The world in this book is simply massive. There are several sections of the world, and they are all connected by portals and gates. I liken it to an MMORPG world like World of Warcraft if you’ve ever played one. You can take a portal and travel from an ice realm to a desert realm. These characters travel all throughout this world in order to visit various important people and make plans. I’ve seen some people say that this was a bit confusing. As a person that doesn’t really care about seeing a linear path of the character’s through the book world, I didn’t find myself very confused. I just enjoyed my experience reading about where the different characters were without trying to figure out exactly what path they took to get there.

This copy was kindly gifted to me from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (submitted on Instagram)

You can find this review and all of my others over at www.readbookrepeat.wordpress.com

Actual rating of 3.5

Luvenia Rousseau lives life terrified. She is terrified that any day now, the tyrant Queen that rules her war-torn land, will demand her collectors come, come for Luvenia, for her sister Ester, and her mother and brother. Every day she wakes up wondering, is today the day? She already lost her father, she can't afford to lose anyone else. So when her brother comes home after being away for months, they think that things will be okay for a little while, but it is not so. When Luvenia's family is torn apart, she thinks her life is over, close to death and ready to give up, she is given a second chance at life by a dear friend she didn't even realise existed. Luvenia finds herself spirited away to a magical place called Aureland. There she meets a powerful and kind Queen who is battling against the very enemy that threatens Luvenia's existence. Together they will train and work towards a brighter future. Together, they can conquer anything, can't they?

I was really interested to read this book as it's premise sounded incredibly interesting. And honestly it was. We meet Luvenia and her family as they struggle to get through life day by day, living on the most basic of foods, wearing clothing that at times can barely keep them warm, and smuggling strawberries for sale out of their prohibited strawberry patch. Life isn't great, but they're living, so that's the main thing for them. Until Luvenia is forced to face the truth about herself, and her family as the evil Queen Pietro tears her family apart.

Luvenia, in the beginning, was an incredibly strong character, she worked hard for her family and herself, and she made sure that she took care of them. After the attack from Pietro and her collectors, Luvenia is transported to a world that she didn't even know existed. This world is the polar opposite of her homeland, Orford. Aureland is magical in all sense of the word, so I was really interested in seeing how Vampa was going to meld the two together into a coherent story. And for the most part, I feel like it was done incredibly well. I still don't entirely understand the whole world set up, but I'm pretty sure I've got the gist of it. Aureland is only accessible through certain portals, so I see it as almost a parallel universe of sorts. I still don't understand how certain people knew of the world though I believe it has something to do with the whole Keeper thing. Keepers are people with magical abilities, and when parent's know that their child has these abilities, they can send them to Queen Nuria in Aureland in order to be trained in the way of the Keepers, at least, I think that's how it works...

So I guess you could say that at times it almost felt like there was a lot of info dumping because the world is incredibly complex, I just don't think enough time was given on the mechanics of the world for me to be able to truly gauge how it works. As said above, for the most part, I get the gist, but there's still a little more to explore here, and I'm kind of hoping that it is done so in future instalments.

Once Luvenia makes it Aureland, her character changes completely. Which, in a way, I can understand, she went through an incredibly traumatic event and had a lot of deep seating issues from before this to deal with as well. So, your girl isn't going to be totally well adjusted after just going through a tragedy. I enjoyed the way her character was so established in the beginning, broken down completely, then rebuilt into who I believe she was really meant to be. Her friends, Darius, Thera and Khyan are all interesting characters, though I feel like they weren't really given the time they deserved. I know about them, and I have an okay feel for who they were intended to be, they still felt a little flat and almost walled off for me. I just don't think I really got to experience them in their full intended light. Some emotional things happen, and while I was like "Aww, that's a bit sad" I wasn't really moved as emotionally as I feel I should have been. A little more time spent and depth given to the characters could really make this story shine how it deserves to.

The narration was okay, though I did notice at times there were single words that were written in the wrong tense. This story is written in third person past continuous (I think, I could be totally wrong here), though at times there would be one word thrown in a sentence in present tense. I also feel that third person may not have worked so great for this story as it felt like we were kept at arms length. I'm thinking first person really would have put us in the action and into Luvenia, allowing us to feel a full spectrum of emotion. I also found the narrative to be more telling than showing for the most part, which made me feel like I was simply reading a story, not experiencing it as I would have liked. There were a few lines used in the narrative that gave it a more flighty, cheesy kind of feel, but that could be the author's intention as well.

All in all, this was a fairly enjoyable read. It kept me coming back for more, and for the most part, I was invested in the story, it's characters and where the plot was heading. I'm looking forward to continuing the story as it ends on quite the cliff hanger, even though I had a feeling this would happen, I didn't see it being THIS way. And that is all I'm going to say on the matter. You'll have to read it to find out what I'm talking about :)

A great dark fairy tale of loss and hope. A wonderful world that J.L has imagined, with great characters.

