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roannasylver's review
5.0
I came across this absolute treasure of a book on tumblr, giving it a signal boost without even reading it first, because the premise alone was so great. The title alone, a lady king, I was hooked, I had to read it as well as support a fellow queer indie author. And I am so, so glad I read it. LGBTQ+ fantasy, particularly fantasy that evokes fairy tale nostalgia, the sword-and-sorcery feeling of books we grew up with, is a rare and wonderful find. This is the kind of book I would have read as a kid - except that in My Lady King, people like me are represented and celebrated instead of ignored or stereotyped.
I don't even know where to begin with the great things in this book. The writing style is beautiful, poetic while being accessible and clear, the characters are fully developed and realistic, and the worldbuilding is well thought-out with its own magic system, politics and mythology (though the divine subjects of those myths quickly show themselves to be quite real). The plot moves along quickly and the book can easily be gotten through in a few hours - to the point where my only qualm is that it's too short! It's so good, I wanted more, which is about the best problem a book can have. Plus there are a few wonderful twists. (I figured out the big one early on, but only because I'm a borderline-paranoid reader, and my constant twist-vigilance borders on the ridiculous. It's a good one!)
But writing techniques and usual book considerations aside, it's the characters that make My Lady King shine. The representation is incredibly refreshing; the cast is entirely made of people of color, and queer relationships are presented as completely normal. Entirely ordinary. There is zero prejudice, zero coming-out drama, zero sensationalization or ignorance, and I cannot tell you how refreshing this is.
Not only same-gender relationships, but transgender people are presented in the same way - as completely normal, accepted, expected. Several incidental characters are genderless or nonbinary, and one key character is transgender - which has absolutely no bearing on the plot and is not exploited in any way. These people simply are, as we simply are in real life, every day.
The heart of this book is love. Love of another, yes, but also self-love. Main character Keziah, the powerful, young but jaded witch, is still very much recovering from a damaging and traumatic abusive relationship - and this is written beautifully, and heartbreakingly. This is a love story not just about two people with each other, but Keziah with herself. Self-acceptance, self-love, self-forgiveness (or the realization that there was nothing to forgive!) is presented as just as important as romantic love, and this is something I have honestly never seen in a book before.
My Lady King is important for so many ways, and I've only really scratched the surface. Do yourself a favor and give it a read. Even if you are not a marginalized person or an abuse survivor - maybe especially then. There is something meaningful and good here for everyone. I can't say how much I recommend it. Sometimes a book comes along that stays with you, and this is one of those for me. I think it will be for a lot of you as well.
I don't even know where to begin with the great things in this book. The writing style is beautiful, poetic while being accessible and clear, the characters are fully developed and realistic, and the worldbuilding is well thought-out with its own magic system, politics and mythology (though the divine subjects of those myths quickly show themselves to be quite real). The plot moves along quickly and the book can easily be gotten through in a few hours - to the point where my only qualm is that it's too short! It's so good, I wanted more, which is about the best problem a book can have. Plus there are a few wonderful twists. (I figured out the big one early on, but only because I'm a borderline-paranoid reader, and my constant twist-vigilance borders on the ridiculous. It's a good one!)
But writing techniques and usual book considerations aside, it's the characters that make My Lady King shine. The representation is incredibly refreshing; the cast is entirely made of people of color, and queer relationships are presented as completely normal. Entirely ordinary. There is zero prejudice, zero coming-out drama, zero sensationalization or ignorance, and I cannot tell you how refreshing this is.
Not only same-gender relationships, but transgender people are presented in the same way - as completely normal, accepted, expected. Several incidental characters are genderless or nonbinary, and one key character is transgender - which has absolutely no bearing on the plot and is not exploited in any way. These people simply are, as we simply are in real life, every day.
The heart of this book is love. Love of another, yes, but also self-love. Main character Keziah, the powerful, young but jaded witch, is still very much recovering from a damaging and traumatic abusive relationship - and this is written beautifully, and heartbreakingly. This is a love story not just about two people with each other, but Keziah with herself. Self-acceptance, self-love, self-forgiveness (or the realization that there was nothing to forgive!) is presented as just as important as romantic love, and this is something I have honestly never seen in a book before.
My Lady King is important for so many ways, and I've only really scratched the surface. Do yourself a favor and give it a read. Even if you are not a marginalized person or an abuse survivor - maybe especially then. There is something meaningful and good here for everyone. I can't say how much I recommend it. Sometimes a book comes along that stays with you, and this is one of those for me. I think it will be for a lot of you as well.
kirafish19's review
2.0
Endearing, diverse characters, and an interesting concept. The constant switch between characters' points of view within a single scene made things quite confusing, though, and the grammar choices weren't consistent.
I love reading independently published books like this one, I think they have much more interesting ideas. And it's definitely a step away from the mainstream fantasy I'm so bored of! This was enjoyable, but as I read further, a few things stuck out. The metaphors/overall messages of the book are pretty heavy-handed, and the lack of consistent grammar started to bother me (for example, sometimes character's thoughts were italicized, making it very clear. But other times they were left in plain text, and suddenly it felt as though you were switching POVs).
