If The Italian Job had a baby with Six of Crows, it would probably come out looking a lot like Greta Kelly's The Queen of Days.

The latest from the author of the Warrior Witch duology is an action-packed adult fantasy following a ragtag crew of thieves hired to pull off an extremely dangerous heist involving the man who murdered their family years earlier. Toss in healthy doses of revenge, found family, and magic, as well as a powerful, otherworldly ally (aka the titular 'Queen of Days') who refuses to ever reveal her face, is more demon than woman, and only takes payment in the form of time (as in coughing up literal days of your life in exchange for her help, eek), and you end up with a fast-paced, well-written adventure.

There are a lot of moving parts involved in piecing together the narrative, but with an author like Kelly, I don’t think you’ll feel lost or buried in nonessential details (something that can easily happen in complex fantasy worlds). She has a talent for cutting to the heart of the matter, whether that’s in a devastating conversation between two characters or the middle of a blood-splattered fight to the death.

Of course that ‘pro’ does have a ‘con’ when you look at it from another angle — occasionally I wished that the story would dig deeper into Bal and his crew’s background, specifically growing up on the island as royalty. That element of the book definitely isn’t ignored, but it did feel glossed over, which was a disappointment for me. Getting a more fleshed-out glimpse of their childhoods compared to their current predicament would’ve provided an interesting contrast.

Other than that, my only genuine complaint about this one was a prose issue: modern-day slang and phrases would creep into the dialogue here and there, jolting me out of the world of the story. Not a deal-breaker by any means, but something that grated on me nonetheless. Overall, though, The Queen of Days is such a fun read for both established fans of the genre and fantasy newbies alike.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. The Queen of Days is out now.

Heaven knows I’ve had an up and down experience with these multi-POV heist books. And yet I keep coming back! I guess it simply feels like one of those situations where if multi-POV is going to work, a heist book is the place to find it! And I’ve read the good, the bad, and man oh man, the ugly. This one stood out, however, in that it has been marketed as an adult high fantasy novel, rather than the typical YA fare that we’ve usually seen. So, let’s see how it stands up to all the other books like this!

I’ll just lead with the bad news: while this wasn’t the bad or the ugly, it was also just on the edge of good for me. In that, I enjoyed this book overall, but the reading experience was also frustrating at times and left me feeling a bit let down in the end. But let’s get into what did work. First off, the writing was strong, vividly depicting the rich world-building that went into this story. It was easy for me to quickly settle myself in this world and look forward to what was to come. I also appreciated the style choice to use both first person and third person to distinguish between a few of the view points. As I mentioned in my review for “Starling House,” I think this “one simple trick” can do a lot to help elevate a multi-POV book into a more interesting reading experience all around.

That said, I’m not sure that the first person style helped with some of the characters themselves. Bal, the leader of the group, reads as the main character of the book, something that the first person tense further emphasizes. However, he was also the most frustrating character, often making choices that seemed to prioritize his own goals while risking the safety of his crew. Using the first person perspective, the reader has an up close and personal look at some of the inner workings of these decisions, and, frankly, that didn’t help matters as he fixated on his ex-fiancé and other similarly frustrating topics. On the other hand, I did enjoy the other characters more, something that was probably helped by the more omniscient view from the third person perspective. Plus, cool magical powers are always a draw!

This was also one of those rather frustrating reads where I was able to get into the book quite quickly but struggled to maintain my focus over the course of the book. Much of the plot and pacing felt very familiar, and I wasn’t truly surprised by any of the twists and turns the story took. Of course, a book doesn’t need to be surprising to be a success, but something about the reading experience felt familiar in a bland way, for me. That said, if you’re a high fantasy reader who really enjoys multi-POV books, this one may be worth checking out!

Rating 7: While the world-building was compelling, I struggled to maintain my interest in a story that felt very familiar.

