Reviews

This book had everything that I needed in a book. I am so glad that I received this book in a book box because I loved it and probably wouldn't have found it otherwise.

This book has diverse characters, queer rep, badass feminist women, banter between our two main characters, sweet romance, character development, family- found and blood related, action, and characters that you hate because the author writes them so well that you have very strong feelings.

Almira is the queen of a country that is constantly at war. When her husband dies, she decides that she is going to end the war by offering her hand in marriage to the king that killed her husband. She knows what she wants and she refuses to do what is expected of a woman, but it won't help her be successful. She creates a Red Guard, a group of strong woman who will guard Almira, their queen, with their lives.

Alton, he loves war and he doesn't enjoy the political side of being a king. When he first meets Almira he pretends to be someone else. He is honestly one of my new book boyfriends. The way he is written is fantastic. I love the relationship, banter, and the development between Almira and Alton throughout the book.

This book had good world building and strong character writing. I had some very strong emotions about the characters- which can be accredited to how she wrote them. I loved the component of how found family and blood family are so important. I tabbed different parts of the book when Almira was being a badass and taking no crap. It was so much fun to read and how the strong ruler be the female.

The romance between Almira and Alton was just perfect in my opinion and the side relationships were good as well. I like the diversity in terms of the sexuality of the characters and the ethnicities.

I am so excited to read the next book in the series and also the novella.

fireinherveinzz's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

katyifky's review against another edition

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adventurous funny tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

mtre67's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

sarah_thebooknerd's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

4.25 ⭐️
1 🌶️
CW: author has them listed in the physical book, ebook and on website.

I really loved this feminist fantasy book. I enjoyed seeing the red guard and how strong those female characters were.

There is a good amount of action which I was in the mood for! I cried over the sapphic grannies and no one said anything about them but they have my whole heart.

I think some of the 1st half could Be condensed a little bit and I would have ate up more banter between the couple.
I definitely will continue with this series and am so excited to read the next book!!

booksandneedles's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Romantic fantasy with definite fem-lit vibes. 3rd person, multiple POV. Reflections sprinkled throughout of trad societal roles of females + pushing past stereotypes. A mixture of plot and character-driven. Organic world-building woven within the story (yes, heavier in beginning but never to the point that felt like info dump paragraphs). Also, I've seen some TT/reviews hyping up the spice: don't read this for that! Yes, there are a couple of spicier scenes, but that's not what this book is about...

I loved these characters. I laughed and cried.
Sometimes I yelled at Almira to relax, but then reminded myself that she was trying her best to maneuver new + dangerous political minefields.
I cried for Hester + Almira's gma, Poelia.
Threw my hands up shouting "it's about damn time" when Almira and Alton finally get on the same page.
I. Cackled. Like a damn hyena when Almira took matters into her own hands in the dungeon (was not expecting THAT, but I loved her even more for the action and reasoning behind it).
I snorted (yup) when Sanaa declared "I'm not wearing a f*cking dress".
I broke with Almira + Alton during their dark confessions after that last battle.

And I've seen a particular quote in several reviews (which I also like), but I think my favorite is Almira's response to her father mentioning how perhaps he ruined her by raising her as a son and now she speaks like a king:

Perhaps we shouldn't attribute certain characteristics to men and women. We should allow each person to decide how they'd like to speak. Then we wouldn't analyze what is proper.

All of the characters were flawed in some way. None of them were perfect. And I loved that. Each POV had their own life experiences that drove their actions, and could eventually admit when they were wrong or struggled with a choice.

Now. There were a couple of plot points in the last half of the book that felt maybe forced or rushed*, but overall it didn't detract because, for me, I was there for the characters. If a reader is heavily plot-driven, I could understand how they might be a little more frustrated toward the end...

*slight spoilers- proceed with caution:
I understand how these propelled the story and were necessary for overall outcome + tone, okay. I'm more invested in the characters, but I was thrown from story a couple of times.
- rushing after Alton & basically coming right back (that's an exaggeration, okay. & I understand the why...but it still just took me out for a few with sarcastic interloper 'was that necessary + what did it accomplish' vibes)
- followed immediately by Alton + his soldiers having zero effect. Girl power, I know. Not everything can be won by brawn. But considering we were supposed to be cowed at the beginning by Alton's battle prowess only for him to get served so easily...

amandadevoursbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Almira's husband is dead, killed at the hands of a neighboring king. To save her kingdom and prevent a war, she proposes an alliance bound in marriage to the king, the same one who killed her husband.

It's got romance, political intrigue, betrayal, and bad ass women who serve as the queen's guard. There a few moments of added plot elements that seemed a bit hurried (the witches, in particular). This led to some confusion on my part.

THAT SAID, I LOVED THIS BOOK, and I cannot wait to see what the author does next.

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