The Cursed Queen--"You come on like a flame, but you turn a cold shoulder"

Title: The Cursed Queen

Author: Sarah Fine

What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Ansa has always been a fighter, part of the Krigere tribe.  When the tribe chieftan, Thyra, and hundreds of Krigere warriors decide to attack the Kupari across the great lake, they think they will be victorious, but something goes wrong--Ansa is cursed with uncontrollable powers of fire and ice. And when the Krigere come under threats from the disloyal brother of the former chieftan, Ansa doesn't know whom she can trust.

What I think (in 250 words or fewer):  The Cursed Queen is high fantasy, which is a genre that I enjoy sometimes, but the payoff for learning and getting absorbed in a new world needs to be worth it since it feels like I use much more energy reading high fantasy.

For the first half of the book, I was unsure if payoff would be high enough for me.  Ansa looks at life in very black-or-white terms, specifically: you were either the conquerors (killers) who had the power, or you were the weak ones with no power, and the greatest honor was to kill a weak one.  "Blood and Victory!" is the battle cry of Krigere, and Ansa looks upon other tribes (races) of people with a superior attitude (racist).

Ansa is in love with and a loyal soldier to teenage Thyra, who recently took over chieftan after the death of her father. Ansa struggles with discovering bad people are conquerors sometimes and good people are "weak" and also NOT accidentally killing people with her newfound powers.

Everytime I thought I could trust a character, I was wrong.  Towards the end of the story, there were so many power-hungry warriors double-crossing each other, I got confused and kept having to re-read sections. I was disillusioned by all the politician-types by the end of the story.

However, the ending was satisfying, and the "most honest" of the warriors "won."  Meaning, of course, there were no real winners, just people doing the best they could (to get the most power).

This book is on the 2018 Rainbow Book List.

My final takeaway (in 75 words or fewer): The book is full of action scenes and political intrigue. There's blood and violence. The world is completely imaginary.

If those things sound appealing to you, you'll like this book.

The Cursed Queen is the middle book of a series, but it works as a standalone read.  I plan to read the other two books.

Whenever Ansa talked about the fire and ice, I got this song stuck in my head.  You're welcome.

My favorite quotes/passages:

• "Hate is my fuel.  My right hand raises the blade above the surface of the lake as I strain to escape the searing water to heave myself into the boat and draw blood" (hardback edition, pg. 28).
• "Killing is as natural as eating or sleeping.  It is the right of the victor over the conquered" (pg. 104).
• "All of the noise of the warriors falls silent, smothered by the rush of fire and ice in my mind, the swoop of it along my bones, the roar as it invades my very soul" (pg. 214).
• "I love you.  And this magic is a part of you now.  You can kill . . . or show mercy.  You will decide to be in control . . . or not" (pg. 332).

Other reviews: Eater of books and Here's to Happy Endings

This book is available in the Greensboro Public Library.