to the death in order to see who will take the throne, though neither one is actually fit to rule.

The Frozen Crown was one of my favorite fantasies of 2020 and being able to read and review it's sequel and conclusion, is a blessing. I greatly appreciate being able to find out what the heck happens after the crazy cliffhanger we were left on. I enjoyed THE SEVENTH QUEEN and hope to read a lot more from Greta Kelly in the future. Askia grows so much as a character, leaving her warrior roots behind for espionage. I enjoyed the interactions between her and Radovan. The two chapters from Illya's POV were great additions and I wish we had at least one or two more POVs from him or from Iskander with the fighting over the throne. I think it would have added a lot more to the story and to give us an idea of what was going on. I liked the Queen ghosts but it felt like there was too much. Askia didn't do a lot on her own, I get why she didn't and it would be easier to have the ghosts find out information for her but I felt like she counted on the Queens too much and would have been nice to see Askia take over, especially with her being a Queen herself. Askia is a badass character but I personally think her badassery got cut down while being prisoner to Radovan.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and the conclusion, though I definitely wish there was "more".

4 stars

A breathless adventure on every page that I had trouble putting down! I wish there was more story and more of Askia’s world to explore.

I really enjoyed the first book when I read it last year, unfortunately I'm finding it hard to feel as engaged with this one. I am hoping to try The Seventh Queen at a later point, but for now I am DNF at 15%

As I am not familiar with the lore surrounding The Seventh Queen by Greta Kelly, I found it hard to get absorbed in it. I enjoyed reading the prose!