I’m hoping that in the next book, we get to see a lot more of Isadore and find out more about her motivation. Isadore was a mysterious character, with Eva’s memories showing that the two were close and present-day actions showing that she cares for Eva more than she shows.
That said, the character that intrigued me the most was actually Eva’s sister, Isadore. Shifting to characters, I thought they were interesting! It’s lovely that Eva is supported by a group of people that care for her so deeply and I appreciated the fact that she was not alone. Maybe it’s because, as far as I can tell, the names Evalina and Isadore are derived from Latin and Greek respectively, and that framed the book as something towards Greek/Roman mythology in my mind and so the Queendom system ended up reminding me of the Amazons?
It’s likely my ignorance talking, but I could picture this book as being inspired by any matriarchal society (e.g. I really liked the magic system and the four races (species?) of inhabitants (human, fey, bloodkin aka vampire, and khimaer aka magical chimeras), but I didn’t really understand how this was inspired by North Africa. In terms of worldbuilding, I’m a bit torn as to how I feel about it. It’s not a bad thing, but I kind of like standalones (just me?) so I was quite eagerly awaiting the start of the combat, only for it to happen at the end of the book. With her seventeenth birthday approaching, Eva must find a way to master her magic if she wants a chance to kill her sister Isadore and get the crown.įirst up: this is clearly the first in a duology so a lot of the book was getting us into the world and setting the stakes. Eva’s magic is blood and marrow, a particularly destructive type that’s not been seen since the first Queen. Myre is unique because not only is it ruled by Queens, the queens are chosen through a combat system – when the youngest heir turns seventeen, she becomes a Rival Heir and the sisters are forced to kill one another. I’ve never read a North African-inspired fantasy, so I was immediately intrigued and put it on my TBR list.Ī River of Royal Blood is the story of Evalina, a princess of Myre. I first heard about this book in mid-2020, when Lila from Hardcover Haven talked about it for her Black and Bookish tag.
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