sheneedstosortoutherpriorities 's review for:

The Veiled Kingdom by Holly Renee

3.0

challenging fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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The description of the book is a bit deceiving. I get no vibe of loyalty to the kingdom from Nyra. It's all self-preservation. There's a good underlying plot to the story, but overall it felt rushed. There is no background/world building except the bare basics of them being fae with magic, with a cruel king. I do enjoy a book that just jumps into the story, but by the end of it, I felt a lot of the plot was missing. The fast-paced romance between Nyra and Dacre also wasn't super believable. Made it clear he knew she was lying and kept calling her a traitor and didn't trust her, but essentially claimed her and got super territorial. You didn't get much of a conflicting emotion from him regarding that fact. He claims his priority is to the rebellion, but he's immediately all over her despite his concerns about what she's hiding. I didn't get an implied pull between them or anything that made it seem like they couldn't resist each other. Lust at first sight, essentially. The end between Nyra and Dacre just bothered me.

He took her virginity, then outed her secret as a princess, then told her to run. What a shit thing to do and I hope in the next book she makes him work harder for it.

Overall, I'll try the second book and hope for more story.