Introduction:

Stealing a statue during the annual celebration of the god Karanis was a source of amusement for Balthazar and his family of thieves, or perhaps a way to seek retribution against the governor who killed his parents. Also, the substantial reward offered for the statue’s return is a tempting incentive, even though their employer has also enlisted the enigmatic Queen of Days as a last resort weapon.

Little does Balthazar know that this ceremony ain’t just some ho-hum tradition, it’s bona fide magic we’re talking about here! The kind that can open up a portal for the god himself! Except the idol that Karanis was supposed to take over is now smashed to pieces at the Queen of Days’ feet, and a big chunk of it is MIA.

Thoughts:

When I read the book blurb of The Queen of Days by Greta Kelly I was really excited because I live for a good heist. However I am sad to say this book fell short for me in many aspects. The only saving grace of The Queen of Days for me was its impressive world building. By no means Greta is a bad writer. The book had it’s fair share of twists and turns but, personally, it lacked depth and the plot didn’t manage to grasp my interest as I hoped it would.

To begin with, I must mention The Queen of Days’ incredible world building because the effort Greta has put into is admirable. The kingdom of Ashaar and the Nethersphere was described in great detail and I really did enjoy reading all about their customs, traditions and the legends about the gods/Ankaari. However, personally I never thought I’d say this about a book, there was nothing but world building for the most part and that is saying something being a huge fan of epic/high fantasy. While I enjoy extensive world building I need the story arc to have essence and depth to back it up with it. This is where The Queen of Days disappointed me.

The book started off great. I mean who doesn’t love a disgraced family who has fallen into hard times with a protagonist seeking revenge? However, for me, why Balthazar, our male protagonist, his twelve year old sister Mira, the bastard son of their father, Malakai (Kai), their cousin, Zeelaya (Zee) and her husband Edik became a gang of thieves was baffling. I mean, if your father, the mayor was accused of being corrupt and stripped of power (and murdered in this case) would anybody’s first thought be, yep let’s become a bunch of thieves and give them genuine grounds to prove their point? Also, I didn’t understand why The Curator thought they were the best people to carry out such a great task of killing a god (Karanis) because there was nothing in the story that suggested they were that great at their job. Likewise, there was a lot of things in the story that lacked credibility for me but I would leave the others to be the judge of them and to refrain from spoiling the story.

Initially I loved our female protagonist, Tassiel, the half human, half Ankaari. She was bad ass. She was first described as morally grey and apathetic. However as the story progressed she became boring and just faded away into yet another character. There was no real character development in any of the characters and I felt most of the characters were not really needed in order for the story to continue. For example, Zee and Edik. They didn’t add anything to the story. Kai at least provided the much needed comic relief with his sarcasm. I think he was the only character I really liked although he wasn’t given any substantial role in the story.

I think the other problem I had with the story was the timespan of the entire book. Everything mentioned in this book happens within two to three days. Furthermore the plot was extremely weak.

In conclusion, The Queen of Days had great potential to become a great book which started out great but frizzled away as the story progressed.

My sincere thanks to Netgally and Avon and Harper Voyager for providing me this advanced reader copy.

An absolutely amazing fantasy adventure for anyone who loves magic and adventure! Greta Kelly is a wizard!