"Book II: The Reluctant Queen" comes out on July 4th! Be sure to check out our review at FictionUnbound.com here is a look back at Book I in the "The Queens of Renthia" series:
CS Peterson: As an epic fantasy, Durst’s book has all the requisite tropes and variations that readers of the genre crave. One of the things I enjoyed about the book was her playful use of tropes and trope reversals. A brief list of well-used tropes include: a Hogwarts-type school; elites in gowns; rough, honest woodsmen who wear green; rough, honest woodsmen who watch young women and pick the most promising as their padawans; a Hunger Games-type arena to pick the winners; a tyrant who will do anything to stay in power; a hero who just wants to stay home and live in the swamp; and vicious, can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em fairies. And there’s casual sex—so it’s in the Adult Epic Fantasy section and not the YA section.
Excerpted from Manic Pixie Dream Girl: The Queen of Blood w/co-contributor Amanda Boldeneaux. To read more please visit FictionUnbound.com