Thank you to Reign Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

To start off, I give this book 3 stars. I think this book has a lot of potential. However, there are things the author can work on.

This story is about a woman who needed to pretend to be a man since she was a child. Her father, Duke Ellington, had five daughters. His wife died while giving birth to the fifth daughter. Since there was no son, Duke Ellington had no heir. Therefore, the fifth daughter, Reid, needed to pretend to be a man so that Duke Ellington could show everyone that he had an heir. However, the princes of the realm got wind of it. The princes offered Reid a deal: Reid would serve the crown, and in exchange they would pardon her father and make an exception so that Duke Ellington could appoint any heir he favored.
The idea of the story is nice and I think it has a lot of potential to make it into a series.

However, there are some things I noticed that the author can work on. For instance; in the beginning it felt like there were some chapters missing. There were no chapters to explain the surroundings, give some background information. You dive into the story immediately. I would have liked it more when I had some more information beforehand, and to ease a bit more into the story.
Furthermore, I noticed several spelling errors and sometimes the sentences didn't really flow into each other. That maked it harder to read, since I had to go back and forth. Another example; there was one moment in the story when a couple of weeks had passed, but there was no mention or any other indication of this. It was just mentioned in the text like "But you asked me a couple of weeks ago…". An indication would have made it better. Finally, there were some typical YA passages that I did not like that much, for example: "The wind blew Knox's brown curly hair into a tangled mess." So in the middle of a fight, it is important to know that his hair is now a tangled mess? What is the relevance of this? That was a bit annoying and not relevant to the story or situation.

In conclusion: I liked the story and think that there is potential. And I definitely see myself continuing this series, if there are coming out more books. However, the author could work on her world building, background information, and flow of the story.

**3.5 stars - review will be posted to my blog http://pastmidnight.home.blog on Sunday, August 25, 2019**

Thank you to Reign Publishing and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.

I love the cover of the book, it’s what drew me to the story. Plus this is a girl dressing as a boy trope and I like those stories, I mean, Mulan – right? 🤷🏻‍♀️ After reading this arc, I can say I liked what the story was trying to do and I’m looking forward to book two. I can’t quite describe how I feel about this book thought – I want to read book two right away, but book one left me feeling…just okay.

Reid Ellington, a Duke’s daughter is living as a boy because her father has no male heir. To protect the title and lands, Reid grows up as a boy. Duke Ellington is breaking the law by lying to the court about having a male heir. Then one day the two princes of Marsden, Ackley and Gordon happen to stumble upon Reid, and they think her ability to disguise herself is a skill they need and blackmail her into being a spy for the crown. If she passes muster the princes will tell their brother, King Eldon, to pardon the Ellington family for lying.

What I Liked:

* Girl living as a boy trope because I like when the big reveal happens.
* Prince Ackley seems really intriguing, what is he playing at? Is he good or bad? I still don’t know. I don’t trust any of them, Reid shouldn’t either! He seems to pull the strings though, or should I say move the pieces. 🤔
* When Reid enters enemy territory, Axian, and meets her enemies…the princes there seem more intriguing than the ones in her kingdom! I want to learn more about Dexter and Colbert.
* The political intrigue is complicated, more secrets are going to be revealed. I’d like to see how Reid gets out of her current situation.

What I Didn’t Like:

* Reid is an okay character. She can fight…pretty good. She can blend in as a girl or boy but she doesn’t have much of a personality other than that she can follow orders. I hope more of her personality comes out in book two! I want her to fight a little more.
* The budding romance for Reid is unnecessary because there wasn’t much build up to it at all. There was a hint of something and then feelings! 🤷🏻‍♀️ But just because I think it’s unnecessary in book one, I hope to goodness there is romance in book two! An enemies to lovers…please. 😂
* I don’t know if it felt rushed because of how short the book is (270 pages), but at times I felt like it was rushing from one scene to the next. I wanted some things to build, like the relationships. I couldn’t feel for any of the characters until we are introduced to people in Axian. I keep wanting to say Axia instead of Axian… I don’t know why!
* The missions the Knights gave Reid, didn’t seem risky enough. I get they were tests, but I feel like there was no intensity or suspense to the scenes, except when she had to go on a mission given to her by King Eldon.

I don’t even feel Reid is special enough yet to warrant everyone needing her help! And they all seem to need her skill at disguising herself! 🤦🏻‍♀️ But because I am intrigued about Axian and the cliffhanger ending, I will definitely read book two. Overall, I find this a solid start to a new young adult fantasy series.

