Author: Amber Argyle
Genre: YA/Fantasy
Overall: I believe that Winter Queen, the first in the Fairy Queens (trilogy?) series by Amber Argyle, deserved 3.7 stars. Ilyenna, the seventeen year protagonist, is the clan mistress of her clan, the Shyle. There are several clans that have banded together to fend of the 'Raiders,' except very soon we discover along with Ilyenna that one clan is not very happy being equal to everyone else. After killing the son of the bad clan's chief, Ilyenna is given a death blow, and is in the process of dying when winter fairies come along and save her by turning her into the winter queen.
Ilyenna isn't sure that she wants to be the winter queen, however, so she gives back the powers of winter and chooses to become human again. This sets off a chain of events that leads to Ilyenna becoming a tiam, or slave, to the opposing clan.
I gave Winter Queen 3.7 stars because the author succeeded at building a magical world, and a believable, strong, and smart protagonist. I enjoyed reading about Ilyenna and company, and will likely read the next book in the Fairy Queen series by Amber Argyle. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy a strong heroine and a subtle, yet definitely there, romance that progresses expectedly through the book.
Characters: Ilyenna, the main character, who we follow through the novel, is the clan mistress of her clan, the Shyle. I enjoyed reading about Ilyenna because she was strong and did not care what others thought of her; she did exactly what she believed she had to do. I truly enjoyed Ms. Argyle's portrayal of Ilyenna because she made her an independent woman, something that is woefully ignored in most YA novels.
Other than Ilyenna, I found Rone to be pleasantly protective, and I liked that he wasn't overbearing like a lot of love interests can be. The supporting characters were well-developed, and I enjoyed their dialogue between each other and with Ilyenna.
The Dialogue: Winter Queen is one of those books where dialogue is only used to further the plot. While this can be a good thing, considering I absolutely despise fluffy dialogue with absolutely no point whatsoever, but I felt that Ms. Argyle took this to an unnecessary degree. All of the dialogue was used to further the plot. There were no pleasantries exchanged between friends, and while given the setting an subject matter, I do understand why this was, I simply think that a bit more dialogue of the less-dire kind would have been gratefully accepted. Other than that little grievance, the dialogue exchanged between characters was well put together and enjoyable.
The Plot/Setting: The setting in Winter Queen is another reason why I could not give the book a four-star rating. It was certainly well thought out in the beginning, and the descriptions were wonderful, but in the beginning Ilyenna is in the Shyle camp, while most of the book takes place in the Tyron camp. The Tyron camp was sort of almost described when Ilyenna first came to it, but then I felt that the setting kind of just disappeared. I didn't know if it was supposed to look like Shyle, or if it looked completely different, and that bothered me.
The plot was good, and it progressed nicely. I really liked how well developed it was, and the pace was actually near perfect. Whenever I was wondering what is going to happen next? it happened. There was never a lull in suspense, and I could read the novel quite smoothly.
The Originality: Although Winter Queen is about fairies, a subject that is wearing thin in the YA world, it didn't feel overdone or cookie-cutter like. There were times when I could see a distinct resemblance to other books I've read like this one, but Winter Queen definitely manages to pull itself together in a unique fashion. I enjoyed reading Winter Queen, and hope that the next novel in the series is just as good as this one!
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