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The Poison Within
Just like a coin--there are two sides to every story.
The Black Queen is known across Kelda for her ruthless heart and wicked nature. Rya has spent years living up to the image people have of her, only to find it threatening to end her life. Accused of a murder she did not commit she is forced to flee her kingdom, and the trained assassin chasing her. With nothing but the clothes on her back, and without the use of her magic, she seeks solace in the one place for people like her--the Ashen Forest.
For years Princess Cam has spent her time memorizing the Ashen laws and perfecting her archery, all in preparation for the day her father hands the kingdom down to her. She's worked hard to be everything that's expected from her when a chance encounter puts it all to the test. Saving the unconscious queen was an easy choice to make, but dealing with the fallout won't be as simple.
A killer lurking outside the castle walls, a surprise find in the forest, and a lost prince further twist the young women's lives together. At the end of it all both Rya and Cam will have to confront what lies in their hearts, and decide once and for all what they are willing to fight for.
The Black Queen is known across Kelda for her ruthless heart and wicked nature. Rya has spent years living up to the image people have of her, only to find it threatening to end her life. Accused of a murder she did not commit she is forced to flee her kingdom, and the trained assassin chasing her. With nothing but the clothes on her back, and without the use of her magic, she seeks solace in the one place for people like her--the Ashen Forest.
For years Princess Cam has spent her time memorizing the Ashen laws and perfecting her archery, all in preparation for the day her father hands the kingdom down to her. She's worked hard to be everything that's expected from her when a chance encounter puts it all to the test. Saving the unconscious queen was an easy choice to make, but dealing with the fallout won't be as simple.
A killer lurking outside the castle walls, a surprise find in the forest, and a lost prince further twist the young women's lives together. At the end of it all both Rya and Cam will have to confront what lies in their hearts, and decide once and for all what they are willing to fight for.
397 pages, Paperback
First published January 2, 2019
13 people are currently reading
937 people want to read
About the author
Rachel Marie Pearcy
4 books43 followersRachel was born and raised in Southern California, and spent many years working for a certain famous mouse. She loved being surrounded by great storytelling, and when she became disabled and unable to work, she started telling the stories herself. YA books with queer main characters are her focus. She is determined to write the stories she wishes she had when she was a teen.
Rachel now lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her partner and one very weird cat. When she's not writing she's playing video games, doing puzzles, or binge watching tv shows. She's obsessed with Legos, Disney, and sloths. She's a huge nerd, and she owns it like a boss.
Rachel now lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her partner and one very weird cat. When she's not writing she's playing video games, doing puzzles, or binge watching tv shows. She's obsessed with Legos, Disney, and sloths. She's a huge nerd, and she owns it like a boss.
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December 1, 2018You all need this in your lives. Like, full honesty, I was an editor for this book but my point stands. You NEED THIS in your lives!!!
If you like a) royal ladies falling for one another, b) redemption storylines, c) epic healing friendships, d) beautifully written fantasy or all of the above then you better have this on your TBR.
If you like a) royal ladies falling for one another, b) redemption storylines, c) epic healing friendships, d) beautifully written fantasy or all of the above then you better have this on your TBR.
July 16, 2019
2,5 🌟
This book is January's Sapphic Book Club read hosted by @sapphicliterature.
The premise was amazing but the execution has fallen short.
*sigh* I wasn’t this disappointed in a book in a while… It wasn’t even that awful -- just awfully average. And I’ve been so hyped with the premise! Like, come on, evil queen? Magic? Sapphic romance? It could have been the best thing ever and yet here we are…
➽ Let’s start with the good things, maybe? I wanted to like it so much I don’t want to drag it completely.
The overall plot was alright. With some more work and more development it could have been much better but the idea was good. It was also fast to read and, beside the cheesy and sometimes cringey dialogue, the writing wasn’t bad either.
And Norell! I would rather read her story -- she was the most interesting character. Only Gavin came close to that but he was only present for the last ¼th of the book. She also had more chemistry with Rya than Cam did. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Also, Cam and Thane's friendship was kinda cute.
➽ Okay, now onto the bad.
I thought this would have some badass action scenes and politic games but 1. most of it was Cam and Rya dancing around each other with their feelings, and 2. aside from romance, the conflicts are resolved pretty quickly (even though they keep making Really Dumb mistakes) and things have no chance to escalate? Of course, I wanted a HEA but I want them to work for it.