I first would like to start out by saying that I am a big fan of Jennifer Anne Davis' books. I read her True Reign and Reign of Secrets series last year and I thought that they were brilliant. She's an awesome writer.
I will say that this book started off really slowly for me. I didn't care much for the MC until the latter half of the book. The book centers around Reid Ellington, the youngest daughter of a lord who has been raised as a boy so she can inherit her father's title and property in the land of Marsden. Women are not highly regarded in this land and cannot make their own decisions, much less own property. This precarious position accidently throws Reid into the middle of the intrigue that is the royal court and sets her on the path to influence the course of nations. In the process, Reid learns to claim her own identity as a woman, and learns that the society she grew up in was not as ideal as she once thought.
I really liked how the main character grew into herself and became more self-assured as the book went on. The twists, which I will not give away, were vintage Davis. They are what hooked me and got this book a 4 star rating. As always, Davis' writing is sharp and clear. She has a great talent for plunging the reader into the MC's mind. I also liked how there wasn't really that much of a love storyline for the MC. Feelings are there for a character I won't name, but it doesn't dominate the narrative like other books do. Reid is focused on helping her father and her country. Any love interest is second to that. The climax and ending to this book was very satisfying. Another strong addition to Davis' litany of YA works.

Realm of Knights took me completely by surprise; it’s easily one of my favorite summer releases. Although a girl pretending to be a boy isn’t a unique concept, I was pleasantly surprised by the complexity of the plot and its characters.

Reid is the type of heroine I would have idolized as a kid. She’s independent, determined, and loyal. Throughout the story, she’s constantly fighting to understand her family, the king, the princes, and above all else- herself.

Rather than building Reid’s strength in contrast to weaker female peers, Davis has included other strong-willed ladies like Princess Idina and Princess Nara, which I truly appreciate as a reader.

Realm of Knights in unpredictable in the best way possible. Each plot twist was well executed, and quite literally kept me up at night wondering what might happen next. I’d highly recommend giving this book a try; I can’t wait to read the rest of this series!

I have read Ms. Davis' True Reign, Reign of Secrets, and Order of the Kriegers series. all of which I enjoyed tremendously. This novel to her new series did not disappoint! I could not put this novel down, for each page enraptured me immensely and I needed to know what happened next. Nothing is as it seems in the kingdom of Marsden. Reid has been raised as a boy her entire life, even though she is a woman. Only men can inherit and her father did not want to lose his land, but what he has done is considered treason. To keep her family safe, Reid travels with two princes of the kingdom and gets more involved with the royal family than she ever expected. Women are treated like property, yet Reid is different because she can fight and will speak her mind. So much deceit and unknown intentions in this novel. Whom is Reid to trust...for each time she has a piece of the puzzle, more get added. Everyone has an ulterior motive and Reid is the pawn that is being used by all. All Reid wants to do is keep her family safe and save them from being killed. However, she will have to be both man and woman, and along her journey she will question the very things she was taught to believe. I loved the characters, each so different from the other. Cannot wait for the next novel in the series!

Realm of Knights is a great book that pulls the reader into Reid's world, where she had to grow up as a boy to ensure her father keeps his lands since he has no male heir and women are not seen as equal in this kingdom.
Everything starts to fall apart and Reid's whole world view tumbles as the two princes of the kingdom show up one day, demanding soldiers and taking 'Lord Reid' with them...

Adventure, political intrigues, surprising twists and wonderfully written characters make this book a joy to read!
I could not put it down since I wanted to know where the story would take Reid, how the twists and turns would play out and who would out-smart who.
The ending of this book makes sure that you crave the next one. I hope book 2 comes out soonish.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this great read.

*4.5 Stars*

This was such a fun book-- I read it in one sitting not even stopping to grab a snack or anything. If you love Tamora Pierce's Tortall series, this book will be right up your alley.

"Realm of Knights" follows Reid: a girl raised as a boy since her father only had daughters and women cannot inherit. Reid goes from being a girl dressed as a boy, to a boy leading an army, to a girl spying on another country and both the evolution of how she sees herself and how she sees her country. I really appreciate that Jennifer Anne Davis has Reid and others rail against the sexism that both restrains what she can do and also frequently changes how Reid is viewed.

This story is so fun and I was so engrossed that I felt abruptly pulled out of the story when I had finished it-- I was completely unaware that I was nearing the end. I felt I was watching the story unfold before me and after I saw the words 'The End' I was reminded that I had indeed been reading. I read a lot of books and enjoy many of them but it is notable for me to be so sucked in that nothing else exists.

The reason I gave it 4.5 stars instead of 5 is that I didn't see any PoC. It is not uncommon in books to not mention skin tones and while this may seem like that makes it inclusive, in practice it means everyone is whitewashed. If the next book is as good as this one and just a bit more diverse it will definitely be 5 stars!

I need the next one already!

4,5 stars.

A story of a young woman pretending to be a man sounds always interesting and promising. I liked the book. I felt that some things there were a bit rushed, like the possible romance, it was a bit unbelievable .... BUT I have no problem with how it ended because I didn’t like that character enough to be Raid’s romantic interest. I was intrigued much more by some other men and one of them will be in the next book a lot I hope. :) Can’t wait to read it to be honest.

I received and ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.