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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
“I would find you in every life, in every realm. I will be drawn to you for eternity.”
“Remember the colorful blossoms of summer on the darkest days of winter. Remember the smells of lavender and citrus, and sweet smiles, for they will get you through that endless night,”
I loved the increase in adventure, romance, and danger in book 2! Layala's and Thane's journey to discovering more about one another and Layala's power was exciting and their love for each other was so raw, I devoured every second of this book. It honestly may be one one of my all time favorites! My favorite scene was the escape scene with layala and the horses! INCREDIBLE! I could picture it so vividly.
Oh my God, and that ending?! My jaw was on the floor. I am on the edge of my seat and NEED to know what's going to happen next!
Definitely reccomend you give this a read!
“Remember the colorful blossoms of summer on the darkest days of winter. Remember the smells of lavender and citrus, and sweet smiles, for they will get you through that endless night,”
I loved the increase in adventure, romance, and danger in book 2! Layala's and Thane's journey to discovering more about one another and Layala's power was exciting and their love for each other was so raw, I devoured every second of this book. It honestly may be one one of my all time favorites! My favorite scene was the escape scene with layala and the horses! INCREDIBLE! I could picture it so vividly.
Oh my God, and that ending?! My jaw was on the floor. I am on the edge of my seat and NEED to know what's going to happen next!
Definitely reccomend you give this a read!
adventurous
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Finally! A fantasy romance with political intrigue!
Layala is the first elvish baby born with powers in centuries. Because of this, she is forced at birth to mate the kings son Thane. For fear of her life, her parents risk tie lives to send her off to hide amongst the humans. She is raised to one day exact revenge for the murders of her parents and hopefully gain her freedom from this wretched union.
Layala is the perfect blend of vulnerable, feisty, witty and brave. Watching her go through the struggles of right and wrong. Kearl writing it in such a way that makes you understand and justify any morally questionable action.
I am a very big fan of this series so far in look forward to seeing where Kearl takes these characters. I love that Kearl did more than the typical romance dual perspective. I believed this helped to broaden the story line. It also allowed the reader to hear more perspectives and solidify our own thoughts and opinions on characters and plots. Bridget and Jake Bordeaux did a magnificent job with the narrations. Their collective range of voices made this story every bit more enjoyable.
Layala is the first elvish baby born with powers in centuries. Because of this, she is forced at birth to mate the kings son Thane. For fear of her life, her parents risk tie lives to send her off to hide amongst the humans. She is raised to one day exact revenge for the murders of her parents and hopefully gain her freedom from this wretched union.
Layala is the perfect blend of vulnerable, feisty, witty and brave. Watching her go through the struggles of right and wrong. Kearl writing it in such a way that makes you understand and justify any morally questionable action.
I am a very big fan of this series so far in look forward to seeing where Kearl takes these characters. I love that Kearl did more than the typical romance dual perspective. I believed this helped to broaden the story line. It also allowed the reader to hear more perspectives and solidify our own thoughts and opinions on characters and plots. Bridget and Jake Bordeaux did a magnificent job with the narrations. Their collective range of voices made this story every bit more enjoyable.
I really loved the first book, but this one just wasn’t as good. It felt rushed and messy. It dragged on and on, and the end was kind of random and not very satisfying. I still plan to read the third one just to see what happens next.
I was enthralled with the story-telling that J.M. began in Bow Before the Elf Queen, and was ready to rip into this book. Unfortunately, I felt a little let down.
I understand that our main character goes through some trauma upon her capture; especially with thinking she's lost her mate - but I felt like the character just did a 180 from the girl I fell for in book 1. Even as the story-line progressed, she seemed to remain the same as the start of the book - and that was really disheartening since I was so enthralled with her in Book 1. Then it felt like Thane took a 180 as well - and found myself falling out of obsession with their love story.
Then the ending of the book - it both intrigued me and gutted me. I felt like the author could have done a better job of incorporating the "gods" that this society revered into the world building in the first and most of the second book - because it felt like the concept of them being the gods reincarnated felt like left field, and not in the "oh shit I didn't see that coming" left field, but in the "where the f did she get that from" left field.
that's not to say I won't be re-reading when book 3 comes out, but just some things that made it so I couldn't give more than 3 stars.
I understand that our main character goes through some trauma upon her capture; especially with thinking she's lost her mate - but I felt like the character just did a 180 from the girl I fell for in book 1. Even as the story-line progressed, she seemed to remain the same as the start of the book - and that was really disheartening since I was so enthralled with her in Book 1. Then it felt like Thane took a 180 as well - and found myself falling out of obsession with their love story.
Then the ending of the book - it both intrigued me and gutted me. I felt like the author could have done a better job of incorporating the "gods" that this society revered into the world building in the first and most of the second book - because it felt like the concept of them being the gods reincarnated felt like left field, and not in the "oh shit I didn't see that coming" left field, but in the "where the f did she get that from" left field.
that's not to say I won't be re-reading when book 3 comes out, but just some things that made it so I couldn't give more than 3 stars.
