Monday 27 March 2023

Queen's Catacombs by Jordan H. Bartlett


Book Details:

​Book Title:  Queen's Catacombs (The Frean Chronicles #2) by Jordan H. Bartlett
Category:  YA Fiction (Ages 13-17),  416 pages
GenreYA Fantasy 
Publisher:  CamCat Books 
Release date:  Mar 2023
Content Rating: PG. Very clean, but there is some brief violence.


Book Description:

Winning the crown was only the beginning.

Jacs, now the rightful Queen of Frea, seems to be Queen in title alone. She scrambles to learn the customs and traditions of a Realm she had only read about in books. The Council of Four have her firmly under their thumb, and their ideas for the Queendom are oppressive and outdated. Their knowledge of her mother and Master Leschi’s whereabouts is the only leverage they need to make the new Queen dance to their tune.

​Jacs is determined to find those who were taken from her and do what’s right for her Queendom. But in her search for answers, Jacs uncovers a much darker truth from the Queendom’s past that will forever change its future.


I loved reading the first Frean Chronicles book, Contest Of Queens, so I was thrilled to get a copy of its sequel, Queen's Catacombs, too. Jacs is indeed now Frea's Queen, but the odds are still stacked against her. Fortunately her friends are wonderfully supportive, even though Connor, now her Royal Advisor, seems to have divided loyalties. Friendship is an important theme throughout Queen's Catacombs and it was so good to read a novel where women work together, rather than being spitefully pitted against each other. Of course, not all the characters are Jacs' friends!
Jacs' mother and Master Leschi have not yet been found either. (Several aspects of Queen's Catacombs' storyline, including this one, do carry on from the first book so I think it's probably most satisfying to read them in the right order.) I felt that there was a darkness surrounding their disappearance and this wasn't so far from the truth. Jordan Bartlett reveals a part of the Queendom that we had only briefly seen before and the location makes for chillingly atmospheric scenes. I loved Queen's Catacombs just as much as I did Contest Of Queens. This is such a great series!

Meet the Author:

Jordan H. Bartlett is a New Zealand-born Canadian with a love for children’s literature and female empowerment. She grew up reading books about boys for boys and found it hard to find a strong female heroine she could relate to. Bartlett wrote Contest of Queens to give young readers that character she so longed for in a world where gender norms are reversed. Bartlett currently resides in Banff, Alberta where she works as a Speech Language Pathologist and is a certified yoga instructor.

connect with the author: website facebook instagram ~ goodreads


Enter the Giveaway:

Win a signed hardcover copy of QUEEN’S CATACOMBS (3 winners) (USA only) (ends Apr 17)


CONTEST OF QUEENS Book Tour Giveaway



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