Queen o' the Norrrrth.

This was buckets of fun. Incidentally, I read it right after finishing Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros which is currently popping off absolutely everywhere on Booktok and Booktube, but I personally had a much better time with THIS book.

In "North Queen," Nicola Tyche takes readers on a pretty wild ride. I thought I knew where this book was going in the first quarter and was happily on board with the general set-up, then whoopsie! Not so fast!

To give you a spoiler-free flavour of what it's about, or at least how it starts... Our protagonist, Nora, wakes in the Wild woods with no memory of how she got there or who she is. Also, there's a fox looking at her weirdly. Very shortly after, she's discovered by someone who seems to know her as Nora, the lost princess of Mercia, who's been missing for 3 years after being secreted away by her father the King. She's brought back to the castle and thrust immediately into a world of expectations, pressures, and prophecies - of which she is a central figure.

I really liked Nora as the main character. She is 25. She's spirited, strong and determined but still has the elegant and demure qualities you'd expect of someone raised as a princess.

I loved the plot too, though it's quite an angsty read that occasionally hurt my feelings. I'm not complaining, though. A nice gut punch in the feels never hurt anyone! Or rather, it did, but they probably liked it.