Luvenia Rousseau lived with her family on the edge of a war torn country led by Queen Lilith Pietro that ravenously hungered for power, even at the expense of the common people. Collectors would take people off the streets to be sacrificed, especially if they were zealots of the old faith, whom the Queen blamed the plague and war on. When her family farm is attacked by Collectors, Luvenia literally stumbles across a gate leading her into an enchanted realm. Keepers are people with fantastic powers, and Luvenia is determined to get stronger so she could go back to find her sister.

There is amazing world building here for the start of the novel. The scenes with Luvenia's family and neighbors, details like the types of handmade soaps that were available, and the tension in the atmosphere because of the Collectors were very well done. The actual raid on the Rousseau farm is heartbreaking, and I felt for her and her sister. Once she crossed over into the other kingdom, there were many beautiful and fantastic places full of magic and magical creatures. It wasn't enough to stop her breakdown as she recalled the devastation at the farm and her drive to find her sister, which the others seemed to berate her for.

Characters seemed to suddenly become emotionally attached to others, or make surprisingly accurate guesses and connections between situations. That's probably to keep the pacing rapid, but when I think about how they all interact with each other, it doesn't ring true. It doesn't make sense for people to make the intuitive leaps that they do, or for characters to suddenly do well or fail for plot purposes. I can hand wave the emotional attachments that occur, because that definitely happens. You can know if you click with someone or not, and what seems like the inevitable romantic triangle setup doesn't actually happen. The end of the novel clearly sets up for more novels in this world, with more questions raised than answered.

This is a DNF for me. I just could not get into the story. The writing had me confused, and there really wasn't anything that popped out to keep my invested.

And I don't know about you, but I've seen this exact cover before??

I am definitely not one to normally pick out fantasy type books. I read the synopsis of this book and it did catch my attention. It took my awhile to really get into the book, however, the story of the characters is deep and easily liked them. There were a few twists that I wasn't expecting. I still am unsure about this book and I often got a little lost on where the story was going. I give this book 2.5 stars for me.

I was given an ARC copy from Netgalley in return for my honest review

I DNF'd this novel at 35%. I couldn't really get into the politics and world-building. While the start was solid, it quickly became very dull for my preferences and I couldn't force myself to read any more.

ARC provided by author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All the following opinions are my own.

Rating- somewhere in between a 2 and a 3

The Queen’s Keeper by J L Vampa is a high fantasy novel primarily featuring a cast of young adult/new adult protagonists. The story revolves around the main lead Luvenia, who is your average poor peasant girl living in a small village in a kingdom under a tyrannous rule. But, of course she’s not average because this is exactly the kind of situation that makes you a hero, almost exactly like when you’re japanese and you’re born with pink hair and are a cartoon, you just know you’re an anime hero/villain. Anyway, this girl is just living her life and trying to get by in a world wrought by famine and tyranny when her brother decides to go ahead and betray their family’s hatred of the queen and join the armed forces. He joins the special section of the army called the “Collectors” to be exact, and I honestly am not 100% sure what these special soldiers do yet but okay. The mom dies, the father’s been dead for a while, the sister gets taken away and Luvenia is rescued from her pursuers by magical beings who transport her to a magical land and begin to help her train herself and heal herself before she can go looking for her sister. She falls in love in middle, because of course she does. And there’s an attempt at a love triangle also, because of course there is. The book ends with a battle scene and an expository moment that reveals a secret that I predicted 50 pages into the book, and it’s like, some kind of big plot twist and stuff.

Oh, and there’s a bunch of politics stuff going on like forging alliances and internal revolution and all that jazz. And it’s definitely made out to be like it’s something important but it really doesn’t feel like it? I don’t want to go into explicit detail because I don’t want to spoil the book, but I’ll get into my entire problem with the politics and stuff in just a second.

The first issue I had with this book was that it felt very rough and unedited. It had these really, potentially likeable characters, but it didn’t do anything with them. The pacing was really off and not consistent at all, and there were these moments where you could totally get into the book but then it would be broken by one wrongly used word or sentence and it just threw me off as a reader. I almost DNF’d this book a bunch of times while reading it, but I just kept going because I still felt like it had a lot of potential and that it would get better. (spoiler alert: it didn’t. Not really). I just feel like this story had a lot of atmosphere and some really good plot points and characters to work with, and it could have been an amazing read if only it went through the editing process a couple of times.