(Review will go live on Nov. 4 on The Library Ladies)

Bal and his crew are used to skating the line of the law, so when they are asked to steal a statue during the annual celebration of the god Karanis, they didn't think anything of it. The payout would have been enough to snare their interest, but this job also gives Bal the added benefit of sticking it to the man who was behind the murder of his parents. They even don't question when the client asks them to recruit the 'Queen of Day's' a mysterious figure who is only to be used as a last resort. When their plan and the celebration goes off with a quite literal bang, the crew start to realise that magic might just be real. And not just any old magic, but the kind that can rip portals through worlds and bring the revered God Karanis into their own. Bal and his crew quickly come to realise that they are being used by figures much older and more powerful than they could ever imagine. Figures who care little for the lives of humans. And if the crew, and the rest of the people of Cothis are going to survive, they will need to use every skill in their handbook, including potentially trusting one of the God like people who are trying to bring them down.

The Queen of days was a high octane and entertaining read. One filled with relatable and lovable characters, plenty of intrigue and enough action to ensure you stay glued to the pages. If you're a fan of a good 'found family' style novel then I would definitely check this one out. The characters and their interactions are what absolutely made this book for me. Though Bal and his main crew and indeed family, when The Queen of Days gets recruited, we see them having to deal with an outsider, someone not part of their group, but someone desperate for somewhere to belong. It's not an easy ride, thanks to secrets she is keeping the crew aren't too eager to trust her at first, but as time goes by, the more time they spend together, the more battles where they have each others backs, the crew and The Queen of Days start to realise they may have found somewhere she fits.

The banter between all of Bal's crew was top notch, and I enjoyed how Kelly shows the lows as well as the highs. These are a group of people all carrying their own traumas from their past and all trying to deal with it in different ways. Bal is the leader and someone with his sights on revenge, a path he has dragged his crew on for years now. Alongside his half brother, Kai, a lovable rogue who quite fits into the life of thiefdom. His cousin Zee a society lady turned scientist and heR husband Edrick a disgraced soldier, and their final member, Mira, Bal's little sister who he does whatever he can to protect. I loved all of these characters equally, but I would have loved to get more POV's. The book is split between Bal's and Tass' (The Queen of Days), and because of this some of the other characters lost a little flare and lacked development, I would have loved to see certain scenes from different POV's and think this would have added to the tension and drama.

The story itself is pretty similar to most other heist stories, but what sets it apart is the magic system and world building that Kelly creates. Kelly's world building brings the island of Cothis to life, with it's religion and belief system, and I especially enjoyed how we get to see those beliefs tested when people realise who and what their so called 'God's' actually are. The world and magic are developed throughout the story ensuring no torturous info dumps, and I especially like how natural it felt, with Tass slowly feeding the crew the truth of their world and the God's that claim to rule it. There are plenty of plot twists, and the perfect blend of high octane and slower scenes meaning it's an easy story to get lost in and I found myself flying through the pages.

I think one of the things I loved about this was the lack of romance. This story was family based through and through, and I enjoyed seeing all the different relationships get explored. Though the main story of this book is tied up in the end, Kelly leave it open enough that there could easily be more books in this world, something I am hoping for because I would love to spend more time with these characters.

I really enjoyed Greta Kelly’s first series, so I assumed I would love this one as well. I’m a bit disappointed that I didn’t love it.

In fact, I found the beginning wasn’t all that engaging to me, and by about 10% I wanted to DNF, but I also wanted to give the book a further chance so I kept going. I’m generally not a huge fan of heists, unless they’re done very well. Again, I enjoyed her other series enough that I was willing to take a chance on this one.

This book takes place from third and first person, which was a bit distracting at first for me. I’d have almost preferred if it didn’t shift between first and third and just stayed all in one or the other.

Kelly is a fabulous world builder though – this world was just as well built as her previous books, albeit it was different. Which again, shows how talented she is at creating a world. The writing was also excellent.

I think my biggest problem is I just wasn’t invested in the characters or their motivations which is a little disappointing to me.

Overall, I really wanted to like the book, but it was a miss for me.

DNF @ 71%

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book! This book contained a lot of elements I’m a fan of - heist, found family, unique mythology, and dual povs. If anything, the weaker aspect of the novel is the development of the characters themselves. There’s a hatred of the MMC’s love interest that’s not really elaborated on, and decisions / behavior of the characters at time are a bit whiny. I think more could have been done to make the MMC more likeable or at least justify his actions. I enjoyed the read and the unique premise otherwise.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this and review before it comes out!! We LOVE a found family of thieves! The world this Greta Kelly built for us all to visit is amazing. The plot is also such a cool concept I haven’t read before. This gives major Six of Crows vibes. As far as the characters, I wish there was more development there. It was also hard to believe Bal is their leader when his priorities and focus are questionable most of the time. I loved Tass and her magic and she ended up being my favorite. Fans of YA epic adventures will find a wonderfully written and engaging story here.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for the ARC!

