Review: The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine

The Shadow Queen (Ravenspire, #1)

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.

That blurb fails to mention that this is Snow White... with dragons. 

Let me just repeat that. Snow White. Dragons. Let me just leave that there. I was not expecting dragons, I am not complaining about those dragons. I love dragons. In fact, Kol may just be my favorite dragon in the world and Lorelai was just as good. If this book has anything to hold itself up its the characters - Lorelai was strong and stubborn, a lot like Celaena from the Throne of Glass series. I really loved the two of them and their story.

All the other characters were also brilliant Leo and Gabril and even Irina was one of my fave evil queens in the YA bookosphere (she doesn't beat Levana, but she's up there). The characters and their individual personalities and their dialogue were just so well done - it's a talent that Redwine definitely has.

It would be a lie to say that this book was perfect - sometimes I got confused by the dragon hearts side of things and the ogres and the fact that Lorelei had powers without having a proper teacher. It wasn't without it's plot holes, but despite that I simply couldn't put that book down.

Overall The Shadow Queen was a great book with brilliant characters and a fantastic storyline. There were plotholes and there are better fantasy books out there this quarter, but it was still great! Plus.. dragons.

Book released 16th February 2016 by Balzer + Bray
Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

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