The Shadow Queen (Ravenspire, #1)

by C.J. Redwine

In this retelling of Snow White follows the adventures of Lorelai, an exiled princess who is being pursued by a magic-wielding prince serving as the personal huntsman for evil queen Irina, who has charged him with bringing her Lorelai's heart.

Lorelai, an exiled princess, is being pursued by a magic-wielding prince serving as the personal huntsman for an evil queen. Irina has charged Prince Kol with bringing her Lorelai's heart, and he must comply in order to save his kingdom from an invading army of magic-wielding ogres. But neither Lorelai nor Irina is going down without a fight....

• ISBN10: 0062360248
• ISBN13: 9780062360243
• Publish Date: 16 February 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Collins
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 400
• Language: English

Reviews

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

And so breaks my streak of excellent reads for 2020.

I had a lot of fundamental problems with The Shadow Queen – from tired tropes to convenient magic to an awkward retelling in general… I just couldn’t get into this one at all.

As The Shadow Queen is a retelling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, some of the tropes are expected and thus need to be excused. For example – a fugitive princess? You really can’t have a Snow White retelling (one that includes a Snow White character, anyway) without a fugitive young royal. You also have an evil step-parent, and while I personally would love to see less of these in YA fantasy, the Evil Queen is also a Snow White staple. So those two characters are excused in that way. The tropes are exhausting, but expected, so there you are.

Things that really drove me crazy? C.J. Redwine based her entire world around magic and dragons and used them only as was convenient. The rules of magic are basically just “if you need it, it’s there, and you’ll maybe sleep for half the day as a result”. But okay, I’m talking “sleep half the day” for controlling an entire river. We have Lorelai, who is a fugitive on the run, but she has as much magical knowledge as Irina who has been trained in the craft her entire life. I know nobody wants the Evil Queen to win, but it drives me absolutely crazy when the underdog heroine has just as many “magically acquired” skills as anyone else. Give me some struggle. Make me root for her. In a single sentiment… make her worthy. Nothing about Lorelai was worthy of my love as the reader. A little sympathy in regards to how badly her original coup went, but otherwise? She did not impress.

Outside of our hero and villain, I felt like we had another cast of cookie cutter characters that failed to win my heart. At the beginning, there was hope for Leo and Gabriel, but that went out the window as soon as it became clear that they, like the world building, were just a means to an end. Every character should serve his purpose in the story, but to be just an instrument to move the plot forward does not necessarily create purpose. I could write a whole blog post on this topic. Even Kol – who is easily the most significant character after Irina and Lorelai – does not make sense in his role. His whole character was a hot mess for me, honestly, and I found it frustrating that he came into the story and played the role he played considering the role he should be playing.

Basically, this is all just an epic rant about my distaste for books that don’t make sense. Even within the constructed limits of fantasy – which is broad – there are still some rules and framework, and when storytelling elements are used haphazardly to get your protagonist from Point A to Point B, those fragile worlds fall apart and the book becomes indulgence rather than storytelling. And I guess that’s a bit cruel, but that’s honestly how I felt about this book. There were so many tools at its disposal at the beginning, and all were tossed to the wind for a more convenient trail ride. I can see many ways in which the author could have took Lorelai on her journey without pulling princes from neighboring kingdoms and the such.

Listen.

The Shadow Queen can be entertaining enough if you like Snow White, and don’t mind a little simplistic fantasy. It has a beautiful cover (I’m also disappointed that the apples didn’t play a bigger role) and could work if you’re in the mood for a love story that doesn’t make sense, but does include healing kisses and cheesy one-liners. The Shadow Queen has its audience… but it’s not me.

[ladygrey]

This is a difficult book to review because there were things I liked and things I didn't. So, I'm kind of torn.

