The Queen's Rising by Rebecca Ross

Author: Rebecca Ross

Title: The Queen's Rising

Publication: February 6, 2018

Publisher: Harpeteen
Length: 464 pp.

Source: Library

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When her seventeenth summer solstice arrives, Brienna desires only two things: to master her passion and to be chosen by a patron.

Growing up in the southern Kingdom of Valenia at the renowned Magnalia House should have prepared her for such a life. While some are born with an innate talent for one of the five passions—art, music, dramatics, wit, and knowledge—Brienna struggled to find hers until she belatedly chose to study knowledge. However, despite all her preparations, Brienna’s greatest fear comes true—the solstice does not go according to plan and she is left without a patron.

Months later, her life takes an unexpected turn when a disgraced lord offers her patronage. Suspicious of his intent, and with no other choices, she accepts. But there is much more to his story, and Brienna soon discovers that he has sought her out for his own vengeful gain. For there is a dangerous plot being planned to overthrow the king of Maevana—the archrival kingdom of Valenia—and restore the rightful queen, and her magic, to the northern throne. And others are involved—some closer to Brienna than she realizes.

With war brewing between the two lands, Brienna must choose whose side she will remain loyal to—passion or blood. Because a queen is destined to rise and lead the battle to reclaim the crown. The ultimate decision Brienna must determine is: Who will be that queen?

Review

This one started out slow and remained at that pace. It begins with the mystery of Brienna's parentage kept a secret from her for most of her life. She's know it's someone of importance because why would her grandfather go through so much trouble to withhold her father's identity,which isn't really a secret to the reader. He takes her to the Magnalia House to become a passion, even though she has no inkling towards one in particular but the danger of her parentage sways the owner to take her on. Brienna spends the next several years trying to find her passion and decides on knowledge, which personally I think she should have started with that one first because it takes seven years to passion. Now, she has three years to passion in knowledge, she studies hard but still fears she won't succeed in finding a patron. 

The story really didn't feel like it was about her being a passion, so much so her other heritage from Maevana. A good part of the book's spent on her passion and some subtle romance but it changes to removing a cruel king to place the rightful queen on the throne. Overall, this one never managed to really excite me and the ending tied up neatly enough that I'm curious what the next book will be about. Basically this is a middle of the road book for me because I didn't exactly hate it but I didn't love it either. I liked the idea but the pace and not being able to completely connect to the characters didn't help. I think anyone that is looking for a slow-paced book with some romance that's not the primary focus may like this one.