Hello my lovely readers, welcome to my first review of 2026. Queen of Faces By Petra Lord has been on my radar since I first revealed the cover of the book back in April of last year which seemed to go viral a bit on my Facebook page for some reason. I have just finished it at 11:40am on this very Sunday and I had to get writing about this straight away. Before my review here is a little bit more about the book.
Queen of Faces (Queen of Faces, #1) by Petra Lord Published by Harper Fire on February 3, 2026
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"The ruthless, remarkable world you’ve been waiting for." —Chloe Gong, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of These Violent Delights
"A twisty, dark academia fantasy . . . I was hooked from the very first page." —Marie Lu, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of
SkyhunterThis limited deluxe edition is printed with gorgeous stained edges, stunning foil on the case, and striking printed endpapers!
A desperate girl at a cutthroat magical academy faces a choice between life and become an assassin for the enchanted elite or watch her decaying body draw its last breath. For fans of Leigh Bardugo, Brandon Sanderson, Lev Grossman, and R.F. Kuang.Anabelle Gage is trapped in a male body, and it’s rotting from the inside out. In Caimor, where the magical elite buy and swap designer bodies like clothes, Ana can’t afford to escape her tattered form. When she fails the entrance exam to the prestigious Paragon Academy, her last hope of earning a new body implodes. As the clock ticks down to her last breath, she’s forced to use her illusion magic to steal a healthy chassis—before her own kills her.
But Ana is caught by none other than the headmaster of Paragon Academy, who poses a brutal face execution for her crime or become a mercenary at his command. Revolt brews in Caimor's smog-choked underworld, and the wealthy and powerful will stop at nothing to take down the rebels and the infamous dark witch at their helm, the Black Wraith.
With no choice but to accept, Ana will steal, fight, and kill her way to salvation. But her survival depends on a dangerous band of an impulsive assassin, a brooding bombmaker, and an alluring exile who might just spell her ruin. As Ana is drawn into a tangled web of secrets, the line between villain and hero shatters—and Ana must decide which side is worth dying for.
I knew this debut fantasy book would be something I would enjoy. The premise, storyline and character arcs were something so unique, I was excited to dive into the world of Paragon. I first started reading this with my physical arc but it was a little too heavy to transferred my reading Pith to the Kindle and I couldn’t put it down. You will get that reference if you have read it.
Ana also known as Grey Coat, David and Gage throughout the book. Ana has been dealt a bad hand, after the Black Wraith destroyed her home and the legendary Adam Weaver saved her from the destruction, they have suffered an illness that is making her body, her chassis fall apart, her only hope is the Paragon Academy an elite magical school that will provide her a new body. When she isn’t accepted, her hopes vanish until she meets Carriwitch, a professor who gives her a second chance and joins a team of rebels to help find and kill The Black Wraith that continues to wreak havoc and destruction. But as missions goes on, they start to realise that some things are more corrupt than they think.
I was so absorbed in this story, there wasn’t a moment that you couldn’t put this down. It was a bit of a rollercoaster though, the tension that built throughout the plot. It was immense and that’s the world building is so so good. As Carriwitch decreed their life as ‘See yourself as a caterpillar, imagine your future as a butterfly.’ But Ana was honest ‘Most caterpillars die in the cocoon.’ I loved her honesty and I really felt for her when she started to blossom, she found new friendships in also her of lives. During her missions she was a bit of a lose cannon, she can be reckless and impulsive but in her head, she had nothing to loose and she would die trying to save her friends and the people she loves. She wanted to keep writing the next page till the end.
I really loved the multiple POVs of this book as we got Wes, a paragon elite ousted by her own mother to live in the Lowtown for her failure. We get 2 very different perspectives, one striving for paragon whilst the other knocked off their perch. Wes and Ana have a lot in common, they have hard truths to endure, their struggles of indentity and they face the hard sacrifices of acceptance. But I was so invested in their relationship, you truly didn’t know which way it would turn.
Along the way we met some fantastic secondary characters, all of them had so my depth and emotion, that I loved the connection you built as a reader. There was some subtle hints of romantic tension and possibly a love triangle, but I feel I know where it may go, so it’s not so direct of a love triangle as you may think. They created my favourite trope of found-family within the book. My personal favourite characters are Ori, who replaced Wes in the academy but built such a friendship with David (aka Ana). Korin, – an escaped prisoner of the Black Wraith, a humdrum also known as human and I loved Cardamon the cat.
Queen of Faces, is an action-packed, tense, fantasy that you won’t be able to put down. I have purchased a final copy of the book because as a reader of the kindle I really missed a map with this and I think I needed that. I felt I got a bit lost outside the town of Paragon. Ha. Petra’s world building of this debut is vivid and captivating, from the landscapes to the lore of the city, where it really draws you in that you need more. I loved the concept of bodies, chassis and their pith, their soul. Exploring the magic system of the codex and the elemental magic they have. I can’t honestly wait to see where Petra Lord will take us. I feel it could be explosive and I am so here for that. I feel the tensions we faced in this book will be nothing in comparison to where this story is taking us…
Thank you to Harper Fire for sending an ARC in exchange for a review.
