The Queen of Crows by Myke Cole:
Review by:Dani Long
I received a copy of this book from Tor.com in exchange for an honest review.
After the events of The Armored Saint, Heloise and her fellow villagers are preparing for a return strike from the Order.
Because of Heloise’s actions at the end of the first book, she is now catapulted from teenage girl that no on would never look to for advice to suddenly being expected to have all the answers.
I know I have mentioned this several times in other reviews, but I love themes centered around leadership; how it is inspired, how it grows, and how it can falter. And that is exactly what The Queen of Crows is about.
Heloise’s character grew a lot in the first book and this sequel is largely about her trying to understand her place in these villagers’ lives now and what they are expecting from her. One of the things that struck me the most was that Heloise has these grand ideals that so many main characters have: she wants to stand up against the oppressors, she wants to fight for their freedom or die trying, she wants to make a change in the world.
But all those villagers? They just want to go on breathing. They want their small village life where they work, eat, and watch their children grow up and Heloise challenging the Order seriously jeopardizes that.
Much like the first book, the more I look back on this book after reading it, the more I fall for it. This series is proof that thousands of pages are not always necessary to create a world and craft compelling character relationships.
I was amazed at how powerful an emotional punch The Armored Saint had considering it is not a big book. The Queen of Crows is only around 40 pages longer but delivers an awe-inspiring insight into humanity that some books many times its size don’t always convey. Full of love, loss, betrayal, and impossible odds, this series is absolutely something you do not want to miss.