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The Deepest Blue

by Sarah Beth Durst
Harper Voyager. (Queens of Renthia, Bk. 4). Mar. 2019. 368p. ISBN 9780062690845. $21.99; ebk. ISBN 9780062690869. FANTASY
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In the island nation of Belene, the spirits are as wild as they are on the mainland (subject of Durst's "Queens of Renthia" trilogy). Here, too, a queen and her heirs provide protection. Women with powers over the spirits must turn themselves over for testing or be charged with treason. Unfortunately, the risk of death is about the same in both cases. When Mayara is found to have abilities during an attack on her home village on her wedding day, she's given a choice: forsake her past or attempt to survive and become an heir. Mayara chooses the test and discovers that the conditions of training are a matter of literal survival. Making friends with other trainees leads her down a path she would have never chosen herself, for if the Deepest Blue awakes, no one in Belene will survive.
VERDICT This intriguing dive into the powers that attempt to control Renthia yields an action-packed fantasy. [Prepub Alert, 10/1/18.]
Reviewed by Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton , Feb 01, 2019
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