Queen of Days starts off like a fairly regular heist novel; the twist (mentioned in the blurb, so no spoilers here) is that the heist you *think* you’re getting happens, and goes wrong, early on.

There's some promise here. The writing is clear and understandable, and the world is full of interesting politics and magic. This is a really original take on time as magical currency, which I hadn't read before, and I was INTO it.

That said, I struggled to sustain my interest through a lot of this. Part of this has to do with the structure—as said above, the initial heist is over by the thirty percent mark. This hurts the pacing a bit.

The other part—and, to me, the more important part—was the characters. I wanted to see the gang get fleshed out more/earlier on in the book. Much of the fun of a good heist story is the camaraderie of the crew, and for that you need strong personalities and strong relationships between them. Some of this can be done in shorthand—for example, you’re automatically going to care about the little sister figure because she’s the little sister figure—but it needs to be backed up by more. A lot of the moments I enjoyed most early on were scenes that gave us a glimpse of the relationships between the characters, and I craved more of that. Conversely, the moments that frustrated me the most were ones where characters behaved in ways that didn’t make sense for what we knew of them. Kai, Zee, and Edik in particular *really* needed more depth; and Balthazar, whose POV we are in for half the book, wasn’t convincing as the leader of a group. He talks about how important it is that they are family, this crew, that they trust each other and take care of each other, yet he constantly makes decisions without telling them, withholds important information from them, and then acts surprised when they are upset at this.

While this book didn’t quite land for me, I think there are folks out there who’d really like this one! I’d recommend to readers who want a fantasy heist novel that’s less dense than something like The Lies of Locke Lamora.

Final verdict: 2.5 stars rounded up

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book. Sadly I am about 60% of the way through and I just am not interested in continuing the book.

I did enjoy this book at first, I really enjoyed the writing style. Its super easy to read and flows really well. This author has a great writing style. But the weak part for me was the characters and the motivations. I really did not like a single character. Bal and Tass are the main point of view characters and while Tass wasn't too bad, Bal was awful. I couldn't stand being in his head. There was nothing likable about him, not even his crew liked him. Supposedly they did at one point, but every interaction with Bal and the other characters is a fight and they can't seem to stand him themselves. I do not understand why Bal was the leader of this gang... even Tass asked that question at one point.

Further, Bal's motivations were extremely one-sided, all he cared about was this one girl that no one else could stand. And this motivation never changed. He didn't care if the whole world was falling apart, all he cared about was this girl.
"There was only one thing to do; get Mira out of the city and rescue Shasheba. In that order." You hear this over and over and I was hoping for some dynamic growth of Bal but there was nothing. He would throw everyone under just for Shasheba.

I thought from the blub that this book would be able a thieving crew that was going to save the world but instead you get thrown into a crew that is falling apart and just wants to run away from everything. None of them appear to have any special abilities (except for the Queen of Days) and there were never any heists. One scene has Bal crashing a party...as himself. I was just hoping for more adventures and a tight-nit crew.

As I mentioned though, the author has a great talent for writing, I enjoyed this writing style, I just did not feel like the book delivered on the story and the characters. I did enjoy this at first but after a while I didn't feel like the story was moving and I got tired of the characters constantly fighting.

Thanks netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc!

The Queen of Days is the perfect read for anyone looking for a fast-paced heist story.

There were a lot of elements that I enjoyed from this book. I think my favorite was the magic system. It was unlike anything I had seen before. Learning about it was so fascinating. The chaotic family of thieves quickly grew on my. Though their relationships are pre established I found that I still enjoyed it. Because it was pre established there was a believable sense of how far they'd go for each other.

One small thing I didn't like that the switch between first person and third. But that's just a me thing.

It's an overall enjoyable read.

