~Summary~
“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.” -Goodreads.com
~My Thoughts~
I had never heard the ‘real’ Snow White story (real meaning not the Disney version) and the Shadow Queen was a really nice introduction to it. I admired Lorelai. In the beginning I was surprised when I learned she was 17 because honestly I thought that she acted a bit childish. But her grief hardened her and she grew to be an incredible warrior.
I loved the idea of the Draconi with their dual hearts and also the way that this concept was explored with Kol. Kol never expected to be called upon to lead his kingdom and I respected the maturity with which he took on the responsibility of being king. Like Lorelai, his grief manifested itself in doing whatever it took to protect the ones he loved, even if it meant giving himself over to Irina and her magic.
Lorelai and Kol made such a great team. The telepathic bond they shared as a result of Kol’s healing was a very smart addition and brought a freshness and life to the story. It also made me think consciously about my thoughts and what it would be like for someone to have the ability to get inside my head.
I really respect C.J. Redwine for the way she handled the romance. You never know what path authors will choose to take when two teenagers are attracted to each other, especially when they have a connection like telepathy, but I think she handled it wonderfully in the way that they never went beyond a few kisses and the thoughts that they had concerning each other never hinted at anything sexual.
The last thing I want to comment on is the ending. It was beautiful and left me with such a great feeling of satisfaction. I will definitely be on the lookout for the other books in the Ravenspire series and recommend the Shadow Queen for all fairy tale fans. Big thank you to C.J. for this story and also to everyone else who made it possible. Happy Reading 🙂
The Art of Reading 