Even though it was so romance focused the romance felt bland and forced. Everybody kept saying that they’re in love with each other but I just didn’t see it? There was attraction but it’s a long jump from that to love.
It was so confusing to have Rya act so Evil Queen in the flashbacks and then be the sweet friendly girl with the Ashens? It could have been fixed with her only acting nice to better her chances of receiving protection she needs only to warm up to them in spite of her trust issues but as it was she just felt like two different people.
Also, the Evil Queen arc was pretty weak. I hoped for some redemption arc or something but instead all we get are excuses and it’s not what you think it was . And Cam just goes for that -- which, yeah, hot evil queen a sapphic dream but that makes No Sense for her character who’s supposed to be a successor of this righteous Ashen line.
We only learn why the main antagonist is someone we should root against about the time we meet Gavin? Which is the last ¼th of the story. Before that we’re just supposed to hate him because he wanted to get rid of the Evil Queen, I guess...
All in all it’s a fast to read average YA with no much depth. You get wlw though so that’s a-okay.
This book is January's Sapphic Book Club read hosted by @sapphicliterature.
The premise was amazing but the execution has fallen short.
*sigh* I wasn’t this disappointed in a book in a while… It wasn’t even that awful -- just awfully average. And I’ve been so hyped with the premise! Like, come on, evil queen? Magic? Sapphic romance? It could have been the best thing ever and yet here we are…
➽ Let’s start with the good things, maybe? I wanted to like it so much I don’t want to drag it completely.
The overall plot was alright. With some more work and more development it could have been much better but the idea was good. It was also fast to read and, beside the cheesy and sometimes cringey dialogue, the writing wasn’t bad either.
And Norell! I would rather read her story -- she was the most interesting character. Only Gavin came close to that but he was only present for the last ¼th of the book. She also had more chemistry with Rya than Cam did. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Also, Cam and Thane's friendship was kinda cute.
➽ Okay, now onto the bad.
I thought this would have some badass action scenes and politic games but 1. most of it was Cam and Rya dancing around each other with their feelings, and 2. aside from romance, the conflicts are resolved pretty quickly (even though they keep making Really Dumb mistakes) and things have no chance to escalate? Of course, I wanted a HEA but I want them to work for it.
Even though it was so romance focused the romance felt bland and forced. Everybody kept saying that they’re in love with each other but I just didn’t see it? There was attraction but it’s a long jump from that to love.
It was so confusing to have Rya act so Evil Queen in the flashbacks and then be the sweet friendly girl with the Ashens? It could have been fixed with her only acting nice to better her chances of receiving protection she needs only to warm up to them in spite of her trust issues but as it was she just felt like two different people.
Also, the Evil Queen arc was pretty weak. I hoped for some redemption arc or something but instead all we get are excuses and it’s not what you think it was . And Cam just goes for that -- which, yeah, hot evil queen a sapphic dream but that makes No Sense for her character who’s supposed to be a successor of this righteous Ashen line.
We only learn why the main antagonist is someone we should root against about the time we meet Gavin? Which is the last ¼th of the story. Before that we’re just supposed to hate him because he wanted to get rid of the Evil Queen, I guess...
All in all it’s a fast to read average YA with no much depth. You get wlw though so that’s a-okay.
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January 25, 2019
This book was the January 2019's Sapphic Book Club read hosted by sapphicbookclub.
It's really hard to write this review, because I was really looking forward to this read. The summary is really intriguing, the idea is cool and I love the cover. I also liked the writing style and some of the characters. And I’m always here for a nice happy end.
There’s stuff that I think can be easily overlooked because of the genre, like how insane the backstories sound when you compare the ages of everyone with the time clues, or being madly in love after knowing each other for like a week.
But the farther I got into the book, the more problems I ended up having with how the story is composed.
There were a lot of moments that confused or bothered me, but I wanted to wait with any judgment to see if it will all make sense in the end. I assumed a lot of things were just made to look like they are to trick me, to be revealed as tricks with some kind of plot twist later on. But that didn’t happen.
The important thing about this book, the ‘two sides to every story’ and the ‘poison within’ promised in the summary and the title, is deeply connected with how the characterization of Queen Rya is done.
