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ignited_redqueen75's review
5.0
I wasn't crying at the end, I just had some dust that fell in my eye, lol. I really loved this, my first snow white retelling and reminded me of the show Once upon a time, the twist with the huntsman and dual hearts was definitely different but in a good way.
harleyrae's review
5.0
First off I must say that I positively loved this! I was a little scared going into this because I had kept hearing such mixed reviews, but once I started reading it I couldn't put it down, I completely and totally adored this book. It probably helped that I have been in a very big fairy tale mood, and this book was exactly what I was looking for. I know people have said the romance is a bit awkward, but I though it was find honestly, I've read worse romances. I though Leo and Kol were both funny characters, though sadly one didn't get to share his humor through it all. I liked the Snow White aspects, it felt like Snow White without actually being the generic Disney version of Snow White (Even though I do love that version). I though the Huntsman aspect was interesting, and I like how dragons were added. My biggest complaint was that until the POV of Kol and Lorelai met and came together it felt like to completely different stories, but was thankfully fixed one that "officially" met.
All in all I loved this book! It was super face paced, the time when I was able to sit down and read I flew through it. I am looking forward to reading the other books in the series, and seeing how C.J Redwine incorporate other fairy tales into this world.
All in all I loved this book! It was super face paced, the time when I was able to sit down and read I flew through it. I am looking forward to reading the other books in the series, and seeing how C.J Redwine incorporate other fairy tales into this world.
potatochipswhat's review
4.0
Mixed feelings about this one, I had gone a long while without reading any YA fantasy, or any leisure books for that matter, and this was the first I had settled on.
Things I loved about the book were the references to Snow White, and the Draconi, I thought their kind and their world was a pretty slick idea. At the start I really liked Lorelai, Leo was cute, but his need for flair and fashion had me cringing a little. I found it really funny how Lorelai could WALK UP WALLS, I am going insane. I found Irina super intricate, with the guilt perhaps about her sister and her wild conflict and craze for power. I really enjoyed the clever connections throughout the novel and a nice epic fight scene at the end. Lorelai's magic was pretty cool, and Kol was decent, but it dulls me to realise that I don't have a favourite character in the book, and if I had to choose, it would probably be Viktor.
Anyways, I was shipping Lorelai and Kol when they were first met, but after Kol became batsh*t crazy things just kind of went incredulous? It was like, you're cute I guess but forget you saw me, I have to kill you but I won't, I must kill you because I have lost humanity, I'll offer you momentary salvation and we can get inside each other's heads, but I still want to kill you then bam! I FREAKING LOVE YOU. The romance between the two was really strange and in my opinion, as the novel progressed, I realised it was probably not really necessary for the novel to be complete. If they had become friends of strong allies, I would have been decently satisfied. Sometimes the phrases and sentenced got a bit repetitive, e.g "I was fire, blood, death etc..." I started rolling my eyes as they were repeated over and over. I get the emphasis lol. Kol's character change from playful prankster to devoted king was somewhat abrupt and I didn't quite believe he was a fun (and not obnoxious) prankster other than that I was told he was.
I reckon Irina had a lot of character potential to explore, and in terms of character development, Lorelai barely had any. She started off on a badass, brave foot, and was already super skilled at magic which I was happy with, but only changed to become more angry, arrogant, stubborn and vengeful perhaps? The only internal conflicts she suffered was grief, and even that got kind of repetitive and coppy outy.
I still enjoyed the book enough to finish it in about 3-4 days, although I deduce that mostly because of my deprivation of YA beforehand. Not bad at all, reading back I think I'm being too picky icky but 3.5/5 would read the next installment!
Things I loved about the book were the references to Snow White, and the Draconi, I thought their kind and their world was a pretty slick idea. At the start I really liked Lorelai, Leo was cute, but his need for flair and fashion had me cringing a little. I found it really funny how Lorelai could WALK UP WALLS, I am going insane. I found Irina super intricate, with the guilt perhaps about her sister and her wild conflict and craze for power. I really enjoyed the clever connections throughout the novel and a nice epic fight scene at the end. Lorelai's magic was pretty cool, and Kol was decent, but it dulls me to realise that I don't have a favourite character in the book, and if I had to choose, it would probably be Viktor.
