This is a new category for me, but one I may be using more as time goes by. Everyone wants to hear about a good book to read, right? AThe Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwinend ones to avoid. This one was a re-telling of Snow White. If this is not your thing, feel free to skip it. 🙂

The Shadow Queen (Ravenspire, #1)
by C.J. Redwine (Goodreads Author)
Dawn Hill shipman‘s review Jan 26, 2021  

Well, hmmm. This book was recommended to me by a friend who knows I like YA fantasy, but, as I see a few others have said, it just didn’t really work for me. Tons of action, which is good, but too much death and destruction for my taste. It upped the tension, for sure, but it was so awful, it didn’t seem like there was anywhere to go.

I liked Kol and his dragon buddies but was not overly impressed with Lorelai. She was…okay. I sympathized with her, for sure, but her personality was lacking and I kind of got lost in her developing powers. That could just be me, though! I know authors are supposed to show something about the villains that help us understand their motives, etc, but I couldn’t find anything that even slightly made me sympathetic to Irina. Or Victor, for that matter. I wanted to shake him–I knew Irina better than he did, and he’d known her forever! 🙂

Also, as others have said, the romance between Kol and Lorelai just didn’t work, either. The author said the right things…it seemed…but I didn’t sense any chemistry either. Strange. I may or may not read another by this author, depends on what else is available. But if you like lots of action, fairy tale retellings, and DRAGONS, check it out!