On the one hand - I loved the Draconi. Great word, great idea, great metamorphosis and it wove into the plot well and created interesting characters. I pretty much liked all the characters. Lorelai was a little bit "everyone thinks she's so smart" and "she's soooo amazing" though I have to give Redwine credit that the traits everyone raved about were established in the scenes and by the action so it wasn't empty words. But even so, I got a bit tired of everyone marveling at her and everyone marveling over the same traits again and again.

And the litanies! "Fire, blood and death" - "evergreen, snow, and sweet burning wood" - "hurt. punish. kill" Like, I get it but using the exact same words in the exact same order over and over again is tedious. Where's the editor saying, "Why don't we mix this up a little?"

Also, most of the names were too long and too full of consonants, they were just awkward.

And the beginning, again I'm torn. Props for clearly putting in the effort to blend exposition into dialog and rolling it out at relevant times. But it was still so overtly exposition. I think there was a literally an "as you know..." line.

The plot actually worked pretty well, in that in the first half I'd think, 'oh, ok we're headed in this direction' and quite suddenly it would veer entirely. More than once. The last half/third played out a bit more expectedly but by then it's more focused on Lorelai and Kol than the plot and their dynamic kept the story alive well. Though I didn't like how tragic it is. The loss of Kol's family didn't hurt because we never knew them. But Leo HURT. So, well done. But also that sucks. I would have really enjoyed the story with his flare and I think the dynamic between him and Kol would have been interesting. It's one of those deaths that serves the plot and keeping him around might have made a better story.

In the end, I think it's the characters that made it a good book and a very decent read even with it's annoyances.

[littleread1]

I really really liked this. A lot. more than I thought I would for some reason.

[Melanie]

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

2.5 stars

Let me start out by saying that I’m not a huge fan of young adult books. I do read them, but I’m pretty picky about it. So when I say that I didn’t love this book, it is very likely a “it’s not you, but me” issue. I had read several great reviews of this book before they were offering the audio for review. I thought it sounded really interesting. Then when I saw the audio come up, I decided to give it a try. Especially after seeing who the narrator was in Khristine Hvam. Now I had not listened to her in the past, but I had heard really great things about her.

This is a retelling of Snow White (which I really only know the story from the Disney movie, not from the original Grimm’s Brother’s version, though that is something I plan to remedy very soon). You have a king with children whose wife dies and he remarries. When he dies, the new queen is evil and does horrible things. The children flee to keep their lives. Both the queen and the princess (and rightful heir to the throne) are witches or mardushkas as they call them in this story.

The Huntsman is a dragon who is a king in his own right. The evil queen sends him out to find and kill the princess, which was more than he bargained for. He was just trying to seek help to fight the trolls that were attacking his land. He thought he was just supposed to track the princess, he had not planned on killing her. He learned the hard way not to make deals with evil queens, but I guess he also had know way to know how evil she was.

This story wasn’t all bad. It was in a really well built world. The magic was well thought out. I was just not a huge fan of the characters and I’m a very character driven reader. If I don’t like the characters, I tend to not enjoy the book. Lorelai, our princess, just wasn’t very likeable. Yes, she was a good character. She was wanting to do the right thing by her family and her people. I just didn’t like her. Kol, The Huntsman, was a better character. I liked him a lot more. He had a lot he had to overcome and struggle to keep his humanity. The romance between the two of them wasn’t well done. It seemed awkward to me. It was just too much of a struggle.

I’m not 100% sure if this book is a young adult. They really never mention the age of the kids. I guess it could be new adult, but it had more of a young adult feel, so that is what I’m going with. Like I said, I’m really picky about young adult. I might read one or two books a year, if that, so if you like young adult fantasy books, I would recommend you give this one a try. You might like it more than I did.

You can check out these other blogs who did enjoy the story.
Between Dreams and Reality
My Nook Books and More
Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Narration
As I said, this is my first book with Khristine Hvam. I have to say, I really enjoyed her narration. I thought she did a great job with both the male and female characters. I thought that she really brought out the tone of the scene and I had no problem figuring out each character. I do plan to search her out for more books with her as the narrator.

