The Shadow Queen (Ravenspire #1) by C.J. Redwine - Restarting October 12th 2020

[Sarah Elizabeth]

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.

[Nicole's Book Diaries]

Can't wait :)

[Nicole's Book Diaries]

Chapter 1& 2 (view spoiler)[ I have to admit, the first two chapters were excruciatingly boring, especially after reading the prologue. There were a lot of unnecessary dialogues like practicing court manners. I was relieved to read the scene about the mother and her children. It seemed to be a wake call for Lorelai and her group. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 4 (view spoiler)[ Okay I like that Kol's a dragon. That's really cool but a dragon that's losing to ogres? I mean ogres a vicious and violent but those must be some crazy overpowered ogres to be resistant against dragon fire and strength (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 7 (view spoiler)[ This is the Lorelai I wanted to see! I love that she's giving orders to people like she's been staging rescues all her life. I want to see more of this Lorelai. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 9: (view spoiler)[ I'm confused about Irina's back story. So she was supposed to marry Arlen which I'm guessing might be the king or someone that had a high political status but Arlen decided that he likes Irina's sister more and decided to marry her. So Irina got left in the dust without the title she wanted. Does that sound right? If not, can someone explain it to me? (hide spoiler)]

[Siobhan]

Your fast lol I got chapter one done before work this morning :) going to read some more now on my break

[Tati]

It's a fast read, which is a good thing, considering the story is not that good so far.

Chapter 8: (view spoiler)[ Lorelai saying Kol is too young to be a king is a bit of the pot calling the kettle black, isn't it? I mean, she was supposed to become queen when she was 8! (hide spoiler)]

[Siobhan]

Prologue and chapter 1 (view spoiler)[ prologue was really exciting and interesting chapter one was kinda boring (hide spoiler)]

[Siobhan]

Chapter 2 (view spoiler)[ what a horrible choice let the kids starve to death or kill them. How many others are facing this choice (hide spoiler)]

[Siobhan]

Chapter 3 (view spoiler)[ how after for kol. But I do feel this is dragging on a bit a lot of info we don't need. Hopefully it picks up (hide spoiler)]

[Tati]

Chapter 9 (view spoiler)[ maybe they liked her sister better because she happened to be nicer? Has Irina ever thought of that? (hide spoiler)]

Not impressed, so far.

[Tati]

Chapter 10: (view spoiler)[ how stupid is Kol? He's seen the poor woman spitting out apples and he still lets Irina collar him and mix their blood?? (hide spoiler)]

[Tati]

Nicole wrote: "Chapter 1& 2 [spoilers removed]

Chapter 4 [spoilers removed]

Chapter 7 [spoilers removed]

Chapter 9: [spoilers removed]"

Nicole, about your comment on chapter 9, (view spoiler)[ Yep, that's about it. It seems she feels slighted in some way, she probably believed he was really going to marry her, and then he turned around and married her sister. But I'd say it's more about power than about the guy. (hide spoiler)]

[Siobhan]

this book is not grabbing me :( and i really want to like it

[Tati]

I know how you feel. It's not grabbing me, either, especially considering I've got a lot of shiny ones to read

[Tati]

Chapter 12: (view spoiler)[ Lorelai is making me angry! Just use your magic, darn it! The queen already knows you're there! Now your brother may well be dead because you were too scared to use your magic. (hide spoiler)]

[Nicole's Book Diaries]

See you guys are fast. If only I didn't have to sleep.

(view spoiler)[ Yeah, the book's not impressive so far. It's too bad because it has the potential to be. It's very unoriginal to me so far. It's too close to the actual story of Snow White. The only interesting thing I found about this book so far is that Kol is a dragon. But even so, he's a weak dragon who can't fight ogres...Aren't dragons supposed to be the gods of mythical creatures? Sigh... (hide spoiler)]

[Tati]

Nicole wrote: "See you guys are fast. If only I didn't have to sleep.

[spoilers removed]"

Ah, but (view spoiler)[ these ogres are cheating LOL! I'm still waiting for the Seven Dwarves though (hide spoiler)]

[Siobhan]

i got distracted (view spoiler)[ it put me in the mood to watch once upon a time as the start for some reason reminded me of that lol so back to it now (hide spoiler)]

[Nicole's Book Diaries]

@Tati (view spoiler)[ Yes, they're fire resistant apparently (hide spoiler)]

@Siobhan (view spoiler)[ I think that's my problem. I'm a little biased reading this because I find myself comparing it to Once Upon a Time. (hide spoiler)]

[Siobhan]

Nicole wrote: "@Tati [spoilers removed]

@Siobhan [spoilers removed]"
glad im not alone :)

[Tati]

Chapter 18 (view spoiler)[ ah yes, the heart trick... Took half the book to get there... (hide spoiler)]

[Siobhan]

The line (view spoiler)[ try trugg on for size group was pretty funny reminds me of one of my friends (hide spoiler)]

[Siobhan]

Just starting chapter 11 and starting to get into it it is a fast read if only I'd stay off Facebook

[Siobhan]

Page 119 (view spoiler)[ I'm worried about gabril. The action is picking up and I am starting enjoy it (hide spoiler)]

[Siobhan]

Page 123 (view spoiler)[ I was not expecting that at all (hide spoiler)]

[Siobhan]

Tati wrote: "Chapter 10: [spoilers removed]"
(view spoiler)[ I wanted to slap kol there and then. How can he be so stupid (hide spoiler)]

[Nicole's Book Diaries]

Hey guys sorry I haven't had time to read. I usually read at night but might be the next day for you guys. Time difference is so messy. I'll read and post as much of it as I can later tonight.

