Review: The Shadow Queen by CJ Redwine

The Shadow Queen by C. J. Redwine

Book 1 in The Ravenspire Series

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Gk5cYI

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/1Quu81x

Synopsis

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.

**4 Stars**

This is my first month of following a more structured reading and review schedule, so I made sure to include a few highly anticipated books in my TBR. The Shadow Queen was at the top of the list. I received a paperback of this book from my children's school librarian for a birthday present. She's the best. ♥ 

The Shadow Queen started off with a prologue that completely sucked me in. I knew going into this that it was a Snow White retelling so I wasn't expecting a ton of originality, and that was totally okay with me. I was just looking for a good fantasy read to break up my heavier books. I did get a lot of Snow White and the Huntsman vibes, so brace yourself for some gifs. Here's the nitty gritty: Lorelai is our MC and she fills the Snow White role. She's got skills; she wields magic like a pro. She's a princess on the run with her younger brother and the captain of her father's guard from, you guessed it: her wicked stepmother queen.

   

Irina is her wicked stepmother. She also has magical powers but hers are conditional...on her heart, oh and her heart is dying. She sucks the lives out of her "prisoners" to replenish her magic.

   

With all the magic she is using, her heart, even when running on borrowed mojo, can't keep up. So of course now she needs Lorelai's heart.

   

There are no dwarves... I know, I was bummed too. BUT there are dragons. Dragons, people. Shape shifting dragons. Hell yes. This is where Kol, who fills the Huntsman role, comes in. I really liked him. He was sweet and got dealt a raw deal for the most part.

   

Cons: 

1) I wanted more dragons. MORE dragons, please! 

2) I was hoping this first in a series, but it's not. It's a standalone. I'm kind of bummed about that. 

3) The ending seemed a little too easy. I know I said I wanted an easy read, but still. Although, this complaint may be stemmed from the fact that I was hoping this was first in a series. 

Pros: 

1) I really enjoyed Lorelai's character. She was brave and selfless. 

2) I enjoyed the interaction between Lorelai and Kol. Their romance seemed a little quick, but that was fine with me. Easy read, remember? 

3) DRAGONS. 

And now I'm off to go satisfy my dragon craving with some Game of Thrones.