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The Shadow Queen (Ravenspire, #1)

C.J. Redwine

Start date: April 1, 2016

Finish date: April 30, 2016

Discussion: The Library (BoTM Discussions)

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'The Shadow Queen' Discussion
By Emmanuel · 10 posts · 35 views

last updated May 04, 2016 08:40PM

'The Love That Split The World' Discussion
By Emmanuel · 18 posts · 35 views

last updated Apr 01, 2016 05:49AM

What Members Thought

Feb 22, 2016 Maria rated it liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. 3.5 stars by me. review will come later today or tomorrow. this wasn't as bad as I expected with all my friends giving it low ratings.

ACTUAL REVIEW:

HIYA GUYS Ria here Welcome to the Nether- and todayyyyy...we have The Shadow Queen also known as Ravenspire Series book 1 by CJ Redwine. I got this as a ARC in a GIVEAWAY (I did not request this book it magically came to my doorstep like POOF!) - Harper Collins is a pain in the butt to get a hold of and you have to wait forever to give you the novel 3.5 stars by me. review will come later today or tomorrow. this wasn't as bad as I expected with all my friends giving it low ratings.

ACTUAL REVIEW:

HIYA GUYS Ria here Welcome to the Nether- and todayyyyy...we have The Shadow Queen also known as Ravenspire Series book 1 by CJ Redwine. I got this as a ARC in a GIVEAWAY (I did not request this book it magically came to my doorstep like POOF!) - Harper Collins is a pain in the butt to get a hold of and you have to wait forever to give you the novel - but ANYWAY. THAT DOESN'T CHANGE MY OPINION ON THIS BOOK WHAT-SO-EVER. I only am real with you guys how I feel about novels. As always I am going to start with the plot and get knit picky on what I liked and what I disliked.

Okay - The story goes at the beginning that Miss. Lorelai (by the way I love the name- good job there Ms. Redwine). She is a princess of Ravenspire (shocker that series is just called that Maria, you don't really need to state that but whateves), and her mother suddenly dies. Her aunt, Irina - I think that's how you spell her name don't quote me gets married to her dad the king, and her aunt hates her dad. Lorelai finds out gets pissed and accidently gets her father killed. She runs away with her baby brother and her mentor Gabriel. 10 years later they are stealing from the government or nobility and giving to the poor like Robin hood. blah blah blah Boy main character comes in he is a playaaaaaaa, his name is Kol- or kolahakanaoanaonakanabaHa some royal long name, his family is killed be trololollalalalalalas and he goes to Ravenspire for help. did I mention he a dragon man....nope let's move on Irina is a bitch she a bitch to her country she doesn't give her people monies for food. blah blah blah SEEN IT DONE IT. OKAY! THE WHOLE PLOT IS A MESS, but basically in a nutshell Lorelai is trying to get her kingdom back from Irina and restore her family's honor.

I have a few issues with this story which knocked down a lot for me.

First thing I want to point out is that there is a big instalove thing going on. Lorelai and Kol suddenly fall in love towards the end of the novel. They only known each other for 2 seconds ((Technically this book only takes a course over 3 weeks)) yet their macking face. I don't feel like there was a serious buildup to that point of no return. I don't feel like a lot of time has gone by for them to be in love with each other. This is not a believeable relationship for me. That should have been built up better in my humble opinion.

The second thing is Irina- she is a bitch, yet has sort of a heart. She is not that other bitch from the Lunar Chronicles where she is downright evil...which I wish she was. she was also EASILY DEFEATED. The whole thing with sleeping with her royal advisor weirded me out, lets move on.

The third thing I wanna point out is I don't know if this is a Sleeping Beauty retelling or a Snow White. there are no FING DWARVES..YET THERE IS A SLEEPING KISS AT THE END SO WHAT THE F ARE YOU RETELLING! This is not very clear to me other then Lorelais hair was black and her lips were red and her skin was pasty white. sounds like snow white to me...yet there are no DWARVES SHE SHOULD HAVE PUT SOME DWARVES.

The final thing I just wanna say is that I disliked Kol, with a few minor acceptions. He can be charming but he is only charming towards the VERY END OF THE NOVEL. HE IS SOOO AGHH. He was dumb...and helpless...for a dragon he was a freaking dragon man for crying out loud! I wanted more out of them I felt like they were useless to the point of boredom.

Okay Other then those four things I pointed out it was a pretty good novel. it was weird at parts (like the apple coming out of someone's dead mouth thing- not cool) and I felt like she needed to be a little different after her brother died...she just her best friend but I felt like she was fine...so blah. I don't know what else to say about this book other then I was confused on the magic system but the plot was very unoriginal and simple to follow at points...but it then strays off at points so I don't know what to think...

I gave this book a fairly high rating for what I said about it honestly it should only get a 2.5 star rating. I don't believe it needs more then 3 stars, so maybe it will be better in the next book in the series. CJ Redwine is making another book called the Wish Granter I believe wish I want to see if she can make something else and it turning out better. I hope you guys have a great night- and I'll be back with my next Review. BYEEE~ ...more

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Sep 18, 2017 Krystal rated it it was amazing

This Book opens talking about the brother and father of the main character (Lorelai) and her feelings on them, and how her father's demeanor changed after her mother died. It also talks of her brother Leo's nightmares. Of Course, Lorelai is magical and has magical abilities.

This is a snow white fairytale retelling. So the king ends up remarrying. He marries the dead wife's sister to keep alliances with the Morcant Kingdom and Ravenspire. Right away the story starts off telling the tale of the e ...more

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Apr 02, 2016 Stephanie Toerien rated it liked it

My favorite character is definitely Trugg!!! Loved the shapeshifting idea for the dragons. I loved it. One of those easy reads, you know what is coming but you still want to read it for yourself.
The bird that shared thoughts with only her was a nice touch for me. On the point of it being a retelling, I liked that its like need apples.. "check", need huntsman.. "check". Had plenty of potential to be an original story I think. ...more

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Nov 05, 2017 Tracy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I enjoyed this book. I was able to pick it back up & continue reading it without feeling like I was missing anything. This was my first experience with humans shifting to dragons. That took some getting used to. Overall I enjoyed this SnowWhite retelling!

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Apr 02, 2016 Samantha Aho rated it really liked it

Shelves: on-my-physical-bookshelves

I actually had more of a character connection to Irina than Lorelai. I never really felt for her or could connect. Otherwise though, I really liked it. It was better than I expected from what I had hear in other reader's reviews. ...more

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