Coming to the plot things I was talking about, it felt like the book tried to focus too much time on building the setting and the atmosphere - I still wouldn’t call it world building because there wasn’t that level of intricacy in there- rather than the action of the book. Now, I can see how this would be a good thing considering there are going to be more books coming out, but you kind of have to gauge what you’re giving up in exchange for atmosphere here. The most interesting part of this book was the politics, but because it was not given enough time on page, it seemed very rushed and became really confusing (or I’m just, like, really slow and stupid but either way xD). A lot of the time I had to understand who was who and what was what in these “action” scenes from context and my previous knowledge of the story. As I said earlier, even the military system in Orford is not clearly explained. I don’t know what makes “Collectors” so special. I don’t know why they’re not just called her army or her soldiers. I guess I do know that collectors take people from their homes but, like, armies do that, too! Especially in a world where kings are a thing, you know?

Coming to the characters, like I said before, I really felt like they had immense potential. I even came to like/be fond of a few but not in the I’ll-remember-you kind of way but in the you-don’t-suck kind of way. They were kind of well-developed, but they were not well-developed enough, and I felt like that totally affected their dynamics. The friendships and the romantic relationship in this book feel a little forced. There’s no actual chemistry between the characters and it definitely made it seem super awkward when the characters interacted with each other. I was particularly not fond of the romantic pairing in the novel. It made me cringe the two times they kissed because it felt so unnatural and abrupt. Ugh. And that forced love triangle that wasn’t quite a love triangle! WHOOP! TOO MUCH!

Now don’t get me wrong. It’s not that these dynamics were impossible between characters, it’s just that they were all lacking that chemistry that makes these dynamics work and that’s all I have to say about it.

Overall, I didn’t hate the book or anything. It was an okay-read and I can see why some people seem to really enjoy it, but it just didn’t cut it for me. There were a few elements in the story that I enjoyed when thought of disjointed bits of imagination floating about, but other than that this story was pretty unmemorable and unimpactful for me. I’m sure if this weren’t an ARC, I probably would not have read it completely and that makes me just a little disappointed.

*I received this book through NetGalley for a review*
This book is definitely a unique one. It starts off with a witch going to this persons house and telling her what to name her kid. Nothing else is meantioned of said kid. Then it follows Luvenia who is working to provide for her family. It goes on a while and then her brother returns. This is where the story spices up! Now this story does drag around the middle where Luvenia finds herself. This book rides the line between ‘YA’ and ‘Middle Grade’ because it’s not gruesome, it doesn’t have language, and it has no inappropriate moments. I enjoyed the way J. L. Vampa constructed her world and her character backgrounds are very complex but intriguing. I also enjoyed the descriptions of clothing, food, and personalities. Details people
-Constructive Criticism-
In my opinion I think the chapters could be shorter
EX. The POV switches to a character in a totally different place doing nothing related to the other characters.
I think the book could have tied up a lot more loose ends
EX. There is a big surprise at the end with no explanation or time frame
And I needed some explanations as to what the Collectors did and who they were and I also wanted to know what the Bloodguilt was and why it won’t go away

Starting out, I had a hard time connecting with this book. I'm glad I stuck with it though. I didn't end up loving it, but there were parts of it I liked quite a bit.

I thought there was some decent world building, which is critical in a fantasy novel. While it takes awhile for Luvenia to get to Aureland, a magical realm that parallels the one she grew up in, once she does the author does a great job of exploring it and painting a rich portrait of all of the wonders it contains. Likewise, there is an equally vibrant cast of characters surrounding Luvenia that are easy to invest in.

I think ultimately more of my issues were with the writing. There seemed to be a number of gratuitous adverbs and phrases that struck me as a precious like, "the queen drummed her feminine nails on the arm of her throne." Conversations seemed a little emotionally stilted. Characters would be talking for a few lines and suddenly they explode or scream seemingly out of the blue (not just Luvenia, whom we could assume is maybe immature?) This lent an aura of melodrama to a lot of the interactions.

Interestingly though, this book takes pains to chart Luvenia's internal journey from a child who's bent on revenge to a woman who commits herself to a higher calling. While some people might find these passages trying because they're anxious for the book to get back to action and adventure, personally I found these passages rather beautiful and inspiring.

Luvenia's time in Aureland is transformational both physically, but also emotionally as she's basically engaged in therapy conversations with the queen. Some great nuggets of wisdom come out of these conversations like, "As you sit here abusing yourself over things you have done or not done--things now out of your control--and shoving who you are down into a deep, dark cave, you are halting the very process that shall liberate you." It's great advice for us all--on a quest in a mythical realm or not.

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adored this book. It kept you guessing in parts and was so hard to out down as you absolutely needed to know what happens next. I can't wait for the next book in the series as I really want to follow the character's stories.

