Long May She Reign by Rhiannon ThomasPublished by: HarperTeen on February 21, 2017
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 432
Source: Edelweiss
Book Details
Rating: ★★★★
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.
Facts:
- Long May She Reign is not really a romance. There are a few bits and pieces, but it’s ultimately sooo not the focus of the story, which is kind of appropriate.
- It seemed like it would be a fantasy book, but it’s not really. I mean, it is, because it’s about some imaginary land/kingdom. But I guess it didn’t feel like a fantasy since it’s so rooted in science and there’s no magic.
Things I liked:
- I really liked the overall story. This girl who never in a million years expected to be queen is suddenly queen.
- I liked the main character a lot. She was super down to earth and probably ended up being the best possible person who could become queen.
- It has a good mystery. The whole book is really a murder mystery. The MC is trying to figure out who killed everyone. I enjoyed her investigation!
Things I didn’t like:
- The ending felt anti-climactic to me. We went through so much to get to the end, then it just fell a bit flat. View Spoiler »
- The book was missing a little X factor that would have made me truly love it. It wasn’t a soul shattering, all-consuming type book. More like a fun, enjoyable read that may fade from my memory pretty quickly. I enjoyed it, but I don’t see it lasting with me forever, if you know what I mean.
My co-blogger just pointed me in the direction of this book on Goodreads. I hadn’t even heard of it before. It sounds so interesting, though, and your review makes me want to read it even more!
I’ve been excited for this one for a long time! I love the premise (and really anything that has to do with royalty and the line of ascension to the throne) and I love that it features an MC who is super into science. I’ve actually seen some pretty mixed reviews about this one, so I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it!
I love a MC I can really get into but the X factor is important too. Hmmm.. I do love this author though.
You should definitely give it a shot then! I think whether or not the X factor is there is a highly individual thing. So it may not be there for me, but it could be dripping with X factor for you!