I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.
When I first started this book, it was slow and hard to get into. I actually had to come back to it. I'm happy that I did , though. Once I got into the book, I couldn't put it down! 
I think it's the first person point of view that originally threw me off. Usually, those books are not written well. So when, I saw that the story was going to be in Princess Kateri's POV, I think that's what turned me off. Thankfully the the story was written very well and was fast moving! I loved the way the ending wrapped up!

I received a copy of Tiger Queen from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. If you're looking for a good fantasy standalone, this is the right pick. 
Princess Kateri must fight for her right to rule her desert kingdom. To rule, she must win in an arena against an opponent that she knows she will not be able to bring down. Throw in added drama from a gang of 'Desert Boys' who are stealing from the cities wells, Kateri's world becomes flipped upside down from everything she knows. This is a great retelling of 'The Lady or the Tiger?' Strong characters and well written.

Received a digital ARC of this book via NetGalley.

I love the original The Lady and The Tiger tale. So, I was very interested to see Annie’s spin on the tale. Gave me the feels of Aladdin, Peter Pan, and Mad Max.

Huge thanks to NetGalley for providing me a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. I absolutely loved this book!! This book just captured my attention from page one and I couldn't stop reading it until I was done. I love how much action there was and I really enjoyed how badass Princess Kateri is. I really enjoyed seeing her character change and progress as she is put in a difficult situations while also uncovering lies that overall change her as person. You also get to see how Cion and the desert boys change her as she becomes one of their own as Cion and Kateri become closer to each other as he trains her to defeat Roderick and bring back water to her people. I give this novel a 5 out 5 star rating.

This was definitely one of my favorite reads of 2019! I don’t know what I was expecting, exactly, but it swept me off my feet, into a struggling desert land full of misconceptions with a courageous, determined girl. I was SO inspired by our main character, Kateri. She approaches courage in a way I don’t think I’ve ever seen before: she doesn’t hesitate to do things more than once in front of others in order to get better, and when asked to do something, she does it. I mean, she doesn’t say “oh someone else could do it better,” or “no, I haven’t done that in a while, it’s too embarrassing.” She just does it. That may not seem like a big deal, but she doesn’t even hesitate for fear of man, and she actually taught me a lot in the phase of life I was going through when I read this. I hope I did her justice with that description haha.

I also thought the romance was spot-on! Cion was a total book boyfriend, in my humble opinion, and he brought some amazing character development in Kateri - the yin to her yang. And I thought the plot and her character development in general felt very natural considering the impressionable nature of children and the childhood she had. 

Overall, I freaking loved this book so much! It was a relatively simple fantasy read, yet it had deeper facets as well, and I just enjoyed it an awful lot! Totally recommend!

PS thank you NetGalley, Annie Sullivan, and Blink for gifting me with a digital arc of this book in exchange for an honest (albeit late) review! All opinions in this review are my own.





If you enjoyed this review, you can follow me here on Goodreads for more or follow me on my bookstagram @ashton_reads! Love y’all!

“Tiger Queen” by Annie Sullivan has an amazing synopsis but unfortunately misses the mark for me. The main issue for me is the characters themselves. The main character, Kateri , was definitely a warrior. But everyone else felt flat. The writing was repetitive/ redundant at times. I also felt like the story was pretty predictable. Overall, it was an ok story. 

*I received a digital advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

Tiger Queen was one of those YA fantasies that had the potential to be amazing but ended up average at best for me for what I read of it. Part of that, I think, is because I read a LOT of books in this genre so it's become harder and harder to stand out. Unfortunately this book just didn't and I ended up DNFing.

From the start, I didn't care about Kateri as a protagonist. There was nothing about her that I found worth rooting for. And as a narrator, she continuously brought up the same stuff over and over -- comments about the setting, the whole history between her mother and the Desert Boys, etc. -- which was frustrating because it bogged the story down. Considering Tiger Queen is narrated by Kateri in first person, this became a bit of an issue and I lost focus a lot.

The story itself was... okay, much like everything else in the book. I felt like it could have been more interesting but instead followed a pretty straightforward and predictable path of a girl warrior overcoming her enemy and finding love. Which, okay, I don't get the romance in this book. I love romance in stories and often seek it out but this was definitely one of those cases where it just didn't make sense to me. I'd have much rather the book follow Kateri's journey to defeating the Big Bad of her world and saving her people. Especially when she was already pretty dense and didn't pick up on who the bad guy really was from the start (it was so obvious to me I thought it was thrown in as a red herring before the real bad guy was revealed... which unfortunately wasn't the case).

