We follow Delfin as she tries to cure the empire of the 'rot' while also trying to figure out who murdered her mother and siblings years ago. While trying to figure out who in the empire she can trust and who the traitor is, all this while her time is running out.

The story immersed me almost immediately so I devoured it in one sitting. I loved how fast paced it was but at some points it may be too fast! Very young adult so if that is your speed give this a try! Great start to a series can not wait to see where the series goes! I loved getting into the mind of the "Warden of All"

3.5
A very easy and quick read!

Recommended for YA readers who like coming into power tropes, mysteries, betrayals, and navigation of court intricacies. Those that prefer little-to-no romance may also enjoy this book.

I'll start off with the things I did like: I loved all the characters. Each one was dimensional and expressed various sides of their personality (good and bad). The little hints of foreshadowing were well placed. I also--overall--found the story to be interesting and the concepts intriguing.

What I didn't like: Transitions between some scenes were abrupt and interactions between characters were either rushed, not intimate enough, or too few and far between to create friendship, comradery, love (and later the sense of betrayal/shock that I was hoping for). The climax and points of the story where things picked up just moved too quickly for my liking.

The story has a lot of potential and I'm hoping the following books dive more into world building, character relationships, and unanswered questions.

I received this title as an eARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and James Hockley for the opportunity to read this treasure!

Ok so I had trouble with this book. I found it very predictable, I was right about who the "traitor" was and who was responsible for her family's death. But the very end did surprise me as I hadn't seen that coming. For that reason it has redeemed itself slightly.
The writing wasn't bad, neither was the story. I just think for me it was a bit too predictable. I am glad I stuck with it to the end but equally I don't feel any real inclination to read the sequel.

I had trouble reading and continuing to read this because of the predictability. After the "traitor" was revealed I only continued to read because I wanted see if I was correct in my guess of who was responsible for her family's death.

Thank you netgalley for the ARC of this book, I am sorry that this book wasn't for me but glad I persevered and didn't DNF it.

I really enjoyed this book it was a super fast and fun read for me loved the characters and the plot will definitely recommend

I liked the main character! She had an attitude and wasn’t afraid to go against the grain but I’ll be honest… why was it necessary to mess with the concept of time… I couldn’t get past it. It messed with my reader brain and it felt like, you did this for what? Did it add to the story?

This book was so fun!!
Queen's Descent is the first book in this series!
This story follows Delfin as she faces her fate: will she become Warden of All and govern her father's empire or will she become the 'rot' and mark a mark on her family line and forever be known as a failure? If she becomes Warden she must try to cure the empire of its “rot” while also figuring out the real murderer behind her family's death. The empire holds more traitors than she thought and she must learn to navigate her new life and position, find out who she can trust, and save herself and the empire before time runs out.

I loved this one so much, the world-building was amazing, and I loved all the characters. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author!!

Queen's Descent is the first book in a new fantasy series, centered on the character of Delfin, the daughter of the Emperor, who feels like a total failure.

The character of Delfin is a relevant and well built character, far from perfect and facing her own challenges as she navigates her journey in the world. She has a few good friends who also show signs of being developed into good characters, but a lot of the characters and events in the novel feel flat and undeveloped. There is a lack of detail development that is really needed in an immersive fantasy series, yet this is only the beginning, so there is still room for improvement. There is a lot of potential in this story, one I hope will be developed in future books.

The story was interesting, but it needs far too much work before it's ready for the review process.

My suggestion to the author:
-Add dialogue tags (she said, etc) once every three sentences is standard. - The story was far too confusing without any. Particularly since most of the story is driven by dialogue and there isn't much description.
-Add dialogue tags more than 1/3 lines if more than two characters are in the conversation.
-Especially since there aren't any dialogue tags in the entire book, when you use an action beat, make sure the subject doing the action beat is the one doing the talking.
-Stop and describe a scene & characters on occasion.
-Stop and describe the meaning of your terminology. So many things were left unexplained.
-Give a motive to the antagonists. Why were her classmates so nasty to her? Also, why was the teacher allowed to speak down to a princess (above his status)?
-Tell the reader what it means for the main character to succeed, and what she was doing in the council rooms. She simply went into the councils to perform the queens duties, but then the scene jumped. We don't know what her task was, what success meant. None of it was explained.
-You can get beta readers for free, it would help to clean up the story.
-A Developmental or line editor can help with the story structure and wording. This book seriously needs both.
-I know you said the book was unedited, but so many of the descriptions didn't quite work and were awkward. A copy editor can assist with that (BEFORE the book goes out for review).

