THE QUEEN | Kirkus Reviews

Rowling buffs up a story she informed her personal kids a couple of small, idyllic kingdom almost destroyed by corrupt officers.

Within the peaceable land of Cornucopia, the Ickabog has all the time been thought to be a legendary menace till two devious nobles play so efficiently on the fears of naïve King Fred the Fearless that the once-prosperous land is devastated by ruinous taxes supposedly spent on protection whereas protesters are suppressed and the populace is terrorized by nighttime rampages. Pastry chef Bertha Beamish organizes a breakout from the native dungeon simply as her son, Bert, and his good friend Daisy Dovetail arrive…with the final Ickabog, who seems to be actual in any case. Together with full plates of simply deserts for each heroes and villains, the story then dishes up a metaphorical lagniappe by which the monster reveals the origins of the human race. The creator frames her story as a set of ruminations on how evil can develop and folks can come to consider unfounded lies. She embeds these themes in an engrossing, tightly written journey centered on a stomach-wrenching reign of terror. The story options coloration illustrations by U.S. and Canadian kids chosen by means of an internet contest. Most characters are cued as White within the textual content; a number of illustrations embody numerous illustration.

Gripping and fairly darkish—however, in the long run, meals, household, friendship, and straight information win out over guile, greed, and terror.

(Fantasy. 10-13)