Your past, when used properly, becomes armor, it becomes weapons forged specifically for you.
Queendom Come
by Jordan H. Bartlett
Genre: YA Fantasy
About: Having rid the court of traitors, Jacs now has the freedom to reunite and rebuild the Queendom. Or does she? A terrorist group seeks to cause havoc, her strongest ally demands Jacs marry into her family, and the boy she actually loves is pulled further and further away from her. She may have proven herself worthy of the crown, but is the crown worth the sacrifice it will take to keep it?
Thoughts
In this third book of an epic trilogy, our enemies are no longer so hidden. But while secret plots and underground kingdoms are brought to light, the path to peace grows more tenuous as unrest and decades of hatred threaten to break the Upper and Lower realms apart. There is no easy fix and I particularly like the care Bartlett uses towards culture shifts; laying out the groundwork for change and steadily moving people's mindsets. Such as when Connor reflects on the decision to not allow a memorial tree to be planted in the Lowerian realm, and how this denies the people the chance of healing. Or when Amber is faced with the decision of allowing men to fight for their Queen. Previous prejudices are slowly and thoughtfully pushed aside to give room for this new Queendom to take shape.
And it's a Queendom that does not forget its folklore. There are some fantasy elements in this one that really blew me away. I loved the uncontrollable Griffin, and the incredible transformation a certain someone's courage leads them to at the end.
In fact this book, of the three, has perhaps the best blend of fantasy and political intrigue. It's a less graphic, Middle Grade and Young Adult friendly Game of Thrones. There's past romances causing rifts in the present generation, flying creatures outside of the Queen's control, betrothals to cement power, plenty of dark moments but, and what sets this series apart, a sense of love and friendship at its core. Jacs and Connor both go on painful journeys and yet there's such pureness to these characters. They're not unaffected by the decisions they're forced to make, or the things they've seen, but they remain the Jacs and Connor we know and love from the first book; the girl writing to a boy up in the sky and the boy sneaking out with his toy boat and dreams.
It's an incredibly sweet series that enters dark places but does so with characters that are not afraid to let their eyes adjust and find that pathway back to the light. Bartlett crafts a complex, unique world her characters learn to soar through.
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