Review: The Queens’ Rising (The Queens’ Rising #1)

The Queens Rising, Book 1 in The Queens Rising Duology by Rebecca Ross

Published By: Harper Collins
Publication Date: February 6, 2018
Date Read: May 11, 2026
Genre: YA – Fantasy / Romantasy
Source: Bought
Format: Audiobook
Pages: 464

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Born out of wedlock, Brienna is cast off by her noble family and sent to Magnolia House – a boarding house for those looking to study the passions: art, music, dramatics, wit and knowledge. Brienna must discover her passion and train hard to perfect her skill, in the hope that she will one day graduate and be chosen by a wealthy patron, looking to support one of the `impassioned’.

As Brienna gets closer to the eve of her graduation, she also grows closer to her smart (and handsome) tutor, Cartier. He can sense that she is hiding a secret, but Brienna chooses not to reveal that she is experiencing memories of her ancestors – memories uncovering the mysteries of the past that may have dangerous consequences in the present.

A daring plot is brewing – to overthrow the usurper king and restore the rightful monarchy – and Brienna’s memories hold the key to its success. Cartier desperately wants to help Brienna, but she must chose her friends wisely, keep her enemies close and trust no one if she is to save herself and her people.

The Queens Rising is a book that has been on my radar for so long. One of my oldest book friends, Asis, has been recommending this book to me for at least 10 years and it was always a case of ‘yes I’ll read it at some point’. And then I read some of Rebecca Ross’ more recent releases, and she fast became one of my all time favourite authors. So when one of my book clubs had the prompt of ‘read an authors debut book’, there was no other choice for me. I knew it was the best opportunity to dive into Rebecca Ross’ debut… and my god was this the right decision. I absolutely devoured every word of this book.

The Queens Rising follows the story of Brienna, a young girl who knows that she is of mixed blood. Each parent being from neighbouring kingdoms, Brienne knows where her father hails from but her grandfather refuses to tell her who he is. In a bid to hide Brienna from her father, he enrols her into Magnolia House – a house where students study and earn a ‘passion’. But as Brienne gets closer to graduating, she starts having visions – memories from a past ancestor. These make her incredibly dangerous… and her uncovered knowledge could be the key to overthrowing a corrupt king in her fathers kingdom.

I honestly loved the premise of this book. It was so fascinating to see this school where there’s only a few special girls learning their ‘passion’ and I really loved the idea that Brienna didn’t really fit. She wasn’t there because she was the best, like the other girls, she was there in order to hide and save her. This made her feel like she was separate from everyone else. I feel like this really endeared my to her character. I really felt for her and quickly started to love her story. I loved that she ended up being a passion of knowledge… we all know I love an intelligent FMC. Her and Cartier were just fantastic characters to follow throughout the story, and I really loved both of these main characters. I can’t lie, I was worried a little bit about the romance as Cartier is her tutor. The teacher in me was like ‘oh no!’ but it really doesn’t feel teacher/student. I can’t quite explain it properly but it’s a very different sort of relationship than I was expecting going in.

The Queens Rising was nothing like I thought it was going to be… in the absolute best way! There were certain things I was expecting to happen that didn’t, and this was amazing to me. Everything I thought I had worked out and guessed, was totally wrong. This does not happen to me very often and so I was pleasantly surprised that this was very different that I predicted. It’s actually a very unique plot from other YA fantasy books and that’s what made me love this book so much. If you would like to know what made this so different, read the below spoiler tag. (This has spoilers from about 50% of the book).

The Queens Rising was absolutely fantastic. Once again Rebecca Ross has cemented herself as my favourite author! I just cannot get enough of her books. This one was no different. It was action packed, fast paced and filled to the brim with mystery, intrigue and the perfect amount of romance. I will be diving straight into book 2 (which I never do!) and I cannot wait to see how it all ends. If you’re wanting a new romantasy series to dive into that will give you all the yearning with just as much plot, this is definitely the one for you! Give it a go, I promise you won’t be disappointed.