**I like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

[Stephanie]

This book just took me too long to read. Not sure why. Sometimes I was bored, sometimes the writing was uninspired, and generally I was tired every time I picked it up. Maybe it was unfair to read like that, but overall... pretty okay. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Happy this was a one shot though, don't find many of those lately in these fairy tale retellings/fantasy adventure YA books.

Review originally posted at Simply Adrift.

When I picked up The Shadow Queen I wasn't sure what to expect because the premise sounded pretty freaking awesome, but I couldn't get through the last series that I read of C.J. Redwine, so I was a bit wary.

The Shadow Queen had a very cool premise, I loved that the princess was in hiding and training herself to beat Queen Irina. Lorelai was a very badass character, she didn't sit idly by while her lands suffered, she trained hard and readied herself for a fight she knew was coming. My favourite scenes were ones where she was fighting or she was in control of the situation, I feel like I never get to read enough scenes where the heroine kicks-ass and doesn't wait for someone else to save her.

I remember reading Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard and wishing the main character would do something, that she would get better and fight back herself. It was incredibly frustrating I never got that moment. When I was reading The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows I was waiting and waiting for Wilhelmina's big moment to come, the moment she revealed herself as who she was; an almighty, powerful queen. But it never came. The moment was weak and embarrassing. I was extremely disappointed and annoyed an opportunity to display Wil's strength just never came. So in The Shadow Queen when there was plenty of ass-kicking, extraordinary and honed skills shown, and it was clear that Lorelai could well and truly look after herself and her Kingdom, I was very happy and satisfied. I kept thinking 'Yes! You've got this, you don't need help from anyone! There's no damsel in distress here.'. Lorelai was one strong willed and determined queen.

Lorelai and her brother Leo's relationship was cute and entertaining. I loved that they were so opposite from each other but that worked well together, they balanced each other out and looked after each other.

Irina was truly one wicked queen, her reasoning's for wanting to be the most powerful queen in all the lands were heartbreaking but I do wish they had extended further than a jilted ex-fiance. I wanted Irina to have stronger reasons and higher stakes, she didn't want to care about anyone so she didn't, all she wanted was more and more power.

Kol was an interesting prince, he was a prince that was never going to be King of his lands - and he didn't really want to be King either. But when his family are unexpectedly killed by the Ogres, his kingdom is left to him, and only he can save his people from the Ogres which terrorize their lands. Funnily enough, I wanted more of Eldr in this story. I wanted to see the Ogres, I wanted to know what these creatures were, how did they find magic? Eldr and Eldr's dragons were constantly mentioned in the story, but The Shadow Queen was mainly set in Ravenspire. I hope this means that we get to see Eldr in the next stories, I want to see more dragons! One thing that confused me was how fast Kol seemed to change, he was a party boy and purposefully caused a lot of trouble one minute, then the next he's acting like the King everyone wants him to be. Kol was a genuinely good guy but he was hiding behind his acts in the hopes his father would finally notice him.

I really enjoyed The Shadow Queen, it was a cute, fun and satisfying read. I loved the premise and how the retelling of Snow White was incorporated into this story. I really hope there's a next book, I want to see what other lands look like in this world, I wonder if all of the stories will be based in Ravenspire or if we'll get to venture out of Ravenspire and see other stories being told.

Overall, The Shadow Queen was a very fun read, I really enjoyed it and recommend it to anyone that likes fantasy and fairytale retellings. This book isn't one to miss!

Always,
Jordon

This review was originally posted on Simply Adrift

[kimbacaffeinate]

Five reasons to lose yourself between the pages of The Shadow Queen

• Redwine weaves the story of Snow White into a fascinating fantasy. She fleshed out the land and created additional kingdoms, magic and DRAGONS! The world building was done well allowing me to understand and see the lands of Ravenspire and beyond. The story begins with Irina's marriage to the King and it was dark and delightful.


