Review: The Queen of All that Dies by Laura Thalassa

Title: The Queen of All that Dies

Author: Laura Thalassa

Genre: new adult, romance, dystopia/science fiction

Reviewed by: Cassie

Summary (from goodreads.com)

In the future, the world is at war.

For the last decade, King Lazuli of the Eastern Empire has systematically taken over the world. No one knows much about him other than a series of impossible facts: he cannot die, he has not aged since the conflict began, and he wants to rule the world.

All Serenity Freeman has known is bloodshed. War has taken away her mother, her home, her safety. As the future emissary of the Western United Nations, the last autonomous region of the globe, she is responsible for forging alliances where she can.

Surrender is on the horizon. The king can taste it; Serenity feels it deep within her bones. There is no other option. Now the two must come face to face. For Serenity, that means confronting the man who's taken everything from her. For the king, it means meeting the one woman he can't conquer. But when they meet, something happens. Cruelty finds redemption.

Only in war, everything comes with a price. Especially love.

Basically I was scrolling through the new releases in new adult recently and I stumbled upon this little gem. I saw the cover, spazzed a little because it was so pretty, and decided to go for it. (I mean, heaven knows I've been trying to find a good read with well-known and well-liked books . . . and FAILING mind you). So I did what I usually don't do: I went for the lesser known book that was kind of a gamble.

The plot starts off very fast. (It is my personal opinion, however, that the summary is misleading about the story) So many things happening, so many different emotions, as well as deliciously dark little flashbacks.

The plot:

ACTUALLY had one, unlike many new adult books. Then again, I'm not sure if you can do dystopian/science fiction and get away with not having a plot (though there ARE such books and they should be ashamed of themselves).

Thankfully, it didn't follow cliche plot devices and actually went the opposite way than expected.

The characters:

Ehmmmmmmm I had high hopes for the male lead (aka Mantes . . . whose name reminds me of praying mantis)

DANGGGG GURL, look at that mantis werkin' it!!!!

. . . Don't worry, I have long ago accepted the fact that I'm messed up.

ANYWAYS. Mantes kind of disappointed me, not gonna lie. It's not his fault though!! He had big shoes to fill (cough cough the Darkling) with his whole "I'm an evil/tyrannical/immortal/mysterious ruler who will SMITE THE WORLD!! FEAR MY FURY! AND MY EXTRAORDINARY PULCHRITUDE!"

So, in regards to that delicious and tantalizing idea, Mantes fell short (but then again, who wouldn't??? We can't all be Darklings . . .)

*fangirl scream* - Sean O'Pry is ;akljdf

Yes, yes I just did that. I slammed some Darkling in your face and you liked it.

(Don't even try to deny it)

Anyways, as for Serenity (her name bothered me) she was cool. She really was. Kind of irrational at times, and inconsistent, but who cares!!

The romance******

Annoyed me. Don't get me wrong: it was cute. But it didn't give me the tingles, nor did I like the fact that it was so instantaneous! It wasn't QUITE instalove, but it was pretty darn close to it.

FINAL WORDS!

Intriguing story, entertaining, and a promising read.

But that cliffhanger though.

Hugs and kisses~~

Cassie