This story checks most of the boxes for me in that it has a well-describe ,unique setting, strong character development, and is well paced. The main character, Luvenia, is strong, smart, likeable. - a good female role model The supporting cast, for the most part, is engaging as well. I had some difficulty with the sudden changes in POVs even though they do offer important insight into the story - they came without warning and required some deduction on the reader's part as to who was narrating. In addition, I found the plot to be confusing at times with the mention of lands and characters that are not explained or introduced in a clear way. A map of the lands as well as a list of characters would've helped immensely.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

This is the story of a girl who has faced evil, lost almost everything and struggles to keep going. Luvenia Rousseau (a.k.a. Luvi and Veni) has carried the guilt of her father's death for years, watched her brother betray the family, witnessed her mother being beheaded, and knows her sister is being held captive by Queen Lilith Pietro. After a narrow escape, Luvi finds herself in Aureland - a beautiful and hidden Kingdom that many interesting and magical beings call home.

Luvi may have escaped the collectors that destroyed her family with her life, but her heart and sole bare unhealable scars. There is also a war brewing and this leads Luvi on a personal journey between light and dark. While her character can be difficult to read given the varying levels of anger and grief, she is everything you would expect a teenage girl to be after everything she has been through.

There is a range of different characters, including Khyan, Theralin, Nuria, and Darius, all with different journeys but similar scars that motivate them to chose light and fight for good. This is presented in such a beautiful and honest way. No matter how bright the smile or how happy we may seem, there can be all sorts of pain, but that can also be the foundation for there infinite strength. You never truly know just how strong you can be, both physically and emotionally, until you are faced with a fight. 

These very powerful messages are woven into a story of war and paired with many beautiful quotes that are scattered throughout the book. There is one in particular that I loved:
If you are not careful, you will lose your life to 'if only'. You cannot go back and change a single moment." - Nuria
This is something we all need to remember. We cannot change the past, only learn from it and use it as a guide for the future, so there is no point wasting time with 'if only's when you could be using that time to do good and be happy. 

The book was well planned, flowed well and has set up the series beautifully. Although the main character was Luvi, this was told in the third person to allow the story to flick to other characters to show scenes she was not a part of. This gave us the chance to learn more about the plans to take down Lilith as well as get to know the other characters a little better. I did think the pace was a little off as there were a few scenes that dragged on a little and others that whizzed by a little fast, but the overall story was enjoyable and the ending had me desperate to read more.

I was very interested in this book when I read the description on netgalley but I feel like this should have been a first or second draft of the story, not the final product. I didn't realize this had been published in 2018 until coming back to write this review. More time in editing is needed.

That being said the character development is good and world building is there.

Will I wait for the next book though...probably not.

In theory this should be one of my favourite books. It is a Fantasy with some great character building and a fun romance. Something about this book was just off for me.

Lets start with the things that this book does really well.

The Characters were really diverse and not only that but we were given enough information that I felt like I knew how they would react in certain situations. I liked that the main characters were kind of linked together and how we were told the back story of nearly all of them. Of course I liked the mystical characters too.
I liked Darius, In Fact I think he was my favourite character in this entire book. I felt like he was written really well. Darius wasn't to gruff but also wasn't a big softy either and he for the most part didn't baby Luvi at all which was nice.
I enjoyed the additional elements of magic that creeped into the story but I do wish we had seen more of that.

I liked (maybe not liked but you know what I mean) that Vampa wasn't scared to kill off characters in the beginning and that it wasn't all happy families for Veni.

Ok now the not so great stuff...
The story was confusing. It took a really long time for me to understand what was going on at all and why there were several different lands. The characters names were interesting but because there are so many main characters I couldn't remember who was who.

The addition of mermaids was what really sent me over the edge I just couldn't handle this additional element. It also felt like Vampa was trying to set up a love triangle that never really needed to happen why can't they just be friends?

This book wasn't for me and it put me into a bit of a reading slump to be honest.
I would however like to check out other books by Vampa because the character building was pretty great.

This book took me awhile to get in to and I don’t know if I will be going back for the sequel, but towards the last quarter of the book I did enjoy it a bit more. I felt that the main character wasn’t fully developed though with her mood changes and how drastic they were.

This is pretty far outside of what I usually, read, but I felt like reading something a bit unusual so I requested it. There's a dark, gothic vibe (some reviewers have compared it to Alice in Wonderland) and that's probably the most shining part of the book.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

This isn't my typical genre of book, that's for sure.. but iw as intrigued by the unique storyline.

this book took me to quite a magical realm.. I was hooked after the first few pages and couldn't wait to finish it!

this was a fabulous book.

A dark world filled with hidden hope and a little magic. This book is unique and unlike anything I’ve read before.