Astrid Sholte’s novel combines urban fantasy and murder mystery in a setting that echoes the popular dystopian-style factions of young adult fiction, but with enough unique elements to make it stand out. The world of Four Dead Queens is reminiscent of fantasy, but instead of magic, there is strange and interesting technology that serves as the catalyst for the story.
The descriptions of each of the four quadrants and their inhabitants create an exciting world that is easy to picture yourself in, and the politics and history of that world make it breathe. The ambiguity of the time it’s set in makes it seem a little anachronistic and confusing, but once you settle into the world it becomes a space you want to explore further. The individual values of each quadrant and how they interact with each other make for fascinating conflict. Nature versus technology and emotion versus logic are explored, along with the idea that you can’t have one without the other.
Scholte handles the structure of the novel beautifully. While the shifting perspectives mean that some characters don’t get the development they deserve, the fast pace keeps the reader speeding through the novel and trying to reconcile what they already know with what’s happening on the page. Just when the mystery seems to be falling into a pattern, Scholte will drop in something to stir up the formula and keep the reader guessing. Four Dead Queens challenges the reader’s perspective through the lens of not one, but multiple unreliable narrators.
For a book with a title that seems to give so much away, Four Dead Queens is nothing you expect. The novel plays with the expectations of the readers as well as the expectations of the world it is set in to create compelling characters and an intriguing plot. While the plot relies on a lot of popular tropes, it avoids being predictable by utilising the details of its worldbuilding. With such a decadent setting, Four Dead Queens is a mystery that will leave you wanting more.
Kate O’Donnell’s debut novel, Untidy Towns, sets up an escapist fantasy, and then fills it with the reality of running away from your troubles. Who hasn’t dreamed of abandoning school and clinging to the safety of home? When Adelaide walks out of her suffocating boarding school, she thinks she’s free to live her life however [...]
In the final novel from the Magisterium series by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black, Callum Hunt is faced with the task of destroying Alex Strike and the chaos that followed in the wake of the events of the penultimate novel The Silver Mask. Callum Hunt is now entering his Gold Year, the final year of …
‘Escaping From Houdini’ once again chronicles the trials and tribulations of Audrey Rose Wadsworth and Thomas Creswell, who, after the events of ‘Hunting Prince Dracula’ arrive on board the RMS Etruria to make their journey to America. However, what initially begins as an opportunity to relax and unwind from the dreadful events at their castle …
Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series played a huge role in my love of Greek mythology – the modern take on heroes and myths make them easier for a young audience to understand, and there are plenty of Easter eggs for those who already know their myths. The Lightning Thief kicks off the series wonderfully, introducing …
Melissa Keil’s The Secret Science of Magic is a unique and compelling twist on the typical romance novel. Shift away from the typical “quirky” star-crossed lover archetypes, Keil has created the kind of relatable and complex character that exist in real life, but rarely ever play a starring role in the media. Sophia is so …
In the first book of a fantastic new middle-grade series ‘Tilly and the Boookwanderers‘ we follow Matilda ‘Tilly’ Pages, an eleven-year-old book lover who is cared for by her loving grandfather and grandmother in the five-storey London bookshop Pages & Co. Tilly has lived with her grandparents for as long as she could remember, since …
Book Review – Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte
The descriptions of each of the four quadrants and their inhabitants create an exciting world that is easy to picture yourself in, and the politics and history of that world make it breathe. The ambiguity of the time it’s set in makes it seem a little anachronistic and confusing, but once you settle into the world it becomes a space you want to explore further. The individual values of each quadrant and how they interact with each other make for fascinating conflict. Nature versus technology and emotion versus logic are explored, along with the idea that you can’t have one without the other.
Scholte handles the structure of the novel beautifully. While the shifting perspectives mean that some characters don’t get the development they deserve, the fast pace keeps the reader speeding through the novel and trying to reconcile what they already know with what’s happening on the page. Just when the mystery seems to be falling into a pattern, Scholte will drop in something to stir up the formula and keep the reader guessing. Four Dead Queens challenges the reader’s perspective through the lens of not one, but multiple unreliable narrators.
For a book with a title that seems to give so much away, Four Dead Queens is nothing you expect. The novel plays with the expectations of the readers as well as the expectations of the world it is set in to create compelling characters and an intriguing plot. While the plot relies on a lot of popular tropes, it avoids being predictable by utilising the details of its worldbuilding. With such a decadent setting, Four Dead Queens is a mystery that will leave you wanting more.
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