Monday, August 13, 2018

Review: Long May She Reign by Rhiannon Thomas

Title: Long May She Reign
Author: Rhiannon Thomas

Publication: February 21st 2017 by HarperTeen
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Google Play | Kobo

Rating: 2/5

The Girl of Fire and Thorns meets The Queen of the Tearling in this thrilling fantasy standalone about one girl’s unexpected rise to power.

Freya was never meant be queen. Twenty third in line to the throne, she never dreamed of a life in the palace, and would much rather research in her laboratory than participate in the intrigues of court. However, when an extravagant banquet turns deadly and the king and those closest to him are poisoned, Freya suddenly finds herself on the throne.

Freya may have escaped the massacre, but she is far from safe. The nobles don’t respect her, her councillors want to control her, and with the mystery of who killed the king still unsolved, Freya knows that a single mistake could cost her the kingdom – and her life.

Freya is determined to survive, and that means uncovering the murderers herself. Until then, she can’t trust anyone. Not her advisors. Not the king’s dashing and enigmatic illegitimate son. Not even her own father, who always wanted the best for her, but also wanted more power for himself.

As Freya’s enemies close in and her loyalties are tested, she must decide if she is ready to rule and, if so, how far she is willing to go to keep the crown.


So I read this book early in August of 2016 and wrote the review around the same time but for some reason I hadn't posted it yet so here it finally is!

Long May She Reign was mediocre at best. The characters were okay to read about, although the main character Freya could be a little boring. But mostly I didn't care much for the story, sadly enough.

This story is about Freya, who's twenty third in line to the throne so she never thought she'd ever become queen until someone poisoned a banquet that kills every person that's in line to the throne before Freya. 

It's hard for Freya once she's queen because she has no idea how to act and nobody seems to respect her. But with the help of some friends and her science projects she wants to find the person who killed all those people.

The plot was pretty predictable. I knew fairly early on who the actual killer was so it wasn't a big surprise for me. I also didn't care much for the romance. The one bright spot in this book was Freya's best friend Naomi. She was a total bookworm so of course I adored her.

Overall, Long May She Reign by Rhiannon Thomas wasn't a very remarkable book. In fact, I don't think I'll remember much from the story in a few months. But at least it was a pretty quick read. 

About the author:
Rhiannon Thomas is the author of Long May She Reign and the A Wicked Thing series. She currently lives in Yorkshire, England, with her cat, Hermione.
Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Instagram

15 comments:

  1. This actually sounds like the fantasy version of Designated Survivor, weirdly enough. It sucks that this didn't work work -- the blueb actually sounds really interesting.

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  2. The premise sounds like it could be interesting, but I guess not! Sorry this didn't work for you.

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  3. Sounds pretty interesting. Thanks for this.

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  4. Sorry to hear you didn't like this as much! It was on my TBR but I've already seen a few mediocre reviews so my excitement has dwindled quite a bit. Maybe someday but not right now... Thanks for the honest review!

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  5. Bookworm characters are the best! I'm sorry you didn't enjoy this one, I'm probably going to skip it :)

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  6. Usually I tell people that this is just my opinion and that they might like it more than me but not in this case. It was pretty boring. =/

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  7. Sounds like a good idea. It's been about two years since I read it and usually I'm good with remembering books but not with this one.

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  8. Yeah, I guess we can't all like every book we read.

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  9. Yeah now that you mention it! And I loved Designated Survivor. I'm sad it got canceled.

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  10. The Candid Cover YA book bloggAugust 13, 2018 at 11:09 PM

    I have so many books that need to be reviewed and you have inspired me to go through those neglected books. I haven't read this one, but the concept is really interesting. I am sorry that it didn't live up to your expectations. :)

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  11. I found like 5 more reviews that I wrote down in a notebook from when I was on vacation 2 years ago. Hahaha

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  12. It stinks when a really good premise doesn't end up working out in the execution!

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  13. Yeah... But I guess it just happens. Can't like every book.

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  14. Gee, it's too bad this book wasn't all that great..... I would have expected it to be, though, just from the plot synopsis, which I found VERY interesting! But sometimes it happens that the idea is amazing, but the actual carrying out of it is not. Too bad....


    It sure looks like your review is more interesting than the book itself! Lol. :) :)



    I will DEFINITELY avoid this one! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!! HUGS!!! <3 <3 <3 :) :) :)

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