Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the Advance Reader’s Copy!
Plot | one | two | three | four | five
Characters | one | two | three | four | five
Writing | one | two | three | four | five
Setting | one | two | three | four | five
Pacing | one | two | three | four | five
Enjoyment | one | two | three | four | five
Ending | one | two | three | four | five
RATING: 3.25 STARS
I thought that Queen Bee looked like a fun read, so I was delighted when my request for an ARC through NetGalley got approved. I spent several days delving into the Lyra’s world of Regency-era revenge and mischief, and I overall had a good time there, although there were a few things that fell flat.
Plot |I thought this book had a really solid plot. The story progressed well, with the dual timeline as Ela’s naivety got the best of her and Lyra let herself get consumed by the thought of getting revenge. I was worried at the beginning that this book would be a lot of sitting around and talking, but I was pleasantly surprised by the different parties and settings that progressed the plot forward. I thought that the plot was enjoyable and fun to read, and I found myself getting lost in some of the story. Do I think there could have been a little more action and a little less sitting around? Yes, but the sitting around wasn’t ever boring.
Characters | The characters in this book is what really fell flat for me. While I found that I actually really enjoyed Lyra, she was one of few characters that I actually felt connected to and truly liked. It’s about time that we get more books about teenage girls who are fueled by spite, because I was once a teenage girl, and let me tell you, almost everything I did was fueled by spite. She had an interesting character arc and she went through development, and I really enjoyed getting to know her throughout the course of the story. However, I couldn’t get past my hatred for Poppy as a character. And I get it, we’re supposed to hate her, she’s the antagonist. But I thought she was too much of a caricature of herself. Maybe that’s just my personal hatred for the “mean girl” trope in young adult books – this book, amongst others, takes away the nuance that I find so interesting in books. Poppy was mean just for the sake of being mean, and my god, she was awful. Always making a scene, always dragging everyone else down. I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to hang out with her, and yet everyone flocked towards her because she was rich or whatever. It seemed so unlikely that anyone would ever take her side, and I just couldn’t understand her motivations. She was mean because she wanted Lord Ridley for herself? It seemed so over the top, and it was honestly exhausting. The rest of the characters were fine, although they didn’t make much of an impression on me. Lord Ridley, the love interest, was just kind of there, and the only thing he really had going for him was the fact that he was soon going to be in a position of power. I liked him in the three-years-prior portion, but he was just such a nothing man for the rest of the book.
Writing | Although I didn’t love the characters in this book, I thought that the writing was compelling. I felt really immersed in the book, and once I got into the story, I was really into it. I’ll definitely be picking up more of Amalie Howard’s books in the future, because I truly believe that my dislike of the characterization comes from personal preference and nothing else. The story progressed well on the page, and I really enjoyed getting to know Lyra and her world as we moved back and forth through the years.
Setting | The setting was immersive, especially when they moved locations. I’m always worried when I read a Regency-era book that it’ll be contained just to the sitting rooms (or whatever they call them), but this one had a lot of different places for me to travel to with the characters. Different homes, different parties, the lake at one point, even the woods. It felt like a real place to me, although the place where it loses points is the part in the middle of the story where Ela was sent away. I didn’t feel as though I had a good grasp on where she was, which made it hard to care, so I wish we had gotten more there.
Pacing | The pacing of this book was compelling and interesting, although I had some problems with it around the end (I’ll get into that in the ending section). I find that dual timeline books can always be hit or miss for me, and this one was a total win. I usually like one timeline much better than the others, but the one from three years in the past and the one of current Lyra played well off of each other, and I never felt like they were switching too often or too infrequently. The pacing was consistent throughout (except for the end), and the story progressed at a very enjoyable speed.
Enjoyment | I am a person who judges books mainly on my gut instinct, without putting too much thought into it. If I enjoy it in the moment, then I’m probably going to like the book. I found this one to be enjoyable because of the revenge plot and Lyra’s characterization and because of the general progression of the plot, but for me, some of the enjoyment was taken away because of the rest of the characters. If Poppy had made a little more sense to me (or maybe if the people who followed Poppy made a little more sense to me), I would have enjoyed this much undoubtedly much more, but I kept getting caught up rolling my eyes at her. And it’s a difficult slope to walk – I’m supposed to be rolling my eyes at her, I’m supposed to hate her, she’s literally the antagonist, but it was just so overdone for me. I think she would have been a much more interesting and less flat character if there was more nuance regarding her mean-girl-ness.
Ending | Listen, I didn’t dislike the ending. I liked the development of Lyra’s character, and her realizations about revenge. However, Church’s return felt too convenient – she shows back up and suddenly everything is miraculously fixed. I love a story being tied up in a neat bow as much as the next person, but it all happened way too fast. The pacing for the rest of the book was so solid that it took me off-guard how quickly the entire conflict was resolved. Also, I was not a fan of so much of the climax just being Poppy standing there screeching. But putting that aside, Lyra’s story had a nice ending (although a little fast), and I was happy with the events themselves, although I think the way they progressed left a little bit to be desired.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, and thought it was well-written. Perhaps my dislike of some of the characterization comes from me being a little older than the intended audience (I’m a young adult, but not in the way that books are classified), but I still do enjoy reading a lot of young adult books. I will definitely be picking up another book by Amalie Howard, and I think anyone who wants more Regency-era books, especially about a compelling female main character who is driven by revenge, would really enjoy this one.
Do you have Queen Bee on your TBR for its release on April 4? What are you excited for about it? Let me know your thoughts!