This book wasn't ready for review. It seemed more like a first draft. I gave it two stars because the story has potential. My advice is to unpublish it and spend a good 4-6 months revising it with the help of beta readers and multiple editors.

I found this Fantasy started slowly but then dragged me in and I just could not put it down.

The main characters were well developed and you just could not dislike the Heroine for all her flaws.

The story definitely has a feel of the Game of Thrones, but was not as dark.

Thoroughly enjoyable.

Every now and then I get a taste for fantasy. Thus, this book. I absolutely loved it in the beginning. I enjoyed the main heroine Delfin and her coming of age. However, it all turned weird and pear shape as the story unfolded.
The ending felt like hitting a wall on full speed. Delfin was just about to do something earth-shattering and then...
Also, I am not sure if it's fantasy trope but I felt like an outsider reading this book, even though it is the first book in the series. Sometimes, it felt like characters are talking about things/places/people/events readers suppse to know and to have witnessed before... This was really confusing.

This story follows Delfin as she faces her fate: will she become Warden of All and govern her father's empire or will she become the 'rot' and mark a mark on her family line and forever be known as a failure. If she becomes Warden she must try to cure the empire of its “rot” whilst also figure out the real murderer behind her families death. The empire holds more traitors than she thought and she must learn to navigate her new life and position, find out who she can trust, save herself and the empire before time runs out.

This is the first book in the start of a series and I think it was a good interesting start with intriguing characters and introduction to a new world. However it was a slow read in parts and not all of the world building was detailed enough for me, in parts I felt I wanted more backstory in order to fill in slight gaps and add a bit more depth to the empire, Delfin and her relationship with her family.

But I do believe this will be delved into more in the next instalment(s) and this is a good start.

A great start to a promising series, buts as with all books this one was not perfect. While it did contain wonderful and detailed word building; as well as a fun plot to read along, I felt that there was some areas in this book that seemed to dragged and made the book feel as though it went on forever. However, this was an issue that was mostly overshadowed about the positive surrounding the book.

James Hockley has done it again. Reading this book was a phenomenal experience. Can’t wait for more books in this series

James Hockley continues this series with bustling momentum. I appreciated the author’s world building, as well as the sense of adventure. Ideal for readers looking for an enjoyable fantasy story/series.

I think this is book is aimed more at YA, and I found it a little uninteresting in places. Just my opinion, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would have.

“A traitor always keeps their value closest.”
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This story follows Delfin as she tries to cure the empire of the “rot” while simultaneously trying to figure out who murdered her mother and siblings years ago. She must figure who the empire’s traitor is while also navigating through who she can trust before the timeline she’s given runs out.
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I enjoyed the idea of this story and the different characters. The idea of having finders, clue masters, and the warden were all interesting. I appreciated that women were in positions of power and were instrumental from both the protagonist and antagonist viewpoints. I also appreciate the work the author put in as it can’t be easy to write a novel, and there were some very memorable quotes mixed in. One of my favorites was: “Knowledge is wonderful, but sadly, power must always trump knowledge. It is the way of things.”
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However, the plot and world building I felt lacked in development. I wanted more details, description, and backstories. Since the author is planning sequels to this book, I’m hoping some of the extra information I wanted will start to pop up. Additionally, the big reveals were fairly predictable for the most part. Beyond that, the book needed another round of edits to fix grammatical issues.

Queen's Descent is the first book in an apparent new series. This is also the first book I have read by James Hockley.
The story is really interesting and Delfin is out to find answers to what happened to her family. Along the way she's going to grow more confident in her own abilities and take on her role as Emperoress.
There are others in her way that are trying to stop her. This is a story with great detail but very easy to follow, I'm looking forward to the next installment.

Thank you #NetGalley for this ARC

I really liked this book! It pulls you in right away, keeps you on the edge of your seat, and had several twists that I would have never guessed were coming. I highly recommend it!!.

Delfin is faced with a tough choice: become the Warden of All and govern her father’s empire or instead take the rot and fade into obscurity. When she does make her choice she finds more uncertainty awaits her. Who can she trust? Who killed her mother? Is her Father the man she thinks he is?

I liked this book although I found that the pacing was rather jumpy and sometimes I was feeling that I had lost track slightly. I could tell the author wanted to include a lot in the story however I would have liked more description in some parts for my personal tastes. I really liked the character of Delfin. She was a kick arse brave girl who wore her doubts with pride and I was rooting for her. I’m looking forward to watching her character grow in the next book. Overall this is the beginning of a good adventure series.