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A review by nuffy375
Queen of Kings by Maria Dahvana Headley
3.0
I want to give this book more stars. It had so many ingredients that I love in Fiction: real lore from different cultures (that you don’t see very often) pulled together seamlessly into a story - I especially love a good Egtyptian tale - a unique spin on vampires, a vengeance story focused on heroes and villains (but who is the real villain here?)...
I spent the whole time wondering why I wasn’t getting more into the story; why I wasn’t engrossed in this tale of rich folklore.
Ultimately, I have decided the problem for me is that story devotes too much time to introspection. It’s a lot of characters contemplating what they did wrong or what’s going to happen or how they have found themselves here, etc. Cleopatra should have been a stronger presence than she is - she’s a lovesick sap who spends the whole book bemoaning Antony (and occasionally her children...who probably should have been a bigger concern, since they were actually alive during the events of the book). She spends the whole first half of the book as a broken record: “My dear Antony!! Woe! Woe!...What? A new supernatural power that’s really interesting?? But Antony!!!”
I didn’t dislike it necessarily, but I definitely wish it had been better. I think the writing style distanced me too much for true enjoyment on my part.
I spent the whole time wondering why I wasn’t getting more into the story; why I wasn’t engrossed in this tale of rich folklore.
Ultimately, I have decided the problem for me is that story devotes too much time to introspection. It’s a lot of characters contemplating what they did wrong or what’s going to happen or how they have found themselves here, etc. Cleopatra should have been a stronger presence than she is - she’s a lovesick sap who spends the whole book bemoaning Antony (and occasionally her children...who probably should have been a bigger concern, since they were actually alive during the events of the book). She spends the whole first half of the book as a broken record: “My dear Antony!! Woe! Woe!...What? A new supernatural power that’s really interesting?? But Antony!!!”
I didn’t dislike it necessarily, but I definitely wish it had been better. I think the writing style distanced me too much for true enjoyment on my part.