Dark Queen
Author: Faith Hunter
Release Date: May 1, 2018
Publisher: Ace
Jane Yellowrock Book #12
ISBN: 1101991429
ISBN13: 9781101991428
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source: NetGalley
Jane Yellowrock used to hunt vampires, but now she must fight--and win--beside them.
As Enforcer to the vampire Master of the City of New Orleans, Jane Yellowrock stakes her reputation and her life on keeping her territory safe. But Leo has been issued a blood challenge by the emperor of the European vampires, who seeks to usurp all of his power and possessions. If Leo loses the match to the death, the city will be forfeit, and the people of New Orleans will suffer the consequences. Jane can't let that happen.
Preparing for the duel requires all of Jane's focus, but with so much supernatural power in play, nothing goes according to plan. She has to rely on herself and the very few people she knows she can trust to stand and fight. Only two things are guaranteed: nothing is sacred, and no one is safe.
There were quite a few shocking moments in DARK QUEEN and I still can't decide how I feel about some of them.
I love how much Jane has grown and evolved in the series. She has a vast 'family' now and I love reading about their interactions. Beast continues to be enjoyable to listen too. Jane's relationship with Bruiser is in a great place and I enjoy their times together. We learn a lot more about Jane's past along with her in DARK QUEEN and I feel that a new character that was introduced will open a lot more of her past up to her and us.
I want to avoid spoilers so some of my issues with DARK QUEEN aren't going to be voiced. I felt there were some filler moments that could have been avoided. I don't really need to know the ins and outs of how Jane dresses over and over. I also didn't need to excessive detail about rooms that characters spent two seconds in. There were a lot of new characters introduced and I didn't always see their purpose in the story.
I didn't love the end. It was a bit slow which was understandable with what was going on, but the last events that happened felt stilted. Like one event was supposed to happen, but then it changed at the last minute and there wasn't time to elaborate. Things were left very uncertain.
I gave it 3.5/5 stars
* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
