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Kill the Queen
- Crown of Shards Series, Book 1
- Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
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Publisher's Summary
Gladiator meets Game of Thrones: a royal woman becomes a skilled warrior to destroy her murderous cousin, avenge her family, and save her kingdom in this first entry in a dazzling fantasy epic from the New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of the Elemental Assassin series - an enthralling tale that combines magic, murder, intrigue, adventure, and a hint of romance.
In a realm where one’s magical power determines one’s worth, Lady Everleigh’s lack of obvious ability relegates her to the shadows of the royal court of Bellona, a kingdom steeped in gladiator tradition. Seventeenth in line for the throne, Evie is nothing more than a ceremonial fixture, overlooked and mostly forgotten.
But dark forces are at work inside the palace. When her cousin Vasilia, the crown princess, assassinates her mother the queen and takes the throne by force, Evie is also attacked, along with the rest of the royal family. Luckily for Evie, her secret immunity to magic helps her escape the massacre.
Forced into hiding to survive, she falls in with a gladiator troupe. Though they use their talents to entertain and amuse the masses, the gladiators are actually highly trained warriors skilled in the art of war, especially Lucas Sullivan, a powerful magier with secrets of his own. Uncertain of her future - or if she even has one - Evie begins training with the troupe until she can decide her next move.
But as the bloodthirsty Vasilia exerts her power, pushing Bellona to the brink of war, Evie’s fate becomes clear: she must become a fearsome gladiator herself...and kill the queen.
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What listeners say about Kill the Queen
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- LexiLikesLiterature
- 12-06-18
🙄🙄🙄
As a whole, I enjoyed Kill the Queen. The book has its share of gore, fighting, and villians who are actually bad. There isn't too much on any one thing in this novel and that is both good and bad at times. I started listening while I was stuck in traffic and finished it the next day. I tried to save some but like a kid I kept listening to just one more chapter until I realized it was all gone.
Our main character, Evie, is forced to flee her semi-comfortable life and seeks shelter in a traveling Gladiator camp. This character tells the reader she is 28, but to be honest the plot and background of the book is suited for a YA novel rather than Epic Fantasy. There are a couple of curse words but no sex scenes nor detailed violence that can't be seen on the common cartoon.
The book has a good flow and pace. Doesn't linger too long in any one spot. However, there are some small things that bother me. For example, Evie hints at this ultimate betrayal from her cousin 15 years ago and it is used to build tthe readers dislike of Vasalia. But when it is finally revealed I was utterly underwhelmed. It wasn't even a betrayal but more like kids being mean to each other. When you use the word betrayal then it just means something different in my eyes. The villian eventually gives you other reasons to hate her but the initial one just wasn't all that deserving of being so important and drawn out.
Also, why does Jennifer Estep like to kill off parents so much? Every book has a character whose parents get assassinated. It's predictable at this point.
The narrator does a job with this novel.
3 Stars 🌟🌟🌟- Good Book. I like the overall concept and it was delivered well. Most common ranking for a book I enjoyed and look forward to the next.
45 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 07-14-19
Sigh I wanted to like it, BUT
The magic types were interesting and the story had potential, but the characters were so one-dimensional and the plot was extremely predictable. There was little to no character relationship building and there was a lot of repetition...a lot of repetition. Example of bad relationship building: I saved your life so suddenly we are now best friends who I will tell all my deepest darkest secrets to. Example of repetition: I executed the perfect Bellonan curtsy (repeated unnecessarily time and again...can’t you just say that you curtsied in the Bellonan fashion?)...predictable Vasilia’s bullying. Lots of big plot holes and revelations that happen for no good reason. The main character is immune to magic...so how is she also immune to poison? I haven’t been this disappointed by a book in a very long time. It was hard listening to it, I felt annoyed the entire time. At least the narrator was decent.
20 people found this helpful
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- rd
- 01-11-19
Started out strong
I like the idea of the story line, and it started out goid and action packed. but about halfway through, it got a predictable, and the lead character started to become annoying. not sure I'll purchase more in the series.
8 people found this helpful
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- Ms. Wallace
- 10-15-18
Many of the same things Gin Blanco has
The story is very good it builds up to a great ending a little stereo typical, and if you read any of the elemental assassin/Jen Blanco series you’ll find so many similarities down to some of the same names, powers (ice), special abilities/ talents(cooking) and concepts. But overall, still super happy with it.
11 people found this helpful
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- arlene johnson
- 12-07-18
very predictable. average dialog.