And that part sadly fell flat for me. Everything about Rya confused me from beginning to end because her portrayal felt incoherent.
It's really hard to write this review, because I was really looking forward to this read. The summary is really intriguing, the idea is cool and I love the cover. I also liked the writing style and some of the characters. And I’m always here for a nice happy end.
There’s stuff that I think can be easily overlooked because of the genre, like how insane the backstories sound when you compare the ages of everyone with the time clues, or being madly in love after knowing each other for like a week.
But the farther I got into the book, the more problems I ended up having with how the story is composed.
There were a lot of moments that confused or bothered me, but I wanted to wait with any judgment to see if it will all make sense in the end. I assumed a lot of things were just made to look like they are to trick me, to be revealed as tricks with some kind of plot twist later on. But that didn’t happen.
The important thing about this book, the ‘two sides to every story’ and the ‘poison within’ promised in the summary and the title, is deeply connected with how the characterization of Queen Rya is done.
And that part sadly fell flat for me. Everything about Rya confused me from beginning to end because her portrayal felt incoherent.
February 6, 2019
4.5 stars. This was a beautiful story! I loved seeing how the Queens character changed, just loved so many of the characters by the end and almost cried even though it was the ending I hoped for. Thanks to Cece from ProblemsofaBookNerd for recommending this lovely story!
January 25, 2019
I read this book as part of the January 2019 Sapphic Book Club hosted by @sapphicbookclub.
This isn't the review I hoped I'd be writing when I started reading this book because the summary sounds amazing and I was really intrigued, but it left me quite disappointed and I found the whole book confusing. I struggled through 150 pages (it's 405 on my phone) over a few weeks and then finished it today. Because I read it so quickly I don't have any specific notes, but I'll try to explain in general terms why I didn't like it, so there's going to be spoilers below.
I rated it three stars because we need more wlw books and I fully support authors writing these stories, but I don't feel like The Poison Within lived up to its potential that the summary promises.
This isn't the review I hoped I'd be writing when I started reading this book because the summary sounds amazing and I was really intrigued, but it left me quite disappointed and I found the whole book confusing. I struggled through 150 pages (it's 405 on my phone) over a few weeks and then finished it today. Because I read it so quickly I don't have any specific notes, but I'll try to explain in general terms why I didn't like it, so there's going to be spoilers below.
I rated it three stars because we need more wlw books and I fully support authors writing these stories, but I don't feel like The Poison Within lived up to its potential that the summary promises.
January 20, 2019
This was the January book for sapphic book club http://sapphicbookclub.tumblr.com/
I didn't really enjoy this one. The prologue was intriguing with its evil queen premise but when getting into the rest of the story Rya felt so unlike the person in the prologue I questioned whether there was actually a different queen who was evil. I feel that the point was that there was something good in her but I feel like the crueler part of her nature should have at least been present somewhere in her interactions with the Ashen kingdom characters.
One of the other things that bothered me was Rya and Cam's romance . It felt like it developed too fast. The interactions they had do not feel like the sort where it would make sense for them to be in love with each other even though some fondness would make sense. I feel like they shoud have had more interactions before their relationship developed to the point it did.
I didn't really enjoy this one. The prologue was intriguing with its evil queen premise but when getting into the rest of the story Rya felt so unlike the person in the prologue I questioned whether there was actually a different queen who was evil. I feel that the point was that there was something good in her but I feel like the crueler part of her nature should have at least been present somewhere in her interactions with the Ashen kingdom characters.
One of the other things that bothered me was Rya and Cam's romance . It felt like it developed too fast. The interactions they had do not feel like the sort where it would make sense for them to be in love with each other even though some fondness would make sense. I feel like they shoud have had more interactions before their relationship developed to the point it did.
February 4, 2019
This book was 2019 January’s Sapphic Book Club read hosted by sapphicbookclub.
So, this was nice, if not as gripping as I hoped. With the plot featuring evil queens, fleeing from assassins, intrigue and betrayal, I was expecting something kind of dark and thrilling. Instead, this ended up being ... cosy, I guess. It's a sweet story about two royal teenage girls falling in love and going on a journey with their closest friends, determined to do the right thing for their kingdoms.
There were some grammar errors that jumped out at me, like 'couldn't bare it' and 'your welcome', but I was reading an ARC, so hopefully they will have been fixed up for the published version.
