The Lost Queen

THE LOST QUEEN is an engaging YA fantasy about family, humanity, and destiny. Jolie is a high school sophomore who lost her friends after a spectacular meltdown during a swim meet. She feels as if she is in exile when she helps to rescue one of her former friends and the new junior who is very popular after they bump heads in the water. The new junior, Huong, takes an interest in her, helping to navigate her social world with her former friends and helping her to find her destiny.

What I loved: This was a unique read that begins feeling like a contemporary - high school troubles and social life challenges but builds into a broad fantasy. That being said, Jolie has always been close to the supernatural with her grandfather being a thay boi, someone with insight into the future. The book is woven with mythology and legends, stories that appear between chapters throughout. These built slowly until, through Jolie, the reader begins to understand the wider destiny/story.

Jolie was a compelling character, who wants to fit in and forget the embarrassing things that have happened (like any teen). She was easy to relate to, and her perspective helps to introduce the world and the fantasy elements. It was also easy to see why she was pulled into Huong's orbit, when she seemed to have things very easy socially and took an interest in Jolie, something Jolie was desperate for after so long of being isolated.

There were some great themes of family and humanity that were thought-provoking. Humanity is not always its best, but during the course of the story, it brings up the value of being human and the power inherent in human lives. This was an interesting discussion and something to think about. Destiny was another great theme, as well as the ways that individuals can forge their own.

What left me wanting more: Some of the changes in perception later in the story felt abrupt, and it would have been helpful to get more insight earlier (don't want to give specifics so as to avoid spoilers). The build at the beginning and middle were very slow, and the end felt almost too fast/abrupt. It felt difficult to immerse into the second half of the book with a lot of knowledge crammed into the space and then a quick end. This does seem like it will be a series, so this may be continued in the next book more smoothly.

Final verdict: THE LOST QUEEN is a unique YA fantasy with thought-provoking themes and lots of mythology.

The Lost Queen starts with Jolie Lam being an outcast after a public meltdown the prior year. It doesn't help that Jolie's grandfather is a known fortuneteller who is slowly losing his mind and will talk about dragons and earthquakes. Jolie isn't dealing with her exile well and one day she rescues Huong from almost drowning and Huong draws her into her inner circle. Huong is one of the most popular girls in school and makes Jolie feel special again. It helps that Huong believes her about her visions and since Huong is also Vietnamese - she truly is interested in what Jolie has to say about the mythologies.

The Lost Queen takes us into a retelling of the Trung Sisters, which I can say I was not familiar with before this book. It's one of my favorite things about retellings that I am not familiar with because it makes me interested in them. I thought this was a beautiful retelling, blending the mythology of the Trung Sisters and fantasy. Because every story needs dragons. The beginning of the book had great pacing and I was really enjoying the story. Jolie learning about her past and her connection with Huong. There were some plot points that I found obvious but I still think it was enjoyable to discover.

The writing started strong in the beginning of this book. Phan found blended the tropes of bullying, self-discovery, and strong bonds really well. Towards the end of the book, it was a lot. Phan used the characters dreaming to relive memories which felt results in information overload and trying to process what exactly was happening. But I did think that it was a clever way to throw the information of the Trung Sisters to the story. My biggest issue is that this is a Duology. I wish this would have been resolved within one book. I'm not sure how the second book is going to go but I felt like this book could have ended where it did.

I liked Jolie as a main character. It was easy to feel and root for Jolie and her story progressed well. She had a lot of character growth that was written in a believable way. However, Jolie isn't the only one who progressed throughout the story. Even our bullies from the beginning of the book have growth and Huong as well. The story made a full circle to ensure all of the characters are covered from beginning to end.

Overall, The Lost Queen by Aimee Phan was an interesting retelling. I wasn't too familiar with the Trung Sister mythology and this made me wanted to learn more about them. This is how you know you have a successful story. I thought the beginning of this book was really well paced. The tropes blend well and are handled in a believable way. The second half of the book has a lot of information but it does bring the story of the Trung Sisters to the story. I do wish this was a standalone novel instead of planned Duology.