Mortally wounded during a raid, seventeen-year-old Ilyenna is healed by winter fairies who present her with a seductive offer: become one of them and share their power over winter. But that power comes with a price. If she accepts, she will become a force of nature, lose her humanity, and abandon her family.
Unwilling to pay such a high price, Ilyenna is enslaved by one of the invaders, Darrien. While in captivity, she learns the attack wasn’t just a simple raid but part of a larger plot to overthrow her entire nation.
With the enemy stealing over the mountains and Darrien coming to take her to his bed, Ilyenna must decide whether to resurrect the power the fairies left behind. Doing so will allow her to defeat Darrien and the other invaders, but if she embraces winter, she will lose herself to that destroying power—forever.
I know I've already said this because I did a cover reveal for this book, but I love the cover of this book. It's so gorgeous. The blues and purples, the dress. Love.
If you read the Witch Song series by Amber Argyle, you know that she is a gifted and talented writer. I really enjoyed those books so I was excited to see the beginning of a new series written by her.
I have to say that this book really hooked me. I had to put down my reading several times to attend to real life things (how annoying) but the book stayed in my head. I was thinking about it and wondering what would happen next. That, to me, is a sure sign of a good book. I was always looking for the chance to pick it up again and I didn't want to stop reading. I love books that just compel me forward, hardly leaving room for me to breathe.
I love the fighter in Ilyenna. She is fiercely loyal and full of pride for her people and her position among them. It's perfectly balanced with her kind, healer instincts that always shine through. I was always firmly in Ilyenna's corner, rooting for her.
I was surprised by the violent nature of this book. I wasn't expecting it to be quite as violent and bloody as it was. I'll admit to cringing a lot. Violence isn't my thing, especially such graphic violence as displayed in this book but it sure made this book intense and volatile. I could barely put it down. But there is my word of caution regarding the violence in this book. :)
This book wasn't what I was expecting at all. I guess I was expecting more of a traditional fairy book but that wasn't what this was like at all. It brought brought a violent, real word struggle together with the magical quality of fairies. It's not quite like anything I've read before and honestly, I want more. (well more book, maybe less graphic violence?)
As for content, there is a lot of graphic violence, as mentioned above. There is also sex outside of marriage, although not describe in any detail. Pregnancy results in both mentioned sexual situations.
You can find Winter Queen, Fairy Queens Book 1 at Amazon.
The cover for this book is GORGEOUS! It caught my eye right away. Surprising that it's so violent but I still very interested
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