So, this was nice, if not as gripping as I hoped. With the plot featuring evil queens, fleeing from assassins, intrigue and betrayal, I was expecting something kind of dark and thrilling. Instead, this ended up being ... cosy, I guess. It's a sweet story about two royal teenage girls falling in love and going on a journey with their closest friends, determined to do the right thing for their kingdoms.
There were some grammar errors that jumped out at me, like 'couldn't bare it' and 'your welcome', but I was reading an ARC, so hopefully they will have been fixed up for the published version.
September 30, 2019
I have never been so disappointed in a book.
I was sold a tale of love, fantasy, and the redemption of an evil queen, but what I got was just boredom and disappointment. In the end, it was stubbornness that kept me from DNF'ing this.
One thing I want to get out of the way is that this is a Romance first and foremost, with a fantasy veneer. There wasn't nearly enough worldbuilding to give it the depth it needed to be anything more than that.
The characters were very flat, and the relationships felt forced (and very insta-lovey). I didn't care for any of them or their plights. Nothing they did could get a real rise out of me, and I'm someone who cries at the drop of a hat. If you can't get me to cry, you've done something wrong. Rya, the Black Queen, did not live up to her description. She wasn't devious and dark at all, except for the odd flashback chapter where she did do some terrible things. Unfortunately, not showing any of this in the actual story was a detriment, because there was no redemption, there was nothing that really felt like it needed to be redeemed. Cam, the princess and love interest, can't really be defined other than she's a princess and she doesn't play by the rules? Even the big villain, Father Kasen, was a nothing character. Just someone talked about in the background as a terrible, manipulative human being, but actually nothing when we finally saw him. Characterisation just wasn't consistent, or indeed existent for much of the story. You could argue there was something in the last third, but it wasn't enough to save the story.
Some of this may stem from none of the characters having their own voices. If there hadn't been dialogue tags, I would have had no idea who was speaking, because they all sounded the same. Even with dialogue tags, I still got confused. When everyone is using the same "I figured" line, even a king, you haven't done your job separating how each character speaks. The writing itself was a little clunky too. Descriptions were hit and miss. I had a very hard time picturing what the main characters looked like, which is not a good thing.
There is magic, but it was superfluous. Only Rya had it, and her love interest for like one scene for the sake of convenience. Why not give it to the villain too? Or have other people show that sort of power? Make it more integral to the world. If this had just been a historical setting, or a fantasy without magic, it would have worked. Rya's magic would just have to be replaced with like poisons and daggers and cunning. That would have been just as interesting, if not more so.
Action scenes were garbled and impossible to follow. Every time one happened, it was over as quickly as it had started, and I couldn't tell who had ended it in the final big fight. There was no suspense, no heart-pumping will-they-survive-this encounter. Again, it felt too convenient.
And I think that was the overall problem. No climaxes were truly reached and overcome because there was so much damn convenience. The characters are having a heart-felt moment? Bam! Convenient assassin conveniently shows up out of nowhere and attacks, conveniently interrupting would would have been a great character moment. The characters are freezing in a mountain pass and begging for help from some locals who don't seem interested in helping them? Bam! Cousin of the princess conveniently knows the right words to change their minds, then conveniently meets a family member they had previously never met, making their need for shelter nothing but a short talk. This sort of thing makes a story boring, because there's no challenge. Challenge is interesting. Adversity makes a story interesting. Without it, a short-ish 250 page novel became a chore to get through, when it should have taken me only a couple of days to finish.
One last thing. If you are an indie author, please, for the love of everything, hire professional editors! There were so many grammatical and spelling errors littered through this novel that they would have picked up (thrown when it should have been throne, heals when it should have been heels, your welcome, know when it should have been now, words completely missing from sentences, etc.). Not to mention timeline errors, because in one chapter, the characters start talking about a dead king leading the armies rather than the established villain. That feels like something left over from a previous draft that was never picked up on by beta readers.
I do want to read more LGBT+ stories, but this was not one for me.
I was sold a tale of love, fantasy, and the redemption of an evil queen, but what I got was just boredom and disappointment. In the end, it was stubbornness that kept me from DNF'ing this.
One thing I want to get out of the way is that this is a Romance first and foremost, with a fantasy veneer. There wasn't nearly enough worldbuilding to give it the depth it needed to be anything more than that.
