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[katara]

Title: The Bone Shard Emperor

Series: The Drowning Empire #2

Author: Andrea Stewart

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, LGBTQ+, Adult, Magic Realism, Young Adult, Science Fiction, High Fantasy, Sapphic, Adult, Young Adult, Queer, Book Tok

Date Started: February 3rd, 2023

Date Finished: February 4th, 2023

Status: Finished

Rating: 3.8/5

Sypnosis: Andrea Stewart returns with The Bone Shard Emperor, the second installment of this unmissable, action-packed, magic-laced fantasy epic.

The Emperor is Dead. Long live the Emperor.

Lin Sukai finally sits on the throne she won at so much cost, but her struggles are only just beginning. Her people don’t trust her. Her political alliances are weak. And in the north-east of the Empire, a rebel army of constructs is gathering, its leader determined to take the throne by force.

Yet an even greater threat is on the horizon, for the Alanga – the powerful magicians of legend – have returned to the Empire. They claim they come in peace, and Lin will need their help in order to defeat the rebels and restore peace.

But can she trust them?

Review: This book picks up pretty much where the first book ends. The stakes have been raised on Lin as she takes the throne from her late father. She is struggling to gain the favor and faith of her people and even worse there is a threat of rebellion on the horizon. She still has not learned how to use bone shard magic.

The others - Jovis is conflicted, Phalue and Ranami are learning how to keep a balance between being the governor and the governor's wife along with their new roles, and our mysterious island lady finally has a name - Nisong, a woman grabbling with her past.

I have to admit I liked Lin in this book. She grew up even just a bit. She does not want to rule like her father. She wants to be out of his shadow and have her own story to be told. She knows she has a lot of work to do and though she tries hard to prove herself, there is still much more she has to learn.

Even the relationship between Lin and Jovis was something of a bit surprising. I suppose that it was due mainly to the fact she reminded Jovis of his wife. I can understand the conflict within him over this. He loved her and to find someone that nearly resembles her is something that no one can really handle.

I think every character in this book really grew from the last book. Each one had more of a change in their character and I think I can see why most people can relate to them. Unfortunately, I could not do this round. I think I struggled with each one. Even Nisong - she was quite a bit more than I expected. She was surprisingly violent and brutal but I can see that when your memories return, they can change their personality to something unexpected.

As for my take on this book, it was fifty-fifty. There were parts I loved about the book and then there were parts that I felt didn't vibe with me. I could not get into this part of the book. No matter how much I tried I just couldn't.

[ 398 ]

[katara]

Title: The Bone Shard War

Series: The Drowning Empire #3

Author: Andrea Stewart

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, LGBTQ+, Adult, Magic Realism, Young Adult, Science Fiction, High Fantasy, Sapphic, Adult, Young Adult, Queer, Book Tok, Netgalley

Date Started: February 3rd, 2023

Date Finished: February 4th, 2023

Status: Finished

Rating: 3.5/5

Sypnosis: The Bone Shard Daughter was hailed as "one of the best debut fantasy novels of the year" (BuzzFeed News). Now, Andrea Stewart brings us the final book in this unmissable, action-packed, magic-laced epic fantasy trilogy, The Bone Shard War.

Lin Sukai has won her first victory as Emperor, but the future of the Phoenix Empire hangs in the balance – and Lin is dangerously short of allies.

As her own governors plot treason, the Shardless Few renew hostilities. Worse still, Lin discovers her old nemesis Nisong has joined forces with the rogue Alanga, Ragan. Both seek her death.

Yet hopes lies in history. Legend tells of seven mythic swords, forged in centuries past. If Lin can find them before her enemies, she may yet be able to turn the tide.

If she fails, the Sukai dynasty – and the entire empire – will fall.

Review: When I found this book, the whole premise drew me in that I had to pick it up. Unfortunately, I had not realized it was part of a trilogy. So, I went back and picked up the first two books to read before I cracked open this one.

I am glad I did because I would have probably never understood it if I had not. LOL, I would be extremely lost knowing what was going on and would have been turned off from the book. But I am glad I did get a chance.

This book, however, was one of the weakest books of the trilogy. I actually struggled with this book that I nearly either DNFed it or I was just going to pick it up here and there to try to finish reading it. I pushed myself to do the latter. I wanted to see how this book ends.