• Lorelai Diederich is the princess of Ravenspire and its rightful Queen. She has spent years hiding as a fugitive and watching Queen Irina destroy her beloved kingdom. The princess has lived in the woods and mountains of Ravenspire, along with her younger brother and a former guard who has pledged his loyalty to protecting the true Queen. Lorelai was strong, passionate, and developed into a kick-ass heroine as the story progressed. I loved that she shoved her pain aside and thought of the kingdom.


• In the Shadow Queen, there are no dwarfs, but Redwine does give us a huntsman and dragons. The neighboring kingdom is Eldr. After his parents and older sibling are attacked and killed by ogres, Prince Kol suddenly finds himself King of Eldr and need of magical assistance. Kol’s people are shifters and Redwine brilliantly fed us information about him and his kingdom. Kol did not have an easy time, and I admired his courage, internal struggles and growth.


• There is a romance in the Shadow Queen that developed from attraction and circumstance but was bound in trust. I love that Redwine did not wrap this up in a bow instead; she left the reader hopeful and smiling.


• Redwine knows how to weave a story from the romance to the intense action scenes and battles I found myself immersed within its pages. Nothing felt rushed and the darker aspects she brought to the story thrilled me. She stayed true to many aspects of this classic but placed her own stamp on it. I find myself anxious to return.

Copy provided by publisher. This review was originally posted on Caffeinated Book Reviewer

[whisperingchapters]

This review was originally posted on Latte Nights ReviewsI don't normally read retellings but The Shadow Queen was one that captivated me the very simple cover and the intriguing synopsis. Even though this book took a bit for me to fully get into mainly because it was slow in the beginning, I was surprised by how much I was enjoying it.

Lorelai had a good life with her family at the castle but she soon started realizing that Queen Irina was not who she was portraying to be and Lorelai was the only one not falling at the queen's feet, thanks to the powers she possess. When the queen murdered her father, the former captain of the guard took Lorelai and her brother Leo, helped them escaped and kept them in hiding. All the while, Lorelai practices her magic so that one day she can defeat Irina and reclaim her throne.

I was impressed by not only the characters but also the vivid description the author wrote for this fantasy world. It's usually quite difficult for me to really picture a fantasy world but C.J. Redwine executed it wonderfully. Even writing this review, I'm remembering various scenes of the book where Lorelai had to use magic to fight/defend herself and I can still picture everything in my mind (and I read this book in December so it says a lot).

Prince Kol lost his father and his brother to ogres and now he has to step up and be king of Eldr. I expected him to be a careless king and sit on his throne, not doing anything. To say I was surprised by Kol is an understatement. He took charge from the moment he was appointed king and decided to seek for a solution so his people would be safe in Eldr. He goes to Irina for help but she asks for Lorelai in return. And Irina knows Kol's a dragon, which she uses to her advantage and takes control of Kol in the process. Okay, yes you read right. A DRAGON!! I was so surprised by this fact but I was loving every minute of this turn-around to the story. It got me even more excited for the rest of it!

I really loved both Lorelai and Kol. Lorelai was so caring but so freaking tough and badass. The badass-ery in this book from this princess is off the charts. I was in awe of her and I wanted to read more and more. Kol was the perfect addition especially with his dragon nature. There were scenes that really hooked me in deep when it came to these two amazing characters that when the book ended, I wanted more! And the romance isn't insta-love!! It was slow-built and the reader gets to enjoy it at a very nice pace.

The story was very well-written, even in third POV. I'm not the biggest fan of third POV but this one was perfect. It demanded to be in third POV and it helped deliver the story even more. We get to read about Lorelai, Kol and even Irina.

Overall, I loved this book a lot. It was a great start to a series that I can't wait to read more of. I highly recommend it to every fantasy lover and retelling lover because you won't be disappointed.

I received an eARC from the publisher for free in exchange for an honest review.This review was originally posted on Latte Nights Reviews