Nothing about Tiger Queen stood out to me and eventually I decided to DNF it and be done with the book entirely. Good thing too because I was reading some other reviews after and there's apparently a scene later on involving the tigers that would likely have hit my only trigger when it comes to books (animal violence and/or death). I can't speak to the contents personally but it didn't sound promising. First book I've read by this author but I don't know how inclined I feel to check out her previous book or future work right now.

I think this book was very well written, the characters had wonderful development and the story moved and flowed well. I unfortunately just could connect well, this happens sometimes and isn't because of the book itself and more of the timing and way my mind replayed it in my head. I think if I were to try again I might enjoy it more, but for right now it just didn't have me in fangirl mode. That ending though....

Princess Kateri has trained her whole life to finally claim her birthright, vowing to have her revenge on the Desert Boys who killed her mother. But a face-to-face encounter with a living legend, turns everything that she thought she knew on its head, as she is forced to re-evaluate her core beliefs and what it means to be queen.



The sophomore novel from Annie Sullivan will not fail to disappoint. Tiger Queen is engaging from the start establishing a strong heroine, the desert kingdom, and the perceived enemies quickly, then skillfully turning what we thought we knew all around. Life in the desert is merciless, as are its monarchs.



Kateri is courageous, never backing down from a challenge, she knows her weaknesses and acknowledges that she still has room to grow and learn. I admired her compassion, and strength.



Cion is a mysterious enigma who over the course of the book becomes more and more flesh. He is a born leader, with strong loyalties to his family, I loved unraveling his secrets throughout the story.



Action-packed, with excellent world building, Tiger Queen is my favorite of Ms. Sullivan's novels so far. I liked the unexpected twists, well paced action and character development. There are many twists and turns that kept me guessing, and many characters who are not what they appear at first. A wonderful read for fans of teen fantasy and strong heroines.



I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

In Tiger Queen is a retelling of “The Lady, or the Tiger?”; we follow Kateri who is a princess of a desert kingdom called Achra. Kateri has to do a battle to see if she will have the right to rule or not. So, when Kateri finds out who she will have to face, Rodric she knows she can't win, she turners to the only person who might know how to win her battle. He happens to be the leader of the Desert Boys who are always braking into her city and stealing water, causing more trouble with her father and the people. 
She makes the choice to risk her life to enter into the desert to find the Desert Boys to help. The Desert Boys is a rebel group who just trying to help people. Cion would have to be my favorite character as he is the 'doing what he must to help people' kind of guy. I enjoy his back story, it was one of my favorite scenes. All the backstory is important and helps wrap the whole story up. Back to Cion and Kateri's relationship, I like the little push and pull they have, the willingness to help each other. 
The story is fast-paced but well balanced. Sullivan's writing is beautiful! I read her other book A Touch of Gold, and really enjoyed it but I loved this one so much more. The world-building is breathtaking! I loved the details she puts into each part of this story. 

I was given a copy of this to review, however, this is my 100% honest thoughts. 

Review is also in Double the Books Magazine - https://drive.google.com/open?id=1wLIXN09Hh9qWLQ86ZHBOl7Uz2OBdd7RJ

Great atmospheric setting with a strong heroine who knows her own strength. This book started off with a bang and kept going. I really liked the heroine and seeing her come into her own during the story. The mythology and setting was something I don't see much in YA so it was a welcome change. Give to fans of mythology and wanting something different

Annie Sullivan's retelling of 'The Lady or the Tiger?' takes the original story to another level. As a fan of Stockton's famous short story, this version gives a satisfying answer to the question he leaves with his readers. However, you don't need to read 'The Lady or the Tiger?' in order to enjoy Tiger Queen.

I have to say, the concept of this novel is exceptional! Adventurous and inventive, Tiger Queen is a fun desert fantasy with a lot of action. There were nice gladiator elements and an aspect of one of my favorite tropes: found family. I loved Sullivan's personification of the desert, making it a main character and giving it so much life.

