Monday, February 22, 2016

Review: The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23299513-the-shadow-queen
The Shadow Queen
(Ravenspire #1)
by C.J. Redwine
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Publication Date: February 16th 2016
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 400
ISBN: 9780062360243
Genre: Young Adult | FairyTale | Retelling
Source: Edelweiss / Own

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Lorelai Diederich, crown princess and fugitive at large, has one mission: kill the wicked queen who took both the Ravenspire throne and the life of her father. To do that, Lorelai needs to use the one weapon she and Queen Irina have in common—magic. She’ll have to be stronger, faster, and more powerful than Irina, the most dangerous sorceress Ravenspire has ever seen.

In the neighboring kingdom of Eldr, when Prince Kol’s father and older brother are killed by an invading army of magic-wielding ogres, the second-born prince is suddenly given the responsibility of saving his kingdom. To do that, Kol needs magic—and the only way to get it is to make a deal with the queen of Ravenspire, promise to become her personal huntsman…and bring her Lorelai’s heart.

But Lorelai is nothing like Kol expected—beautiful, fierce, and unstoppable—and despite dark magic, Lorelai is drawn in by the passionate and troubled king. Fighting to stay one step ahead of the dragon huntsman—who she likes far more than she should—Lorelai does everything in her power to ruin the wicked queen. But Irina isn’t going down without a fight, and her final move may cost the princess the one thing she still has left to lose. (Goodreads)

My Thoughts...

The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine is a completely captivating retelling of Snow White. I've read quite a few retellings lately that I've completely fallen in love with, and I'm totally adding The Shadow Queen to the list. I love when an author takes a story that I love, and puts their own twist on it, making the story completely unique, but still so familiar. The Shadow Queen is no exception. I LOVED THIS BOOK!

Lorelai Diederich, the crown princess of Ravenspire, has been in hiding after the evil queen killed her father and stole the throne to her country. She's been training for the past 9 years to finally get her kingdom back, and with the help of her magic, and a few unlikely sources, she's finally ready to do so.

I really don't have words to explain to you how much I love Lorelai. Pardon my French, but this girl was kind of a badass. Not only could she kick some serious butt, thanks to the training by her guardian, Gabril, but she's also trained to use the magic in a way that it's supposed to be used. And she's more powerful than she ever expected.  I love her determination and her passion about wanting her country back, and she was willing to do anything in her power to defeat the evil queen, who, by the way, was SO evil.

I love a lot of the secondary characters in the novel as well, especially Kol, who is a king from the neighboring kingdom. This guy also had some fierce determination throughout the story as well, more than should have been possible. I love that while he was a king himself, he was still so loyal to the cause and wanted to do what was right for everyone around him as well.

The storyline for the book was really fascinating. I love that it was the familiar story of Snow White that we all know and love, but with that magical twist that made it feel completely unique. There were lots of action and suspense throughout the story, as well as many sweet and swoon-worthy moments also. I really enjoyed the end of the book, it wrapped up in a way that left me completely satisfied. I'm wondering, however, if there is going to be a sequel or not. I have yet to find any information on if there is or not, but there are SO many possibilities if Redwine decides to do so, and I'd be excited to continue the story as well!!

Overall; I love a good retelling, and The Shadow Queen was a great read! I was completely captivated by the characters and the storyline, and I totally didn't want this book to end. I'm really excited to read more by Redwine as soon as possible, and I'm even more excited now to finish her Defiance series! Definitely check out The Shadow Queen if you're a fan of retellings, and Snow White in particular!

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6 comments:

  1. So glad you loved this. I want to read it too.

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  2. Excellent review! I'm glad you liked it because I want to read it as well. Looks like I'll have fun with this book :)

    Good retellings are my jam lately.

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  3. I'm still getting myself around retellings. I love the sound of this - the great characters, the suspense, and a satisfying ending. Great review! :)

    czai @ the Blacksheep Project

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  4. So glad to see you loved it. i have been excited for this one for awhile so it makes me even MORE excited! haha

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  5. OOoh nice! I so cannot wait to read this one! I love fairy tale retellings as well! I thought I had heard that C.J. planned on writing more fairy tale retellings in this "kingdom" but I cannot recall where I heard this or if I'm getting myself confused with another author! Lol! But initially I think I heard she planned to write more like this! At least for a little while! :)

    Great review!

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  6. I have this on my upcoming TBR pile. So happy to read such a positive review! I love fairy tale retellings but they don't always live up to expectations and I'm glad this one did. Great review!

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