Review - A Queen in Hiding (The Nine Realms, #1) by Sarah Kozloff

Title: A Queen in Hiding (The Nine Realms, #1)

Author: Sarah Kozloff

Pages: 496

Publisher: Tor Books

Release Date: 21st January 2020

Blurb from Goodreads:

 

Orphaned, exiled and hunted, Cerúlia, Princess of Weirandale, must master the magic that is her birthright, become a ruthless guerilla fighter, and transform into the queen she is destined to be.

But to do it she must win the favor of the spirits who play in mortal affairs, assemble an unlikely group of rebels, and wrest the throne from a corrupt aristocracy whose rot has spread throughout her kingdom.

Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US



 

My Review:

*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Tor Books*

The Princess of Weirandale, Cerúlia, lives her life not knowing when she will see her mother or her home again, after being hidden away by Queen Cressa after an attempt on their lives.

The search for Cerúlia continues after Queen Cressa dies, and Cerúlia knows that one day she will need to claim back the throne. 

Every queen of Weirandale has a power and Cerúlia will need to learn how to use hers to help herself and her people.

How long will Cerúlia be safe at her new home?

I love a good fantasy book, especially ones about someone having to regain their throne, so I was excited to read A Queen in Hiding.

As this is the first book in the series, it establishes several storylines, characters, and countries. I thought this was well done and it didn't take me long to wrap my head around who was who and where they were from.

While I did like the main characters, my favourites were lesser characters who were more in the background like Seena and Kinley, who were two of the Queen's Shield, and Tiklok and Nana who worked in the palace.

A Queen in Hiding is nearly 500 pages long, but it didn't feel like it - the pacing was good and the plot was interesting and held my attention.

The world-building was good and not info-dumpy. It left me feeling like I could explain the different countries to someone, but also that I wanted to learn more as well.

I liked the concept of the Spirits and the queens of Weirandale having a different Talent that they used to help their subjects.

The writing style was easy to follow and engaging.

I definitely want to continue with this series and find out what happens to Cerúlia. The four books in this series are being published in consecutive months, so we don't have to wait long to see what happens next and can binge them.

Overall, this was an enjoyable book that I would recommend to fans of fantasy.