Evermore (Lost Princesses, #1)

by Jody Hedlund

[phyllish]

The rebellion begins

My rating is 3.5 stars

Evermore is the story of the rightful queen of Mercia, though raised in ignorant of this fact. Queen Constance had always believed she was Lady Adelaide, a nobleman's daughter left orphaned when she was a very young child.

The premise to this story is great and the quest Adelaide and her cousins embark on to escape from the evil king who now ruled the land leads them on a perilous journey pursued by the king's elite guard.

Adelaide is a strong young woman who excels in skills generally considered appropriate only for men, such as jousting and hunting. It was fun how Christopher knew she was the falconer when he saw her falcon catch a rabbit, knowing his brother didn't have the skills necessary to train it to do this. She was determined enough that she almost got them into some big trouble and she had to learn to humble herself and submit to Christopher's superior leadership. Of all her characteristics, my favorites were her kindness and determination to help those in need, even at great cost to herself.

Christopher was the misunderstood earl who had angrily left his family when he saw what he perceived as their bowing to an unworthy king. He then served the king of the northern lands and further honed his skills as a warrior. I really liked Christopher!

I enjoyed the burgeoning romance between Adelaide and Christopher and the way they fought their attraction to one another. I wasn't sure what was going to happen and was surprised by some of the events.

The language of the story seemed stilted, and though the stage was set in Always, the backstory was repeated here and was a bit tedious in parts. I would have preferred the author expect her readers to have read the prequel and know these details beforehand, or to have communicated them more creatively.

As this is the story of a rebellion, I suppose violence is expected. Some of the awful things the king did seemed overly gruesome even without going into great detail. It certainly was not more than you would find in a PG movie but younger and more sensitive audiences should be aware of this.

While the story is listed as Historical fiction, I would consider it more of a fantasy. Young adults (and adults) who enjoy fantasy should consider reading this interesting series.

Read my full review at Among the Reads


I was given a copy of this book. I was not required to give a favorable review nor was any money received for this review. All comments and opinions are my own.