The characters were very flat, and the relationships felt forced (and very insta-lovey). I didn't care for any of them or their plights. Nothing they did could get a real rise out of me, and I'm someone who cries at the drop of a hat. If you can't get me to cry, you've done something wrong. Rya, the Black Queen, did not live up to her description. She wasn't devious and dark at all, except for the odd flashback chapter where she did do some terrible things. Unfortunately, not showing any of this in the actual story was a detriment, because there was no redemption, there was nothing that really felt like it needed to be redeemed. Cam, the princess and love interest, can't really be defined other than she's a princess and she doesn't play by the rules? Even the big villain, Father Kasen, was a nothing character. Just someone talked about in the background as a terrible, manipulative human being, but actually nothing when we finally saw him. Characterisation just wasn't consistent, or indeed existent for much of the story. You could argue there was something in the last third, but it wasn't enough to save the story.
Some of this may stem from none of the characters having their own voices. If there hadn't been dialogue tags, I would have had no idea who was speaking, because they all sounded the same. Even with dialogue tags, I still got confused. When everyone is using the same "I figured" line, even a king, you haven't done your job separating how each character speaks. The writing itself was a little clunky too. Descriptions were hit and miss. I had a very hard time picturing what the main characters looked like, which is not a good thing.
There is magic, but it was superfluous. Only Rya had it, and her love interest for like one scene for the sake of convenience. Why not give it to the villain too? Or have other people show that sort of power? Make it more integral to the world. If this had just been a historical setting, or a fantasy without magic, it would have worked. Rya's magic would just have to be replaced with like poisons and daggers and cunning. That would have been just as interesting, if not more so.
Action scenes were garbled and impossible to follow. Every time one happened, it was over as quickly as it had started, and I couldn't tell who had ended it in the final big fight. There was no suspense, no heart-pumping will-they-survive-this encounter. Again, it felt too convenient.
And I think that was the overall problem. No climaxes were truly reached and overcome because there was so much damn convenience. The characters are having a heart-felt moment? Bam! Convenient assassin conveniently shows up out of nowhere and attacks, conveniently interrupting would would have been a great character moment. The characters are freezing in a mountain pass and begging for help from some locals who don't seem interested in helping them? Bam! Cousin of the princess conveniently knows the right words to change their minds, then conveniently meets a family member they had previously never met, making their need for shelter nothing but a short talk. This sort of thing makes a story boring, because there's no challenge. Challenge is interesting. Adversity makes a story interesting. Without it, a short-ish 250 page novel became a chore to get through, when it should have taken me only a couple of days to finish.
One last thing. If you are an indie author, please, for the love of everything, hire professional editors! There were so many grammatical and spelling errors littered through this novel that they would have picked up (thrown when it should have been throne, heals when it should have been heels, your welcome, know when it should have been now, words completely missing from sentences, etc.). Not to mention timeline errors, because in one chapter, the characters start talking about a dead king leading the armies rather than the established villain. That feels like something left over from a previous draft that was never picked up on by beta readers.
I do want to read more LGBT+ stories, but this was not one for me.
February 24, 2019
This is the second book by R M Pearcy that I have read and it was AMAZING.
I loved the worldbuilding and the map and almost all the characters. Tbh, I wasn't a huge fan of Cam because she was kind of just blah, buy Rya, Norell, and Thane? I LOVED them. I was a huge fan of the love story between Cam and Rya mostly because of how different they were and how Cam threatened to kill an assassin to save her.
Though I just had a really hard time connecting with Cam throughout the story.
Rya, though. Rya's my girl. As someone who has been through physical and emotional abuse, I really understood her. I understood her choices and all of the seemingly bad things she did. I too am not a bad person, but people view me as such because of my no tolerance policy for bullies, abusers, and bad people. I get it, Rya. I see you.
I really didn't like Norell in the beginning, but she grew on me. Especially when she met up with the Ebez, but I really would have liked to see her stay behind and learn from them. I get that her life was in the Ashen Forest, but she could've stayed for a little while to connect with family after they brought Rya to the Obsidian Isles.
I think the only thing I really had a huge issue with was the ending. It kind of ends really abruptly and I feel like I would've liked an Epilogue if this is going to be the last we see of these characters. Other than that, this book really was truly great. I would recommend it for anyone who is interested in F/F romance and fantasy worlds.