Anyways, I was shipping Lorelai and Kol when they were first met, but after Kol became batsh*t crazy things just kind of went incredulous? It was like, you're cute I guess but forget you saw me, I have to kill you but I won't, I must kill you because I have lost humanity, I'll offer you momentary salvation and we can get inside each other's heads, but I still want to kill you then bam! I FREAKING LOVE YOU. The romance between the two was really strange and in my opinion, as the novel progressed, I realised it was probably not really necessary for the novel to be complete. If they had become friends of strong allies, I would have been decently satisfied. Sometimes the phrases and sentenced got a bit repetitive, e.g "I was fire, blood, death etc..." I started rolling my eyes as they were repeated over and over. I get the emphasis lol. Kol's character change from playful prankster to devoted king was somewhat abrupt and I didn't quite believe he was a fun (and not obnoxious) prankster other than that I was told he was.
I reckon Irina had a lot of character potential to explore, and in terms of character development, Lorelai barely had any. She started off on a badass, brave foot, and was already super skilled at magic which I was happy with, but only changed to become more angry, arrogant, stubborn and vengeful perhaps? The only internal conflicts she suffered was grief, and even that got kind of repetitive and coppy outy.
I still enjoyed the book enough to finish it in about 3-4 days, although I deduce that mostly because of my deprivation of YA beforehand. Not bad at all, reading back I think I'm being too picky icky but 3.5/5 would read the next installment!
votesforwomen's review
3.0
3.5 stars? Good, nothing I haven't seen before, killed off the fan favorite brutally, insta-love, a kingdom with actual residents, kind of undefined magic. Liked. XD
annettebooksofhopeanddreams's review
5.0
Some people don't believe it exists, but I know from experience that it's possible. I fell in love with this book. I want to marry it. I want to cuddle with it. I want to kiss it. I want to have it with me for the rest of my life. I'm so glad that I stumbled upon the traitor prince in a bookstore in London and decided to read the other two books first!
This book has literally everything I want in a book: Dragons, a handsome and charming prince being honourable and trying to do the right thing, a layered evil queen with emotions and a motivation that's even somehow understandable, a fierce young princess who fights with her heart for those she loves and the country she sees withering away and magic in all it's blasting and devastating glory.
And all of that is combined with the elements of the wonderful fairytale of Snow White, recognisable as such but twisted in such a way that the story still feels interesting, new and refreshing. On top of that the writing style is just as enchanting as a fairytale should be. And to make it even more perfect, the story is incredibly addictive. So much is happening and it's written in a great and compelling way. It was almost impossible to stop reading!
I really hope the second book arrives here soon. I NEED IT!
This book has literally everything I want in a book: Dragons, a handsome and charming prince being honourable and trying to do the right thing, a layered evil queen with emotions and a motivation that's even somehow understandable, a fierce young princess who fights with her heart for those she loves and the country she sees withering away and magic in all it's blasting and devastating glory.
And all of that is combined with the elements of the wonderful fairytale of Snow White, recognisable as such but twisted in such a way that the story still feels interesting, new and refreshing. On top of that the writing style is just as enchanting as a fairytale should be. And to make it even more perfect, the story is incredibly addictive. So much is happening and it's written in a great and compelling way. It was almost impossible to stop reading!
I really hope the second book arrives here soon. I NEED IT!
babs_reviews's review
5.0
Ever read a book that you loved every aspect of? A book that was so good you are at a loss for words and all you can say is; "Book good. Go. Read."? That's me with The Shadow Queen.
For the whole book I was torn between wanting to devour it as quickly as I could and slowing down to savor it. I'm a complete and utter sucker for fairytale retellings. All the reviews that I see saying, "it's familiar" - just, duh! It's a retelling of a popular fairytale...
This retelling had edge and creativity. I liked that the huntsman was a somebody, and not only that but a different race too. Very original and I loved how their relationship was so tainted by magic . . . it made for electricity and stunning dynamics between Lorelai and Kol.
While many things pleased me I also experienced much heart break too. I had tears bubbling and threatening in several places.
Love the cover.
Love the characters.
Love the plot.
Can't wait for another one!
For the whole book I was torn between wanting to devour it as quickly as I could and slowing down to savor it. I'm a complete and utter sucker for fairytale retellings. All the reviews that I see saying, "it's familiar" - just, duh! It's a retelling of a popular fairytale...
This retelling had edge and creativity. I liked that the huntsman was a somebody, and not only that but a different race too. Very original and I loved how their relationship was so tainted by magic . . . it made for electricity and stunning dynamics between Lorelai and Kol.
While many things pleased me I also experienced much heart break too. I had tears bubbling and threatening in several places.