✅Heists
✅Battles
✅Banter
✅Magic (Time)
✅Gods
✅Family

Great story packed with heists and action that will keep you on your toes. I did not particularly enjoy the switching from first to third party POV (personal preference), but I feel like they were spread out enough to still keep me interested. The world building was easy to picture and enjoyable.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

This book had really excellent world building and enjoyable writing style.

I do wish the characters had been a bit more fleshed out, and I had some issues with plot and pacing.

Overall though an enjoyable read.

3.5/5

The premise of Queen of Days is fantastic and had so much potential. Unfortunately, it fell a bit flat for me. I’ll start with what I enjoyed. Greta Kelly did an amazing job with the world building and that part of the book kept me interested throughout. The rich world she created was my favorite part of this book. Her prose is easy to follow and she threw in some fun, but predictable, twists. Now onto what I didn’t enjoy as much. The plot had a lot of potential but wasn’t executed as well as it could have been. It felt a bit disjointed at times. Tass started off as my favorite character. I thought she was so cool. I expected her to be a badass with a big role in the story, but I was sad to see that at the end her character became quite boring. None of the characters had much development going on for them. I enjoyed Kai’s character the most, I loved his sarcastic personality. Overall, this was a good but not great read. If you like heists and fantasy I’d say give it a try!

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager for providing an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All thought and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

A thrilling fun read with a heist, rag tag group of friends, magic and amazing world building.
I also liked how action packed this story flowed, the characters were good but I did want them to be a little more fleshed out.

3.5 stars

I really enjoyed the uniqueness of the plot and the world building was extremely well written. The author did a great job spacing out information in a way that kept me informed about the religious and magical order without being overwhelming.

It took me a while to get into the book, I’d says almost to the 40% mark, even though some major events happen around the 25-30% mark. Even once things started to pick up, I felt this one was way more character driven than plot driven. And for me, there wasn’t quite enough of the characters to be invested in that type of plot device for this story. Bal and Tass are great leads, but this is one of the instances where I felt the POVs of the entire team would have added nuance and depth to the story, especially Kai’s and Miraveena’s. I also would have liked Shasheba’s POV. So much of the story revolves around a woman we only initially see through a minor snippet of conversation.

When it comes to the Valaden family, and their tragic backstory, I wish there had been some initial prologue or overview of their demise. I, at times, felt like I’d been dropped into a story missing the first several chapters.

Overall, this was a creative fantasy and I like how the author left the door open for future stories. I would love to see more of Tassiel and the Ankaari.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Bal and his band of thieves are hired to make a high stakes heist with a payoff of so much coin it could mean the end of their long years spent as criminals. Their patron has one requirement before the job can be done. The crew must solicit the help of the Queen of Days—a renowned con artist who has pulled off seemingly impossible heists all on her own. There is something OTHER about this Queen of Days. She requires no coin as payment but something much more precious. Hidden behind a mask and black hood, this person seems to be more shadow, mystery, and magic than human. She also seems to have some otherworldly connection to the chaos about to befall this world —a particular brand of chaos that could mean destruction to humanity.

Read of you like:
•High-stakes Heists & Hijinks
•Badass Female Characters
•Malevolent Gods
•Sarcastic Banter
•Fast-paced timelines
•Unique Magic Systems
•Found Family

The Queen of Days is written in dual POV switching between Bal the leader of the Talion and the Queen of Days herself. Great choice because I loved these characters so much. In fact, every character in this story is so well done. (Kai might be my favorite because I love the sarcastic humor.)

Greta Kelly writes in such a way that keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time. She throws one crazy thing after another at her characters —and her readers—and I love it. This is the third book I’ve read of hers and all three received a five star rating from me. I will recommend anything written by her forever. This is definitely my brand of fantasy. You should absolutely read this book! It’s a goodie! 👍🏻🖤

DNFed at 30%

Unfortunately, I just wasn't able to connect with the characters in The Queen of Days. I wasn't sure how they had were considered good thieves and Bal was not a great leader. I was quite sure how he was getting from A to B with some of his ideas for revenge. (He wanted the person who hurt his family to know it was him who stole an object, but not with enough proof to jail him, but the guy he's stealing from is the most powerful person in the city? That doesn't seem like it could end well ever.) Tassiel was a little more interesting, but her magic was kind of ill defined (at one point she does something that she then can't do later and we aren't give an explanation) and for how much she seemed upset about taking time without consent, she didn't seem worried when Bal consented for other people without them knowing. The book also tended to like to give info dumps, which made the opening feel longer than it actually was.

