The Queen's Review

A review of author C.J. Redwine's The Shadow Queen; a YA fantasy re-telling of "Snow White".

Oh boy, do I have a lot to say about this book! When I posted my "current read" picture of this book on my Instagram account, a couple of people commented about how they couldn't get into it. I was a little sad because, at that point, I was only about 20 pages in, and I'd been very excited for this read.

But after reaching the halfway mark, I understood why they said they couldn't get into it. And I began to agree with them.

However, there's a lot that this book does right. The world-building is fascinating, and the dialogue is incredibly witty at times. There were even a few moments when I caught myself chuckling out loud at the comments made by the heroine's younger brother. Additionally, the character concept and creature concept behind the huntsman character was something that I was incredibly intrigued by. I love dragons, and the idea of a character that can be both human and dragon, and have the duel hearts of both beings, is quite captivating. There are times when the characters truly tug on your heart.

That being said, there are many places in which this book is lacking. First of all, it felt quite rushed to me. The world-building was incredibly deep, and in the short 387 pages that make up this novel, it at times felt as though the extensive setting of the story was being neglected in favor of character development. I think that this book could've succeeded a lot more by going more in-depth into the world in which Lorelai's (the heroine) story takes place. The magic, the creatures, and the various cultures and countries presented in the novel seem to be just "thrown in" with no real context.

Furthermore, the characters, while fun, convincing, and mildly interesting didn't seem to stand out against all the others I've read about. For the most part, they seemed basic and static. Lorelai's character development was shaky and jumbled, and also felt rushed much like the rest of the book. The one character who really drew me in was Kol, the huntsman, and that was because he had true development that really stood out from the rest of the characters, and his race (human-dragon hybrid) is something that I've never encountered in a book before. However, Kol's two companions really irritated me. This might just be a personal thing, but every time they came up I was just really annoyed! They didn't seem to serve much purpose to the story-line except being Kol's bodyguards, and their dynamic was rather cringe worthy.

While I cannot say that I would recommend this book, I also wouldn't tell people not to read it. There are some really great things about it, and having read the Defiance trilogy by the same author previously to reading this book, she does have immense talent as far as writing goes. I think that this book could be a great read for the younger audience, and it's the first book in a series. While I don't plan on continuing to read it, I'd love to hear back from anyone who has read the whole series!

The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine - 3.5 out of 5 stars