Release Day Review: The Wish Granter by C.J. Redwine

The Wish Granter by C.J. Redwine

Ravenspire #2

An epic, romantic, and action-packed fantasy inspired by the tale of Rumpelstiltskin, about a bastard princess who must take on an evil fae to save her brother’s soul, from C. J. Redwine, the New York Times bestselling author of The Shadow Queen. Perfect for fans of Graceling and the Lunar Chronicles.

The world has turned upside down for Thad and Ari Glavan, the bastard twins of Súndraille’s king. Their mother was murdered. The royal family died mysteriously. And now Thad sits on the throne of a kingdom whose streets are suddenly overrun with violence he can’t stop.

Growing up ignored by the nobility, Ari never wanted to be a proper princess. And when Thad suddenly starts training Ari to take his place, she realizes that her brother’s ascension to the throne wasn’t fate. It was the work of a Wish Granter named Alistair Teague who tricked Thad into wishing away both the safety of his people and his soul in exchange for the crown.

So Ari recruits the help of Thad’s enigmatic new weapons master, Sebastian Vaughn, to teach her how to fight Teague. With secret ties to Teague’s criminal empire, Sebastian might just hold the key to discovering Alistair’s weaknesses, saving Ari’s brother—and herself.

But Teague is ruthless and more than ready to destroy anyone who dares stand in his way—and now he has his sights set on the princess. And if Ari can’t outwit him, she’ll lose Sebastian, her brother…and her soul.

I really enjoyed THE WISH GRANTER! Honestly it was a bit of a surprise for me as Rumplestiltskin never really was my favorite fairy tale, but the author has won me over with this retelling. I was fully hooked from page one until the very end. Not one moment felt slow or lagging, which is rather impressive as it's decent sized book. Sure it's not action, action, action the entire time, but there's plenty of time spent building the characters and the story. 

I especially enjoyed seeing how much Ari grew from the start until the end. In the beginning she's uncomfortable in her newfound princess skin, and it really shows. But as time goes on, while she'll never be a traditional princess (NOT a bad thing) she does truly start to find her way. Navigating court politics is tricky enough, without even adding in their troubles with the Wish Granter. Speaking of character growth, Sebastian, the love interest grew an incredible amount as well. He truly was rather admirable, and honestly the perfect match for the new found princess.

All in all, THE WISH GRANTER was a very enjoyable retelling, that kept me hooked from the start. C.J. Redwine is two for two in this fantastic series, and I can't wait to see what fairy tale she'll tackle next!

(Received a copy from the publisher)

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Other Reviews:
     The Eater of Books!
     Quite the Novel Idea
     BookCrushin

Previous Books:
     1. The Shadow Queen

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

The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine

Ravenspire #1

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.

I really enjoyed THE SHADOW QUEEN. I'm not typically a fan of retellings, fairy tales made modern or changed never really were my thing. Too much of a been there, done that feeling for my tastes. And to be honest, Snow White even in the original form never was my favorite  But the cover on this one completely hooked me in, so I gave it a try, and I'm so glad I did. It's Snow White, but it's really not. In fact, I think a lot of why I enjoyed this book so much is that it was far more "not" Snow White. Aside from just a few similarities, THE SHADOW QUEEN is fully its own story. Add that to the fully fleshed and intriguing cast of characters, and I was hooked from the start.

Lorelai is strong and fierce and yet very vulnerable as well. So much of this book was about her journey towards confidence and believing herself and powers. She faces so many trials and persevered through every single one, and I thoroughly enjoyed cheering her on the entire way. Then you have Kol who has similar confidence issues, but in a very different way. The two made for an interesting pair especially when you consider certain obstacles that were placed between them. But I really enjoyed how neither was over the moon instalove swoon for the other, but kept their heads and always remembered their duties. They are both to be the leaders of their countries, and I really felt their attitudes matched that. So many times once a love interest is involved everyone always seems to lose their heads, and it was a refreshing change of pace here to not have that happen.

That being said, while I enjoyed this book, it did have a few pacing issues that kept me from giving a five star rating. Some things that I felt could have used a bit more focus due to their importance/intensity were very rushed through. While in reverse, some things that I felt were less important seemed to drag a bit longer than necessary. For example, there's a pretty big loss relatively early on that seemed to happen in a blink. While I felt like I should have been devastated alongside the characters, I just wasn't due to how fast things happened and then moved on. Almost more of a telling rather than showing me the character's devastation. And then in reverse, there's several inner struggles that different characters go through that seem to drag on, and become a bit repetitive by the end. There's other examples of course, but I'll stay vague to avoid spoilers.

All in all, THE SHADOW QUEEN has made me think I might be a fan of retellings after all. From the characters, to the world building in a familiar yet different story, I was hooked from the start. While things wrapped up well in this book, and the story could end here, things were left just open enough to continue, and I can't wait to see what's next.


(Received a copy from the publisher)

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Other Reviews:
     Between Dreams and Reality
     Brandi Breathes Books
     The Eater of Books!

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