REVIEW: The Shadow Queen by C. J. Redwine

This review is seriously overdue for my blog. Wow.
Well, consider this promo for the series before the sequel comes out in early 2017!

If you like badass heroines and fairy tales and retellings this one is for you.


 

The Shadow Queen by C. J. Redwine

Series: A Ravenspire Novel

Read: August 30 – September 6, 2016

Format: Ebook (Kindle)

My Book Rating: 5 Stars

Publisher: Scholastic / Balzer + Bray

Release Date: February 16, 2016

Genre: YA Fairy Tale Retelling

 

ABOUT 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.


REVIEW

I haven’t read many of fairy tale retellings, but those that I have read I’ve loved, and The Shadow Queen is no exception!

In this retelling of Snow White and The Huntsman we follow Princess Lorelai in the role of Snow White. She’s no damsel in distress though, when she fled her wicked stepmother, she took to learning to fight and defend herself.

The huntsman in this story is Prince Kol. He’s from a neighboring kingdom of dragon shifters and desperate to save his kingdom from the invading ogre army. So desperate he’d do anything, including making a deal with the evil queen. A deal that goes very wrong.

I loved the chemistry between Lorelai and Kol. On their own they’re great, both strong and willing to do anything for their people. But together? *Swoon* Their relationship had a few plot twists that kept things from getting boring.

I loved the magic in this book. The incantations were really interesting and the powers Lorelai and Queen Irina possessed were really cool. Especially Irina’s apples! And everything, including the rivers, trees, and earth, having a ‘heart’ for their magic to call upon for assistance. The authors choice to make Kol from a dragon shifter people was also especially awesome and as soon as I read that I knew I’d be hooked on the story.

There was never a dull moment in this book and I was eager to keep reading (or listening to my Kindle read the book aloud to me at work!)

I think those who love fairy tale retellings will appreciate this rendition. It had all of the staples of Snow White—evil witch, runaway princess, magic, apples, handsome prince, huntsman, hearts—but with the authors own unique magic twists. Plus there are dragon people. How cool is that?

Go buy this book now and read it. Seriously.

 Psst! This is also a stand along series – check out the cover below for the next book ‘The Wish Granter’ which releases Feb 2017!



Get The Shadow Queen here:

Amazon | Nook | iBooks | Kobo

~ Add to Goodreads ~

 

 

Preorder the sequel, The Wish Granter, here:

Amazon | Nook | iBooks | Kobo

~ Add to Goodreads ~

 


 

QUOTES

 

“Mirror, mirror in my hand, show me the state of Eldr’s land.”

“Why does it have to rhyme?” Trudge muttered.

 

Only a miracle would save him now, but miracles didn’t happen in Ravenspire.

Miracle’s didn’t happen, but magic did.

 

He shook his head, trying to think, to remember, but his dragon heart blazed within him, begging for blood and fire.

 

He was fire. His chest burned with every breath, and only the girl’s heart would make it better.

 

“No! I mean…we’ll be fine. We’re just going to talk.”

Gabriel snorted. “That’s what we called it in my day too.”

 

You make me want to break one of your ground rules every time you look at me like this.

 

Did she love him? What would it cost her if she did.

 

“…The strength of my heart is the only thing standing between you and total destruction.”

 

“You don’t go into battle because you’re sure of victory. You go into battle because it’s the right thing to do.”

5 thoughts on “REVIEW: The Shadow Queen by C. J. Redwine

  1. There are few retellings I have read too but I enjoy fabulous and this sounds very attractive for my taste. Excellent review!

    • Lots of action and creative ways of using the iconic pieces of the original. Definitely worth reading! Book 2 is about Rumplestilskin. I’m stoked for it!

  2. Pingback: Déjà Revu January 15th, 2017 – Celebrity Readers

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