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A review by jenbsbooks
The Queen's Gambit by Beth Brower
4.25
That I was able to read this Kindle book (no audio) this quickly says something for the book ... it caught my attention, kept my interest. There are sequels and I plan to read them, BUT I'm frustrated at the cliffhanger ending here, lack of ending. Things were getting so exciting and I could see I didn't have that much of the book left. How will the author wrap things up?? Oh, she won't. Literally leaves us with someone at the door ... and book 2 starts up there. Even in a series, I like my book to have a storyline that wraps up for that book at least. Here, nothing, it's just set up for the sequel.
Nothing was super surprising ... while we/the reader don't know exactly who Wil is at the start, we have an idea. The reveal isn't all that revealing. His actions along the way were interesting. Hard to know what his plan really was. I cared about the characters, got emotional a time or two.
Not sure how to label this ... it's not really historical, this isn't our Earth/World, it's not exactly fantasy in my opinion, or I guess I usually expect something a little preternatural (magic, creatures, etc) in fantasy. This had shades of [book:Froi of the Exiles|10165727] and possibly [book:The Burning Bridge|144349], I'm sure some others too. I haven't read this type of book for a while, so it was a nice change.
The names though ... very Utah/Unique spellings (Utah gets mocked for that, this IS a Utah author). Dantib, Annan, Hegleh, Refigh, Imirillia, Safeerah, Aemogen, Edythe, Hastian, Gaulter Alden, Blaike, Aurreym Haide, Ceiliurah, Aedon, Aramesh, Arimel, Zarbadast, Calafort, Shaamil, Briant, Emaad, Danth, Claira, Seraagh, Rion, Anoir, Crispin, Bylja Svain ... our MCs are Wil and Eleanor. Honestly, I was surprised it was "Aleanyor"... Eleanor is too plain a name!
There was a statement "When you're a good man, being a good king follows naturally" ... and I had to think, um, not always! Then one of the characters did question that, right along the lines of what I was thinking.
I appreciated the thoughts on the training of the soldiers "you would find yourself surprised with their abilities (in their own trades, not swordsmanship), maybe better understand how to incorporate their natural strengths to teach them weaponry."
"A dark night is never the time to make a decision."
The title ... of course is now associated with the Netflix mini-series (and the book it's based on). I was a little surprised when it WAS CHESS (and other associations) here.
Caught one typo - breath when it should have been breathe "You can't breath-even under a cloth"
Included in KindleUnlimited, text only, not one that has made it into the libraries (although here locally in Utah, I think there might be a physical copy).
... per the cliffhanger, I'll continue on, but I am unhappy about the hanging. I figured I'd come write my review, because book 2 probably won't stand out as a separate story at all, just a continuation. I totally understand that's what a series is, but I like a single resolved loop within the ongoing storyline.
Nothing was super surprising ... while we/the reader don't know exactly who Wil is at the start, we have an idea. The reveal isn't all that revealing. His actions along the way were interesting. Hard to know what his plan really was. I cared about the characters, got emotional a time or two.
Not sure how to label this ... it's not really historical, this isn't our Earth/World, it's not exactly fantasy in my opinion, or I guess I usually expect something a little preternatural (magic, creatures, etc) in fantasy. This had shades of [book:Froi of the Exiles|10165727] and possibly [book:The Burning Bridge|144349], I'm sure some others too. I haven't read this type of book for a while, so it was a nice change.
The names though ... very Utah/Unique spellings (Utah gets mocked for that, this IS a Utah author). Dantib, Annan, Hegleh, Refigh, Imirillia, Safeerah, Aemogen, Edythe, Hastian, Gaulter Alden, Blaike, Aurreym Haide, Ceiliurah, Aedon, Aramesh, Arimel, Zarbadast, Calafort, Shaamil, Briant, Emaad, Danth, Claira, Seraagh, Rion, Anoir, Crispin, Bylja Svain ... our MCs are Wil and Eleanor. Honestly, I was surprised it was "Aleanyor"... Eleanor is too plain a name!
There was a statement "When you're a good man, being a good king follows naturally" ... and I had to think, um, not always! Then one of the characters did question that, right along the lines of what I was thinking.
I appreciated the thoughts on the training of the soldiers "you would find yourself surprised with their abilities (in their own trades, not swordsmanship), maybe better understand how to incorporate their natural strengths to teach them weaponry."
"A dark night is never the time to make a decision."
The title ... of course is now associated with the Netflix mini-series (and the book it's based on). I was a little surprised when it WAS CHESS (and other associations) here.
Caught one typo - breath when it should have been breathe "You can't breath-even under a cloth"
Included in KindleUnlimited, text only, not one that has made it into the libraries (although here locally in Utah, I think there might be a physical copy).
... per the cliffhanger, I'll continue on, but I am unhappy about the hanging. I figured I'd come write my review, because book 2 probably won't stand out as a separate story at all, just a continuation. I totally understand that's what a series is, but I like a single resolved loop within the ongoing storyline.