Clare Reviews: The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine

Title: The Shadow Queen

Author: C.J. Redwine

Series: Ravenspire #1

Format: Paperback

Pages: 387

Rating: 4.5/5

Blurb: 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.

"A warrior doesn’t focus on the odds stacked against her. She focuses on her heart, on her will to face the evil in her world and defeat it, and then she finds a way to do it."

I'm sure by now that it's obvious I am a sucker for a fairy-tale retelling. So as soon as this book was released I wanted it, but I'll admit to being slightly nervous about it as well - I've seen some fairly mixed reviews. I needn't have worried at all. This is one of the most emotionally traumatic retellings I have ever read. And I mean that in a good way.

Lorelai and Leo had my heart from the beginning of the story and I wanted them to succeed so badly. Lorelai was strong and determined and very, very powerful and Leo, her brother, was the sort of character you can't help but love. And then we have Kol, the prince. I didn't love him quite as much as I loved Lorelai and Leo but he definitely grew on me and I thoroughly believed in his ability to lead. He also had his own kind of strength, very different from Lorelai's but just as important and I admired that.

As I mentioned before this was a very emotionally up and down book. I could go from laughter to crying in the space of one chapter just as I could go from fully believing Lorelai would win with no problems to suddenly thinking that maybe everyone would die (unlikely in a fairy-tale I know). C.J. Redwine was superb at manipulating my emotions. The plot is, obviously, a Snow White retelling and so needs little description. But I would say that Lorelai was far more pro-active than most Snow White's I've read and the "Evil Queen" was, whilst undeniably a horrible person - somehow one I actually came to feel a bit sorry for. 

The story is populated with some amazing side characters and although the majority of the story revolves around Lorelai and Kol, I found myself growing attached to the small glimpses we got of the other characters lives. Lorelai's mentor/father figure Gabril was one of these. As was Kol's sister who appears only briefly at the beginning of the story but somehow managed to make me love her.

This is the first book in a companion series (which is my favourite kind of series) so whilst this book is complete in itself - which means thankfully no cliff-hangers - there will be more books in this world to look forward to. There is no description for book 2 on goodreads currently but I am already dying to read it. If you like fairy-tale retellings as much as I do or if you just feel like reading about a kick-ass main character and some dragons then I definitely recommend this book. 

You can also find us on Goodreads (Ann and Clare) to keep up with what we are reading

Top Ten Fairy Tale Retellings

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature by The Broke and the Bookish and you can find their post here. I really love fairy tales. And with that - I really love fairy tale re-tellings. Which actually made this super difficult. These are in no particular order. Oh and I will be cheating - a series totally counts as only one!

1) Cinder/Scarlet/Cress/Winter/Fairest by Marissa Meyer

Clare: (Cinder; Cinderella, Scarlet; Little Red Riding Hood, Cress; Rapunzel, Winter; Snow White I think and Fairest; really not sure please let me know if you have an answer) I have actually only read Cinder and Scarlet so far but when Winter is released I think I am just going to marathon the whole thing. Cinder and Scarlet are really good so I have hyped up the rest of the series in my head.

Ann: I haven't read any of these books but I do want to soon.

2) Cruel Beauty/Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge

Clare: Cruel Beauty is a Beauty and the Beast retelling and Crimson Bound is a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. Words can't even begin to describe how much I love these books. If pushed I probably prefer Crimson Bound but they are both so original and well written.

Ann: I haven't read either of these books but if Clare says they are good then I am sure they are good.

3) Beastly by Alex Flinn

Clare: A retelling of Beauty and the Beast. My kryptonite. I really liked the modern twist on this and actually really enjoyed the film although it was quite different from the book in some ways.

4) Entwined by Heather Dixon

Clare: A retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses which is one of my favourite fairy tales. The cover of this is so beautiful but the story is also really engaging.

5) East by Edith Pattou

Clare: Also known as North Child, a retelling of East of the Sun and West of the Moon. I read this one a really long time ago and I'd actually quite like to re-read it now but I remember being captivated.

6) Briar Rose by Jana Oliver

Clare: Sleeping Beauty retelling, the characters were interesting, the plot was original and I just really enjoyed this one.

Ann: I loved this book, it was brilliant and I really enjoyed it.

7) Ash by Malinda Lo

Clare: Retelling of Cinderella. An LGBT fairy tale! I love this book and the cover is pretty as well.

Ann: I borrowed this book from my school library, mainly because I just needed a book to read and it was the first one I saw that looked any good, and found that it was actually a really great book

8) Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier

Clare: Beauty and the Beast (again), probably my favourite Beauty and the Beast retelling. I think Juliet Marillier's writing is just so beautiful and the characters were wonderful.

9) Sisters Red/Sweetly by Jackson Pearce

Clare: Sisters Red is a Red Riding Hood retelling and Sweetly is Hansel and Gretel. These were so much darker and more twisty than I had expected. I basically went into this with "pretty covers- fairy tale retellings" and then the plots just blew me away.

Ann: I read these books because Clare recommended that I read them and I understand why because they were so good and like Clare said the plot was amazing and they were way darker than I thought they would be.

10) The Isle of the Lost by Melissa De La Cruz

Clare: I haven't read this yet but from the description and how excited Ann is over it I am pretty sure it must be great and I definitely look forward to reading it.

Ann: I have just finished reading this book and I love it so much. I read it in one day which is an indication with me that the book is, in my opinion, amazing. Definitely recommend that you read it.

Clare: And now I cheat with some more bonus books!

Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell: I feel like I go on about this book a lot but I am just so excited to read it. It's released in about a week and I am really looking forward to it.

Ash & Bramble by Sarah Prineas: This is released in September. There are so many great fairy tale retellings coming out this year!

Chime by Franny Billingsley: I left this off the main list because it's not strictly speaking a retelling. It's more of an original fairy tale in its own right. But it is so, so excellent and the cover is unbelievably gorgeous so I thought it deserved a mention. Ann has also read this and loved it.

Winterspell by Claire LeGrand: I got myself this for Christmas last year (yes I buy myself a present - any excuse for more books) and really, really enjoyed it. It's a retelling of the Nutcracker but it's way darker.

Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George: I haven't yet read this but I know I like her writing style and its a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses which I almost always love.

I could literally go on about fairy tale retelling's for hours and the list would turn into more of a top 100 than a top 10 but I think I've cheated enough for one day. Let us know in the comments what your favourite fairy tale retelling's are and if you have read and liked any of our picks!