Love the cover.
Love the characters.
Love the plot.
Can't wait for another one!
marieintheraw's review
3.0
Overall, this book was pretty average. While it was a retelling, it lack anything new that makes retellings compelling to read.
ambeesbookishpages's review
5.0
The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz
This is such a complicated and intricate book to talk about. There is much that I want to talk about, but I can't because I don't do spoiler heavy reviews. But, Oh my God, this book was fantastic. When I first saw the cover for The Shadow Queen when Epicreads released it, I knew I had to get me hands on this book (But that was just a serious case of cover lust.) Later when I downloaded this book onto my kindle from Edelweiss, I was intimated that it was 400 pages. (Long books intimidate me and I never tend to finish them.) But I finished this book in two sittings, and was so disappointed that it was over.
The Shadow Queen is split up into three POVs: Lorelai (The princess), Kol (Dragon/huntsman), and Irina (The wicked queen of Ravenspire)
Lorelai: I seriously love Lorelai. In most YA herione's they are terrified of dying. They do everything possible, to keep them from that fate. Lorelai is willing to loose her life in order to save her kingdom, and because of that I can't help but respect her. She is incredibly fierce, and loyal to the people she loves. She is a natural born leader, and it really showed through out the novel.
Kol: Oh, how I love Kole. First off, he is a dragon. How freaking cool is that!? After the Orge war kills his family, Kol has to step up and be king. A role he takes reluctantly. How Lorelai is dedicated to her kingdom Kol is dedicated to Eldr and keeping his people alive and safe from the war. With striking a deal with Irina to save his kingdom, he has to find Lorelai. Only he doesn't know its the girl who saved his life days before.
Irina: I really enjoyed being in the head of our villain. I don't think she was always a horrible person. But I pity her, for what she thought she needed to do to run Ravenspire or how she killed hundreds of people to keep her magic.
I've always enjoyed the world building in Redwine's books. It is unique, especially with the aspects of magic. Though I have a little bit of confusion surrounding the magic and how it worked, it was an interesting twist to see who was capable of it. The Dragoni were also a cool aspects, I don't know about you but I don't recall dragons in Snow White.
Overall I can't wait for the next book in the Ravespire series. It is a companion novel, so there won't be more or Lorelai's story but Redwine did a great job at wrapping The Shadow Queen.
This is such a complicated and intricate book to talk about. There is much that I want to talk about, but I can't because I don't do spoiler heavy reviews. But, Oh my God, this book was fantastic. When I first saw the cover for The Shadow Queen when Epicreads released it, I knew I had to get me hands on this book (But that was just a serious case of cover lust.) Later when I downloaded this book onto my kindle from Edelweiss, I was intimated that it was 400 pages. (Long books intimidate me and I never tend to finish them.) But I finished this book in two sittings, and was so disappointed that it was over.
The Shadow Queen is split up into three POVs: Lorelai (The princess), Kol (Dragon/huntsman), and Irina (The wicked queen of Ravenspire)
Lorelai: I seriously love Lorelai. In most YA herione's they are terrified of dying. They do everything possible, to keep them from that fate. Lorelai is willing to loose her life in order to save her kingdom, and because of that I can't help but respect her. She is incredibly fierce, and loyal to the people she loves. She is a natural born leader, and it really showed through out the novel.
Kol: Oh, how I love Kole. First off, he is a dragon. How freaking cool is that!? After the Orge war kills his family, Kol has to step up and be king. A role he takes reluctantly. How Lorelai is dedicated to her kingdom Kol is dedicated to Eldr and keeping his people alive and safe from the war. With striking a deal with Irina to save his kingdom, he has to find Lorelai. Only he doesn't know its the girl who saved his life days before.
Irina: I really enjoyed being in the head of our villain. I don't think she was always a horrible person. But I pity her, for what she thought she needed to do to run Ravenspire or how she killed hundreds of people to keep her magic.
I've always enjoyed the world building in Redwine's books. It is unique, especially with the aspects of magic. Though I have a little bit of confusion surrounding the magic and how it worked, it was an interesting twist to see who was capable of it. The Dragoni were also a cool aspects, I don't know about you but I don't recall dragons in Snow White.
Overall I can't wait for the next book in the Ravespire series. It is a companion novel, so there won't be more or Lorelai's story but Redwine did a great job at wrapping The Shadow Queen.
psych8's review
4.0
AMAZING! A great retelling of a beautiful, classic tale. One of the best retelling stories I have read.