Reasonable juvenile fiction but the plot and characters are not well developed and the action is extremely predictable. Will not be buying other titles in this series
8 people found this helpful
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- Simone
- 10-22-19
Annoying Protagonist
I was so excited that our female protagonist was older. But while she was supposed to be 27, she acted like she was 15. And to be honest none of the characters make any intelligent decisions.
This books starts out very generic. An orphaned royal who is friendly with servants but hated by higher up for seemingly no reason. Claims that she been treated badly...boo hoo, not abused just not treated like a princess.
The protagonist us just not likable. She notices everything but can't come to conclusions or follow though with actions....great. There's always clues right in front of her face that she acknowledges but does nothing about them. She has so many questions but will never ask because who can she trust?!?! She has so many opportunities to not be an idiot, even when facing certain death, but eh. She's the "new Evie" so she has to be brave aka an actual dummy.
None of the character interactions were believable either. Evie and Palomas friendship is a great example. For someone who had been burned so badly by a friendship, Evie sure did open up...immediately.
Gladiators settle thier disputes in the area.....even if one of them is obviously guilty of a horrible crime and would probably win the match.
If you can't tell, the book made me angry. While listening I found myself saying "what!?" out loud too many times.
The world building was so-so
Could not finish. Don't waste your money, there's great things out there.
3 people found this helpful
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- Michael
- 10-19-18
Over sold,under delivers
This is not a terrible book and the narrator, Lauren Fortgang, did a really good job.
However, I could not stop thinking about the cover blurb, “gladiator meets Game of Thrones” every time there was a glaring story inconsistency. By example, the heroine is an orphan but gets an apprenticeship where she keeps commissions (?), she takes a shower in the bathroom of her private room in the castle(?!). It’s full of these types of descriptions which can be an annoyance.
All the books in the “Game of Thrones” series were meticulously consistent about world building. This author was nowhere near as vigorous in her efforts.
9 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 06-05-20
If You've Read Gin Blanoc
It was good for what it was. Many similarities to her Elemental Assassin and Mythos Academy series, both better reads than this. I may read the next book, but that's not likely. Having all the same character pitfalls and strengths gets old.
2 people found this helpful
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- belly pelt
- 02-08-20
Gave up after 3 chapters
First the narrator. Did she have a cold when recording this book or is she just naturally nasally? That was annoying but I found my mind wandering every time I tried to listen. Did a lot of rewinding then eventually decided it would not keep my interest so I’ll be returning instead.
2 people found this helpful
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- MIS
- 11-09-19
Good effort but problematic
The author took too many shortcuts to ensure the narrative unfolded. This is an incredibly predictable book and unfortunately too simplistic in its prose. At times I thought this book must’ve been written by a teenager. I recommend avoiding this one.
2 people found this helpful
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- Kapaxiana
- 01-27-19
glad I stuck to it
I almost stopped listening as the start didn't spark my interest. it took a while to get into the story but I'm glad I did and I can't wait for the next book.
4 people found this helpful
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- Foxhound
- 07-20-19
okay story but bad writing skills
the idea was good but poor writing. I found myself feeling irritated by the main character alot of the time and too much unnecessary repetition
3 people found this helpful
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- Poppey
- 05-26-19
Not a Bad Start
Set in a fantasy world of magic, gargoyles and shapeshifters, Evie is the daughter of a king and queen who were murdered and is now relegated to a minor royal, no better than a servant. However, what no-one knows is that she has the ability to smell out magic and can make herself immune to it. When her cousin Vasilia stages a coup and murders everyone in the royal family, Evie manages to escape and hide herself away in a troupe of gladiators. Let the games begin
This first book is a promising start to a series which, hopefully, will grow, if all the soul searching does not get in the way!
1 person found this helpful
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- Annie A
- 05-14-19
Good
Really enjoyed this story even if the H got on my nerves a little bit half way through - will look for next book in the series
1 person found this helpful
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- Louise
- 05-03-19
Enjoyable but predictable
I totally enjoyed reading this book despite the fact that the plot was very predictable: Nothing happened that I didn't easily predict in advance. I kept going with it as it was well written and I liked the lead character. The start was very slow. It didn't get going until chapter 8 (1/4 of the way through!). I thought a lot more could have been made of the romance between Evie and Lucas, but maybe that's reserved for book 2, which I will still read when it comes out as I do still want to see how the story progresses.
