Review Detail

When Amie’s sister betrays her, she finds herself disinherited by her parents and ruined in proper society. Outcasted, she’s forced to work as a servant to the princess, Princess Mariama, and gets to see her in a new light. Amie has believed the princess to be cold-hearted because of how many suitors have died on her account. The emperor refuses to let just anyone marry his daughter, so a suitor must go through a series of trials to win the princess’s hand. The only problem is that the trials are impossible to complete and the emperor refuses to see reason. The two girls find an unlikely friendship in each other and Mariama clings to it.

All Amie wants is to marry the love of her life, Kader, but that’s impossible with her current position. When he mentions running away, Amie considers it and realizes it can happen if they take the time to save up enough money, so they give themselves a year timeframe. But plans can go wrong so fast and in so many ways. When secrets come out about Amie’s sister, she realizes there is more to the story of her town. She also learns that there just might be a way to help Mariama’s suitor win the trials to end the unnecessary bloodshed. As more time passes, Amie finds it more and more difficult to leave Mariama’s side because she cares about her too.

THE SCORPION QUEEN is a young adult fantasy novel that explores friendship and love and trying to decide which one is more important. Working for the princess, Amie realizes how much betrayal hides behind the castle walls and how dark of a society she actually lives in. She is met with challenge after challenge and has to rally her inner strength to overcome each one. While the plot is intriguing, I do wish the magic was explored more. I love the character development and how Amie learns to be more assertive and not so passive. She’s tired of trying to appease everyone, especially since her own parents have turned against her.

Final Verdict: I would recommend this young adult novel to ages fourteen and up and for fans of royal politics and fantasy. The author explores the dark secrets people of power like to hide and it’s fascinating to watch the friendship between Amie and Mariama grow.