Astrid Scholte

First thoughts...
Now, now, now...wait just a minute. You cannot just end it there! Why you gotta do us like that?!

Now, the more composed thoughts...
Wow, this book! If you ever wanted to read a more fantastical version of Law & Order, this is totally one to check out. It's this insane mix of fantasy/murder mystery with plenty of unexpected twists throughout. Astrid Scholte has a way of telling these really crazy mashed-up stories and I am completely here for it. The worldbuilding felt show more seamless, I instantly was engrossed in Telene and it's unique magic, edem, and the court hierarchy.

The story is set up so you get to know each character in their respective chapters and their individual stories as they slowly start to weave together as the mystery unfolds. Creating a greater depth to each character and also adding in more shock-factor for some of their actions later in the book.
"...Turns out, it's hard to talk after your jaw falls off your face and turns to dust." Jey was by far my favorite character! :)

I can definitely see this story as one you either love or hate. There's a lot going on and there's a lot of concepts intertwined into the plot that you have to just hang onto and go with. I personally found it so fun and unique! It held my attention easily from the first chapter, a definite five star read for me! And that cover is just the most eye-catching.

Big thank you to PenguinTeen via NetGalley for the e-ARC to read and honestly review. I cannot wait to see the art that might be included in the finished copy! show less

I thought this was a great book. Four Queens who rule as one but each in charge of there own quadrant. I really did think I had figured out who the lost queen was and who the killer was and boy was I wrong, Yep I love a book that makes you think "Hey I've figured it all out, I'm so damn smart" and then bam the book whacks you on the head and says "hold still you have no idea where I'm taken you" Gotta love a book like that, Oh and that's one nice cover.

There are a lot of things to like about Four Dead Queens. Unfortunately, there are also things to dislike and sadly, I’m here to tell you that the popular observations about this book are true, and it’s a huge detriment to its overall enjoyability. I don’t regret reading Four Dead Queens – it surprised me sometimes, disappointed me other times, but was an interesting adventure overall.

I’ll start with the biggest thing, the thing all the reviews are talking about. Four Dead Queens show more is lacking in execution. It’s all over the place with six different POVs, messy pacing, and too many things it’s trying to accomplish. Either side of the story would have been sufficient in itself. I get how there are so many different perspectives to any event, but the reader doesn’t need to know so many of them. It muddles the plot. The story is not quite about Keralie, not quite about the Keralie/Varin love story, not quite about a coup, and not quite about Queen Marguerite’s big secret. Scholte seems to have struggled for balance between all these things – while it’s important to have subplots, all of these things are given similar weights in the story and fade in and out in importance at different times. It makes the book feel like it has four halfhearted plots instead of one strong central plot and three interesting subplots. In that way, it was difficult to be attentive for the first three-quarters of the story. Nothing was really moving.

On the other hand, Scholte had some interesting world building in Four Dead Queens. The idea of the quadrants mixes fantasy with science fiction and plays with a few favorite tropes to build something different than a lot of fantasy books coming out right now. The world building is stronger in the beginning, when the queens are not dead (I’m sorry, it’s not a spoiler if it’s in the title) – as the story progresses, it fades to focus on a single quadrant with a few nods to another. As such, Four Dead Queens left a lot of areas unexplored. Given the already scattered nature of the book, I understand that choice, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I would have liked to see more.

Eonia, on the other hand, is a bit overall sketchy. There are a lot of ableist views in the quadrant, the most blatant one being assigned “death dates”. This is the quadrants way of preserving resources – they kill citizens when they reach an age where they become a “burden to society”. This includes older citizens, but also people with disabilities. I don’t think I need to explain why that is extremely problematic. The view is challenged within the book, but not removed. Adding to this, there is rhetoric around life being fuller without a disability. There arena’s to this throughout the book as a cure is sought, but it plays in heaviest at the end when one character assures another they are looking for a way to remove the disability. This creates an extremely problematic precedent that those with disabilities not only have less value, but are somehow less than whole and cannot be happy. This is very much untrue – there are many paths to a happy ending.

I will give Scholte some points for tricking me and not following the path I expected for the first two thirds of the book. I was dead certain that events were going to go a certain way and characters’ secrets would be revealed and I was completely wrong. I’m still (as always) unimpressed with the love story, but character progression took a different path and I can respect that twist.

The end of the book tied up very nicely with a ribbon. It rushed through events at a pace I would have appreciated earlier in the novel. The lack of questioning about certain outlandish comments and overly convenient events annoyed me as a reader, but for someone swept up in the story, I don’t think they would have thought twice about it. The ending was too clean and easy and folks are way too accepting of certain things and it didn’t play believably to me at all.

Ultimately, Four Dead Queens was an interesting read, but I don’t think I would have picked it up if it hadn’t come in a book box such a long time ago. show less

How to spend a snowed in weekend? For me, it was getting lost in the fantasy world in Astrid Scholtes' new YA novel, League of Liars.
"In this fantasy thriller, four teens charged with murder and caught up with the illegal use of magic band together to devise the ultimate jailbreak."

I am always fascinated by the world building in fantasy novels. In this world in magic is forbidden and strictly regulated. Any misuse is dealt with quickly and harshly. The magic itself is interesting as it is show more shadows that execute the magic when they are called upon. But the end result often doesn't match the user's intent.

League of Liars gives us four teen protagonists, all with a vendetta against the Regency. There's Cayder, a law intern, his sister Leta and Jey, who is a bit of a rogue. And of course what fantasy world doesn't have a princess? Although Cayder leads the pack, I found myself drawn more to Leta. She's bold and brave, a bit hard headed and is the character I'd choose to play. The cast of supporting characters are easy to separate into 'good' and 'bad'.

The plot itself is busy in a good way - murders, disappearances, court cases, a prison, royalty, a ruling council, the mysterious Veil that is tied to the magic, and a touch of romance. Danger and action filled as well.

When I read YA books, I try not to be "adult eyes" critical of plot devices or directions, the actions of the teen protagonists, their actions and thoughts. For me, fantasy novels are just that - a chance to escape into another world in the pages of a book.

League of Liars weighs in at 464 pages. I do think it could have been tightened up in a few places, but overall I quite enjoyed League of Liars. Now about that ending.....all I can say is I hope there's a second book! And isn't that cover great! show less