Review: The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine

The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine

Publisher- Balzer + Bray 

Released- Feb 16th 2016

Purchase- Amazon / B & N

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.

My Thoughts:

Queen Irina is an evil magician who tricked the King of Ravenspire and it's people with gleaming red apples with innards of rot. She spelled her way into lands with her cursed magic, but Princess Lorelia has magic of her own and stopped the Queen long enough to break the spell over her family and the guards. Though it was too late for the King, Lorelia and Leo managed to escape with Gabril, one of the palace guards. Nine years later, Lorelia, Leo and Gabril is planning to avenge the Kings death and challenge the Queen for the lands that has been destroyed by her toxic magic.

In the neighbouring kingdom of Eldr, Kol was celebrating his latest infraction and awaits his father disapproval when he was met with the news that his parents and older brother has died by an ogre attack. Now, as the second prince in line for the throne, Kol is the new king of Eldr and is faced with the great task of leading his people from the magic wielding ogres that threaten their kingdom. But Kol can't fight them with mere weapons. He needs magic and he knows just where to find it.

To tell you the truth I wasn't sure I wanted to read this book. Don't get me wrong, I love fairy tale retellings, but in ways it all feels the same. So while reading this book I was searching for something to standout and looking to see how C.J Redwine would put her own spark to the much loved classic story of Snow White, and I found it...with Dragons! Yup, poison, powers and dragons people, now this is one fairytale fantasy that was impressive, consuming and a blast to read. I really enjoyed Redwine's take on this story. Sure it did have a lot of the same aspects of the original fairytale and it also reminded me a bit of the movie, but It was interesting from the start and then it just grew to be more fascinating as the story plays on. I think this has a lot to do with the dragons part of the story. I absolutely loved this lore and it really does bring an explosive element into the mix and was my favorite moments in this world.  But I also really enjoyed Redwine's writing and storytelling, it's delivered quite smoothly, loving the pace and flow that was always kept moving, intriguing and suspenseful. 

All of these characters are wonderfully developed with strong chemistry and crisp voices. Even the evil ones. Lorelia is a fierce girl that is incredibly determined to winning back her rightful throne. I loved watching her embrace her power and was so proud of how she helped Kol. Leo is such a loveable, clever and protective brother while Gabril is a wonderful man and a father in all the ways that matter. As much as I loved the family closeness that Gabril, Leo and Lorelai share, I think that Kol and the Draconi's stole this book for me. Kol is a dragon with two hearts. One human, one dragon, but they both beat with passion and strength. Did he make mistakes? Yes, yes he did. But he did it with the best of intentions and wasn't always in his right mind, plus, his proven actions and inner struggles more then made up for it. I also loved Kol's friends Jyn and Trugg. They are so loyal, kickass and brought a lot of comedy to the story. The romance came a little late, but it was still very sweet and made me smile. I liked the ending but my heart broke with the fate of one of the characters.

Bottom line, I really enjoyed The Shadow Queen, more then I thought I would which is always something I appreciate in a book. I like to be surprised and entertained and this book delivers just that. Great world building, stunning and terrifying magic. Action punched with heart and soul characters that I was attached to and invested in from start to finish. A great fairytale fantasy!

Find the author:

Goodreads / Website                              4 Snowflakes

Review & Audiobook Sample: The Fire Sermon by Francesca Haig

The Fire Sermon by Francesca Haig

Publisher- Gallery Books

Released- March 10th 2015

Purchase-Amazon / B & N / TBD

The Hunger Games meets Cormac McCarthy’s The Road in this richly imagined first novel in a new post-apocalyptic trilogy by award-winning poet Francesca Haig.Cass is a rare Omega, one burdened with psychic foresight. While her twin, Zach, gains power on the Alpha Council, she dares to dream the most dangerous dream of all: equality. For daring to envision a world in which Alphas and Omegas live side-by-side as equals, both the Council and the Resistance have her in their sights.
Four hundred years in the future, the Earth has turned primitive following a nuclear fire that has laid waste to civilization and nature. Though the radiation fallout has ended, for some unknowable reason every person is born with a twin. Of each pair, one is an Alpha—physically perfect in every way; and the other an Omega—burdened with deformity, small or large. With the Council ruling an apartheid-like society, Omegas are branded and ostracized while the Alphas have gathered the world’s sparse resources for themselves. Though proclaiming their superiority, for all their effort Alphas cannot escape one harsh fact: Whenever one twin dies, so does the other.

