ARC Review: Long May She Reign by Rhiannon Thomas

Book info:
Title:  Long May She Reign
Author:  Rhiannon Thomas
Genre:  YA fantasy
Published:  February 21st, 2017
Source: E-galley from Harper Teen off of Edelweiss
My rating:  4.5 stars

I have been a fan of this author since her first book, A Wicked Thing.  While this book isn't part of that series, I really enjoyed it, and it is great as a standalone.  

The main character of this story is Freya.  Freya doesn't enjoy  her family's connection and standing in the Court, instead she loves science and experiments.  And that hobby of hers is what basically saves her life when almost the entire Court dies at the King's birthday party from a poisoned cake.  It turns out that the very next in line for the throne is Freya herself.  Something Freya never dreamed of, and definitely never wanted.  Now she is hurried off to the old castle fort to try to protect her from whoever did the poisoning.  Of course there are those who do not trust her or want her as queen.  There is even suspicion that maybe she is the one who poisoned the King, especially with her scientific knowledge and experiments.  

Freya decides that she must find out who it was that actually was the poisoner, and there are many suspects.  First is the King's illegitimate son Fitzroy.  When he first sees Freya after the deaths, he comes across as very threatening, telling her that she does not belong there.  Soon he becomes her friend, maybe more, when he shows up in her lab and wants to help her figure out the poison, or a way to determine if food is poisoned besides having to endanger the life of a royal taster.  Then there are the nobles that all have reasons they may have wanted the King dead.  There is an underground organization that also seems to have reasons to overthrow the King and change the world to the way they want it.  And of course, Freya is also considered a suspect, even though she knows she didn't do it.  

As queen she first finds that her father and the other advisors try to hide things and keep them running without really telling her what is going on. When she says that she wants to have a funeral for everyone that died, and not just the royals, they decide to pay for it by charging the people a funeral tax.  When families are unable to pay it, they throw them in jail.  As Freya finds these things out, she decides that she must become a queen herself.  She must do what she feels is right and fair for the kingdom that she is now Queen of.  Freya is lucky in that her best friend was not poisoned because she was with Freya at the time of the deaths, and Freya also soon makes a new best friend, the person who I believe might have been after her in line for the throne.  Which of course will also make that girl a suspect as well.

What I loved about this book even more, is that while I thought I had it figured out, while I assumed that maybe the characters just weren't seeing something that I was, I was wrong.  And I love that!  I love a good storyline that can still keep me surprised.  

I will continue to look forward to books from Rhiannon Thomas, and definitely suggest this one!

 

Waiting on Wednesday: Long May She Reign by Rhiannon Thomas

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases that we're eagerly awaiting.  I've picked a book by an author I've enjoyed in the past.  While I feel like there needs to be one more in her A Wicked Thing series, this new book sounds like a really unique story to me.  Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

The Girl of Fire and Thorns meets The Queen of the Tearling in this thrilling fantasy standalone about one girl’s unexpected rise to power.

Freya was never meant be queen. Twenty third in line to the throne, she never dreamed of a life in the palace, and would much rather research in her laboratory than participate in the intrigues of court. However, when an extravagant banquet turns deadly and the king and those closest to him are poisoned, Freya suddenly finds herself on the throne.

Freya may have escaped the massacre, but she is far from safe. The nobles don’t respect her, her councillors want to control her, and with the mystery of who killed the king still unsolved, Freya knows that a single mistake could cost her the kingdom – and her life.

Freya is determined to survive, and that means uncovering the murderers herself. Until then, she can’t trust anyone. Not her advisors. Not the king’s dashing and enigmatic illegitimate son. Not even her own father, who always wanted the best for her, but also wanted more power for himself.

As Freya’s enemies close in and her loyalties are tested, she must decide if she is ready to rule and, if so, how far she is willing to go to keep the crown.

Sounds good to me, what do you think?  What book are you eagerly awaiting this week?

Blog Tour Review and Giveaway: Kingdom of Ashes (A Wicked Thing #2) by Rhiannon Thomas

Kingdom of Ashes (A Wicked Thing #2)
by Rhiannon Thomas
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: February 23rd 2016

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Retellings, Fairy Tales, Romance, Magic, Fiction, Teen

Synopsis:

Asleep for a hundred years, awoken by a kiss, Aurora’s life was supposed to be a fairytale. But since discovering that loyalty to the crown and loyalty to her country are two very different things, Aurora knows she can only dream of happily ever after. Once the enchanted princess, savior of her people, she is now branded a traitor.

Aurora is determined to free her home from the king’s tyrannical rule, even if it means traveling across the sea to the kingdom of the handsome and devious Prince Finnegan—someone who seems to know far more about her magic than he should. However, Finnegan’s kingdom has perils of its own, and any help he gives Aurora will come at a price.

As Aurora and Finnegan work together to harness her power—something so fiery and dangerous that is as likely to destroy those close to Aurora as it is to save them—she begins to unravel the mysteries surrounding the curse that was placed on her over a century before…and uncover the truth about the destiny she was always meant to fulfill.

Brimming with captivating fantasy and life-threatening danger, the sequel to A Wicked Thing takes Sleeping Beauty on an adventure unlike any she’s ever had before.

First I have to say thanks to Harper Teen and Edelweiss for allowing me to read an e-galley of this title.  The first book in the series, A Wicked Thing, is one that I really enjoyed the unique way the author re-told the story of Sleeping Beauty.  And the story went in such a different way than I could ever have guessed, leaving me hanging to know where this second book would go.  If you haven't read the first book, I can't promise there won't be spoilers for that one in my review here of the 2nd one.  So you should stop reading my review, and skip on to the stuff about the author and giveaway down below. 

At the end of the last book, Aurora ran away from Prince Rodric and his power-hungry father.  But not before she let loose the fire magic that she had learned she had.  She has run away, and has the help of someone unexpected, Nettle, a girl that had helped with the rebellion group she'd met through Tristan.  It turns out though, that Nettle is actually a spy for Prince Finnegan.  Nettle brings Aurora to him and his kingdom.  Knowing that maybe his mother, the queen, can help her out.  But she knows that she wants to keep not only herself, but her kingdom as well, safe from the witch Celestine.  While she is in Finnegan's kingdom, she will learn more about the history of Celestine as well as the original witch, the one her own kingdom is named after.  She will venture out to see the dragons, and learn that maybe she has an affinity with them, since her powers are fire related.  Finnegan will help her work to control her powers, and together they will work to get her ready to go back and take back the kingdom that is rightfully hers.  It won't be easy though. Once again she'll have to figure out who can she really trust.  And Celestine will be close by, leaving a threatening message showing it even.  Even Finnegan's mother may want to use Aurora for what she can give to her kingdom, whether it is good for Aurora, or Aurora's kingdom.  And the dragons themselves, can Aurora learn to control them with the connection she feels?  Or is it all a farce, a show being put on by Celestine to trick Aurora into doing what she wants?

As the story came to an end, I knew there were still many things to be settled.  While a lot of questions had been answered in this book, many more were created by the end of the story.  So thank goodness that there will be third book in the future.  Again this definitely goes in a way different direction than one would think for this story, but I loved how the author still tied in little bits of the original story to keep you feeling as if it was that familiar world you came to know in the original Sleeping Beauty fairy tale.

Follow the Kingdom of Ashes by Rhiannon Thomas Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Rhiannon Thomas is a recent graduate from Princeton University, where she studied English and Japanese, and smuggled bubble tea into the library on a regular basis. She now lives in York, England. 

As well as reading and writing YA fiction, she runs the blog FeministFiction.com, where she discusses TV, books, and all kinds of fannish things from a feminist perspective. 

I don't hang out on Goodreads much, so if you want to contact me, please swing by my personal website or message me on Twitter.

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Waiting on Wednesday: Kingdom of Ashes (A Wicked Thing #2) by Rhiannon Thomas

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases that we're eagerly awaiting.  This week I've chosen another sequel to a book I really enjoyed, one that really hit my need to read as many fairy tale retellings as I can.  The first one was A Wicked Thing, and you can read my review of it HERE.  Now I'm just ready for the sequel, and hoping I can get the e-galley once again so I don't have to wait quite as long.  Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Asleep for a hundred years, awoken by a kiss, Aurora’s life was supposed to be a fairytale. But since discovering that loyalty to the crown and loyalty to her country are two very different things, Aurora knows she can only dream of happily ever after. Once the enchanted princess, savior of her people, she is now branded a traitor.

Aurora is determined to free her home from the king’s tyrannical rule, even if it means traveling across the sea to the kingdom of the handsome and devious Prince Finnegan—someone who seems to know far more about her magic than he should. However, Finnegan’s kingdom has perils of its own, and any help he gives Aurora will come at a price.

As Aurora and Finnegan work together to harness her power—something so fiery and dangerous that is as likely to destroy those close to Aurora as it is to save them—she begins to unravel the mysteries surrounding the curse that was placed on her over a century before…and uncover the truth about the destiny she was always meant to fulfill.

Brimming with captivating fantasy and life-threatening danger, the sequel to A Wicked Thing takes Sleeping Beauty on an adventure unlike any she’s ever had before.

I'm so ready to find out what happens next!  To see if there is someone I really want her to be with and fall in love with.  What book are you waiting on this week?

While you're here, there is still time to enter into my month-long Blogoversary giveaway HERE.   
You can also sign up to participate in my 4th Annual September is for Sequels Challenge HERE. 

Review: A Wicked Thing by Rhiannon Thomas (COYER Challenge #10)

First thanks to Harper Teen and Edelweiss for allowing me to read an egalley of this.  I didn't realize till just now, but I downloaded this clear back in July!  I always try to wait till a month or less between the time I do a review and the book is published, but man, I could have read this sooner!  If you've been following my blog for very long, you know that lately I've been on a real big fairy tale retelling kick. And this book definitely hit that mark in a big way! 

It's a retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story.  What if the kiss that brought her back to life had nothing to do with being her true love, and just was some kind of magic?  That's what this Aurora is dealing with. And she was the only one that went to sleep, so now all her family and every one she knew has been dead for a hundred or more years.  She is woken up by a kiss from a prince named Rodric.  He's nice enough, and handsome, but he doesn't really come across as the confident prince you'd imagine.  And Aurora doesn't know that she loves him. There is something about him that just doesn't send her over the moon with love at first sight.  The curse on her says that whoever wakes her will marry her and become the ruler of the country.  At the moment Rodric's father is the King.  His mother does not seem to be very friendly, and pretty much tells Aurora to just be quiet, and do what is asked of her.  Smile, be pretty and do as she's guided.  Aurora soon finds that the King is cruel, and her land has been in disarray in the years since she's been sleeping. 

As before she first pricked her finger and fell asleep, it seems she is to be kept as a sort of royal prisoner. Only in her rooms, not allowed to leave the castle to go out to see her beloved city and forest.  But she knows how to pick the lock on her door, and she sneaks out and meets a boy in the town named Tristan.  With no one knowing who she is at this bar, she is able to enjoy herself, and not feel like she must hold herself up to the palace's standards.  Within the the palace there are other princes around, including one Prince Finnegan from a town across the sea.  A kingdom that purports to have actual dragons.  Finnegan has his own proposition for Aurora, trying to convince her to come to his country and be his bride.  To align herself with his kingdom, and that would be the only way to change the rule of the current king.  Tristan is also one of the rebels in her own country and has his own ideas about how to change the kingdom.  And then there is even the evil witch, Celestine, who cursed Aurora in the first place, who wants Aurora to come with her.  You see there is something about Aurora that can help her, that can give her the magic back that she wants and needs.

Aurora must decide who she can trust.  Who truly has the best interests of her kingdom in mind, as well as who she can actually live with what they want from her.  She will find betrayal, and there is one point where I was so mad/sad about who died.  In the end, I'm not sure who the romance should be with.  None of the men in her life really live up to what she needs, or who I think she deserves.  As I ended and found that there will be a sequel, I was glad, because there is more to tell of this tale.  Will Sleeping Beauty actually end up with her Prince Charming, and who is he? And together will they bring her kingdom back to the happiness that she remembers from the days before she fell into her long sleep.

Such a different view of the story.  And thinking about all the princes who tried to kiss her to bring her awake, well her viewpoint on it was kind of an eye opener.  How much would that feel like people just kissing you, strangers, with no permission, with you not knowing.  Kind of reminded me of the sleeping beauty/Snow White stories in the Beau Rivage series by Sarah Cross a bit for that.

So now I'll just be waiting until  the 2nd book comes out, projected for 2016.  That's a long way away.