Askia starts this book in the same position she was in at the end of the first book (spoilers for The Frozen Crown ahead): she’s been captured by Radovan and imprisoned in his castle, wearing a necklace that will steal her magical power within thirty days and transfer it to him. Not a good situation to be in. Luckily, because she’s a death witch, she can see the ghosts of his six late wives, who provide her support and counsel her on how to get out of Radovan’s clutches.
I really enjoyed The Frozen Crown when I read it last year, but when I started The Seventh Queen, I quickly realized that I had forgotten so much of the first book, even though it has only been about seven months since I read it. This book reads more like a “Part Two” to the first book rather than a sequel, picking up at the exact spot, both mid-action and mid-dialogue, that the first book ended on.
The further I read, the more I remembered about the story, naturally. I love Askia’s fierce nature and how she’s not willing to compromise her morals or beliefs to get what she wants. I think she’s a great protagonist to look up to.
I felt like a lot of this book was preamble. At 20% of the way through, I felt like I was still waiting for the story to get going. Askia runs her mouth and is given a tour of the castle grounds and learns about the social hierarchy in Roven. The whole book is about how she is gallivanting around Roven without dying, but we forget that the plot of the first book is that she was trying to save her kingdom and people from her cousin who is currently trying to rule. I feel like that original plotline kind of got forgotten about in The Seventh Queen.
This book almost feels like it’s part of a different series from the first book because of the change in direction of the plot. It feels like Askia’s intentions have changed and the point of the novels has shifted. I honestly didn’t care as much for Askia’s story in this book as I did in The Frozen Crown, and I missed the romance aspect with Illya, which was very minor in this book. We get one chapter from Illya’s POV in the beginning and one chapter in the middle, but I really would have liked more. It feels like his two short chapters were only included to help foreshadow the reveal of a specific detail at the end of the book, and they also felt like they were included as an afterthought.
I sadly found my mind wandering quite a bit during The Seventh Queen and I struggled to stay focused on the story. I loved The Frozen Crown, but its sequel didn’t live up to the hype for me. I still liked it a bit and would recommend the duology as a whole, but I’m disappointed the second book wasn’t a five-star read for me like the first book was. I enjoy Greta Kelly’s writing style though and I look forward to checking out more stories from her in the future.
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