Queen of days

Started 02.08
Finished 04.08

⁃ Heist
⁃ Time magic
⁃ First and third person POVs
⁃ Good writing
⁃ Multiple povs
⁃ Good word building

Bal and his crew take on a new heist, with the addition of one new member ,- the Queen Of Days - one of the best thieves around. However, things start to go terribly wrong and although their were rumours that the Queen of Days wasn’t human nobody expected them to be true.

I loved the premise of this book when I first started it - an epic heist and a stranger that has time magic - but around the 30% mark I just couldn’t get into it anymore.

The plot wasn’t anything that special and my attention fizzled out pretty quickly. In terms of characters, I personally couldn’t get attached to them, my favourite was probably Tass and that’s only because she had cool powers. You just don’t really get attached to them or learn too much about certain others.
Bal for instance has the worst leadership skills I’ve ever seen but he’s still somehow the leader of a team that his family follows despite it risking their lives? His obsession with his ex fiancé is also questionable as again, he puts his teams lives on the line for her despite her being indifferent to him.

The writing though was amazing throughout, with the world building being done really well throughout the book. However, the switch from first person in Bals pov to third person in Tass’ was initially a bit confusing; it would have made more sense if the world book was in first person or vice versa.

Thank you so much to Wunderkind PR and NetGalley for an arc of this - All opinions are my own 💗

The Queen of Days is a perfect story for anyone who loves a good heist (and when a good heist runs into all sorts of extra problems). The relationships between the characters are real and heartwarming, and the plot is fast-paced with twists and turns that keep you turning the pages.

Selfishly, I would have loved a full Tass reveal at the end. I'm extremely curious! The story ends in a way that's wrapped up, but still leaves the story open to a possible sequel.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Premise: Messy family seeks revenge for being overthrown, accidentally learns that evil beings are trying to invade their world, has to do something about it.

The Vibe: Lies of Locke Lamora x Secrets of Immortal Nicholas Flamel

What I liked:
- The blurb implied a found family, and they were already a blood family, not found. I think it was well-done and I wish it was featured more in marketing.
- Fast-paced, but with good amounts of slower scenes for a break.
- Most of the book is in Bal's POV, but Tass has some (3rd person) POVs and I thought they were well spaced out.

What I didn't like:
- Overall, it's just not super memorable.
- I don't feel like the worldbuilding brought anything new. It is detailed and consistent, but just not super interesting.
- Bal isn't like...a good crew leader of a mediocre group of thieves. All of their abilities are just informed, not really shown in-text, so it was not super believable.

I loved the premise of the book, a powerful supernatural being whom a gang of thieves led by an ex-princeling enlists to help in a dangerous heist of an idol in exchange for a month off their lives. Initially, I loved the characters as well. Bal was an interesting character, bent on revenge after his whole royal family was killed, and I loved Tass at first, who was a total badass.

But the execution just didn’t work for me. Tass’s character took a back seat in the last half of the book, which was disappointing. And I didn’t see the chemistry between Bal and his former fiancee, Seshana, who he’s still obsessed with despite her treating him with indifference and resentment.

He’s continually willing to risk his crew’s lives for the love of this woman who clearly doesn’t return his affections, and for his sister, which does make more sense; sometimes he fills the crew in on his plans, sometimes they don’t. He didn’t show much leadership ability; I wondered why they trusted him at all. He started off as self-absorbed and pretty much stayed that way. The character motivations were all over the board and did not make sense to me. These weren’t even very complex characters, they were just all meh.

And that Tass is so willing to trust them after just three days? Not believable.

Also annoying is the switch between first person POV from Bal’s POV and third from Tass’s. It would have been less disorienting sticking with one or the other even with multiple POVs.

This will appeal to fans of Dungeons and Dragons or litRPG, but it just didn’t work for me. I ended up skimming the last half of the book despite the pace of the heist.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.