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The War of Two Queens by Jennifer L. Armentrout

/ Dereana Murcia / Leave a comment

Let me start off my saying this book series is one of those, “I wish I could go back and reread it from the very beginning as if I’d never read a single word” series. I have CONSUMED the FBAA books like rapid fire over the past three months (I’m a mom of 4 so time is of the essence right now, so that’s fast for me at the moment.)

Let’s start with what I loved about this book.

  1. Talk about world building. If you read this through slow enough you can see everything very clearly. If you are a skimmer or have a hard time slowing down to read and visualize at the same time, you’re going to struggle. And, that’s a shame for you because Armentrout has built up this world in such a memorizing way with such beauty.
  2. Relationships. Moving through the series, there’s a lot of relationships that are built up, but a LOT of this book was spent on how Poppy uses her current relationships (love, platonic, friends, etc.) to help her build up others. However, I felt her relationship with her F-I-L fell short and was fast forwarded like Armentrout got bored writing that section and moved through it quickly.
  3. Kieran. FhhiiINALLY! This is the most epic enemies to lovers/more than friends relationship. We get all the romance from Poppy and Casteel and then she throws this amazing love story in behind the scenes. Amazing!

Now moving into what I didn’t like.

  1. Pacing. I know Poppy and Kieran had to build their relationship while Casteel was held captive by the Blood Queen, but it took me FOREVER to get through the first half of the book because their love story went down the drain. I’m here for the love story, like I’m sure several other readers are and she wiped it all out for what seemed like eons. Yikes!
  2. How the Blood Queen bit the bullet. She’s been the “evil” character for 4 books and Poppy offed her in 2 chapters, one was pretty short in comparison to every other chapter Armentrout writes. I wish there had been more of a gradual decline in her power and not just a rise in Poppy’s.

There are definitely more things that I loved about this book than hated, but it was NOT my favorite of this series by a long shot. Will I read it again… maybe skim or just skip the first 45 percent. Now that I’ve had my first pass at what’s out there, I do want to reread to really understand all of the primals, gods, etc.

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn

/ Dereana Murcia / Leave a comment

I went into this book with very different expectations for what I was about to experience. I thought I’d dive into the bitter world of an heiress who was jilted by World War II and was forced into ciphering codes to survive.

I honestly couldn’t have been more wrong about my assumption.

Osla, the daring and fabulous socialite [I believe most everyone would expect to be the MAIN character] ends up being this incredibly personable and loving woman that I believe we all can relate to. We’ve all, at one point or another, been Osla. We’ve all been in relationships with someone whom we LOVE, but who we must protect, so we dive into work or other actives to distance ourselves from them. Not only does this leave us on our head, but also deep feelings of loneliness. We’ve also desperately tried to put ourselves out there so people love us, like us, or to some extent tolerate our wild chatter and over expressive retellings.

Mab, for the majority of the story, is who we all wish we were. She is stylish, has a killer sense of self, but also is willing to fall into love. I felt real, true loss toward the end and, through Quinn’s writing, could feel myself slipping into the sorrow Mab felt and the distrust she had toward Osla and Beth.

And Beth. The awkward, once self-deprecating young woman, who is the code cracking whiz. I don’t know if I’m alone, but I felt the pains of being expected to live one way, but wanting to fly free of the nest while chained to my bed. She was loved, I truly felt her Mother loved her, but she had been held under thumb her entire life and once she was out, she practically threw herself into the world that her family would NEVER approve of.

The Traitor… we know from the very beginning that Beth was betrayed and has been living in an insane asylum for YEARS. We also know she’s not the one that had been sharing secrets across enemy lines. However, as we back track through those war torn years, we still struggle to see who was the one who could have put Beth behind proverbial bars.

All in all, this was one of the most entertaining historical fiction reads I’ve ever read and had me hanging onto the edge of my seat toward the end. I agree with many reviewers who suggest this story could have been at minimum 100 pages shorter, but I didn’t mind all of the details and the depths Quinn took us into the story.

I give this story a 4.5/5 stars and suggest anyone who has an interest in World War II retellings to pick this one up.