Ravenspire #1 The Shadow Queen

Presenting Ravenspire #1 The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine.

Here is the summary of the book:

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.

Snow White meets Snow White & the Huntsman & Once Upon A Time (Tv show). The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine puts in a new twist to the classic of Snow White. Part of a series, each a standalone (as far a I know) called Ravenspire ..... and I will definitely not be able to see apples the same way again.

Lorelai was a strong protagonist, possess an analytical mind, with a penchant for over thinking the situation. She has something the conventional Snow White never did, magic. After the tragedy Lorelai, her brother Leo and their guard flee the castle, bidding their time and amassing support before they make their play. In a very Robin Hood-esque way they steal from the Queen and give to the people suffering starvation. A well laid plan but then Prince Charming enters and all of her well laid plans go astray.

Kol, the new King of the neighboring kingdom is a dragon (cool). More like he is a human, who can also shift to a dragon form. Their country is facing extinction against the horde of Giant. In a bid to gain support Kol enters Ravenspire thinking with its widespread drought & starvation they would claimer to get all the help needed ..... but he realizes the futility of the situation, when in return the Queen traps him to hunt Lorelai down and bring back her heart.

Gorgeous writing from Redwine. The world building was also very well placed and the characters were very well placed about the plot. While Lorelai was all that is analytical and aggressive and somewhat proud. Kol was all charm with the added dragon. It also wasn't insta romance but a gradual build-up and I loved experiencing their journey through the pages. The magical showdown throughout the pages were epic enough to set our hearts racing and rooting for the good.

But really that was all of it. Somehow I still got bored through the ordeal a lot. Really the good guys were just good and the bad guys felt just as bad. Even the evil Queen didn't really have much to add just that she breached new levels of evil with pretty much everything she did. Where was the dynamics, the hidden spices in their characteristics. They don't really add anything new to what's been done, so many times before.

So, verdict is good .... but it just didn't have that feeling of excellent to it but i'm definitely looking forward to the next story in the series.

"An exciting magical take on Snow White. And there are Dragons too"

Genre :     Young Adult, Fairytale re-telling, Romance, High Fantasy

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Release Date: 16th February, 2016

My Copy: publisher & edelweiss

Rate:             3/5 (Liked It)

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