Slow and plodding.
A dragon shifter hunts for her kidnapped brother.
Princess Lenushka, or Lennie, of Norveshka is literally one of a kind: She’s the only female dragon shifter in the world. The patriarchal nobility insists she must marry another dragon shifter in order to take her rightful place on the throne, even though she proved her mettle as a highly decorated soldier. All of Lennie’s plans are thrown into chaos on the day of her cousin Roslyn’s wedding. A man named Greer, a member of an evil group called the Brotherhood of the Sun, kills the groom and kidnaps several powerful men, including Lennie’s brother, Pendras. Roslyn and Lennie are determined to find and rescue Pendras and the other kidnapped men. At the beginning of their journey, Lennie accidentally harms Bran Morris, a shifter known as the Raven, while in her dragon form. He has always had a strong dislike of dragons and this injury only hardens his beliefs. Bran has been hunting Greer for months, desperate for revenge on the man who killed his brother. Lennie decides to keep the truth that she's a dragon shifter from Bran, knowing he will be a valuable ally on the hunt for Greer. The first half of the book is bogged down in getting all the characters on the road together. When the focus finally shifts to Bran and Lennie’s romance, it feels rushed and underdeveloped. The romance is low-energy because Bran mostly moons over Lennie, convinced she’s the perfect woman. He refers to her as his dream girl while she wallows in guilt for lying to him, and all the conflict hinges on the eventual reveal of her dragon form. The magical world operates on a strong, absolute gender binary, which makes the book feel dated.
Slow and plodding.Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781496735867
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.
Using mystery and romance elements in a nonlinear narrative, SenLinYu’s debut is a doorstopper of a fantasy that follows a woman with missing memories as she navigates through a war-torn realm in search of herself.
Helena Marino is a talented young healer living in Paladia—the “Shining City”—who has been thrust into a brutal war against an all-powerful necromancer and his army of Undying, loyal henchmen with immortal bodies, and necrothralls, reanimated automatons. When Helena is awakened from stasis, a prisoner of the necromancer’s forces, she has no idea how long she has been incarcerated—or the status of the war. She soon finds herself a personal prisoner of Kaine Ferron, the High Necromancer’s “monster” psychopath who has sadistically killed hundreds for his master. Ordered to recover Helena’s buried memories by any means necessary, the two polar opposites—Helena and Kaine, healer and killer—end up discovering much more as they begin to understand each other through shared trauma. While necromancy is an oft-trod subject in fantasy novels, the author gives it a fresh feel—in large part because of their superb worldbuilding coupled with unforgettable imagery throughout: “[The necromancer] lay reclined upon a throne of bodies. Necrothralls, contorted and twisted together, their limbs transmuted and fused into a chair, moving in synchrony, rising and falling as they breathed in tandem, squeezing and releasing around him…[He] extended his decrepit right hand, overlarge with fingers jointed like spider legs.” Another noteworthy element is the complex dynamic between Helena and Kaine. To say that these two characters shared the gamut of intense emotions would be a vast understatement. Readers will come for the fantasy and stay for the romance.
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9780593972700
Page Count: 1040
Publisher: Del Rey
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
A book about revenge that’s more punishing than purposeful.
A woman from a matriarchal society kidnaps a prince from a neighboring kingdom, planning to force him into marriage.
Five hundred years ago, the wife of the abusive king of Amarra prayed to her goddess for mercy; in return, the goddess granted every woman in the country the ability to rule over men. Amarra’s queens have governed with vengeance ever since, creating a fiercely violent matriarchy. Now, 21-year-old Olerra Corasene, a gifted military strategist and powerful general, is competing with her cunning and devious cousin, Glenaerys, to be the next queen. Since Glen is trying to secure the throne by currying favor with the wealthy nobles, Olerra decides on a different tactic, the time-honored Amarran tradition of kidnapping a husband. Her target is a good-looking younger prince from the neighboring country of Brutus, but she accidentally and unknowingly nabs Sanos, the king’s eldest son and heir to the throne. She drags Sanos back to Amarra, where he’s treated with all the contempt for men that is normal in her society: He’s dressed as a sexual plaything, forced to shave his beard and body hair, leashed and restrained for bad behavior. Olerra can’t understand Sanos’ objections to this treatment, and the ensuing power struggle makes up most of the plot. Marketed as romantasy, Levenseller’s first adult novel falls flat as both romance and fantasy. There is little connection or chemistry between Olerra and Sanos, and since both are more caricature than character, neither experiences the kind of growth that creates challenging or interesting romantic relationships. In addition, the worldbuilding is paper thin. Amarra is a world built on reverse misogyny, but the motifs, imagery, and scenes often read more like a brainstormed list (a penis guillotine!) than a fully realized attempt to say something meaningful about women’s rage.
A book about revenge that’s more punishing than purposeful.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9781250379375
Page Count: 368
Publisher: FEIWEL
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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