[Siobhan]

What time is it where you are

[Nicole's Book Diaries]

3:24 pm. What about you guys?

[Siobhan]

1130pm I really should sleep but I've so much reading to do which I'm also not doing lol

[Tati]

it's 8 PM for me now

[Nicole's Book Diaries]

That's how I felt last night but sleep was calling to me. I'll probably have thoughts posted for you guys in the morning your time.

[Nicole's Book Diaries]

siobhan wrote: "Tati wrote: "Chapter 10: [spoilers removed]"
[spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[I was honestly more entertained and intrigued by how fantastically manipulative Irina was in this chapter. I loved it! I'm sorry but Irina's the only character so far that's interesting in this book. She has a back story, a spine, and knows what she wants. She knows who she is, how she got and she doesn't care about anyone else but herself. She's a terrible person, but she's interesting.
(hide spoiler)]

[Siobhan]

Nicole wrote: "siobhan wrote: "Tati wrote: "Chapter 10: [spoilers removed]"
[spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ Irina is my fav character lol how bad is that the evil one is the most interesting I'm on page 145 and its getting much better (hide spoiler)]

[Nicole's Book Diaries]

Chapter 12: (view spoiler)[ Whoa I did not expect that. But I actually liked Leo...I honestly thought that he was one of the "seven dwarves". I thought they were going to be loyal people that Lorelai met on her journey (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 13: (view spoiler)[ "It was time Lorelai stepped out of the shadows and became the queen Ravenspire needed". Well you know, that only took her 13 chapters for her to realize. I mean finally! Why couldn't this chapter have happened 100 pages ago? (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 17: (view spoiler)[ This chapter was funny and things just keep getting worse for Kol. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 23: (view spoiler)[ "Either Lorelai had been practicing, training with a rogue mardushka, or the princess had more natural power than Irina had imagined".
The story definitely picked up but it's still pretty cliche and predictable to me :/ (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 24: (view spoiler)[ If Lorelai's been this good with magic for who knows how long now, why hadn't she gone after Irina before? I wonder how she actually learned any of it. Even Irina mentioned that she didn't teach Lorelai magic like this (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 25: (view spoiler)[ "He glared at her. He was the king of Eldr. A Draconi warrior. He refused to be intimidate by a bird." Haha! I think the bird just became my fav character in this book. (hide spoiler)]

[Siobhan]

Nicole about your chapter 13 comment (view spoiler)[ stepping up could have happened 13 chapters ago easily half the start of the book could be removed and would be a much better read its starting to pick up now I'm on chapter 15 at least it's a fast read (hide spoiler)]

[Nicole's Book Diaries]

Chapter 27: (view spoiler)[ Like I said, she could have beat Irina long ago if she tried. (hide spoiler)]

[Nicole's Book Diaries]

@ Siobhan yup. That's why there's a big gap between 17 and 23 for my comments lol.

[Nicole's Book Diaries]

Alright I'm at my limit. It's 3am here. I'll be back in a few hours. Happy reading!

[Siobhan]

Page 146 (view spoiler)[ calling him huntsman really is trying to push that's its a fairytale re telling we all know it is but it can still be different like cinder. Cinder is a great re telling (hide spoiler)]

[Nicole's Book Diaries]

Chapter 31: (view spoiler)[ I don't this. So Lorelai's mother was Irina's sister. Wouldn't the king have known who Irina was before marrying her? Wouldn't Lorelai's mother and her sister have a strained relationship after her marriage to Arlen? Wouldn't Arlen have known about this? So why did Arlen marry Irina? (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 34: (view spoiler)[ Am I the only one seeing some very close similarities to Once Upon a Time with Irina and Regina? Wanting to be happy? Sacrificing your loved one for power and thinking that having to win will make you happy? (hide spoiler)]

[Siobhan]

do you sleep at all lol :) im only on page 196 but have plans to read alot once my daughter goes to bed

[Nicole's Book Diaries]

Lol. I do but I have really bad insomnia. Even if I wanted to go to bed early, I would just end up tossing and turning for hours until eventually fall asleep. That's why I just read at night now.

But take your time. I'm trying to finish this because I have other books I need to read.

[Nicole's Book Diaries]

Chapter 40: (view spoiler)[ So...she's bleeding out and his kiss saves her??? Is that what happened? I kinda just skimmed at the end. But I still thought the ending was cliche (hide spoiler)]

Finished! I have a short review coming soon.

[Nicole's Book Diaries]

Okay...it wasn't so short. But here's my review. I might have gotten carried away...

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Melanie]

Joining ;)

[Nicole's Book Diaries]

I just finished it but I believe Tati and Siobhan haven't. I'll still discuss it. So go ahead and start posting your thoughts.

[Melanie]

2%

(view spoiler)[That was an interesting beginning! I'm glad we got to see that backstory on the princess. Irina sounds dreadful. (hide spoiler)]

[Siobhan]

im still reading it :) im on page 226 plan was to read more last night but i fell asleep its getting way better

[Siobhan]

Melanie wrote: "2%

[spoilers removed]"
(view spoiler)[ yeah that beginning was very good i havent had a story grab me the way that one did (hide spoiler)]

[Nicole's Book Diaries]

No rush. I'll still discuss it. But I said a lot in my review. I always do lol.