"To the slaves before me- to all the islanders -- I'm the traitor to her own people. My skin might be brown, and my blood might belong to these islands, but I'm no better than the Fjern."

Queen of the Conquered sets before the reader a hard question. Do the means of the mission justify the end? Sigourney Rose has convinced herself that in her search for vengeance she also will be helping the islanders. However, throughout her thought process, it's clear she has no plans for what comes next after she enacts her revenge. Even how she perceives the other islanders shows that she believes herself to be in a class above them. Sigourney is an anti-hero, (I do enjoy a good anti-hero story) but I could not like her,couldn't do it. Sigourney did a lot of theorizing and thinking but not a whole lot of action or movement unless it came to oppressing her own people. She tried to convince herself she's good while soften her own horrible actions to her people in her mind, and I cannot with her.

Writing-wise I kept waiting for something to happen. I was waiting for Sigourney to make a move or enact her plot but nothing ever sparked. The plot dragged for me while also becoming a who-done-it type of plot it reminded me of And Then There Were None (probably because of the island setting and murders.)

I did start to wonder whether she was had stronger magic than she realized and if she was tricking herself with her visions etc.

Overall the whole was a lot of saying and not showing. It was slow for two-thirds of it but the last third really sealed the deal for me. I was thrown for a loop but I enjoyed the twist. I did not like how the most powerful of people though was revealed and died within twenty pages.

The fact that Sigourney began to "trust" some of the nobles with her theories really threw me; she basically began to align herself with them. I do wonder why she didn't ask any of the other islanders if they had seen or hear anything suspicious (because those who are unseen know a lot more than we usually think they do.) I supposed it trickles into the fact that she did not see herself as a part of the other islanders either. Also for someone who can sense other people's feelings, she definitely can't read the flipping room. Each thought I have keeps coming back to the point that Sigourney while wanting revenge for herself and (supposedly) better for islanders, did not see the islanders as her equals or even as human as her. Callender does a great job of exploring how brutal slavery was and how rage can build and build in people until it explodes.

Queen of the Conquered had political intrigue, power-infused people, murder mystery, and characters with questionable morals. It has its issues but I enjoyed it! A great book for book club. 

I read this book because I really enjoyed Callender’s “Felix Ever After” and was interested in checking out more of their work! It is entirely different in tone, but a worthwhile read. Queen of the Conquered tells the story of Sigourney Rose, a young woman who lives on the islands of Hans Lollik Helle. She is determined to get revenge on the kongelig, who have colonized her islands and killed her family. To achieve this revenge, she believes she must wield power herself. The book explores themes of colonization, power, racism, privilege, and complicity in really thorough and interesting ways.

What works: I think this book does a lot really well. It takes on the hard task of creating a complicated and flawed protagonist. Sigourney feels fully realized as a character; her internal struggle consumes the pages. While Sigourney doesn’t have a lot of action in this book, it makes sense in the context of the novel. Sigourney feels so trapped between wanting the power and freedom of the kongelig and wanting the love and respect of her people that she ultimately is rarely able to take action until she absolutely has to. It is painful to read. The worldbuilding is also well-executed. There is a rich history behind the characters and places in the book, which grounds the more fantastic elements. Another thing I found impressive was the way it explored the history of colonialism and slavery in the Caribbean, weaving it into the fantasy world. It is blunt and brutal. 

What doesn’t work: My largest issue was the use of one device: Sigourney’s ability to read minds. I was excited to see how it would be used in her revenge, however, it mostly presented lots of background information about characters and places. While this showed off Callender’s worldbuilding, it slowed the pace significantly, especially since so much of Sigourney’s journey is already internal. However, I still found this a worthwhile read and am interested in the sequel! I’m invested in how the characters of this world move forward following the plot twist at the end.

 Callender is an amazing writer, once you get used to their flow and style. People saying the protagonist is unlikable as missing the point: she is supposed to be. This is a gripping, chilling, and deeply emotional novel, showing the horrors of slavery through a fictional lens, written by someone who actually understands this pain - instead of white authors pretending they do. This book is a brutal, and honest, portrayal of the results of privilege and power. It is not a novel for everyone; it is not supposed to be. But you should read it anyway. 

This is a hard book. The characters are hard through necessity, the protagonist Sigourney is honestly downright unlikable, and her participation in a system of slavery poisons her belief in the righteousness of her cause, and there's very little opportunity for love to bloom. It's a tough read, especially since Callender doesn't shy away from (nor do they revel in, which was a nice change from books by white authors that use slavery) the worst parts of slavery and they are very clear that Sigourney is not a good person. But I also feel like all of this leads it to being such a good book. I'd recommend getting a version of the book with the "extras" in the back to read Callender's Q&A about their story. I thought their discussion that they wanted to create a work about complicity with such a damaging system and that they wanted to have a book that dealt with privilege and complicity and reflecting on their own privilege and complicity in oppressive systems.