While I loved the concept of this story, the execution left me a bit underwhelmed. The characters seemed one-dimensional and underdeveloped to me and the romance fell a bit flat. It also starts off a bit slow in my opinion. But in these instances it's more of an, "it's not you, it's me," thing? I found it to be an enjoyable read overall.

I would definitely recommend Tiger Queen to anyone who enjoys desert fantasies and fun, action filled standalones! The atmosphere and fight scenes will not disappoint!

This was a really interesting and unique story! I loved the world building and unique atmosphere the writer created. I've never read a book with a world similar to this one, so having that new feel was refreshing! Sullivan did a fantastic job with the world building and it is obvious she did a great amount of planning with everything in this story. The fantasy world was so rich and unique!

I really enjoyed the main character. She was an obvious example of how much planning went into this story. She felt well developed and natural. Her upbringing was apparent through her journey during this story and I loved watching her develop as a character. I wanted to just reach into this story and hug her so often because I cannot even imagine being under the type of pressure she feels.

The writing in this story is beautiful! It truly bring the world to life and makes flying through the pages easy. I definitely stayed up late a few nights trying to devour more of this book! It was just so easy to fall into.

I do have to say, the book is a little predictable. It isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I do wish I hadn't guessed everything correctly.

TIGER QUEEN is a fantasy set in ancient history in a land of sand where a princess finds that her world is not as it seems. Highly recommended to ya fantasy fans!

It took me a bit to like Kateri, the protagonist of the story. She comes across as naive and easily gullible, as well as arrogant. However, her character changes as she faces lies, challenges, and finds friends in unlikely places. The villains play their roles quite well and there I really despised them. The romance is sweet and I appreciated that it didn't take over the story. I liked the training and the group of boys that reminded me of Peter Pan and the lost boys. Cion and the boys were probably my favorite part of the story. The action scenes were engrossing and well written. The ending was climatic ending on a sweet note.

There were a few things I felt could have used more development. A few of the characters were one dimensional and I would have liked them to be better fleshed out. Otherwise, I had no complaints about this story.

In the end, was it what I wished for? I enjoyed this one from beginning to end. Definitely worth the read if you're a fantasy fan!

Content: Violence and abuse.
Source: I received a complimentary ARC from the publisher, which did not require a positive review nor affect it in any way.

I loved this book so much it is the best book I have read this year so far I loved everything about this book. I loved the characters especially Kateri and Cion they both were well written characters I liked how their relationship developed at a slow pace not too fast or too slow at a more natural pace. I liked Kateri because of how strong she is and I really like how she reacted after she found out all she though she knew was wrong I really liked how determined she was to right the wrongs that was done to the people. I liked Cion because how he was the person to tell Kateri the things she grew up were not right and how it was alright to feel and to show emotions. I really liked the plot of the story it was paced at just the right pace I liked that it went from Kateri trying to find a way to beat someone she could not to stopping a tyrant I really liked how it was all wrapped up with no loose ends it had the perfect ending. So overall I really loved this book I would read more by this author for sure.

I did not like this book. I thought it was juvenile and not well written. Very boring. I definitely will not be recommending this book.

Having these books fall into my hands was a godsend given that we are looking to add more female leads to our library—tough ones at that. It is so hard to find books that are written well in character development, plot, and female “tough” situations, but I think we’ve found a great one. The character design in this book is and was exquisite. I enjoyed reading all the descriptions, development, and love put into the characters from the very beginning. Many of the characters have found their way in the world that is so important to that character that I can’t help but love them. Kateri is a tough force to contend with especially when she knows she must kill all the suitors in the arena. She has a determination that I see in many of my current students and I believe she would be a HIT in my girls eyes. She is a force to be reckoned with that even I, a female, would not want to come against. 

There are many themes and ideas that come into this novel such as love, heartache, self-respect, protection, and more. I really loved delving into the world that the author created as it is such a magnificent creature in and of itself. The many traditions and customs that she created was great and I really enjoyed seeing that in a book—we don’t see that written so great often. The characters in this book caught my attention so much and I believe that students would be able to connect to the different characters as well (there is someone for everyone). This can be utilized for many grades and many different groups of people—it would be a great book club book.