I loved the worldbuilding and the map and almost all the characters. Tbh, I wasn't a huge fan of Cam because she was kind of just blah, buy Rya, Norell, and Thane? I LOVED them. I was a huge fan of the love story between Cam and Rya mostly because of how different they were and how Cam threatened to kill an assassin to save her.
Though I just had a really hard time connecting with Cam throughout the story.
Rya, though. Rya's my girl. As someone who has been through physical and emotional abuse, I really understood her. I understood her choices and all of the seemingly bad things she did. I too am not a bad person, but people view me as such because of my no tolerance policy for bullies, abusers, and bad people. I get it, Rya. I see you.
I really didn't like Norell in the beginning, but she grew on me. Especially when she met up with the Ebez, but I really would have liked to see her stay behind and learn from them. I get that her life was in the Ashen Forest, but she could've stayed for a little while to connect with family after they brought Rya to the Obsidian Isles.
I think the only thing I really had a huge issue with was the ending. It kind of ends really abruptly and I feel like I would've liked an Epilogue if this is going to be the last we see of these characters. Other than that, this book really was truly great. I would recommend it for anyone who is interested in F/F romance and fantasy worlds.
April 10, 2019
This is the second book by R M Pearcy that I have read and it was AMAZING.
I loved the worldbuilding and the map and almost all the characters. Tbh, I wasn't a huge fan of Cam because she was kind of just blah, buy Rya, Norell, and Thane? I LOVED them. I was a huge fan of the love story between Cam and Rya mostly because of how different they were and how Cam threatened to kill an assassin to save her.
Though I just had a really hard time connecting with Cam throughout the story.
Rya, though. Rya's my girl. As someone who has been through physical and emotional abuse, I really understood her. I understood her choices and all of the seemingly bad things she did. I too am not a bad person, but people view me as such because of my no tolerance policy for bullies, abusers, and bad people. I get it, Rya. I see you.
I really didn't like Norell in the beginning, but she grew on me. Especially when she met up with the Ebez, but I really would have liked to see her stay behind and learn from them. I get that her life was in the Ashen Forest, but she could've stayed for a little while to connect with family after they brought Rya to the Obsidian Isles.
I think the only thing I really had a huge issue with was the ending. It kind of ends really abruptly and I feel like I would've liked an Epilogue if this is going to be the last we see of these characters. Other than that, this book really was truly great. I would recommend it for anyone who is interested in F/F romance and fantasy worlds.
I loved the worldbuilding and the map and almost all the characters. Tbh, I wasn't a huge fan of Cam because she was kind of just blah, buy Rya, Norell, and Thane? I LOVED them. I was a huge fan of the love story between Cam and Rya mostly because of how different they were and how Cam threatened to kill an assassin to save her.
Though I just had a really hard time connecting with Cam throughout the story.
Rya, though. Rya's my girl. As someone who has been through physical and emotional abuse, I really understood her. I understood her choices and all of the seemingly bad things she did. I too am not a bad person, but people view me as such because of my no tolerance policy for bullies, abusers, and bad people. I get it, Rya. I see you.
I really didn't like Norell in the beginning, but she grew on me. Especially when she met up with the Ebez, but I really would have liked to see her stay behind and learn from them. I get that her life was in the Ashen Forest, but she could've stayed for a little while to connect with family after they brought Rya to the Obsidian Isles.
I think the only thing I really had a huge issue with was the ending. It kind of ends really abruptly and I feel like I would've liked an Epilogue if this is going to be the last we see of these characters. Other than that, this book really was truly great. I would recommend it for anyone who is interested in F/F romance and fantasy worlds.
June 22, 2022
This book was highly disappointing. It needed a lot more editing before being published. There were so many issues from grammar and mistyped things, to plot holes that should have been worked out. At one point a character that has been dead the entire book is talked about in the present tense. From context clues, it seemed like the dead character was mixed up with another (they were both "bad guys") and it wasn't just one line. There were multiple instances where I had to pause reading because something wasn't fitting with what had been said earlier in the book. It wasn't like plot twists either, just poor planning.
In addition, the characters were inconsistent, especially Rya. She didn't have an arc. She didn't grow or change as a person. The dialogue was cringey a lot of the time. A lot of the backstories were told and not shown to us and for characters that have all this trauma and can't trust anyone, they sure opened up about their deepest darkest memories pretty fast to essentially strangers.