In continuation of my disappointment of this series, I bring you my review of the second book in the The Elf Queen series. Layala goes from being an absolute beast in the first half of the first book, only to lose it all in the second half, along with gaining all of the cliches that no one likes. In this book, once again she is a helpless princess, despite having trained her entire life to kill Thane.
It's honestly angering that her character was changed so drastically. I wasn't able to finish this book (big surprise considering all of the other DNF reviews), but I wasn't expecting her to be so...flat. I wanted another strong, independent female lead but instead what I got was a child playing dress up. It's introduced within the first 20 pages that she's being starved by Thane's father, Tenebris, but I would have thought that she would have tried to fight back despite being weakened. Rather, Layala Lightbringer does not and just sits there, waiting for a man to come save her. It's not the 18th century anymore.
Thane is also very boring in this one. Yes, he was on the brink of death at the end of the first book, but he wallows in his own self pity, and also complains about how he wants to save Layala, but just doesn't. He's a lot of talk without action. Furthermore, if there's magic in this world (from the mages because most of the magic is gone), couldn't the mage that he was resting up with healed him?
2/5 stars, DNF.
It's honestly angering that her character was changed so drastically. I wasn't able to finish this book (big surprise considering all of the other DNF reviews), but I wasn't expecting her to be so...flat. I wanted another strong, independent female lead but instead what I got was a child playing dress up. It's introduced within the first 20 pages that she's being starved by Thane's father, Tenebris, but I would have thought that she would have tried to fight back despite being weakened. Rather, Layala Lightbringer does not and just sits there, waiting for a man to come save her. It's not the 18th century anymore.
Thane is also very boring in this one. Yes, he was on the brink of death at the end of the first book, but he wallows in his own self pity, and also complains about how he wants to save Layala, but just doesn't. He's a lot of talk without action. Furthermore, if there's magic in this world (from the mages because most of the magic is gone), couldn't the mage that he was resting up with healed him?
2/5 stars, DNF.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
2.5 stars ✨
"Don't worry, love, together we will get back home, and all those who sought to punish us will now and profess, long live the queen."
Well this one made the first book look absolutely fantastic and now I am rethinking my whole experience reading that book.
But anyway, I am truly disappointed with this one. From the first page itself the whole vibe of the book felt off (yes I'm gonna take the vibe of the book as a valid reason to dislike it).
What I liked-
✅ The romance- It's not just Thane and Layala's chemistry. The introduction of the love triangle certainly makes things interesting.
✅ The ending- I liked it a lot. The cliffhanger makes me excited. But I cannot ignore the fact that I did not enjoy the majority of the book.
✅ The characters- Excluding Layala, everyone was good enough.
What I did not like-
❌The pacing- It was incredibly slow.
❌ The plot- It was dragging.
❌ The FMC- She became unbearable, selfish. I like my girls to be selfless, especially when they are in a powerful position but Layala was not and that irked me big time.
Overall, it turned out to be a dull read, wish it was better.
"Don't worry, love, together we will get back home, and all those who sought to punish us will now and profess, long live the queen."
Well this one made the first book look absolutely fantastic and now I am rethinking my whole experience reading that book.
But anyway, I am truly disappointed with this one. From the first page itself the whole vibe of the book felt off (yes I'm gonna take the vibe of the book as a valid reason to dislike it).
What I liked-
✅ The romance- It's not just Thane and Layala's chemistry. The introduction of the love triangle certainly makes things interesting.
✅ The ending- I liked it a lot. The cliffhanger makes me excited. But I cannot ignore the fact that I did not enjoy the majority of the book.
✅ The characters- Excluding Layala, everyone was good enough.
What I did not like-
❌The pacing- It was incredibly slow.
❌ The plot- It was dragging.
❌ The FMC- She became unbearable, selfish. I like my girls to be selfless, especially when they are in a powerful position but Layala was not and that irked me big time.
Overall, it turned out to be a dull read, wish it was better.
"I would find you in every life, in every realm. I’ll be drawn to you for eternity."
Long Live the Elf Queen was such a fun read, and a great sequel to Bow Before the Elf Queen. This series has it all - enemies to lovers, court intrigue, betrayals, a bit of spice, and curses - and is a great read for fans of fantasy romance.
While the first book was quite romance-heavy, this one focused more on adventure and world building (don't worry - the romance is still there!), which gave the story a little more dimension and gave me an opportunity to feel more connected with the novel as a whole.
I am very excited to see where this series goes - after that ending, I really can't wait to get my hands on book three. In the meantime, I plan to check out some of Kearl's other works.
Long Live the Elf Queen was such a fun read, and a great sequel to Bow Before the Elf Queen. This series has it all - enemies to lovers, court intrigue, betrayals, a bit of spice, and curses - and is a great read for fans of fantasy romance.
While the first book was quite romance-heavy, this one focused more on adventure and world building (don't worry - the romance is still there!), which gave the story a little more dimension and gave me an opportunity to feel more connected with the novel as a whole.
I am very excited to see where this series goes - after that ending, I really can't wait to get my hands on book three. In the meantime, I plan to check out some of Kearl's other works.