Revenge, desire, power all wrapped up into one fast-paced, thrilling read. "The Queen's Spade" by Sarah Raughley follows "Sally" a princess from the Egbado Clan, who at a young age was kidnapped by the Indian Trading Company to join the British court as Queen Victoria's goddaughter. While everyone around her insists she should be grateful, Sally wants one thing, revenge on those that uprooted her life. By day she is a lady of the court, but when the opportunity arrises she becomes a deadly assassin. However, there is a standard she must uphold, one that becomes increasingly more difficult as her freedom is torn away. Will she be able to satisfy her thirst for vengeance before she is found out? Or does the Queen already know...

Raughley executed such a complex and interesting story in a way that is so enjoyable and enthralling. I loved the level of suspense that was maintained throughout the story as well as the real historical ties. Although a work of fiction, the inspiration is a very real part of history that deserves more recognition.

I've loved Sarah Raughley's historical fantasy books in the past but I just could not get into this latest one featuring a Black woman during the reign of Queen Victoria in late 19th century England. Simmering with politics, intrigue and action, this one was well-written but just not for me unfortunately. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

I’m not a huge fan of historical fiction because for the most part it makes me mad seeing what my ancestors were put through. It really seems like a content warning because I get frustrated that this had to happen to them. But this one book helped ease the sting a bit. Watching her get her revenge was so cathartic lol

Ok so these idiots literally took her from her home in Africa, brought her to England, and then acted like she should have been grateful that they were doing things like putting honey in her hair and naming her after the ship she arrived on. I will never understand this mentality. So I already knew this was going to be a book that made me mad, so I had to give myself some grace and try not to get too mad. Idk how much was artistic liberty because I had never heard of Sarah before, but I appreciate the way that Raughley portrayed her. I definitely thought of wanting to do some of the same things to those people for her lol

I don’t always love historical fiction because of how they make me feel, but I love them for what they make me learn. This one taught me about a person I never knew about. I fell down a rabbit hole of things that she did and things that happened to her after I found out who she was. She was so smart. I hated how the Queen used her like that. I found a couple of sites that gave a look at her real story. I enjoyed learning more about her.

The story itself was ok. I loved the way it opened with the stairs thing. I think if the rest of the story had been like that I would have been fine. But there was nothing more that made it like that? She was fighting with people yes, but they were not anywhere near as smart as she was? It almost didn’t seem fair. They discounted her and it was annoying. But because of that, it was annoying because I got bored. And then there was the part that was a real trigger for me. I lost an aunt and almost lost an uncle to ODs. Because of this I almost DNFed this because of her uncle. There was nothing there that showed him doing the act, but it was shown that he was using and how he acted. I couldn’t do it. It’s just a me thing. So don’t take this rating to heart.

I loved this in some ways and didn’t in others. But I will most definitely be telling people about this one. I can’t wait for more people to read this and meet Sarah. I hope to help make sure people learn more about who she is.