Shadow Queen by C.J. Redvine

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Starting Date:

[Nicole's Book Diaries]

I'm in!

[BLT]

Same here :)

[Nicole's Book Diaries]

Chapter 1&2: (view spoiler)[ These two chapters were unfortunately excruciatingly painful to read. Compared to the prologue, I was so bored reading the beginning. I did like the scene where the mother kills her children. It woke Lorelai up and the story as well. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 3: (view spoiler)[Oh he's a dragon! That's actually pretty cool. I like that. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 4: (view spoiler)[Well Kol clearly hasn't heard about what's been happening in Ravenspire. He also doesn't seem to have a lot of experience with mardushka. That trip should be interesting... (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 8: (view spoiler)[I just read about the fierce and nimble Lorelai, but she's definitely gone now. She really should just focus on actually saving her kingdom and less princessy business. That whole "fetching" scene was just painful to read about. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 9: (view spoiler)[I'm loving Irina so far. She's cruel and cold-heart. So far, she's an amazing antagonist and she brings the only tensions in the book so far. I can't wait to see how her meeting with Kol goes. (hide spoiler)]

[BLT]

I loved Irina. She's a fully dimensional character that isn't the typical evil queen.

I also appreciated that there wasn't as much teen angst as there normally are in YA novels. Lorelei was focused on her goal (saving her kingdom) and didn't let Kol take control of her course.

Bref, this retelling of Snow White was amazing. The different POV just added to the story.

[Nicole's Book Diaries]

Wait are you done? lol

This is what I get for sleeping XD

[BLT]

Hehe yup I just did :)

Same here I woke up this morning and you had already posted a few chapters up

[Nicole's Book Diaries]

I read at night but I came home super late last night and only had an hour to read before bed :(

[BLT]

No sweat! Take you time :)

[Nicole's Book Diaries]

Okay! I just finished. Would have been faster if I didn't leave the book at my cousin's house -.-

I personally didn't like it. It was just cliche and boring for me. To be fair, I read a lot of fantasy and fairy tale retellings. So my standards for these stories are pretty high. But I just didn't enjoy this. :/

I'm glad it worked out for you though. :)

[BLT]

Thanks!
Sorry you didnt enjoy it though..

I actually found it refreshing since it's been a while since I've read a fantasy YA.
I'm more of the paranormal or scifi type.

It opened me up to another genre


If you read a lot of this type what would you suggest I read from the fantasy YA?

[Nicole's Book Diaries]

For a good fairy tale retelling, I really like Cruel Beauty.

Hmm...there's a lot. What did you like about Shadow Queen? So I could get an idea of what books to recommend.

What are some of your fav paranormal or sci-fi books? Maybe you can recommend me some :) I just recently got into that kind of genre especially after reading Moon Called and the Fever Series.

[BLT]

My favourite thing about any book is an unexpected or unconventional ending.

What I liked about the book was the use of magic and how the world was alive.
The relationship between the main characters was predictable BUT I liked that there wasn't much of teen angst.

Ooohhh I loved those books!! (Moon called and fever series)
If you liked the fae aspect there's this series of 4 books called The Fae chronicles. The first one is called Fighting Destiny.
It is as gritty as the other one and you get to see more of the Faery world too!

For the Mercy Thompson series if you liked that that type of heroine, there's the Kate Daniels series.
The first book isnt as good but if you give it a chance the rest of the series is Amazing

[BLT]

My favourite thing about any book is an unexpected or unconventional ending.

What I liked about the book was the use of magic and how the world was alive.
The relationship between the main characters was predictable BUT I liked that there wasn't much of teen angst.

Ooohhh I loved those books!! (Moon called and fever series)
If you liked the fae aspect there's this series of 4 books called The Fae chronicles. The first one is called Fighting Destiny.
It is as gritty as the other one and you get to see more of the Faery world too!

For the Mercy Thompson series if you liked that that type of heroine, there's the Kate Daniels series.
The first book isnt as good but if you give it a chance the rest of the series is Amazing

[Nicole's Book Diaries]

Hmm well one of my fav books is Poison Study. I see that you liked Graceling. If you liked that one then you should like Poison Study. Girl of Fire and Thorns is good too. There was some teen angst in the beginning of Girl of Fire and Thorns but it goes away easily. That one is more action packed. The main character really didn't have room to have that teen angst once the action started. Cruel Beauty would be good for you too. It's a beauty and the beast retelling. I think you would love the setting there if you loved how the world was alive for shadow queen. Umm I just read Winner's Curse. The ending was unpredictable and it was a good story. You have to be patient though. Everything good in that book happens in the second half. There may be quite a bit of teen angst in it I guess. So I don't know if you'll like it.

I'll check out the Fae chronicles. I have the first book of the Kate Daniels series already. I'll read it soon. I think I should like it. People keep telling me that if I liked the mercy Thompson series then I should like the Kate Daniels one too.

[BLT]

Nice!! I'll definitely add them to my to-read!

Yeah no they're the same genre (UB) and the heroine are both strong characters. The romance is also not a big part of the storyline but you end up shipping them with people anyways as the books go on

[Nicole's Book Diaries]

Yeah that's why I loved about Moon Called. It wasn't the focus of the story and there weren't even a lot of romantic scenes but it was still there.