I enjoyed the fighting, protecting, and action that this book provides in a multi-dimensional way (nothing is just black & white here),  There is a lot of backstory that can help you understand what is happening cover to cover. I would suggest this book for a book club or even independent reading as it is not a difficult read and definitely has the high interest aspect to it that all students can get with. The characters that rush into danger is immediately something that my students would gravitate to and love to read—because who doesn’t love action in every form? Especially with a female badass at its helm.

*I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.”

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book.  The story (a take on the poem “The Lady or the Tiger”) was interesting and pretty well thought out, though somewhat predictable at times.  The writing wasn’t overly flowery, but I frequently felt like the author was spelling things out for me that she didn’t need to, making comparisons that I could have made on my own, telling me the “so what?” instead of letting me do it myself.  In the beginning especially, explanations and details were given about things that had no bearing on the story, and I’m not sure how necessary they were for the world building.

Kateri (16 almost 17) was likable, particularly as she distanced herself from her father and the things he had told her all her life.  She was strong, though, and not just physically.  I confess she felt more like she should be 18 than 16, though.  I also liked Cion (age?)—he was kind, fair, and a good leader.  His little brother Dimic, though, was kind of adorable.  Kateri’s father and Rodric were somewhat one dimensional, though.

Character’s ages, however, seemed to lack much thought.  We know Kateri was a month away from her 17th birthday at the start of the book and a week away from it at the end.  Nobody else’s age is given (always drives me crazy when I can’t figure it out).  She says that Rodric is several years older than she is, so he’s likely in his early 20s.  She guesses Cion is near her age, not much older than she is (I can’t remember if she estimates a few years or not), putting him at about 18 or so.  But Cion says he was 12 when Dimic was born, and I would have guessed Dimic’ age between 8 and 10, not 6.  So . . . ?  I dunno.

The ending wrapped up a bit too quickly and neatly, I think.

Note: Can’t recall anything bad.

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this book!!! The title and book cover sold me right away, but then after reading the synopsis, I knew I had to have it. This book had so many great elements to it. I thought that the world was well described and a very interesting one as well. The storyline, deception, twists, they were all so well done. I was able to connect to the main character rather quickly and I liked everything about her. She was not only a princess but strong, capable, and I loved that even though she was a woman, in her kingdom she was able to rule without having to get married, under a few conditions at least. I was immediately hooked from the first chapter.

We follow our main character, Kateri. She is the princess of the kingdom of Achra, which is in the desert. Her mother passed away so it is just her and her father, the King. Her father has always been a tough man, but he has taught her all the training she knows. She sees him as a good King that is working hard to protect their people. Kateri can become Queen of the kingdom without having to marry anyone under one condition. She has to fight 12 suiters in the right and once she has fought the 12th she has earned her right to rule alone if she pleases. She wants to protect her people and fulfill her promise to her mother that she would do so.

The world she lives in is not an easy one. Being the princess, of course, she has everything that she needs, but her people are struggling with droughts and are rationed their water supply. The supply is dwindling because of the gang, the Desert Boys. They keep stealing water for themselves which is leaving less water for the people. Kateri wants to stop the Desert boys and resolve the water problem. Stealing water has horrible consequences. The King puts the criminal in the ring and they have to choose a door. Behind one door is freedom, behind the other door are his fearsome tigers.

When Kateri’s last opponent is announced she knows that with the training she has at the moment, she won’t beat them. She also knows that if this man becomes King, he will not rule honestly or in her peoples’ best interest. Kateri is desperate and knows that the only way to beat him is to turn to her enemy for help. Doing so, she uncovers many truths that rock her entire world. She was only expecting to better her fighting skills when in truth, she found what she should truly be fighting for.

Seriously this book was full of so much adventure, twists and turns, some romance, and some amazing fight scenes. I couldn’t get enough of it. I’m pretty sure I devoured this book in 2 days, so I didn’t get much sleep. I definitely recommend this jewel of a book! Please go read it now and come back and let’s chat about it! I have a feeling you will love it as much as I did!

A bit Peter Pan, a bit Aladdin, Tiger Queen is an adventure of a tale! If Princess Jasmine had been trained as a warrior and given her own story, it would be this book. She's headstrong, but also fiercely loyal and dedicated to her people almost to a fault. I loved the desert setting, which is a character itself, and the gang of boys who remind me of the Lost Boys. If you like twists on retellings or retelling mash-ups, this may be the story for you! A fun, fast-paced read that can be binged in one or two sittings.