Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsDecent UF overall. Unsatisfying ending with many loose threads. Plus a cliffhanger.
Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2020
Audiobook Narrator Khristine Hvam does a fantastic job bringing “Dark Queen” and its many characters to life. The politically weighted storyline is interesting, because the machinations of this world seem brutally medieval, yet translates well to current time. That said, most of the book involves characters fighting each other to the death, usually with bladed weapons. There are pools of blood, violence, gore, disemboweled guts, grisly decapitations, amputations, eviscerations, etc.
Jane Yellowrock and other characters—who’re supposed to be strong badasses—spent much time weeping and whinging. At times there was so much melodrama, I rolled my eyes and snarked about the author giving Jane hormonal fluctuations. Y’know, could be a miraculous pregnancy or instant peri-menopause. I skipped the various male versions of tears and angst. There’s a lot of repetition—which became annoying when listening—especially during angsty interior monologues and dialogue. Not to mention filler and OTT descriptions about just about everything, including clothing and getting dressed.
I didn’t appreciate the threads left untied, creating non-endings for the denouement. What was most annoying was the cliffhanger.
