4.5

Queen Bee

Amalie Howard
July
2023

Review:

Ahhhh! My first YA historical romance. It lived up to all my hopes and dreams. Don’t get me wrong, it was very YA. There were some parts I couldn’t help cringing at. But it still was a really cute story with an interesting premise. I liked how the story depicted revenge and how it had a lot of female empowerment in it. Also, the causal diversity was fabulous. It felt like what the Brigerton story has been trying to do except even more casual. There’s no big struggle to gain respect. Everyone is just who they are. I also liked the incorporation of gay characters and the normalization of that. It was like, yep, that guy's gay, and that’s it. There was no struggle surrounding that. Which was really nice. It was a little disappointing that it ended without too much closure, but that is classic YA style. I really liked this one!

Trigger Warnings:
death of parent, addiction, bullying, and drug addiction

Synopsis From Book:

Lady Ela Dalvi knows the exact moment her life was forever changed—when her best friend, Poppy, betrayed her without qualm over a boy, the son of a duke. She was sent away in disgrace, her reputation ruined. Nearly three years later, eighteen-year-old Ela is consumed with bitterness and a desire for . . . revenge. Her enemy is quickly joining the crème de la crème of high society while she withers away in the English countryside. With an audacious plan to get even, Ela disguises herself as a mysterious heiress and infiltrates London’s elite. But when Ela reunites with the only boy she’s ever loved, she begins to question whether vengeance is still her greatest desire. In this complicated game of real-life chess, Ela must choose her next move: Finally bring down the queen or capture the king’s heart?
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