Reviews with content warning for Torture - Queen of the Conquered

This book was definitely a challenging read. It makes you question the effect privilege has across communities and shows a character that you aren't sure you want to root for. It challenges the MC’s own motivations (are they in the her best interests, or everyone’s?) and how readers perceive the MC. It highlights the brutality of colonization, slavery, and genocide. It toes the line of unreliable narrator (their perception of their reality may not necessarily be real) and makes reader questioning what is and isn’t reality.

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aseel_reads's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

this was an interesting read - read it for book club. I'm still trying to figure out my thoughts but I'll try to dot point this review, just so I have something coherent for our bookclub.

- the theme of colonisation and slavery was very in the forefront of the story. I've read plenty of fantasy stories that use them as part of their overall plot/message but in this book it was literally the whole premise of the book, which means you feel just as uncomfortable as if reading the colour purple or something by octavia butler.
- I thought the setting/world was really well done. it was Carribbean inspired and I found it quite refreshing to read.
- I am interested in the main character. she's very complex and I can't tell if I care for her or if I dislike her. I understand her motives very well but I'm not sure if it's enough to care for her.
- I didn't really pick up the plot twist but I did like it and thought it was done okay (bits were a bit confusing and didn't make that much sense).
- her Kraft was interesting but I think the way it was used to further the narrative was at times confusing. heaps of time she found out something but it wasn't written clearly that she was using her Kraft.

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kbergsten's review

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challenging dark reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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ok7a's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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elissareadsbooks's review

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challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I read this book because I really enjoyed Callender’s “Felix Ever After” and was interested in checking out more of their work! It is entirely different in tone, but a worthwhile read. Queen of the Conquered tells the story of Sigourney Rose, a young woman who lives on the islands of Hans Lollik Helle. She is determined to get revenge on the kongelig, who have colonized her islands and killed her family. To achieve this revenge, she believes she must wield power herself. The book explores themes of colonization, power, racism, privilege, and complicity in really thorough and interesting ways.

What works: I think this book does a lot really well. It takes on the hard task of creating a complicated and flawed protagonist. Sigourney feels fully realized as a character; her internal struggle consumes the pages. While Sigourney doesn’t have a lot of action in this book, it makes sense in the context of the novel. Sigourney feels so trapped between wanting the power and freedom of the kongelig and wanting the love and respect of her people that she ultimately is rarely able to take action until she absolutely has to. It is painful to read. The worldbuilding is also well-executed. There is a rich history behind the characters and places in the book, which grounds the more fantastic elements. Another thing I found impressive was the way it explored the history of colonialism and slavery in the Caribbean, weaving it into the fantasy world. It is blunt and brutal.

What doesn’t work: My largest issue was the use of one device: Sigourney’s ability to read minds. I was excited to see how it would be used in her revenge, however, it mostly presented lots of background information about characters and places. While this showed off Callender’s worldbuilding, it slowed the pace significantly, especially since so much of Sigourney’s journey is already internal. However, I still found this a worthwhile read and am interested in the sequel! I’m invested in how the characters of this world move forward following the plot twist at the end.

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booksthatburn's review

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dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Queen of the Conquered is a meditation on colonialism and complicity which doubles as a slow-burn murder mystery. It handles discussions of race and slavery in a fictional setting better than I could possibly summarize in this space. Just... go read this one.

I'm frankly stunned by this book. I spent 80% of the book confident that I understood everything at stake, everyone involved... then the last part of the book just blew me away. I wasn't precisely wrong about the pieces, just very wrong about which ones were important. And that, I think, is part of the point. Sigourney spends much of the book chasing a prize which the others in power seek to deny her based on the color of her skin, wielding her own power often against the enslaved people on the island. The book conveys this tension so well and so subtly that it floors me.

The characters are complex and vivid, even filtered through the myopic lens of Sigourney's assumptions about them as the POV character. Her attention (or lack of it) is carefully managed by the author, she's not an unreliable narrator, per-say, but she is torn between competing drives and old promises. The world-building is really good, there's a lot of language specific to this book, particularly describing social relationships on the islands, but its introduced at a pace that was easy to keep up with.

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