Wrath of the Never Queen
Storm Lomax
Fantasy Romance
This not a just a love story. It’s a reckoning.
Gifted witch Shivani has so far avoided the annual Summoning. In her village, women are sent to the King each year and given six months to win the Prince’s heart and break his beastly curse. Anyone who can do so will be named Queen.
No one has succeeded.
Deep in debt and with the promise of a handsome reward, Shivani’s father volunteers her for the Summoning. With her magic stripped, Shivani is taken to the castle and thrust into the deadly challenge against her will.
As she navigates the prince’s terrifying curse and the king’s sadistic whims, she discovers decades-old secrets that could mean her freedom. But leaving wouldn’t save the prince and it wouldn’t free the imprisoned servants. Or Shivani could stay – if she’s shrewd enough to decipher the curse before the executioner’s axe drops.
Uncaged Review: This retelling of Beauty and the Beast is much different than what I’ve read in the past on the fairytale reimaginings. A cruel King, who has his wife executed in a public square because he accuses her of cursing their son, Theo. The only way to break the curse is true love. So every year, a new girl is taken from the village, and if she can’t break the curse, her head is chopped off, but her family gets paid. Shivani, our main character, is a witch, but her father is a mean, gambling drunk and so far, Shivani has managed to hide from guards patrolling for the next girl to be sent to the castle. But her father “sells” her off, and she becomes the next in a long line of girls to try and break the curse, and she has 6 months to do it.
Shivani ends up befriending not only the Prince, but also some of the servants and staff, and even though she’s found a way to escape, she decides to stay to try and save them all from the horrible rule of the King.
This is a fun retelling, and I was hooked from the first few chapters. I would have rated this a bit higher, but the ending was a bit too abrupt and should have been fleshed out a bit better. This is not a young adult book, this does have one spicy scene towards the back part of the book and some cursing, but it’s not marketed as a YA, and as it’s a fantasy, there is plenty of room for interpretation. Reviewed by Cyrene
4 Stars