1 person found this helpful
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- R. Harrison
- 01-01-19
I loved this powered through it fast! Addictive!
I loved this so much! One of the best books I've listened to in ages. Captivating world and characters woven in to a story I couldn't wait for the end of but so so sad when it finished because it means I have to wait for the next book to be published. Great narrator essay to listen to.
1 person found this helpful
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- Michelle Roberts
- 11-30-18
Another brilliant book.
I loved it, I can't wait to see what happens in book two, bring it on.
1 person found this helpful
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- Chrissy’s Book Shelf
- 11-05-21
Superb start to a new fantasy series
I have been a fan of Jennifer Estep’s work for some time now and I have been looking forward to this book since it was first publicised. I am so happy that I was not disappointed in any way. This book takes all of the very best things from previous series and none of the slightly niggly things.
The world building as always is superb and I love how the magic is softly woven into the every day existence without great fanfare during the introduction to the main character Everleigh, or Evie as she prefers to be known. Evie is a minor royal with supposedly little magic, whose parents were assassinated when she was 12. After being shunted round the kingdom she ended up at the main court, with her cousin the Queen. With no money, power, position or magic she was treated little better than a servant, who had to work for her living by apprenticing to the Royal Jeweller and attending all the annoying functions that no one else in the royal family could be bothered with. She is educated, but not particularly talented with a sword. She does, however, become very good at surviving the cut throat politics of the court.
At age 28, she thought she was close to reaching her dream of going back to her parents’ estate and opening up the house again, after saving nearly every penny she had ever earned from jewellery commissions, when she attends a function. The events of this function change her life it ways she never thought possible.
We see Evie as she makes new friends and learns new skills, as she tries to survive betrayal and loss.
Evie is a fantastic character, she is smart and determined, she can be cold, calculating and ruthless, but she has a heart. She cares for people even when she tells herself that she is allowing herself to be vulnerable. She battles and struggles with her weaknesses, working hard to overcome them. I liked the other characters in the book as they had depth and you know that future books in the series will flesh them out further.
The narrator for this book really helped bring the story to life. I initially read this as an ebook in 2018 and decided to revisit it as an audiobook and I can honestly say that the narration enhanced my enjoyment. I will definitely be listening to the rest of the series.
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- Skyla
- 06-06-20
This author is talented - book will deliver......
Everything your looking for here - cleaver well written book, with depth of story-line and interest. I enjoyed the entire series immensely. 5 starts all the way!
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- Kindle Customer
- 04-26-20
Decent
Decent enough story with the narrator making it better than it should be. The heroine character was sacrificed for the sake of plot at times making her seem 'too stupid to live'. For a story involving gladiators, the author should have written better fight scenes, writing 'clang' a lot is just lazy.
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- Anonymous User
- 05-11-19
Great story, starts sluggish, decent narrator
By the end of the book i really enjoyed it. It was a sluggish start and not the best writing to begin with but the story draws you in as the book goes on and I will purchase the next in the series.
2 people found this helpful
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- JDavoday
- 05-27-19
loved it
Enjoyed the whole book , the storyline was great the narrator perfect .Looking forward to the next one
1 person found this helpful
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- shab
- 08-29-20
Good book
This book was good. It was entertaining enough and the narrator did a good job, but Lauren usually does.
I liked the MC, she didn't annoy me and her story was believable. I just wish there was a little more in the romance side of things, but again because there wasn't it made it more of a believable story.
I just wish I knew what happened to the jewel maker at the end, but I guess we'll find that out in book 2.
I don't understand how anyone can say the writing was bad? Really? I thought the writing was pretty good. There were some filler words which could have been removed but otherwise, I couldn't fault it.
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- Hayley Irwin
- 07-18-20
loved this book
it was a good story and great voice performance
cant wait to start the next one
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- R. Gray
- 05-17-20
just dont
The performance was fine but the actual writing needs polish. it was downright painful to listen to.
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- Anonymous User
- 05-11-20
Enjoyable enough
Story was ok, enjoyable enough, but i did find it a bit repetitive and a little predictable.
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- Canta9
- 05-08-20
Fantastic series
I am so glad I took a chance on this series! I loved all three books and cannot wait for the author to publish more books set in this world. If you are looking for a new fantasy author, I recommend giving this one a try.
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- Coljar
- 03-31-20
Mind Bogolling heraldry .blood gore and heroism
Wonderfully read , mental pictures of the scenery, Heraldry.magic and murder aplenty
Thank You Very Much ....Col