I’ve been an avid follower of Melissa de la Cruz’s work for a long time. Long ago, when the era of vampires was at its peak, I devoured her Blue Blood’s series. I also loved her versatility, because on top of writing for YA, she was also writing stories for adults and kids. Her latest book, The Queen’s Assassin, is a YA historical fantasy where a young woman named Shadow becomes an apprentice for the Queen’s deadliest assassin. It’s intriguing and full of political intrigue and danger.
In The Queen’s Assassin, Caledon Holt is the deadliest weapon in the Queen’s arsenal. No one can match him in brawn or brains, and is also bound by an impossible vow to find the missing Deian Scrolls that were stolen years ago by a nefarious sect that called themselves the Aphrasians. Meanwhile, Shadow has been training her entire life to follow the footsteps of her mother and aunt. Even though magic is forbidden in the kingdom, Shadow has been learning to control her powers in secret hoping to be able to follow in Caldedon Holt’s footsteps. When a surprise attack brings the pair together, they’ll team up to hunt down the threat to Renovia. The closer they grow, the more dangerous the threat to the kingdom becomes. They’ll stop at nothing to protect each other and the kingdom.
From the start, there’s this air of mystery that surrounds both Shadow and Caledon. I definitely wanted to get to know them better, which felt a little difficult to do since we get both of their perspectives. On that note, this is the first story where I was a little thrown by the POV voices, as Shadow’s perspective is in first person, but Caledon’s perspective isn’t. This might throw off some readers, so that’s something to watch out for. Despite that, I loved seeing the layers going on in this story. The magic system was something that I definitely wanted to know more about, because it’s the one thing in this story that seems the most off limits. We do get a history of what happened to put the events of the story into perspective, which certainly helps.
Shadow’s character is really interesting, because we’re introduced to this young woman who really wants to be a warrior, and defend her queen and country. However, that’s not how things are meant to play out for her. Before she gives in however, she’s going to have one last adventure by going after Cal when he gets sent away for a crime that wasn’t his fault. She’s secretive but also honest, and is determined to be independent. Cal strives to work against his vow to the queen because he feels trapped, so at the beginning, it seems like he’s just this frustrated person, but he’s full of passion as well.
When Shadow and Caledon meet, there’s an electricity to their connection, which of course, made me want to keep turning the page. I think some of my favourite parts of this story are when they are undercover, because there’s so much tension between them. They also do quite a bit of bickering, which adds an element of light humour I wasn’t expecting in this story. It works though, because there are parts of this story that seems enveloped in darkness, and having those light moments helps you become closer to this couple.
The pace at which the story is going feels quite fast, so there were also moments where I felt I had to go back and read something again to make sure I hadn’t missed something. On the other hand, I did finish the story rather quickly. Since it’s part of a duology, I’m absolutely ready to read the next part, because I could not deal with that ending. With that said, I encourage you to read it to see how you feel about the ending. Maybe you’ll choose to scream about it with me while we wait for the second book to come out.
My rating for this story would be 7/10. It’s a great story, but I definitely wanted a little more from it, that I’m hoping will be addressed in the second part. I want to know more about the magic system, and the points of view were a little disorienting for me. There were also a lot of stories going on that sometimes it felt a little bit difficult to keep track of. However, I really liked the romantic story between Shadow and Caledon. I want to see what happens next!
The Queen’s Assassin is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
Caledon Holt is the Kingdom of Renovia’s deadliest weapon. No one alive can best him in brawn or brains, which is why he’s the Guild’s most dangerous member and the Queen’s one and only assassin. He’s also bound to the Queen by an impossible vow–to find the missing Deian Scrolls, the fount of all magical history and knowledge, stolen years ago by a nefarious sect called the Aphrasians.
Shadow has been training all her life to follow in the footsteps of her mother and aunts–to become skilled enough to join the ranks of the Guild. Though magic has been forbidden since the Aphrasian uprising, Shadow has been learning to control her powers in secret, hoping that one day she’ll become an assassin as feared and revered as Caledon Holt.
When a surprise attack brings Shadow and Cal together, they’re forced to team up as assassin and apprentice to hunt down a new sinister threat to Renovia. But as Cal and Shadow grow closer, they’ll uncover a shocking web of lies and secrets that may destroy everything they hold dear. With war on the horizon and true love at risk, they’ll stop at nothing to protect each other and their kingdom in this stunning first novel in the Queen’s Secret series.
Perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Red Queen, this is the first novel in a sweeping YA fantasy-romance duet about a deadly assassin, his mysterious apprentice, and the country they are sworn to protect from #1 NYT bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz.
The whole switch from first person to third threw me off so bad when I was trying to read this one! I need to give it another shot because I’ve been hearing good things about the book