Blackberry Book Tour: Revenge of Queen Rose by Valinora Troy

About the book

“Supposing for a moment that by sheer luck you stumbled on to one of the three gates of the city, you would not be able to open it. Even if you found out the password for one, you would still have to escape from Fang.”

“Who’s Fang?” Though Alan had a sinking feeling he knew the answer already.

The yellow eyes blinked at him. “Fang is the great snake encircling the city and eating all those who attempt to leave.”

The Rock of Diamonds has been attacked, the Diamonds sealed inside, and Susan and Vicky have disappeared. Everything points to Queen Rose instigating the attack, but how can this be the case, when she has been banished from Nivram for a thousand years?

Twins Cathy and Alan must travel to Thule in search of answers in this action-packed exciting sequel to The Lucky Diamond.

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My review

The Rock of Diamonds, home to magical, sentient diamonds, has been attacked and Lucky is trapped inside. Yvonne is trapped within her home, Susan and Vicky have vanished, and it’s up to twins Cathy and Alan, and Charlie, to embark on a perilous journey to a distant land to get help.

Meanwhile, Paul and Tremere receive an unfriendly welcome when Paul returns home to his kingdom. His regent, Reese, believes the Diamonds are her enemy, and will do anything to stop them.

I loved The Lucky Diamond, the first book in the series, but I loved Revenge of Queen Rose even more. The action, magic, excitement, and humor has all been turned up to 11 and I couldn’t get enough of it.

While The Lucky Diamond split up the children for a short time, the sequel sees them on separate adventures for almost the entire book. With such a large cast of characters, I enjoyed getting to know them better as they explored different threads of the plot. It was great to find out more about the Diamonds and their magic, to see Paul’s kingdom, and to see the children learn and grow as they navigate new and exciting challenges.

The King of the Diamonds is one of my favorite characters. I love how gruff and impetuous he is, in stark contrast to his patient, open minded daughter, Lucky. It was great to see him up to his old ways in the sequel.

Cathy and Alan take most of the heavy lifting with the plot this time around. They’re fun characters, and as the youngest of the 5 children, they still have a lot to learn. They make friends with a character called Chez, who is hilarious, and I loved every scene he was in. I also loved Charlie’s part in their adventure, and learning more about his magic.

The scenes with Paul were of particular interest. It was interesting seeing a land outside Nivram, and I liked the politics and intrigue between Paul, his regent, and her advisor. I feel these chapters would appeal more to readers at the older end of middle grade age group, but Troy excels at this type of fantasy and I hope it is something she expands upon in the future, perhaps with a series for young adults.

The separate threads come together in an exciting, and satisfying, finale. I can’t wait to read what this author writes next.

I award Revenge of Queen Rose…

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About the author

Valinora Troy has been writing since she could read, if not earlier. Her first book, started at the age of six, featured a girl finding a magic diamond. It took her all summer to write the first few pages. Since then, she has written many stories, both short and full length novels. THE LUCKY DIAMOND, her first full length middle grade children’s fantasy, was published November 2021.

Valinora Troy comes from a family of writers and artists. She holds a MA in Creative Writing (Children’s & Young Adults), and lives in Ireland.

You can find her in Twitter @ValinoraW where she tweets about books, writing and her devoted writer’s dog.

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