The romance was too fast and insta-lovey. I just didn't feel chemistry between the two characters.
The only thing I can really say I liked about this book was that it was a fast easy read when I wasn't getting caught up on grammar or plot errors.
In addition, the characters were inconsistent, especially Rya. She didn't have an arc. She didn't grow or change as a person. The dialogue was cringey a lot of the time. A lot of the backstories were told and not shown to us and for characters that have all this trauma and can't trust anyone, they sure opened up about their deepest darkest memories pretty fast to essentially strangers.
The romance was too fast and insta-lovey. I just didn't feel chemistry between the two characters.
The only thing I can really say I liked about this book was that it was a fast easy read when I wasn't getting caught up on grammar or plot errors.
March 31, 2020
A solid C+
I must say not bad. I could have done with less exposition. Rachel should trust her readers more. They didn't need to be spoon fed the underlying reasons for all of the Black Queens terrible deeds. Just give them hints and let them piece it together. At least leave them a mystery for Cam solve at the just the right dramatic moment when her doubt threatens her love of Rya.
The final battle felt anticlimactic. The hero's struggle with Nix ended with great scene in the rocks. I was stoked to see an epic battle for the crown. Instead I got a lousy speech and a glossed over skirmish, that felt as exciting as a stroll through the park. I kept thinking this is going too easy this has to be a trap. Any minute the bad guys will reveal their big surprise. Dooming Rya and setting it up for a big rescue by Cam and group who would swoop in turn the tide and save the day . Oh well. I've learned good endings are hard to write.
I must say not bad. I could have done with less exposition. Rachel should trust her readers more. They didn't need to be spoon fed the underlying reasons for all of the Black Queens terrible deeds. Just give them hints and let them piece it together. At least leave them a mystery for Cam solve at the just the right dramatic moment when her doubt threatens her love of Rya.
The final battle felt anticlimactic. The hero's struggle with Nix ended with great scene in the rocks. I was stoked to see an epic battle for the crown. Instead I got a lousy speech and a glossed over skirmish, that felt as exciting as a stroll through the park. I kept thinking this is going too easy this has to be a trap. Any minute the bad guys will reveal their big surprise. Dooming Rya and setting it up for a big rescue by Cam and group who would swoop in turn the tide and save the day . Oh well. I've learned good endings are hard to write.
February 2, 2021
Simplemente no ha sido mi momento de leer este libro. La verdad es que no le encuentro ningún pero, la historia es muy entretenida, las protagonistas me encanton y la ambientación es muy buena, como con un toque de cuento de hadas, que me encantó, pero simplemente no fui capaz de conectar con la novela. Se me atracnó a los pocos días de haberla empezado y la he dejado aparcada durante bastante tiempo. Espero releerla algún día y ver si mi opinión sobre ella es temporal o simplemente no ha sido una historia para mí, aunque me parece una trama muy buena.
November 26, 2019
Great Read!
I loved this book, nothing better or more romantic than a fair princess redeeming a Black Queens’s heart. The ending was predictable but didn’t diminish how good the boys is.
I loved this book, nothing better or more romantic than a fair princess redeeming a Black Queens’s heart. The ending was predictable but didn’t diminish how good the boys is.
March 9, 2020
A fun journey!!
This was a good story, I enjoyed the characters and the arcs that everyone went through. My only issues is the typos. If the editor would have read it one more time before releasing it, I would have ranked it higher.
This was a good story, I enjoyed the characters and the arcs that everyone went through. My only issues is the typos. If the editor would have read it one more time before releasing it, I would have ranked it higher.
September 27, 2021
Honestly i loved it, im not gonna lie, I’m not fully satisfied, I wish it were longer, and that we could’ve gotten to know each character a little bit better, I would’ve loved to see how Rya and Cam lived together and how they’re relationship evolved, Its definitely worth reading
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 9, 2019
Nice book.
Read
October 23, 2022DNF
December 7, 2022
Loved it
I just love these... revisited fairy tales.
This one was good, really. Loved the writing, the characters, the way they get closer, change one another. It's a really good book
I just love these... revisited fairy tales.
This one was good, really. Loved the writing, the characters, the way they get closer, change one another. It's a really good book
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