Tiger Queen by Annie Sullivan – a Review

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Description:
In the mythical desert kingdom of Achra, an ancient law forces sixteen-year-old Princess Kateri to fight in the arena to prove her right to rule. For Kateri, winning also means fulfilling a promise to her late mother that she would protect her people, who are struggling through windstorms and drought. The situation is worsened by the gang of Desert Boys that frequently raids the city wells, forcing the king to ration what little water is left. The punishment for stealing water is a choice between two doors: behind one lies freedom, and behind the other is a tiger.

But when Kateri’s final opponent is announced, she knows she cannot win. In desperation, she turns to the desert and the one person she never thought she’d side with. What Kateri discovers twists her world—and her heart—upside down. Her future is now behind two doors—only she’s not sure which holds the key to keeping her kingdom and which releases the tiger.

Review:

Tiger Queen by Annie Sullivan was a wonderful standalone fantasy that I thoroughly enjoyed. This was my first book by this author, and it will not be my last. We meet our heroine, Princess Kateri, immediately, as she has to fight her opponent every month in the arena of their kingdom, Achra.  If Kateri wins the battle, she moves that much closer to prove her right to inherit the throne, whenever her father steps down.   Kateri is a tough opponent for any person she has faced, and when she learns that her final opponent is her vicious trainer, Rodric, she knows she cannot beat him.  She later overhears Rodric telling his guards that when he beats Kateri, he will take over the throne, and eventually kill her after she gives him a son.  She realizes that her father was never planning to allow her to rule, and knows she has to find someone to help her before the next battle. If you are wondering where the title Tiger comes from, Kateri’s father would have a tiger attack the loser in many of those battles.

Achra suffers a water drought, and sandstorms, as they are close to the desert.  The king (Kateri’s father) has always blamed the young boys (Desert Boys) for stealing water, and the rationing continues to get lower, causing desperation among the kingdom.  Kateri grew up hating the Desert Boys, as they killed her mother and brother. But now she is desperate and makes plans to leave and find help by the one person who can beat Rodric.  

Kateri goes on a journey in the dangerous desert, and eventually will come across Cion, the leader of the Desert Boys.  At first Cion doesn’t believe her, but when she claims that she will help the boys, as well as the kingdom, since Rodric will attempt to kill them all, he will agree to help train her. 

Kateri will meet the young Desert Boys, and begin to change her perception of what she thought she knew.  She will learn of the lies told by her father, both about her and who really killed her mother, as well as the so-called drought destroying the people of Achra. Kateri begins to realize that her whole life was a lie, especially after her mother was dead.  It was fun to watch the change in Kateri from her hatred to caring about all the boys, especially Cion.  I also loved the hard training that Cion put her through in the desert, with all the dangerous and poisonous creatures. 

The last third of the book was very intense and exciting.  Kateri was a wonderful and strong heroine, gaining more empathy and compassion along the way, as well as slowly falling in love with Cion.  It was such a joy to see the changes in her.  But we had to hold our breaths, as we sat on the edge of our seat, while slowly everything began going wrong, and the people she began to care for were in danger.  I will not tell too much more, as you really need to read this book.

Annie Sullivan did an amazing job giving us this wonderful worldbuilding, and a fantasy that had a good ending, not being a cliffhanger, as this was a standalone.  Tiger Queen was a great read, as I could not put the book down.  It had a bit of everything; great heroine, wonderful secondary characters, intensive dangerous fighting and battles, bad villains and a slow built romance.   I suggest you read Tiger Queen, as I loved this book.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher