The Queen’s Wing by Jessica Thorne is an action-packed adventurous read and I cannot wait for more.

From the very beginning this story intrigued me. As I continued, it consumed me. I loved being submersed in this world the author created. I loved the different races of people and their worlds not to mention the characters.

I did find in the beginning that there was a little too much information spouted in such a short time and that during this time it slowed down the pace a little.

Overall, a wonderfully entertaining read full of action, devotion, friendship and love.

I received an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A gripping narrative that caught my attention from the first chapter, and that is something not all books can do. This book happened to do that and further piqued by interest by its great heroine. Then; followed this by its lovely world building which just got even better as the story progressed.
In some books, I find that secondary characters I don't care for too much but not This one. This author made me care for the secondary characters, both in happiness and in heartache. I adored the great storylines happening aside from the main characters. I loved the whole rollercoaster ride. It made me more emotionally invested in the entirety of the book. At the core, I think that's why we as readers love books.

This book was provided for me by netgalley

Thank you for the opportunity to read The Queen's Wing ahead of publication. The Queen's Wing reminded me a lot of other popular dystopian books: like Hunger Games and Divergent. I really enjoyed Bel as a character, she reminded me of Katniss from The Hunger Games. Doesn't really fit in anywhere, and is seen to be wild and unruly compared to the other woman in the story. Fans of popular dystopian novels will enjoy The Queen’s Wing for it’s light-hearted romance and the political subplot.
Just like in the Selection there was a bit of a love triangle, but I wasn’t really as invested in it. I’m sure with the second book, Bel will make her choice a little clearer. This book was not what I was expecting. I didn’t think there would be so much sci-fi with the space ships. It was a pleasant surprise.
The Queen’s Wing was an enjoyable book that I’m sure fans of the Selection will enjoy. Some parts were a little predictable because it reminded me so much of previous novels. I will definitely want to read the second one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review!

In The Queen's Wing, a noblewoman named Belengaria is thrown into royalty and then a political marriage after an attack on her home world. Her dream was to become a fighter pilot? And now she must adapt to life on a new planet with the leader of said planet as her fiancee. When war and destruction ensue from the same attackers of her home world, Bel must assume a leadership role and become a true queen...

Ok, enough summary. I did enjoy the story quite a bit, but was also confused mostly in the beginning of the book. The author took evident inspiration from Star Wars and the book has more of a sci-fi feel than fantasy or romance. There are elements of all three, including mythical old creatures left to defend(?) their home planet, and a love triangle that didn't add much to the story.

I did appreciate the relationship building between Bel and Conleith, and feel like the characters are the strongest point of the novel. Bel had a lot of personal development and Petra was another strong female character. I never got into the Shae character or some of the others. There was a great LGBQ reference with Jondar and... No spoilers but it was a cool addition.

Overall I am going to go with 3.5 stars. Some parts were just not believable and others didn't make a lot of sense, but I still enjoyed it as a well-edited read with strong character building. It is definitely appropriate for YA, and I would recommend to anyone who likes a sci fi read and strong female leads!

This review also appears on my blog at https://onenursereader.wixsite.com/onereadingnurse-1/home/the-queen-s-wing-by-jessica-thorne

Hey, book dragons! So its only day one of November and I have finished a book. And that book is actually not out till the 21st of this month. So I have an ARC review for you all! "The Queens Wings" was written by Jessica Thorne. It is a young adult fantasy that was right up my ally after reading the summary. 
Also, may I say it has one of the prettiest covers I have seen so far this year (expect to see it in the top favors later!!)

So for those of you who have been in the reading game a while. Yes I know it sounds like other books we have all read. But if I may be so daring to say, that yes it is similar but it is still an excellent book. I was quickly in love with the story and to say it became a guilty pleasure is putting it mildly. 

I found this book, and characters both exciting and interesting to read about. I am very happy to say I like our main character for the whole book. And I was even ok (more than ok) with the love interest and its development. 

Bel and Con are some of my favorite characters as of right now, and I think they will be for a long time. 

So if you are into a fantasy story that takes place in space, has a badass princess who flies planes and leads rebellions, this is your book. It is fast paced and I couldn't put it down. I have to say if you like the Selection, Bella Forrest and Sarah J Maas you are going to love this book as well. 

So a huge thank you to NetGalley for letting me read this book in return for my option on it. I am so glad I got to read it!!

Till next time at the nook!

E.

It took me a little while to get into this book. First off, I should have paid more attention to the blub and not just the cover (which is amazing). I assumed I was delving into a fantasy romance novel and when the book started with planets and spaceships I was a little thrown. I'm not a big fan of sci-fi books. I did continue reading and found that I rather enjoyed it though.

Bel is the main character and after the royal family of Varian (her distant cousins) are murdered by the Gravians, Bel becomes a princess and her father the King. A marriage with the prince of Anthaeus is arranged and Bel leaves her planet for his. There's plenty of action on the way to the new planet and we get to meet Shae, Petra, and Thom. Bel has been in love with Shae for as long as she can remember, but will never get to explore this now. Bel is torn between her feelings for Shae and doing the right thing by her planet. She's a strong character and well written. She's by no means weak and proves herself to be extremely strong and competent in the final parts of the book.

Con is the prince and we don't really get an insight into his character. He's portrayed as being a brilliant inventor but we don't get to see why this is. He's a likeable character all the same and I look forward to finding out more about his as the series progresses.

There were so great things in this book. I loved the Rondet and the mind speak between Bel and Con. This to me was the fantasy elements. I loved the underground city and the author's descriptions of places. The sci-fi weaponry and flying machines were a little out of my reach but I'm sure they are spot on and fans of sci-fi books will love them.

The love triangle played out well and I feel there was a good conclusion to it. The raging war, the battle scenes, and the destruction at the hands of the Gravians was well written too and by the end of the book, I did wonder how this could become a series. There was nothing really left to do except for Bel and Con to get married. Would each book just be another war for Bel and Con to fight? The end of the book does give a snippet from book 2 which I was excited to read. Unfortunately, this is told from Petra's point of view and I immediately thought of The Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard. A brilliant first book, but poorly written and drawn out boring books 2 and 3 with action only appearing towards the end. I'm hoping this isn't going to be the case for this series.

I received a copy of this book from net-galley in exchange for an honest review.

Oh my good lord this book was AMAZING. Bel is an absolute badass of a character, the world was so unique, and the plot was tantilizing. I've never been lucky enough to read a space fantasy novel as unique as this one and I loved it. The ending was a little confusing and it seemed like it couldn't decide whether to be a romance novel or an action adventure, but overall it worked. I really did enjoy Bel so much as a character, especially how she developed from an insecure newly appointed princess to a mature, confident leader. A great, unique read with a terrific world(s) surrounding it!

Bel, the main character, becomes an accidental princess after all of the heirs in her family are slaughtered by an alien race in conflict with what seems the entire universe. To make matters worse for Bel, she can no longer be what she wants to be-a pilot for the sake of her people-whom she never had to serve in such a way before.

To make matters worse, Bel has googly eyes for her commanding officer, Shae, who is now her Captain of the Guard. After a slew of assassination attempts, Bel finally makes it to Anthaeus, where even more assassination attempts disrupt the royal wedding plans and the ride to the wedding gets even bumpier.

Despite the promise of a pretty cover and an enticing synopsis, this novel felt like it could not decide whether to be an epic space fantasy with space blaster fights and X-Wing/TIE fighter fights, a court intrigue/romance, or a post-apocalyptic battle narrative. While all of those are my kind of story, and a book with all three would be awesome, this book was all three separately but not together. It felt terribly disjointed because of the lack of cohesion of all of those elements. Bel never really flew very much in the story, and when the titular moment happens in the book (to avoid spoilers), it does not feel as pivotal a moment to epitomize the theme of the book.

I liked the concept, and the blurb was enticing. Unfortunately, it was a disappointment.

I was quite excited about this book but I must admit I don't think it was quite for me. Bel is very likeable as a character but I didn't quite get the world that was being portrayed. Some of it was just quite unbelievable.

In saying this the writing style was quite good it just wasn't the story for me.

I really wanted to like this book...I just could not get past the world that the author was trying to portray. I felt confused the entire time (especially with the Rondet) and there were certain parts that just seemed to drag on and on. I actually did like the heroine but the two male leads were pretty dull and I didn't see why Con was so special. All in all, not a horrible read but it just wasn't for me.

ARC provided by Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

I would give this book 6 stars if it would let me. I LOVED it.
I have spent years reading sci fi and fantasy, and the world building in The Queen's Wing is second to none. I could see the worlds as I read. I was totally involved in them. The story is adventure and romance and thriller, all rolled into one, with an added bonus of..... OK, no spoilers here but the last couple of chapters... Wow!!
Bel is a brilliant hero - she is smart and strong and vulnerable and brave and I was with her right from the first page. I may be just a little in love with Con - he is the perfect partner for Bel. And then there's.... wait. No spoilers.
I just want to say - go and get this book and read it. It is possibly the best book I have read this year.
Full disclosure here - I do know the author, but that's not why I wrote this review. I wrote this review because this book is AWESOME!!!!!!!
(Too many !! No - not at all.)

Okay... where to begin?

This book really exceeded my expectations. Right now, I'm going to go ahead and give it a solid four stars. I think it's probably more like three and a half, but I really did enjoy reading it.

After a very cheesy cover and title, that probably wasn't hard to do - but the book was actually a fun, engaging read from start to finish. Both the title and the description (and even the cover) are pretty misleading. The Queen's Wing is an intergalactic adventure fraught with politics, conflict, and mystery. Our main character, Belengaria, better known as Bel, is suddenly thrust into a political marriage when the entire royal family of her planet, Varian, is murdered, leaving her family the only survivors among the nobility. Forced to take the place of her princess cousin as a bride on a far-off planet whose customs and culture are completely foreign to her, Bel does her best to assert herself and her warrior nature. Honestly, this book was like a mashup of Avatar, Star Wars, and your classic political marriage storyline. There's romance, of course, and a love triangle, because without them this wouldn't be a YA novel. But there are some really interesting, unique elements to this book - the mythologies and 'religious beliefs' (loosely used term here) of the different planets and peoples. And then there's the mysterious Empress hovering over it all.

Thorne really did a good job keeping me engaged, and this book is packed with action from assassination attempts, to raids, to full scale alien invasions. I tore through it in less than 24 hours, which is rare for me with any book during an active semester, so I'm impressed. I would definitely have picked a different title for the book, as the 'wing' is featured much less prominently than you'd assume from the title.

The Plot: I've more or less given details on the plot above. The author mentions it was inspired by Star Wars and medieval queens, and I'd say that's a pretty accurate description. Thorne gives away just enough of the mysterious information to keep the worldbuilding going, but leaves enough to be revealed in the next book, particularly about the empire. It also deals with some interesting themes, and features aliens, so basically all-around fun! One of the only downsides was it felt as if the author was trying to jump from action-packed scene to action-packed scene, and neglected some background storytelling, even on the worlds and people we do know about. This happened in particular when we're learning about the planet on which most of the story occurs - Thorne hypes up all this mystery surrounding it, and then reveals maybe 1/3 of the information promised as expected, and the rest is sort of pushed to the side as if we as the reader will guess the rest. I would have liked her to show me a lot more of the mysteries of the planet, give more backstory on the 'dragonflies' and on the Rodnet.

The Characters:
Bel: in the first chapter, she comes off as your average royal girl who is looking for adventure, but her story quickly turns into one about duty and sacrifice. Thorne writes her with realistic and accurate emotions, especially as she's pushed into a whole new realm she never imagined she would become involved with. Throughout the book, her overpowering trait is her sense of duty to her people, her family and justice. I really loved her relationship to her family and her people, and her determination. She's not an all-around amazing heroine, but she's a great character to read about and I'm excited to see what comes next for her.

Con: Con was a surprise. I knew who he was the minute Thorne began to describe events in the book, but I really had not expected prince charming to be, well, so nerdy. Con is basically a smol Thomas Edison with a hero complex and lots of emotional baggage. And a widower at, what, 19? His age isn't specified, but Bel is 17 and she mentions he's barely older than she is. He was a really, really fun love interest. I do wish there'd been more about him - this is one of the points where this book didn't quite deliver in terms of background. I'd have loved to know more about his relationship with Mathilde, with Jondar, and with his people.

Shae: We don't actually get to know much of Shae, even though he's an important part of the love triangle. Unfortunately, he serves mostly as Bel's crush and then as a super-awful plot twist.

Supporting characters: There were some really great supporting characters in this book. Bel's dad, who I would have loved to see more of. I really liked Jondar, and how we got to know him throughout the book all the way through learning about his greatest secret. I also really appreciated Elara, and wish we had gotten more of her in this book too, since she and her outsized personality definitely deserved it. I loved Petra, and Thom, both of whom were absolute badasses. I'd have liked to see Bel's relationships with her brothers, and Con's relationships with his dead wife's family too. But this book really did have a lot of good supporting characters, many of whom could have been developed more and featured more prominently in the book.

My only large criticism of this book is of the villain, or rather the villainous race of people who feature as the antagonist throughout. While we do get a little bit of information on them, like their obsession with their goddess, their only motivation being 'resource hungry' is a little flat. I understand there's a whole lot of colonization and conquering dynamics here, but even the Spaniards and the English had a little bit more of a well-rounded motive for wiping out entire peoples. Perhaps the religious motive will be explored more in the sequel.

As a last point, I really loved the use of technology in this book and wish it had been explored a bit more. One of my favorite parts of this book was learning about the big ship that travels faster than the speed of light, how it works and how the travel feels.

Things I liked:
• THE COVER! How gorgeous is that?!?!
•The Heroine. Bel is a likeable heroine. I never got bored of her character. Even though some of the choices she makes are questionable, she was a good solid character who ultimately is true to herself and those around her.
•the world. It was interesting, and I enjoyed the SciFi elements, - which I wasn't expecting.
•The plot. A princess who wasn't supposed to be anybody special, but who's life gets flipped upside down, a wicked empress who wants all the planets in the galaxy, and a prince who isn't going to give it to her. Not terribly original, but it was entertaining.

Things I didn't like:
• the love triangle. It was super cringy the whole time. And right from the get go....its just bad. Don't get me wrong, I can do love triangles, but this one was 😬
• A genius mechanic prince who can miraculously make spaceships out of basically nothing. Again, there is a way to do this right. I would have loved it if it weren't so unbelievable.
• There were a few other minor things like my last point that had me raising my eyebrows, things that made the story move ahead, but weren't believable. Like, after describing the torture that a character went through -for days, not just an hour- that same character was able to rescue and carry a woman. I'm sorry, but...NO.

So, while I enjoyed it, I won't be returning for the sequel
All in all, if you're looking for a fast paced romantic adventure, this is for you.

So, I really wanted to love this book. And for the first half, I did. But then it started to drop off pretty quickly. I’m not sure exactly what it was but the first half of the story almost didn’t seem connected to the second half.

I think my biggest struggle with this book is that while I loved the space fantasy feel to it, and the world the author is trying to have us imagine seems really cool, I struggled to actually imagine it. In the beginning the writing was phenomenal, and the author has skill describing places and atmosphere with a poetic elegance. I could picture the landscapes, the planets, the starships and buildings but when it came to the people, they were much more one-dimensional. If the whole book had just been about the world, that would have been great. With the exception of the Rondet, because to be perfectly honest I think that whole aspect of the book ruined it for me. I know they’re supposed to be the ancestors of the whole society but it was just creepy and weird. *spoiler* Trying to imagine large, flying crystal dragonflies that aren’t supposed to look silly, are super powerful but somehow get blown-up by one grenade, just felt like too much of a stretch to me…*spoiler* I think the author could’ve been just fine without the Rondet, or just maybe a different version of them.

As far as the characters being one-dimensional, by the end of the book I still felt like I hadn’t connected to any of them. Bel was a hard heroine to really like sometimes, her changing personality made her difficult to relate to. She was so unwilling to emotionally attach to anyone except for her clinginess with Shae that it made me as a reader distant from all the other characters too. Plus, she acted like she was this big warrior the entire book even though she kept having to be rescued by other people. Con was one of my favorites but even he seemed to change personality from kind and eccentric to crazed and mercurial throughout the book. Shae was just annoying with his gruffness and he was supposed to be this amazing warrior but we never really got to see any of that demonstrated. The whole side plot with Jondar was just unnecessary politically correct filler, it didn’t seem to actually fit to me. I would’ve liked to see his character utilized some other way. Like with his swordsmanship abilities, it could have been interesting to see him teach Bel how to use older weaponry. A character that suprised me was Elara. Ironically I think I started liking her more than Bel there for a little bit, so I was disappointed to see where her story went at the end of the book.

The romance between Bel and Con was good, but it came across as undeveloped. I’m a sucker for political marriage turned romance, but this one never really lived up to its immense potential. There were some great moments between the two characters, like the ballroom scene (it would’ve been great to push off the reveal of Con being the lion to a later point in the book, that way it could’ve been more romantic when she found it was him and not so bleh), that could’ve really made their relationship more believable, but in the end their moments were just too brief and moments that might’ve been great never happened, like Con saying he would take Bel to see the mechanical horses. He had an entire kingdom and they never explored it, they were hardly even together and then when they were they were either arguing, with the Rondet or in peril so there just isn’t enough time in the book for what moments they do have to breathe. Too much explanation not enough of them just interacting. By the end I was still questioning if she actually loved Con, which I don’t think I was supposed to be. Plus the old flames between them did just make things awkward, and not in a way that created better resolution.

There’s a lot of potential in this series. I just came away from this book feeling like I had been dropped into a world that, while interesting, was pieced together and not completely finished. Maybe it’s supposed to be that way and we’re learning more of the world’s history with Bel as she goes along, but that’s more difficult if you can’t even identify with the heroine herself. I just feel like the promise I started out with in the first half is not what I ended up with. There was more drama, romance and intrigue in the first half where the second felt rushed and disconnected. I’m hoping maybe the second will be better. I hope that with the way the book ended romance-wise for Con and Bel that things can only go up from here but you never know. Overall the writing in this book was captivating even if it did seem like it didn’t flow together sometimes. I enjoyed the world, I wish I knew the characters better because I feel like if I did this series would be a real knockout.

I have to admit, this book was so much more than what I was expecting! Jessica Thorne has given us some new and unique characters and experiences for Bel that I have not ever read about before and I have read lots of books! The characters are well developed and draw you in to the story from the very beginning. Bel is not your typical princess girly, girl. I think that is what I liked about her most of all.

Belengaria (Bel) of Vairian is a pilot and thinks that that is her calling in life, to fly her wasp and do it to the best of her ability. While Bel is out one day flying, the unimaginable happens and the whole royal family that is in charge at the time is whipped out by the Gravians (the enemy). Bel ends up having some trouble with her wasp and crashes. When Shea comes to help Bel, he informs her that she is now a princess. Her father who is the grandson of the Vairian King is now in charge as well. This is so hard for Bel to wrap her mind around, but she has to quickly do so in order to give orders that need to be followed. Bel giving orders?? This is insane!

Once things sort of settle down, Bel learns that she is going to be betrothed to Conleith of Anthaem. There is nothing Bel can do to change this situation, so she just hopes that he is someone that she can get along with. Bel has had a crush on Shae forever, which now is her in charge bodyguard.

Bel has a lot to learn about Anthaem and the people there are not fond of her because she is an outsider. As time goes on and Con and Bel get to know each other a little more, Bel also falls in love with Anthaem. Bel is determined to do her part and make everyone proud of her. This story was really well thought out and put together. I am excited for the next book in the series and to see what all is next for Bel. Great read!

An intriguing and promising concept, but the writing style was too dry and the author shared lots of background and history of the different warring planets all at once in the beginning. There is action and a forbidden romance, but they seem to hide between large sections of info-dumps.

I loved that story, the setting was really well done and once i started it i couldn't put it down !
The pacing was great and the book touched different subjects. The characters were well made and i really want to know what happens next in the story !

When I first read the synopsis for the book I had a different idea of what this book was going to be. Instead it surprised me by being different from the Selection. While I enjoyed Con and Bell I did not enjoy the long drawn out awkward romance with Shae. It felt like she was saying she loved him while not showing it.
All in all this was very different than what I was expecting but that made it into it's own story. Perfect for anyone who enjoys a love triangle that turns into true love.
Received an egalley from Netgalley.

This books is awesome.. is that kind of book you wish you can erase your memory so you can read it again and again.. And I have to be honest, when I pick it up, I imagined the book will be different, that maybe she flies, that she has some kind of power, well I find out that actually she flies a plane, a machine. So anyway I give it a chance..

And I completely love the book, you really get into the story.. At the beginning, I thought was a little bit similar with The Selection, with Shae and Bel, but then you keep reading and you realize that The Selection and The Queen´s Wing, don´t have anything in common.

The characters are awesome, Con is so sweet, so handsome, smart, mysterious and almost so perfect, I really love him. Then we have Bel, she is the princess, the future queen, but she is a warrior, she is brave, she doesn´t walk away of a battle field, just because she is the princess, she is loyal, strong, fearless. And in the secondary characters I love her bodyguards, omg they are so funny!! The bodyguards are the ones that make the book funny.

The way the author develops the book is perfect, she gives you the necessary info to keep you questioning and intrigued. She just knows the correct way to keep your attention. Also the idea of The Rondet, I love it, is unique. At the beginning I was like.. What in the World is that?? But oh, I love them!! And I´m really really want to see them again in the next book.

There are just one thing that I don´t like about the book, all the book, we read about, Bel being in love with Shae, we read that again and again, but it doesn´t look in that way. For example Bel was so willing to spend time with Con, also she said once something about never been alone with Con. And if she really is in love with Shae she will be happy that she doesn´t have to spend time with a man that she doesn´t love. So to be honest I really don´t buy the story about she been in love with him.

So because of that I will give to The Queen´s Wing a 4.5 stars, and by the way, I really really love when the name of the book connects with the story, and in this book, that part was so so epic!!

I got and Arc from netgalley in change of and honest review, everything in my review is my own opinion.

#TheQueensWing #NetGalley
I was born to fly,’ I told my brothers. But it isn’t true. I was born to be a pawn in the great game of royal houses, married to someone – anyone – my family deems suitable. If I’m lucky, he’ll be my own age and bearable. If I’m very lucky, he’ll be someone who understands my need to fight, and to fly...

Bel, born to nobility, would do anything to spend her days alongside her brothers – soaring through the heavens in her beloved flyer. She’s faster than any of them, but she knows her days in the skies are numbered.

When a surprise attack on the palace lands Bel’s father on the throne, her life is forever changed. In order to secure her father’s empire, Bel must travel to a distant land to marry the recently widowed young ruler, Conleith.

But Bel’s new home is less than welcoming: compared to the refined ladies at court, Bel seems like a wild woman, and assassination attempts, treason and mystery threaten her at every turn. With a growing attraction to Con, her life is further complicated by the attentive leader of her bodyguards – a warrior called Shae whom she has loved since childhood…

A heart-stoppingly magical new novel that will keep you turning the pages. Perfect for fans of The Selection, Bella Forrest and Sarah J. Maas.

This book was oh so hard to put down. Bel spent the book making Conleith, and his people and even the readers fall in love with her character. She was courageous, brave, strong, weak, loving, so many wonderful traits. I can't wait to read more in the series.

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for this wonderful book as an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.