Kelly's Review: THORN QUEEN

THORN QUEEN

Book 2 in the Dark Swan Series

By Richelle Mead

Published by: Zebra Books, Kensington Publishing Corp.,

119 West 40^th Street, New York, NY 10018

www.kensingtonbooks.com

First Printing: August 2009

ISBN-13: 978-1-4201-0097-6

ISBN-10: 1-4201-0097-1

Amazon; Barnes and Noble; Goodreads

Concept: “Eugenie Markham is a shaman for hire, paid to bind and banish creatures from the Otherworld. But after her last battle, she’s also become queen of the Thorn Land. It’s hardly an enviable life, not with her kingdom in tatters, her love life in chaos, and Eugenie eager to avoid the prophecy about her firstborn destroying mankind. And now young girls are disappearing from the Otherworld, and no one – except Eugenie – seems willing to find out why.

Eugenie has spilled plenty of fey blood in her time, but this enemy is shrewd, subtle, and nursing a very personal grudge. And the men in her life aren’t making things any easier. Her boyfriend Kiyo is preoccupied with his pregnant ex, and sexy fey king Dorian always poses a dangerous distraction. With or without their help, Eugenie must venture deep into the Otherworld and trust in an unpredictable power she can barely control. Reluctant queen or not, Eugenie has sworn to do her duty – even if it means facing the darkest – and deadliest – side of her nature…” [From book cover.]

Review: This is the second book in the Dark Swan Series and, in my opinion, better than the first book. I gave the first book 4 feathers, this one, I’m giving a full five. I actually cried in this book and I’m not one to do that. I LOVE Eugenie’s character. The story is told in first person and while I know that bothers some, it doesn’t bother me and in this case, it just made the story perfect. We learn things from Eugenie’s point of view and she is one sharp cookie. She makes good decisions even when they turn out to be bad decisions. I love the men in Eugenie’s life as well. Dorian and Kiyo are two excellent choices although I would bet most people are pulling for Dorian. I am. He’s hot. In this book, Dorian avenges Eugenie and that made me love him more while Kiyo is not my favorite guy. There is some sex slavery/rape scenes that may be difficult for some to handle but I found them explained in such a way that my heart broke for Eugenie and the other girls that were involved. I wanted to reach through my book and smack the bad guy around and I was SO glad he was taken care of. If you couldn’t tell, this book made me FEEL and I love when a book does that.

Warning, I’m feeling a strong urge to run to the third book in this series right now even though I need to read some other books that I need to review, and I’ve read some reviews where reviewers are chomping at the bit to get to the next book. If you need to read something after you read this book, you may want to wait before you pick it up.

What I disliked: I disliked the character Leith so much. Evil, baaaaaad man.

What I liked: I liked feeling. I liked hearing Eugenie’s thoughts. I liked everything about this book so very much.

My rating: 5 feathers

by Kelly

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