ARC Review: Spy and Guardian #2

The Blood Queen by Sara Raasch and Beth Revis

Publication Date: October 6, 2026

Summary from NetGalley:

Alyth and Samson finally know the identity of the High Blade, leader of the bloodthirsty Red Cap army, and it’s someone they never suspected. They’ll use every bit of courage, smarts, and luck they have to escape her grasp and flee to the fae court, where they hope to find aid in the fight against the Red Caps.

But the fae princes have been apathetic since the Faerie Queen disappeared years ago at the hands of the High Blade. They seem unwilling to help. And if they find out Samson’s true identity, he’ll be killed and Alyth banished.

Alyth and Samson can only depend on each other and their love as they navigate fae politics, try to win allies, search for the missing queen, and face down the greatest threat the two worlds have ever known.

ARC provided by Sourcebooks Fire via Netgalley for an honest review.

Confession:

This is the second book in a duology. If you haven’t read the first book in the series, The Crimson Throne, you might want to stop reading here. I don’t think there are any spoilers in this review for the first book, but you never know. Plus, I just really want to encourage you to read the first book.

This was wonderful conclusion to this historical fantasy duology. Everything that I was hoping would happen did, although it was a bit of a nail biter toward the end.

We continue to get the dual narrations of Alyth and Samson. They have both grown so much over the course of this story. I continued to enjoy Alyth’s tenacious attitude when it came to protecting the people she loves and her country. She has a marvelous mix of resilience and resourcefulness whenever she hits an obstacle or resistance to what needs to be done. Samson on the other hand, comes to embrace his true nature and learns to control it. I felt like his character developed more depth and more control over his emotions.

Their romance was perfect. Many people might think that is was a little on the insta love side, but I see it more as a fated lovers story with a bit of a slow burn as well. It takes a lot for them to finally admit to each other their feelings. I also enjoyed the lovers who feel that they need to sacrifice themselves for the other troupe. It got a bit tense at the end because of this.

We finally meet the High Blade in this one and wow, what a piece of work she is. She is bloodthirsty and revels in the pain of others. Some of her scenes are a bit hard to read as they are so full of pain and suffering.

The story is well paced, picking up intensely after about the halfway mark. It is a mad scramble across Scotland to protect both Queen Mary and the Fae Court. I really enjoyed the Fae Court, but those Princes really need to get their acts together. I loved how Alyth is able to outsmart them and beat them at their own games. The only thing that I would have liked to see more of is perhaps the rivalry between Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth. It felt like the historical side of the story took a back seat in this book.

Overall this is a great ending to the story. I loved the historical setting and the parallels to the historical conflicts of these to Queens. I also really enjoyed the magical system and all of the magical fae creatures that are part of the Scottish mythology. Highly recommend this duology to anyone who enjoys historical fantasy.