The Queen of Monsters
By Aria Mossi
Blurb
Natalia comes from a past full of darkness and a horrific childhood spent in the Siberian taiga. Her Monsters are real, and they hide in every corner of her memory. Her state of mind, fragility and child-like innocence make both humans and aliens question her sanity.
In reality, Natalia is an inspiring young woman who owns her past and fears. Her determination shapes her new alien planet's future, defeats a Sphinx and tames the scariest Monster of all. She may be afraid of her own shadow, but she is not scared to fight for love, even when it comes in the shape of her worst nightmare: a Monster.
Natalia owns her many weaknesses until they become her strengths. She fights darkness with light and unconditional love. As it turns out, those are the only weapons able to win the fight. Natalia’s dark past taught her the most important lesson of all: One is most likely to find their angels when running from Monsters.
The Queen of Monsters is the second book in The Tarrassian Saga. It features the inspiring story of one of the five Humans taken from Earth by alien slavers. The five books in the series are individual stories and do not end in cliffhangers. However, the stories are best enjoyed when read in order. The Tarrassian Saga is aimed at a mature audience.
Our Review
The Queen of Monsters by Aria Mossi is not my usual kind of book. I don't like Aliens or any books set in Space, also I don't really enjoy a lot of spice in my books. However, I saw the blurb and thought I would give it a go and I am pleased I did.
The book begins with Natalia and her friend Sia fleeing the Tarrassian ship after their King imprinted his 'Sign' on Sia.
"They call it a mating mark. They refer to it as the sign. Sia calls it a slave mark, She was angry and scared and I can't blame her."
The Tarrasians are 'huge and scary' but look quite human unlike the first aliens Natalia encountered. Natalia refers to the Tarrasians simply as monsters. Hints are given that Natalia had a very traumatic childhood and this has made her quite childlike and vulnerable in her outlook and it seems it is this vulnerability which encouraged Sia to try and escape the ship with Natalia.
"I don't want any man, Human, or alien to ever touch me."
The pod Sia and Natalia escape in crashes and Sia's fated mate, the king comes looking for them. Natalia sees the 'Monsters' and sets off running into the planet's wilderness persued by a Tarassian and runs straight into a Sphinx. The two aliens fight and Natalia is taken away by the Sphinx. I don't really want to say any more as I don't want to give away any spoilers.
Initially I was considering giving up reading it because I couldn't bring myself to care about the protagonist Natalia as I found her a bit annoying as she was contantly crying. However, the introduction of the Sphinx was the saving grace for me and I very much enjoyed those parts of the story with the Sphinx in.
The Sphinx is a funny and charming character and I felt his elements of the story were particularly good. .
"I don't like Tarrassians. I doubt they taste good. All that arrogance and hero issue they have might make me choke. Better things to eat on my planet. As for you, little Human...I wouldn't mind a bit of you."
Whilst I didn't warm to Natalia during the course of The Queen of Monsters, I did enjoy the world building particularly the elements in the forest. I was pleasantly suprised.
One minor thing I would say is that the overuse of the word 'Monster' was one of the primary reasons why I struggled with the first little bit of the book. I feel that with a little more editing this book could have been a 4 for me and has certainly made me reconsider my aversion to all things space related.
Our Final Rating...
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