The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine

Title: The Shadow Queen
Author: C.J. Redwine
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Release Date: February 16th 2016

Summary from Goodreads:

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.

Review

Snow White. Magic. Dragons

The Shadow Queen is a Snow White re-tellling that takes the traditional story and then throws in magic dragons, and a crazier queen.  The book starts of with an action heavy intro and then slows down  to develop the characters.  While I do appreciate the grabby intro, I felt a bit like I was just thrown into the deep end.  I needed to find my balance before really enjoying what was going on.  In the end though, I enjoyed The Shadow Queen, the plot gradually climbs to the climax of the story.  There are flashbacks but overall the plot pacing was linear and very traditional.

My main reservation was the predictability of a couple plot points.  Predictability that comes at you when you are reading and you go no no no don't you dare do what I think you are going to.  I felt like it was to give motivation and move the plot forward so I get it but I wish it went differently.

Aside from that I thoroughly enjoyed the addition of dragons to this classic story.  I also enjoyed the dynamic between Lorelai and Kol.  There are a lot of different things going on and a lot of secondary stories and characters that make for a very entertaining book! Redwine offers the reader an intricate and imaginative re-telling.

Stacking The Shelves (88) - Sept 6th

Stacking the Shelves - hosted by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews - features books that you bought, borrowed, rented from the library, received for review, etc.

Upcoming Reads

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Salt & Storm by Kendall Kulper

Deliverance (Defiance #3) by C.J. Redwine

What books are stacking your shelves??

ARC REVIEW #172: Deception (Defiance #2) by C.J. Redwine

Title: Deception
Series: Defiance #2
Author: C.J. Redwine
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Release Date: August 27th 2013
Pages: Paperback, 480 pages
Source: Traded on YA Book Exchange

Summary from Goodreads:
Baalboden has been ravaged. The brutal Commander's whereabouts are unknown. And Rachel, grief stricken over her father's death, needs Logan more than ever. With their ragged group of survivors struggling to forge a future, it's up to Logan to become the leader they need—with Rachel by his side. Under constant threat from rival Carrington's army, who is after the device that controls the Cursed One, the group decides to abandon the ruins of their home and take their chances in the Wasteland.



But soon their problems intensify tenfold: someone—possibly inside their ranks—is sabotaging the survivors, picking them off one by one. The chaos and uncertainty of each day puts unbearable strain on Rachel and Logan, and it isn't long before they feel their love splintering. Even worse, as it becomes clear that the Commander will stop at nothing to destroy them, the band of survivors begins to question whether the price of freedom may be too great—and whether, hunted by their enemies and the murderous traitor in their midst, they can make it out of the Wasteland alive.

In this daring sequel to Defiance, with the world they once loved forever destroyed, Rachel and Logan must decide between a life on the run and standing their ground to fight.

Oh my goodness, I thoroughly enjoyed Deception.  The story starts off right where the first book left us.  Rachel and Logan are left with a ruined city, the Cursed One still alive, and their old leader still free.  Logan has become the leader of the survivors, trying to lead them to safety and secure alliances.  

I loved Defiance, so I was hoping Deception did not suffer from middle book syndrome and I can easily say it did not.  My only small dislike was the ending.  It was clear it was left for the next book to pick up right where this one ended but it was so abrupt.  This is how I felt.

But, back to the awesome-ness that is this series.  The romance is perfect, it is slow building and plays a larger role in this book yet never overpowers or becomes too much.  Redwine continues to develop the lies and deception that the brutal Commander perpetuated. The characters evolve and grow; while I cannot exactly relate to them or the environment they are in, the characters are easy to root for and understand all the complex sides to their personalities.   Redwine drops some serious drama in the last pages that I was not expecting at all which is always a bonus!  So between the powerful love story, continually developing characters, and frequent battle scenes I was flying through the pages.

Overall Deception was solid 4.5 stars!  Even though I can appreciate and understand why this book ended the way it did, super intense cliff hangers are not my favorite.  I totally feel left hanging and now I have to wait!!!   Logan and Rachel's journey was so action filled with beautifully crafted lies being exposed along the way leaving the reader to enjoy a crazy fun read that keeps you guessing.  

Defiance (Defiance #1) by C.J. Redwine

Title: Defiance
Series: Defiance #1
Author: C.J. Redwine
Publisher: Atom
Release Date: September 6th 2012
Pages: Paperback, 403 pages

Summary from Goodreads:
Rachel’s world is confined to the protective walls around her city. Beyond them are violent wanderers, extreme terrain, and a danger straight out of legend: a beast called the Cursed One that devastates everything in its path.

When Rachel’s father goes missing, she is desperate to search for him. But her attempts to flee the city bring her to the attention of its overbearing ruler. His efforts to control her make the world within the walls seem as dangerous as that outside.

Her only chance at escape is Logan. Once her father’s apprentice, and now her only protector, he feels that helping her might mean losing her completely. But if he can put his feelings aside, they might be able to save more than Rachel’s father. They might be able to break down the walls, and set their people free.

Rachel’s father is pronounced dead but she is sure he isn’t dead and is determined to find out what happened. A Baalboden female must have either a protector or a husband; with Rachel’s father gone, Rachel is assigned a new protector, Logan. Rachel happened to profess her love to Logan a while back… unfortunately he didn’t return the sentiment. Long story short, it is a bit awkward between them! But they are able to form a plan to figure out why the commander is so interested in her father’s disappearance, what exactly he disappeared with, and where did he go.

What I loved: I have a soft spot for alternating POVs; I especially liked how the narration alternated between Logan and Rachel. It made for great character development, by the end of the story I was invested in their relationship/friendship and their success. The alternating POV also enhanced the slow building romance; we were able to see from each perspective how their feelings for one another evolved.

“Not the way I thought I was two years ago, when I offered him my heart. That love was uncomplicated and innocent, designed for a simple life. The love consuming me now is fierce and absolute—forged in a crucible of loss and united by our shared strength.”

I LOVED the characters in the story! Rachel is beautiful but stubborn and strong with some attitude. Logan is such a good guy; he tries to make the right choices, loves Rachel, and is a smart inventor. The Commander is pure evil, there is not one thing I like about him (so to me... job well done creating that villain!)

Beside the occasional slowness, the plot was full of adventure from the beginning. The fantasy world was well built and I enjoyed learning about their way of life, the rules the village abides by, the role of women, and the controlling/big-brother-like technology. I also applaud some of the choices the author made, she was not afraid of allowing the characters to make mistakes and not afraid of having death in the story. This ultimately made the story more believable; there are new friendships, deaths, new loves, and old loves all blended into this post/apocalyptic dystopian world.

Why it didn't get 5 stars: I had very few issues with this book; one of the main issues was that sometimes the plot slowed down a bit, so the pacing felt a bit off. I also am hoping that in the next book there is more explanation on the cursed creature. While the conclusion did a great job with the relationship aspects of the story (Rachel and her father/ Rachel and Logan), the rest of the ending was left WIDE open for the sequel. The story reminded me a bit of the movie The Village (hooded townspeople, scary beast, and fences to protect the village).

Overall, this was a 4 star book; Redwine blended fantasy with love and adventure with a hint of post-apocalyptic/dystopian life. I can’t wait for the sequel to see what trouble Logan and Rachel get themselves in. I would recommend Defiance if you are looking for a well built fantasy world with two great main characters.