Shannon's Review - The Queen Of Blood by Sarah Beth Durst

Title: The Queen Of Blood
Series: #1 The Queens Of Renthia
Author: Sarah Beth Durst
Illustrator/Book Cover Design: Stephen Martiniere
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Magic
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Received: Purchased
Release Date: April 2017
Pages: 388
Rating:




Author Sarah Beth Durst’s Official Websites:





Website:
http://www.sarahbethdurst.com/

Blog:
https://sarahbethdurst.blogspot.com/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/sarahbethdurst

Twitter/X:
https://x.com/sarahbethdurst

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/sarahbethdurst/

TikTok:
https://www.tiktok.com/@sarahbethdurst

YouTube:
None Found

Shannon’s Thoughts:

The world of Renthia is full of magic, controlled by the Queen. The Queen must maintain the balance of the spirits that want to kill the people of Renthia. A new queen has been trained and picked. A young woman named Daleina has powers, but they are not as strong as others, yet somehow, she is in the running to be Queen.

This fantasy world is dark, and something in it reminds me of the Mercedes Lackey Valdemar series. It would be considered high fantasy. Even though there is darkness, the female characters and their different magic powers remind me of the Disney Fairy books. This book is not for kids—young adults, maybe, but not for children.

I don’t know if I will continue with the series. I enjoyed it, but I have so much to read. And I know that
Sarah Beth Durst has other books I am very interested in,

Any fan of Mercedes Lackey will enjoy it. I have not read much high fantasy, so I cannot think of anything like it, but there is a sweet darkness and hope throughout.

Shannon's Review - The Diamond Secret by Suzanne Weyn

Title: The Diamond Secret
Series: Once Upon A Time
Author: Suzanne Weyn
Illustrator/Book Cover Design: Unknown
Genre: Fiction, Young Adult, Fantasy, Royalty
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Received: Bought
Release Date: January 2009
Pages: 240
Rating:



Author Suzanne Weyn’s Official Websites:





Website:
http://www.suzanneweynbooks.com/

Blog:

http://www.suzanneweynbooks.com/blog

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Suzanne-Weyn-Author-227394427320435/

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/suzanneWeyn

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/suzanneweynbooks



Shannon’s Thoughts:

The diamond secret is a retelling of Anastasia. A tale where the main character was created from a real princess but the outcome of her life as a fairy tale instead of the sad actuality.

This book has two things I enjoy; one it's a fairy about a princess and two the princess is Anastasia Romanov. I am very interested in the lives of the Romanovs and have read many history books about them. And like so many others I wish this fairytale was true.

I am not a fan of the title of the book. If I went by the title and the cover image I would have thought it was another retelling of Cinderella. Frankly, there are too many Cinderella stories so the fact that it wasn't was refreshing.

I hope to read more of this series which is a retelling of fairy tales...even if there is a Cinderella one I will read it.

Shannon's Review - Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov by Mary Englar

Title: Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov

Series: Queens and Princesses

Author: Mary Englar

Genre: Juvenile, Non-Fiction, History, Russia, Royalty,

Publisher: Capstone Press

Received: PaperbackSwap

Release Date: September 2008

Pages: 32

Rating:

Author Mary Englar’s Official Websites:

Website:

None

Blog:

None

Facebook:

None

Twitter:

None

Shannon’s Thoughts:

Part of the”Queens and Princesses” series this installment is about one of the most famous Russian princesses, Anastasia Romanov.  Anastasia was the youngest of four daughters and older sister to brother Alexie. Her parents, Tsar Nicholas and Tsarina Alexandra, ruled Russia Empire in the early 1900s. This book shares pictures taken of the family and facts about the short life of the Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov.

The Romanov family has been a favorite of mine to read about. Not sure why but Anastasia seems to be the fan favorite of the family.  Maybe because she appeared to be normal and not just royal. She had fun climbing trees, taking photos of her family and making faces in photos others took of her.  Maybe it is because people want to believe she made it out of the war alive. This book describes a little of those things and there are many other books that go into detail about Anastasia and the rest of the Romanovs.  This one is a good starting point for juvenile readers.

The pictures in the books are good although they are ones that I have seen before.  I feel like we could have learned a little more about Anastasia in general.  The book goes more in detail about the whole family which is part of her history but this is a book that is supposed to be about Anastasia, not just the Romanov family.

This is a book for ages 8 - 12 and it is a good start on the history of Tsar Nicholas’ family.  As a kid, I would have loved this book. I will be keeping this for my Romanov collection which is getting really big.