Queen’s Catacombs by Jordan H. Bartlett Book Tour & Giveaway – Contest of Queens! {Ends 4/17/23}

Mar 16, 2023 | 2 comments

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Contest of Quee Frean Chronicles ns is the first book of the Frean Chronicles series. This is a unique, well-written series about a world where men’s and women’s roles are reversed and in a mystical medieval time.

Book Details:

Contest of Queens (The Frean Chronicles #1) by Jordan H. Bartlett
Category: YA Fiction (Ages 13-17), 464 pages
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: CamCat Books
Release date: Jan 2022
Tour dates: Mar 14 to Apr 10, 2023
Content Rating: PG. Very clean, but there is some brief violence.

Book Description:

In a Queendom divided, can one girl unite the realms?

Jacs, an inventor’s apprentice from the Lower Realm, has only ever dreamed of what the land among the clouds holds. That is until she finds a letter from Connor, an Upperite boy hoping to learn more about the land below. Little does Jacs know, Connor is actually Prince Cornelius of the Queendom of Frea. With wooden boats and hot air balloons, the two begin a secret correspondence. But their friendship is divided by a heavily-guarded bridge and an inescapable prejudice.

The strength of their bond was thought to transcend distance and time, but when the royal family visits the Lower Realm, the Queendom’s feud is reignited.

To save her people, Jacs must infiltrate the Upper Realm and earn her place to compete in the Contest of Queens. In a story about friendship, love, bravery, and defying gravity, Jacs will strive to prove that a Queendom is strongest when united.

Add to Goodreads ~ Buy the Book: CamCat Books ~ Amazon ~ B&N ~ IndieBound ~ BookShop ~ Audible

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Review By LAWonder10:

The Contest of queens is a well-written YA Book. I recommend it for older YA. It would be great for Middle-Grade age, except it deals with controversial subjects and it does contain a few words of profanity.

This is a unique series and very creative. It is a fantasy created in a mystical setting, in a world where the roles are reversed from those in this world, The women are in charge and men are treated as lesser beings.

This kingdom is split in two. The elite lives on top of a mountain. The underprivileged live at the bottom of the cliffs and are not aware of the lifestyle of those above, and vice versa. It is impossible for anyone to ascend to the top… Yet one girl did!

Years ago, Jacs found a letter in a wooden boat sent down the river. Jacs responds through her invention of air balloons. They communicate for years. Jacs will make a startling discovery when she makes the impossible ascent to accomplish a goal to aid her suffering people of the Lower Realm.

This has a lot of action and depicts the challenges of change and acceptance. The “feats” are very graphic and yet inspiring. The message of persevering is very strong. It also has a wonderful message of humanity. However, it does include heterosexual and homosexual romantic relationships that some may find offensive.

It does captivate the reader/listener to the very end. Although predictable at times, it is mostly unpredictable.

The characters are well-developed and seem very real. The scenes are graphically portrayed well. The Title is well-chosen and the cover image depicts the story and is very eye-catching.

It does end with a “cliffhanger” so you will want to be sure to purchase the next book of the series.

I listened to the audiobook, performed by Karissa Vacker. She lacked diction and consistency in the first few pages and was hard to understand. Soon, she overcame her struggle and spoke clearly and energetically throughout the rest of the book. Her “voices” became consistent, as well. She did an outstanding performance after a “shaky” beginning. I was not able to listen to chapter 19 because of a faulty recording.

I offer a Fur and a Half Stars rating for Karissa’s performance and a Four Stars rating for the story. I felt it was a little extreme for the genre.

This audiobook was gifted me with no pressure to post a positive review. This is my honest review.

Other Books in the Series:

Meet the Author:

Jordan H. Bartlett is a New Zealand-born Canadian with a love for children’s literature and female empowerment. She grew up reading books about boys for boys and found it hard to find a strong female heroine she could relate to. Bartlett wrote Contest of Queens to give young readers that character she so longed for in a world where gender norms are reversed. Bartlett currently resides in Banff, Alberta where she works as a Speech Language Pathologist and is a certified yoga instructor.

Connect with the author: website ~ facebook ~ instagram ~ goodreads

Meet the Narrator:

Karissa Vacker is an award-winning audiobook narrator, having recorded over 300 titles. she narrates mostly mystery/thrillers, literary fiction and romance genres.

She is also the host of the Sleep Wave podcast and works with the Sleepiest App where she records meditations to help you sleep.

She is passionate about storytelling and about finding ways to live a better, less stressful life, so she loves both of these jobs immensely and is very grateful for them.

Her background was in theatre, TV and film acting before finding that voice over was the spot for her!

She loves travel, cooking, yoga and meditation.

Her favorite thing of all though is being a mama to her son and a wife to her acupuncturist and yoga/meditation teacher husband, who also happens to write the Sleep Wave meditations she narrates.

You’ll find her most recent updates on Instagram. Follow her there @karissavacker.

Website ~

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