THE BRIDGE KINGDOM
Series
Title: The Bridge Kingdom
Author: Danielle L. Jensen
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
SUMMARY
A warrior princess trained in isolation, Lara is driven by two certainties. The first is that King Aren of the Bridge Kingdom is her enemy. And the second is that she'll be the one to bring him to his knees.
The only route through a storm-ravaged world, the Bridge Kingdom enriches itself and deprives its rivals, including Lara's homeland. So when she's sent as a bride under the guise of peace, Lara is prepared to do whatever it takes to fracture its impenetrable defenses. And the defenses of its king.
Yet as she infiltrates her new home and gains a deeper understanding of the war to possess the bridge, Lara begins to question whether she's the hero or the villain. And as her feelings for Aren transform from frosty hostility to fierce passion, Lara must choose which kingdom she'll save... and which kingdom she'll destroy.
OPINION
I saw this lovely book floating around Bookstagram, and being a lover of enemies-to-lovers, I picked it up. BEST DECISION OF MY LIFE.
My gosh, where do I even begin? Let's start with the world. I loved it! It wasn't too difficult to envision this world, and Ithicana was so fascinating to learn about as Lara saw more of it, that there was never a moment where I was bored or skimming. The lore wasn't too hard to understand, which can be great when you want to well, understand what's going on in this place and why these people hate each other and why these people are allies. The politics were actually interesting, especially in the sequel. No complaints, honestly.
Now, let's take a look at our main female character. I LOVE LARA. I'm sorry to all the Poppy fans from From Blood and Ash, but Lara could kick Poppy's ass. This woman is so good at what she does. And I love how she isn't a teenager. This isn't a YA book. Lara is in her early twenties. Her and her sisters have been trained and isolated in the desert for years to become a weapon for their father the king the use to defeat his enemies, which is the king of Ithicana. And lordy, I would hate to fight up against this woman. Her sneaking around was also fun, and how she would find weaknesses in the Bridge. Even though she's a trained weapon, she still has a heart, which our king Aren helps to uncover.
Speaking of Aren. Sign me up. Nobody is perfect, but it's just so nice to have a male love interest and main character who isn't toxic or an asshole. Granted, he has his moments, but the guy cares so much about his people and his kingdom, that he's willing to do anything to protect them. And Aren had the option to lock up Lara after they got married, because she's obviously the enemy and is probably a spy, but he doesn't because a person shouldn't be treated like that. Aren is able to tear down Lara's assassin/weapon/killer walls and discovers a woman who is being used and who has been brainwashed. He shows her the truth of the world she's been living with, and along the way, falls in love with her.
Lara hasn't known anything other than the lies that have been fed to her, and for the first time, there's hope that she might be able to live a life with Aren and be free of her father. But, naturally, conflict comes a knockin' and crap hits the fan.
I enjoyed this book so much, and just had to get my hands on the sequel!
Title: The Traitor Queen
Author: Danielle L. Jensen
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
SUMMARY
A queen now in exile as a traitor, Lara has watched Ithicana be conquered by her own father, helpless to do anything to stop the destruction. But when she learns her husband, Aren, has been captured in battle, Lara knows there is only one reason her father is keeping him alive: as bait for his traitorous daughter.
And it is bait she fully intends to take.
Risking her life to the Tempest Seas, Lara returns to Ithicana with a plan not only to free its king, but for liberating the Bridge Kingdom from her father's clutches using his own weapons: the sisters whose lives she spared. But not only is the palace inescapable, there are more players in the game than Lara ever realized, enemies and allies switching sides in the fight for crowns, kingdoms, and bridges. But her greatest adversary of all might be the very man she's trying to free - the husband she betrayed.
With everything she loves in jeopardy, Lara must decide who - and what - she is fighting for: her kingdom, her husband, or herself.
OPINION
Like...why...how was it possible to love this one more than the first one??? Ya'll... this book was SO GOOD!
After crap hit the fan, Aren has been captured by Lara's father, and now Lara is willing to do anything to get him out. But she needs the aid of her sisters. We got family reconnecting, a husband and wife who have their issues but put them aside to get stuff done that deals with the fate of their kingdom, we have Aren's conflicted feelings toward Lara after she pretty much gave her father the roadmap to destroying Aren's kingdom, the action is fantastic, like these characters don't get a break, and ughhhh my cinnamon roll Aren just can't stop loving his wife even after everything. But will he choose her or his kingdom? That is the real question.
One of the things that I just loved about this book is that we got to see more of this world. The first book heavily centered around Ithicana. But in this one, we got to see almost every kingdom. We even got to go back to the isolated oasis where Lara grew up and Aren got to see a part of her past, which helps him understand her more, so he can go back to loving her and not hating her. She loves you! Why can't you see that!!
Anyway, so...if you read my review on A Court of Wings and Ruin, you'll know that I hate it when authors kill off a character, and then bring them back. Sadly, that happens here. And I'm sorry, maybe people will disagree with me, but I wish Lara had died at the end. LET ME EXPLAIN. I know, I have a weird obsession with main characters dying, I just love it and rarely see it. There's this part after Lara kills her father where she's trying to get back inside the main city of Ithicana before the storm hits. There's an opening in the broken gate at the bottom and when she swims down, her belt catches and she drowns. The entire Kingdom of Ithicana hates this woman. For a good reason, I'll give them that. But after everything she did in this book, to killing their main enemy, and bringing their king back alive, like they couldn't hate her after this. She proved to them all she wasn't a traitor and that she loved this kingdom. As much as I would hate for Aren to be in agony over her dying, I don't know, I'm weird people! I just want a tragic ending! I just think the ending would've been great if she had ended up dying in the water, which was her greatest fear that she conquered. OR, just went unconscious and Aren resuscitated her. But no, we got the "I saw the light and decided I wasn't ready to go and I heard your voice, so I came back." Blahhhhhh.
Despite that, still giving this book Five Stars. Loved it, what can I say?
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