The Queen of Blood

This is a preliminary review. I read it for a book club that will discuss later in the month. Maybe the discussion will affect my opinion?
I went into this book excited because I read another book by this author in 2021 and was obsessed with it. Unfortunately, this book didn't quite meet my expectations. The prose was very smooth and kept me turning pages. It never felt particularly draggy/slow. The magic system mostly made sense. The beginning of the book was very intense and probably one of the best parts. And there were several scenes when there were big reveals etc. that I enjoyed. I loved the wooden balls of death. Those scenes kept me on the edge of my seat, metaphorically. Having this adapted in an animated style could be very cool. Unfortunately, this book also had several weaknesses.

The biggest issue for me was probably how the tropes were handled. I know tropes exist for a reason, but these never felt particularly creative or subverted. I may be slightly biased because one of the main tropes used is one of my least favorites. I also wish that some of the characters had gotten a little more characterization. This book could have easily been 20 pages or so longer and let us get to know the characters better so we were more invested.