Overall: Cute, interesting, and a quick read!
I love reading independently published books like this one, I think they have much more interesting ideas. And it's definitely a step away from the mainstream fantasy I'm so bored of! This was enjoyable, but as I read further, a few things stuck out. The metaphors/overall messages of the book are pretty heavy-handed, and the lack of consistent grammar started to bother me (for example, sometimes character's thoughts were italicized, making it very clear. But other times they were left in plain text, and suddenly it felt as though you were switching POVs).
Overall: Cute, interesting, and a quick read!
iphios's review
2.0
Everything about it felt rushed and under developed. In moments where i felt the writer could have lingered and developed the scene or character she rushed with it.
lindy_b's review
1.0
I felt like I was reading the author's outline, not a finished piece of writing.
loujanae's review
4.0
This was an absolutely beautiful story, although quite short in length. This story included a wide variety of LGBTQIA+ people and Kayla Bashe wrote it all so incredibly well. Bashe wrote with such ease and comfort, that it felt as if I really did live in a world where heteronormativity ceased to exist. I was extremely impressed with Bashe's execution. You could tell exactly what the author wanted from the story, and Bashe nailed it.
kathrynhoss's review
For a self-published work from an author I hadn't read before, My Lady King actually impressed me by being... not as bad as it could've been.
I don't have any complaints about plot. If anything, I think the plot was the strong part of this novel. Each plot point made sense in moving the story forward and fleshing out the characters. The villain was very cardboard in this (I don't think we ever really learned her motivations aside from like, just bein' evil) but Keziah and Esdelot were decent characters. One issue is that this book is not properly formatted for Kindle. It shows up double-spaced and without paragraph indents, which is a problem for me as far as readability.
I don't have any complaints about plot. If anything, I think the plot was the strong part of this novel. Each plot point made sense in moving the story forward and fleshing out the characters. The villain was very cardboard in this (I don't think we ever really learned her motivations aside from like, just bein' evil) but Keziah and Esdelot were decent characters. One issue is that this book is not properly formatted for Kindle. It shows up double-spaced and without paragraph indents, which is a problem for me as far as readability.
mtk_reads's review
1.0
I wanted so badly to like this book - lady kings! ladies in romances! - but it just didn't work for me. It felt very flat, emotionally, and neither of the protagonists ever really grabbed me. I do want to know more about the world created here, though - there were hints of something really interesting around the way that gender was used, but it was never fleshed out enough.
robberbaroness's review
3.0
I'd greatly enjoyed Graveyard Sparrow by Kayla Bashe, and so was very excited when she let me know about her forays into high fantasy. While My Lady King didn't end up capturing my heart the way Graveyard Sparrow did, it was still a fun and romantic little episode in a setting we see all too little of in contemporary fantasy. Bashe's books continue to be page-turners (or page-scrollers, if you're reading them in e-format like I did!)
To get the negatives out of the way, My Lady King suffered from a lack of ambiguity. There's nothing wrong with having clear-cut villains and heroes, but being presented with who they all were and what they were scheming right off the bat was a bit much. It's a case of "show, don't tell"; let us judge characters by their actions, and see for ourselves what their moral character is. (As a writer, I might add that this advice is easier to give than to follow.)
But despite this, My Lady King is quite a charming story. Esdelot is the titular Lady King, a forward-thinking reformer and enthusiastic athlete, too good-natured to realise all the jealousy that stirs within her own house. Keziah (my favorite character) is a humble witch with the decidedly not-humble task of saving her king's life, as well as determining the fate of her own village. Their love comes slowly and naturally, and the best thing about it is how well the two get along as friends and partners first. The romance genre can use more of that.
My Lady King can be bought for 2.99 on Amazon. Read it if you want some optimistic fantasy in a sea of grim darkness.
To get the negatives out of the way, My Lady King suffered from a lack of ambiguity. There's nothing wrong with having clear-cut villains and heroes, but being presented with who they all were and what they were scheming right off the bat was a bit much. It's a case of "show, don't tell"; let us judge characters by their actions, and see for ourselves what their moral character is. (As a writer, I might add that this advice is easier to give than to follow.)
But despite this, My Lady King is quite a charming story. Esdelot is the titular Lady King, a forward-thinking reformer and enthusiastic athlete, too good-natured to realise all the jealousy that stirs within her own house. Keziah (my favorite character) is a humble witch with the decidedly not-humble task of saving her king's life, as well as determining the fate of her own village. Their love comes slowly and naturally, and the best thing about it is how well the two get along as friends and partners first. The romance genre can use more of that.
My Lady King can be bought for 2.99 on Amazon. Read it if you want some optimistic fantasy in a sea of grim darkness.
kayisolo's review
4.0
I actually really, really enjoyed this book. I found it by chance (I have to admit the cover had me interested right away) and decided to read it because it's hard to find good books in this genre. This is one of those good books. It's not very long, but it was a cute story with an interesting subplot and a satisfying ending. It's one I'll probably read more than once, as well. At the very least it has me interested in checking out the author's other work.