The Queen’s Rising by Rebecca Ross – a Review

Amazon / B&N / Kobo / BAM / Book Depository

Description:
When her seventeenth summer solstice arrives, Brienna desires only two things: to master her passion and to be chosen by a patron.

Growing up in the southern Kingdom of Valenia at the renowned Magnalia House should have prepared her for such a life. While some are born with an innate talent for one of the five passions—art, music, dramatics, wit, and knowledge—Brienna struggled to find hers until she belatedly chose to study knowledge. However, despite all her preparations, Brienna’s greatest fear comes true—the solstice does not go according to plan and she is left without a patron.

Months later, her life takes an unexpected turn when a disgraced lord offers her patronage. Suspicious of his intent, and with no other choices, she accepts. But there is much more to his story, and Brienna soon discovers that he has sought her out for his own vengeful gain. For there is a dangerous plot being planned to overthrow the king of Maevana—the archrival kingdom of Valenia—and restore the rightful queen, and her magic, to the northern throne. And others are involved—some closer to Brienna than she realizes.

With war brewing between the two lands, Brienna must choose whose side she will remain loyal to—passion or blood. Because a queen is destined to rise and lead the battle to reclaim the crown. The ultimate decision Brienna must determine is: Who will be that queen?

Review:

The Queen’s Rising by Rebecca Ross is the 1^st book in a trilogy. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started this book, but I am happy to say I loved The Queen’s Rising, and the fantastic writing of a new author for me, Rebecca Ross.  This is YA Fantasy at its best, and a fascinating world created by Ross, which I could not put down.

Brienna, who at 10 years old, was sent by her grandfather to Magnolia House, which was sort of an elite boarding school, but with students who would live together for 7 years to develop their passion  ( art, music, dramatics, wit, and knowledge).  But Brienna did not excel at any passion, though in her last three years, she mastered her passion in Knowledge.  Brienna has lived in the kingdom of Valenia all of her life, but she has visions about being a Maevana girl.  She has no idea who her father is, and her grandfather refuses to talk about it.  So while she studies knowledge, Brienna, with her master teacher . studies and obsesses over everything about Maevana.

I really enjoyed seeing Brienna with her friends at Magnolia House, as they all were expected to receive an offer from a Patron at graduation. Only Brienna did not.  But a Patron will come forward, once it is learned that she has visions of the past from Maevana.  The crux of this worldbuilding:  the violent king of Maevana is destructive, killing anyone at will, including woman and children. Maevana was always ruled by a Queen, who had magic to fight off evil. 25 years ago, the Queen was murdered, and the Stone of Eventine (which controls the magic), was stolen, and many were slaughtered. Three Lord’s of the Houses in Maevana escaped.  Brienna’s visions are memories of one of the bad guys during that revolution, with clues that could help bring the kingdom back to its glory days.

What follows is an exciting, interesting, and mindboggling journey that will have Brienna finally find out the truth about her heritage, and  bring her back to her homeland.  A war is once again on horizon that will reveal secrets, betrayals, intrigue and a plot that could kill them all. As we raced to the climatic finish, the final half of the book was intense, with us holding our breaths until the very end.   I loved Brienna, as she turned into a strong and loyal heroine.  The wonderful secondary characters that are her friends, family and teacher are created so well by Ross.  Even the villains of this book were created to be truly evil.  

The Queen’s Rising was a fantastic, fascinating, page burner adventure into a magnificent world that sort of felt like old time Ireland.  I cannot tell too much more, as it would be major spoilers.  You need to find out everything for yourself.  I loved every moment of this book, with its amazing characters, history, family, war, and love.  Bravo to Rebecca Ross for this wonderful journey.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher