ARC Review: The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine

Title: The Shadow Queen (Ravenspire #1) 
Author: C.J. Redwine 
Genre: Fantasy 
Source: Edelweiss 
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: February 16th 2016

Summary: 

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.

This is such a complicated and intricate book to talk about. There is much that I want to talk about, but I can't because I don't do spoiler heavy reviews. But, Oh my God, this book was fantastic. When I first saw the cover for The Shadow Queen when Epicreads released it, I knew I had to get me hands on this book (But that was just a serious case of cover lust.) Later when I downloaded this book onto my kindle from Edelweiss, I was intimated that it was 400 pages. (Long books intimidate me and I never tend to finish them.) But I finished this book in two sittings, and was so disappointed that it was over. 

The Shadow Queen is split up into three POVs: Lorelai (The princess), Kol (Dragon/huntsman), and Irina (The wicked queen of Ravenspire) 

Lorelai: I seriously love Lorelai. In most YA herione's they are terrified of dying. They do everything possible, to keep them from that fate. Lorelai is willing to loose her life in order to save her kingdom, and because of that I can't help but respect her. She is incredibly fierce, and loyal to the people she loves. She is a natural born leader, and it really showed through out the novel. 

Kol: Oh, how I love Kole. First off, he is a dragon. How freaking cool is that!? After the Orge war kills his family, Kol has to step up and be king. A role he takes reluctantly. How Lorelai is dedicated to her kingdom Kol is dedicated to Eldr and keeping his people alive and safe from the war. With striking a deal with Irina to save his kingdom, he has to find Lorelai. Only he doesn't know its the girl who saved his life days before. 

Irina: I really enjoyed being in the head of our villain. I don't think she was always a horrible person. But I pity her, for what she thought she needed to do to run Ravenspire or how she killed hundreds of people to keep her magic. 

I've always enjoyed the world building in Redwine's books. It is unique, especially with the aspects of magic. Though I have a little bit of confusion surrounding the magic and how it worked, it was an interesting twist to see who was capable of it. The Dragoni were also a cool aspects, I don't know about you but I don't recall dragons in Snow White. 

Overall I can't wait for the next book in the Ravespire series. It is a companion novel, so there won't be more or Lorelai's story but Redwine did a great job at wrapping The Shadow Queen, though I do want more of this story.