The Queen’s Rising, by: Rebecca Ross (Feat. My First Buddy Read!)

       ​These past few weeks, I have had the pleasure of being able to do my first buddy read with @bookish.nurse over on Instagram. Since we had such a fun time discussing the book as we read it, I thought that I would invite her to review it with me!
       Note: this post is more of a discussion type of review between the two of us, so there are minor spoilers out there for those of you who haven’t read it. But the last two questions we talk about our experiences with the buddy read, so make sure you scroll down to the bottom to check that out.

Click Here to Read More

@bookish.nurse
Brittany Vaughan is a 29 year old nurse who loves to read, and her favorite genre is young adult fantasy. You can follow her on Instagram or friend her on Goodreads!

Instagram

Goodreads

1. What star rating are you giving The Queen’s Rising?

@the_bookinsider: I’m giving The Queen’s Rising 4 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed reading it, but it wasn’t one of my all-time favorite books. 

​@bookish.nurse: I’m also giving it 4 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t AMAZING!!!

2. What expectations did you have before reading this book, and were they met?

​@the_bookinsider: I expected a very different story than what happened, but my expectations were cliche. I thought that Brienna was going to be the star of the show, but she turns out to be more of a secondary character in the bigger picture of things. Even though she didn’t end up being the “queen rising” I thought she would be, I liked that we got to see her story unfold. It just goes to show that every character has a story to tell.

​@bookish.nurse: I thought the main character was going to be the Queen also, but I didn’t have many expectations other than that. I do feel like she will be more prominent as the trilogy goes on.  

3. What are your thoughts on the setting and mythology of the book?

@the_bookinsider: I loved the incorporation of the passion system and queen’s realm. In our current society, sometimes the arts aren’t as valued as they could be, so seeing them brought to the forefront of the education system was terrific. I’ve also never seen the use of matriarchy in a YA novel (but I’m sure there are some that I haven’t seen. Feel free to recommend some.), and the way the society values daughters throughout the story is an interesting idea. 

@bookish.nurse: I have never before seen the whole “passions" thing, and I thought it was interesting. I love a good strong heroine book. I read a lot of those. 

4. Who was your favorite main character?

@the_bookinsider: Cartier was by far my favorite! He cared so much for Brienna throughout the story, and I knew they were going to reconnect later on in the story. His second identity was another element that added to the story.

@bookish.nurse: I loved Brienna and Cartier lol. That's all I need to say. 

5. Who was your favorite secondary character?

@the_bookinsider: SEAN oh my goodness was a pure and innocent soul. Someone give him a giant hug and a cupcake. His role farther into the story as the brave baby brother was so cute. #brothergoals

@bookish.nurse: I also loved Sean. Bless his heart. And her passion sister Merei. 

6. What were your favorite quotes from the book?

@the_bookinsider: “Passion is wholehearted devotion; it is fervor and agony; it is temper and zeal.” 

@bookish.nurse: I honestly don’t remember any lol and didn’t make a note of any. 

7. Are you going to continue reading this series as its sequels are released?

@the_bookinsider: I don’t think that I will continue with the series. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy this book, because I did, but I don’t like waiting a long time in between books in a series. The wait is only worth it if I loved the first book, and I didn’t enjoy this one as much as other series that are out there. I also really like the resolution of this book, and it stands fine by itself.

@bookish.nurse: I will finish the series because I am weird in that if I start a series/book I have to finish it to the end.

8. What passion would you choose?

@the_bookinsider: I would want art as my passion. I love creating projects that make other people happy. Even though I would probably excel more in knowledge, art is something I have always enjoyed.

@bookish.nurse: I would choose wit or knowledge.  I am way better at talking and being smart than creativity. I have no musical talent, and I can’t draw. Although I would love to be an actress too so drama would do, but more so wit or knowledge.

9. ​What did you like about this buddy read?

@the_bookinsider: I liked how reading with someone else kept me on track with how much I had to read every day. Sometimes during school, it’s hard for me to take the time out of my busy schedule to sit down and read. During our buddy read, Brittany and I settled on three chapters a day, and it was neat to see how quickly we could get through a book when we took just 20 or 30 minutes out of our days.

@bookish.nurse: I loved fangirling with someone as I am reading a book. Also just doing three chapters a day, I didn’t feel a pressure to read a lot of the book. I just had to get through those three chapters, and that's it. So it went very quickly even though it took longer than usual to read a book that way, but I enjoyed it. 

10. ​What advice would you give to people who would like to do a buddy read in the future?

@the_bookinsider: Be flexible! Sometimes, we wouldn’t be able to read the chapters during the day, and we just made it where we would make it up for the next day. No big deal! Find a balance where you don’t feel too much pressure to read because that takes all the fun out of it. 

@bookish.nurse: I definitely agree with @the_bookinsider. Be flexible. I was the first not to get some chapters done, and I was like, "I'm so sorry, I feel bad I can’t talk tonight, etc.," and Ashton was like, "It's fine, I'm still enjoying it, etc.". So we were very flexible but always fangirled when we got those chapters done, and it was super fun. If you are going to be super spot on and get aggravated when something happens and they can’t do it, then I would not do a buddy read because it will just ruin it for them and no one wants their reading experience ruined.

---

       ​Thanks again to Brittany for buddy reading this book with me! I had a ton of fun with it. If any of you fellow bloggers or bookstagrammers would like to do a buddy read with me in the future, make sure you let me know in the comments.

Your bookstagram buddies,
Ashton & Brittany

That is a true gift, to help others see the world in a different way.

― Rebecca Ross, The Queen's Rising