Her life is simple and modest.Īll of that changes when the queen’s own daughter kills her to claim the throne. Though a Summer Blair currently sits on the throne, Everleigh is 17th in line for the throne just the same.Įverleigh’s parents died when she was young, and ever since she’s been a guest in the royal palace treated no better than the common servant. From what I could gather, Blair is the last name and the Winter and Summer aspect simply denotes which line of the family they came under. The kingdom leadership is divided into Winter Blairs and Summer Blairs. Our story is about a girl name Everleigh. Yes, it deserves every last capital in that word.įrom the opening pages to the very last, Estep took me on a thrilling journey of loss, heartbreak, and grim determination to overcome evil no matter the consequences. SummaryĬover aside, this book is AWESOME.

Everleigh is still wearing tight leather pants, but at least she’s got on a medieval looking bodice and cloak. Thankfully, this problem seems to have been mostly corrected for Book 2, Protect the Prince. Several of my members over on YA Fantasy Addicts also voiced a concern about the clothing choice on this cover. Perhaps this was Estep’s choice since she normally writes Urban, or maybe it was poor choice on the publisher’s side of things, but I wasn’t the only one to notice. The problem, for me anyway, is that the character is wearing a t-shirt and tight leather pants in a medieval epic fantasy world. It’s not even the body language of the main character that says “I’m here to kill you.” It’s not the color, the castle, or that awesome bloody crown. Something felt off to me about the cover. So without dragging it on any further, let’s get on with the review. It’s also character-driven, meaning the story is mainly about our heroine, Everleigh, and her promise to herself to never be weak again. What makes it feel YA, you ask? It’s written in first person, which is often a theme in YA fantasy. Kill the Queen is filled with action, intrigue, and page-turning delight that kept me up way later than I should have been each night. Despite the main character being 28 years old and there being a fairly generous amount of f-bombs, Kill the Queen still very much feels like a YA book.ĭon’t misunderstand, I’m not complaining! I love YA and am so pleased to say this doesn’t follow the boring slow-burn of typical epic fantasy.

It also happens to be Estep’s debut into the world of mainstream epic fantasy, having typically written in the young adult urban fantasy and paranormal romance genres.Īt face value, Kill the Queen doesn’t read like Sanderson, GRRM, or even Terry Brooks. Kill the Queen is Book 1 in Jennifer Estep‘s newest series, Crown of Shards.

Protect the Prince by Jennifer Estep