My Thoughts:
The Fire Sermon, is a harsh and cruel reality set in an apocalyptic world ruined by nuclear devastation. While the radiation has lifted, it still made it's poisonous affect on it's people, for every person is born with a twin. One girl and one boy, the Alpha; perfect and strong and the Omega; weak and mutated physically or mentally. Branded and shut out of the community, to be an Omega is a brutal life, but the Alpha's need them alive, for what happens to one twin, the other will feel, in sickness, pain and even death.

Well now, this turned out to be quite the fascinating and impressive read. Francesca Haig, does a tremendous job of compelling the reader to this unique world and it's haunting characters. Cassandra and Zach are twins that weren't separated till the age of thirteen since there was no visible signs of who held the deformity. As it turned out, Cassandra is a rare seer who could predict the future and her brother tricked the truth out of her so he could finally begin his life as an Alpha. My heart really went out to Cassandra. She only wanted to stay with her family, home and twin but was shut out from the community for being an Omega. From there she was sent to one of the Omega settlements for the next six years only to be captured and contained in a cell at the Keeping Room, where she spent the next four years before escaping with another Omega named Kip. On the run and being hunted by Zach and his Alpha soldiers, Cass and Kip are in search of the island, which is an Omega safe haven, the same island that the Alpha's want to find and destroy all hope for their mutated twins.

My sympathy and respect for Cass throughout the story never seemed to waver. She's a strong, resourceful character that's a true fighter and survivor. Even after all she's been through at the hands of her Alpha brother, she still clings to hope that he could change himself and the world they live in. It's a thin line between love and hate. It may be naive on Cass's part but I admire her sharp mind and hopeful heart.

Kip is also a great character, he has a great sense of humor and is good natured. He may not be the most trusting but I think him being so cautious is understandable given his tortuous time in the Keeping Room and the fact that he only has one arm and no memory of his life, not even his twin. I liked the connection he and Cass had and even the very subtle but sweet romance. I was shocked when we learned the revelation concerning his memory lost and who his twin was and was completely surprised and saddened by the measures he took with that news.

At this point of the story, I'm not sure how to feel about Zach. I wish we got to understand him on a more deeper level (that is if he has one). We only get to see the side where his ambition and lust for power and to be recognized as a distinguished Alpha dominates all, even to go so far as to put his twin in a cell for his her own safety and treat her like a necessary nuisance. He's selfish and cruel and I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed. I was waiting and wanting to see even a glimpse of regret or remorse that wasn't tainted with self-preservation. But at last, there is nothing there besides an Alpha twin who is willing to do anything to achieve his ultimate goals. Still, like Cass, I have hope. I think there could be something more, maybe something that we've been missing and am curious to see if it'll be explored in future books.

Bottom line, I really enjoyed this book. It has a great mix of politics, fantasy and survival. I loved the characters, they played their roles well, the good and the bad. I loved the concept of Alpha and Omega and the disturbing world building. The writing is strong and the pace and flow of the story stayed at a constant stream of action and intrigue. Despite these characters being in their twenty's, this still very much reads like a young adult book. I also heard this was optioned for film and I'm looking forward to seeing this portrayed on the big screen as well as continuing this promising new world. A great escape!

Find the author:

Goodreads / Twitter                               4 Snowflakes

Audiobooks are quickly becoming a huge thing around WinterHaven lately.  Thanks to the wonderful people at Audible Studios we have a sound clip from The Fire Sermon audiobook to share with you!   Enjoy!!