Queen in Exile by Donna Hatch

Queen in Exile by Donna Hatch

Publisher: Walnut Springs Press, March 23rd 2010

Pages: 373

Edition: Paperback

Genre: Young Adult

Rating: A

Summary:

Rumors of war hang over Princess Jeniah's peaceful country of Arden, a land that shuns both magic and warfare. Following a lifelong dream, Jeniah forms a telpathic bond with a revered creature called a chayim, who is prophesied to save her kingdom. But when a Darborian knight comes upon Jeniah with her chayim, he sees only a vicious monster about to devour a maiden, and he slays the beast.

Devastated by the loss of her chayim, and fearing that her own magic is evil, Jeniah doubts her destiny. When an enemy invades Arden City, they slaughter the people, storm the castle, and execute the entire royal family except the princess. Rescued by the knight who slew her chayim, Jeniah is now heir to the throne of Arden and the only hope for freeing her people from tyranny.

On the run and hunted by enemy soldiers, Jeniah must place her life and the fate of her kingdom in the hands of this trained killer. Torn between embracing her destiny as queen of Arden, and her love for a mere knight, she must ultimately rely on her magic to save herself and her people from death and tyranny.

Review:

The summary for this book made it sound like an action/adventure/romance/paranormal novel. And that's exactly what it was! I loved every single moment of this book :)

To start, Jeniah is princess of Arden but she certainly doesn't act like any ordinary princess! She's brave, adventurous, different and has special magical abilities. I'll just say that I loved reading the book from her perspective BUT you also get to read it from Kai's perspective, which made it all the more interesting. The book started off very strong, with a captivating beginning. You are immediately introduced to both main characters and you feel as if you've known them forever. Kai is probably one of my favorite male characters that I've read about. He's obviously handsome and is dangerously skilled in combat, which makes him the perfect bodyguard for Jeniah. They embark on an amazing journey together and you get to see their relationship develop throughout that adventure.

As the novel progresses, it just gets better and better! There's a ton of action and suspense moments in the book and a few twists too! I loved the new mythical creatures introduced in the novel such as chayims, wrywolves and duocorns. Well wrywolves are just another type of werewolf species but still, I liked how Donna included some differences between the two. For me, the end of the book was spectacular. It was amazing! I finished this book in three days because it was so gripping. I'm really hoping for a sequel.

I recommend this book to everybody! Do yourself a favor and go pick it up RIGHT NOW.