The Stolen Kingdom

For a hundred years, the once-prosperous kingdom of Perin Faye has suffered under the rule of the greedy and power-hungry Thungrave kings.
Maralyth Graylaern, a cacao farmer’s daughter, has no idea her hidden magical power is proof of a secret bloodline and claim to the throne.
Alac Thungrave, the king’s second son, has always been uncomfortable with his position as the spare heir—and the dark, stolen magic that comes with ruling.
When Maralyth becomes embroiled in a plot to murder the royal family and seize the throne, a cat-and-mouse chase ensues in an adventure of dark magic, court intrigue, and forbidden love.

Thank you so much to Tor Teen for sending a finished copy to me!

I was super excited when Tor Teen reached out about this book. I readily admit that I do love a good secret/forbidden magic plot line. The romance also hinted at an enemies to lovers deal, and we all know that I can’t resist that. This was a fun read, and I did enjoy it, but ultimately I didn’t feel very strongly about it.

Magic inherited through a bloodline is not a new concept, but I really liked how the author made it her own by introducing the “stolen” concept. It really illustrated the evil of conquerers, and how the quest for power often corrupts those who seek it.

I really liked all the basic elements to the story:

• Mara reclaiming her powers and her family’s claim to the throne
• Political scheming and lords/royals set against one another
• Interesting magic and magical history
• (Potentially) interesting side characters

But in the end, it just felt that each of those elements were underdeveloped. I’m not sure if maybe this is due to the fact that this is a standalone, and under 400 pages. But I just wanted a bit more depth! I wanted more time for character development of the side characters, and romantic development for our main characters.

This review is short since I have a hard time writing much about books that are fun but don’t quite stick it. I did enjoy my time reading this one though, and will look out for future works from the author. This book is out today if you’d like to check it out! Happy book birthday!

A note: in the summary it says Maralyth is the daughter of a cacao farmer – she is actually the daughter of a winemaker.