Review: ANOTHER FANTASTIC ADDITION TO THIS EPIC SERIES!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 7, 2013
With four magical essences inside her, Syd is growing more powerful as well as more self-confident. Unfortunately these essences are highly desirable to power hungry individuals like, for instance, Ameline Benoit. This time however, it is the vampires who want their initial essence back from her. Syd is abducted by said vampires to an Austrian castle so she can be forced to give up the essence and soon the Witch Councils as well as the vampire clans are at one another's throats. In the middle of all this the Brotherhood of sorcerers is also lurking, ready to cause mayhem.As always, I thoroughly enjoyed Queen of Darkness. There is never a dull moment as Syd is caught up in vampire intrigue, back stabbing (or is it biting?), and the feud between two queens - one of whom she knows all too well. Syd describes these queens as:"Diva drama queens, literally, pushing each other back and forth, a pair of whiny cheerleader captains who just happened to have enough power to make it a problem for half a continent."Fortunately Syd retains her snarky personality, hilarious thought patterns and amusing inner dialogue throughout the trials she has to face in this story. With every new book in this series Syd's character develops and grows.  She is becoming more focused, and doesn't succumb to misuse of her considerable power. She is much less angsty over Quaid and she even crushes on the delectable Sebastian with his old world charm.Once again I was touched by the moral support Syd gets from her magical family, her mother and sister, her werewolf body guard and, of course, Sassafras. And in the middle of all this chaos a wedding is being planned.In Queen of Darkness secrets from former books are revealed so I would strongly recommend you read the first eleven books in the series before reading this one. Once again I proclaim this book a five star read. A standing ovation for the brilliant Patti Larsen! (Ellen Fritz)