Publication: 24th October 2023 – HarperVoyager
From Greta Kelly, the author of the Warrior Witch duology, comes The Queen of Days, an epic adventure that weaves together a flawed-but-lovable family of thieves, a battle between fallen gods, and stakes high enough to cause vertigo—perfect for fans of The Lies of Locke Lamora and Six of Crows.
For Balthazar and his family of thieves, stealing a statue during the annual celebration of the god Karanis was just a good bit of fun…or a way to stick it to the governor who murdered his parents. And yeah, the small fortune in reward doesn’t hurt—even if his boss also hired the mysterious Queen of Days to join the crew as “the weapon of last resort…”
Whatever that means.
But Bal doesn’t know the ceremony isn’t simply empty words and dusty tradition; it’s true magic. The kind of magic that rips open a portal for the god himself. Only the idol that Karanis planned on using for a body now lies broken at the Queen of Days’ feet. And half of it is missing.
With the aid of a lovable brawler, a society lady turned bomb maker, a disgraced soldier, and a time-eating demon, Bal must hunt down the missing half of the statue if he has any hope of earning his money, keeping his crew alive…and perhaps even saving all of humanity. But as his journey sends him racing through the city—and across realities—he discovers that doing all this might just doom the city.
The city be damned. It’s time to kill a god.
Full of adventures and surprises, The Queen of Days is an entertaining and immersive fantasy novel that kept me immersed from beginning to end.
The story is told from two different perspectives. On one side, there is Balthazar. Born from one of the most powerful families in the city of Cothis, Bal and his siblings were forced to flee after the murder of their family by the hands of the now governor. But now, he and his band of thieves are back in search of revenge and a huge pay off that will allow them to start a new life. All they have to do is to steal a statue during the celebrations of the god Karamis and, in doing so, disgracing the man who killed their family. But, to do that, they need the help of the Queen of Days. Also known as Tass, the Queen of Days is certainly not human, but she gets things done, even though her price is high and it’s not money, but time. Bal is determined to get his revenge, no matter the cost, even when the statue they were supposed to steal is broken in half and a door is open to a wrathful god.
I must admit that I really enjoyed this novel. The world-building is quite interesting and there are twists and turns at every corner, lots of action, bored gods who want to conquer the human world, time magic, and loyalties questioned.
The characters are interesting. Their motivations are realistic and, despite frequent arguing and secrets, they love each other and always come together. Bal’s obsession for revenge can be his weakness and sometimes puts in question his leadership, but I liked how his character develops towards the end. Tass/the Queen of Days’ perspective were some of my favorite parts to read. Her confusion to human’s actions and emotions and her desire to belong somewhere made her an authentic and fascinating character.
The Queen of Days is a well-written story of revenge, action, love, and found family and I am already looking forward to its sequel.
A huge thank you to Harper Voyager and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of this fantastic novel.
Greta K. Kelly is (probably) not a witch, death or otherwise, but she can still be summoned with offerings of too-beautiful-to-use journals and Butterfingers candy. She currently lives in Wisconsin with her husband EJ, daughters Lorelei and Nadia who are doing their level-best to take over the world.
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