The plot felt like something was either missing or parts of it felt out of place. I could not point out a specific part but the whole thing was meh. I could not even bother to connect with the characters as I had in the first two books. They had personalities and had grown as a character. These characters in the third novel felt like they had taken two steps backward. I can only think that with the feeling that the plot had nothing to really contribute to the story. We step two years into the future on a boat. Yeah. Nothing new has happened in between. There is a war coming on the horizon and a sword quest.

Even Mephi seemed to blend into the background. He was nothing notable unlike he had been in the first two books and I missed him. He was growing on me dammit.

Overall, this series is pretty good and well worth the read. The final book is a bit weak but it works well into finishing up the series. So, definitely give it a chance and you may just enjoy it yourself.


Thank you, Netgalley, the author, and their publishing company for a chance to read this book and give an honest opinion.

[ 399 ]

[katara]

Title: The Black Queen

Author: Jumata Emill

Genre: Young Adult, LGBTQ+, Mystery, Thriller, Queer, Horror, Fiction, Sapphic, Racism, Contemporary, Black Authors, BIPOC Authors, Drama

Date Started: February 4th, 2023

Date Finished: February 4th, 2023

Status: Finished

Rating: 4.9/5

Sypnosis: Nova Albright was going to be the first Black homecoming queen at Lovett High—but now she's dead. Murdered on coronation night. Fans of One of Us Is Lying and The Other Black Girl will love this unputdownable thriller.


Nova Albright, the first Black homecoming queen at Lovett High, is dead. Murdered the night of her coronation, her body found the next morning in the old slave cemetery she spent her weekends rehabilitating.

Tinsley McArthur was supposed to be queen. Not only is she beautiful, wealthy, and white, it’s her legacy—her grandmother, her mother, and even her sister wore the crown before her. Everyone in Lovett knows Tinsley would do anything to carry on the McArthur tradition.

No one is more certain of that than Duchess Simmons, Nova’s best friend. Duchess’s father is the first Black police captain in Lovett. For Duchess, Nova’s crown was more than just a win for Nova. It was a win for all the Black kids. Now her best friend is dead, and her father won’t fact the fact that the main suspect is right in front of him. Duchess is convinced that Tinsley killed Nova—and that Tinsley is privileged enough to think she can get away with it. But Duchess’s father seems to be doing what he always does: fall behind the blue line. Which means that the white girl is going to walk.

Duchess is determined to prove Tinsley’s guilt. And to do that, she’ll have to get close to her.

But Tinsley has an agenda, too.

Everyone loved Nova. And sometimes, love is exactly what gets you killed.

Review: Before I even begin, how is it we do not have this cover? I love this cover. It is so much better than the one we have.

Pushing all that aside, I saw this book up on the new releases and the premise sounded so interesting. Set in Louisiana a few years after Hurricane Katrina, African-Americans have integrated into one of the most white schools. Unfortunately, this does not mean the racism against colored people has stopped. It is still there and very real. When Nova decides to run for Homecoming Queen, this seems to upset Tinsley, who believes that since her family has held that title, so should see. The two girls hate each other and one night, everything changes in their lives. Nova has been murdered and her body dumped in a slave cemetery. This is the same cemetery she has been passionate about cleaning up. For Tinsley, she becomes the first suspect after a video comes out showing her saying how she wanted to KILL Nova and dump her body in the slave cemetery.

But there are secrets Nova took to the grave and her friend Duchess is determined to bring the killer to justice and she has eyes set on Tinsley. For Duchess, she believes that the only way she can get Tinsley to confess is by befriending her, but Duchess learns that this will not be an open-and-shut case for her and there is far more going on than she realizes.

This book was an amazing read. I was able to devour it within a few short hours and the twists and turns to this book had me hoping for the most satisfying ending -

And we get one. One of the most satisfying endings I have read yet. I loved Duchess. I loved how she went beyond everything to find the killer that had taken Nova's life. Even Tinsley redeemed herself in my eyes. It took a while but she really became someone I could feel sorry for.

The characters are great. There are some you will hate with a passion and some you sympathize with. This story shows that racism is still very much alive and it has never left. These are affluent white people who don't like the notion of colored people coming into their well-manicured world and disrupting it. They don't like changes and certainly having a colored woman as Homecoming Queen is just not going to happen in this school.

Seriously, you need to pick up this book and read it. It is well worth it. Trust me when I say this.