The Reluctant Queen by Sarah Beth Durst

Series: The Queens of Renthia (#2)

Format: 358 pages, Hardcover

Published: July 4, 2017 by Harper Voyager

Fantasy

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I finally finished another print book. I think I have to blame my phone, you scroll away and no time to read.  

Gonna make it short, just happy to have read a book ;)

This is a horrible world to live in, spirits everywhere that wants you dead. And one woman trying to control a country so they do not all die.

And the queen is dying, and they need a new one fast.

Horrible world, so freaking scary to live in. It has to be said.

I liked Naelin who we meet in this one. She is older, she has kids, and she does not want to power that can make her a queen. 

I liked it. I will def read the next one cos damn this poor country and now more bad things are happening.

Everything has a spirit: the willow tree with leaves that kiss the pond, the stream that feeds the river, the wind that exhales fresh snow . . .

And those spirits want to kill you.

It’s the first lesson that every Renthian learns.

Not long ago, Daleina used her strength and skill to survive those spirits and assume the royal throne. Since then, the new queen has kept the peace and protected the humans of her land. But now for all her power, she is hiding a terrible secret: she is dying. And if she leaves the world before a new heir is ready, the spirits that inhabit her beloved realm will run wild, destroying her cities and slaughtering her people.

Naelin is one such person, and she couldn’t be further removed from the Queen—and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Her world is her two children, her husband, and the remote village tucked deep in the forest that is her home, and that’s all she needs. But when Ven, the Queens champion, passes through the village, Naelin’s ambitious husband proudly tells him of his wife’s ability to control spirits—magic that Naelin fervently denies. She knows that if the truth of her abilities is known, it will bring only death and separation from those she loves.

But Ven has a single task: to find the best possible candidate to protect the people of Aratay. He did it once when he discovered Daleina, and he’s certain he’s done it again. Yet for all his appeals to duty, Naelin is a mother, and she knows her duty is to her children first and foremost. Only as the Queen’s power begins to wane and the spirits become emboldened—even as ominous rumors trickle down from the north—does she realize that the best way to keep her son and daughter safe is to risk everything.