Shielded is relatively predictable. However, it is fun. It takes some popular tropes and executes them well. I would feel comfortable recommending it to both younger teens and older people who like fantasy books with a prominent romance storyline.

This was pitched as Furyborn (which I can't attest to, as I DNF'ed that :P) meets Sorcery of Thorns, but it was really more of a case of The Kiss of Deception meets Sorcery of Thorns (also both this and Sorcery of Thorns have GORGEOUS cover art!!!).

I can't even tell you why I enjoyed this so much. I really shouldn't have. It was rather predictable and the romance was rooted in instalove...but despite all that...I still had a grand time reading this. I completed this entire thing in one sitting - in a matter of hours - and it was so compulsively readable. Once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down. I ended up loving the romance, the political intrigue, the familial relationships, the rumour of a magical library, etc. In fact, there's very little that I didn't like!

All in all, this was a VERY STRONG début novel. I can't wait to see how this duology ends, as well as the author's future ventures. I certainly enjoyed it. :)

I LOVE THIS BOOK.

The story follows a princess named Jennesara who isn't the heir to the throne--meaning she shouldn't have even a little bit of the magic inside her. She's content with being the princess everyone thinks is a little strange, as long as it keeps her alive and her brother as the heir. But, everything changes when her father arranges her marriage to a neighboring kindgom's prince. With her brother on his way to stop a war waging on their northern border, Jenna sets out to marry a prince she's never known. Before they make it to her new home, their caravan is attacked and Jenna must flee into the Wild to save herself, and the future of her kingdom.

I've been reading a lot lately (thank you, Covid-19), and this is seriously one of the best books I've read this year. I couldn't read it fast enough, and yet read it far too quickly because now I'm sad it's over.

I am here for it all: princesses in disguise, magic, a rich fantasy world, and of course a little love to go along with it all. I am so excited that this is only the first book because wow do I need more. The world was rich, the battles given just enough detail, and the magic and history really interesting.

Jenna isn't just another princess--she has magic, she can fight, she's smart, and she'll do anything to save those she loves. As far as protagonists go, she's easily one of my new favorites. I loved reading as she progressed from the strange princess to a warrior to be reckoned with.

I also really enjoyed the magic system, and how the history and lore of the fantasy land helped shape and guide the story. It made it more real and grounded, and much more interesting to read.

Also, I'm a sucker for even a little bit of love in books and this one did it for me. I felt it, man. I liked that it wasn't the focus, but I liked that we got to see it blossoming.

Overall, READ IT!

I quite enjoyed Shileded. The plot moved a little slow for my liking since I expected this to be action packed, which there was but wish it picked up the pacing. I’m curious to see how the rest of the series will go so I anticipate picking up the next book as the ending had a plot twist that depending on the reader may or may not have been predictable.

This one’s been on the top of my TBR for a while because that cover’s just plain cool. 10/10 would put a poster of it on the wall.

The day after her seventeenth birthday, Princess Jenna sets out on her first journey away from her home in Halendi to meet her betrothed in the neighboring kingdom of Turia. The little she knows about Prince Enzo was learned from old genealogies, but Jenna straps on her sword, hops on her horse, and accepts the necessity of uniting their kingdoms to gain the support of Turia’s army against rising violence on the borders. And the journey won’t be all bad - she’ll have the company of her brother before he goes to war, time to examine the magical artifacts gifted to her by father, and the royal library with its books on magic waiting for her at the end of the road. However, the journey doesn’t go as planned, and Jenna finds herself stranded in the Wilds with little more than her fractured magic, a blank book, and anger toward the unknown traitor who would see her kingdom ruined.

This book is a solid example of how predictable tropes can still be fun when paired with endearing characters. Oh no, the king arranged a secret betrothal! The audacity. It’s hard to say more without spoilers, but all of Jenna’s allies deserve to be protected at all costs. Jenna knows this, and she spends a fair amount of her time jumping over bushes and crashing into scoundrels in order to keep people safe.

I thought there was most room for improvement with the development of the antagonists. They fulfilled their cookie cutter roles without adding any extra flair, letting half of the climax fall flat. Now that the broader conflict has been explained, maybe the sequel will have room to explore more nuanced motivations for the villains.

If you like hidden identities, cute romance, the Remnant Chronicles or the Fire and Thorns trilogy, chances are you’ll like this one too.

**Thanks to Netgalley and Delacorte for the ARC**

I wanted to like shielded but for me it felt like any other young adult fantasy out there. A strong heroine who is believable at how well she can handle a sword since she has wielding one since she was little but her ability to grasp and use her so called magic that was hidden within her so easily is very convenient. The actions scenes were excellent described though and the romance was super cute. Overall Shielded is a good fantasy book but doesn’t add anything special to the genre.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book! It was pretty fast paced and I flew through it. The two main things I loved the most in this book is the world and the characters, especially Jennesara the main character.

Jennesara was shown from the very beginning to be a strong heroine, both in terms of her character as well as her fighting prowess. I was able to connect with her fairly early on, so when different events started happening to her I was worried for her survival. When we meet her, she wants to convince her father that she is needed on the front lines of the war that her kingdom is facing but her father instead sends her off to marry the prince of a neighboring kingdom. Without spoiling anything, the events that happen to her after she starts her journey had me flipping the pages so quickly, I needed to see how she would get out of some of the situations she was put in!

I also highly enjoyed the romance, which has been described as insta love. To me, it was more of an instant attraction rather than an ‘I-just-met-you-and-I-love-you’ kind of thing.

The world was also very interesting, although I wish that it would’ve been explained a bit more because I was struggling to picture the plateau and the continent and what they looked like. I did read an ARC copy though so it’s possible that a map will be included in the final version which I think would help with some of my confusion. The magic that this world has was interesting, but I’m still not clear on what exactly some of the powers are and who can do what, as well as the history on where it came from which was explained a little bit, but not really in depth. I’m hoping for more expansion on both the world and the magic system in the next book.

As far as the actual story, I couldn’t put the book down! It was full of betrayal, political intrigue, lies, magic, and a little bit of mystery as well. I loved how fast paced and action packed this was while keeping some slower (yet still intense) scenes. I would definitely say if you are a fan of slow burn fantasy where it takes a while for the story to pick up momentum, maybe this book wouldn’t be for you.

However, if you are looking for a fast paced, intense YA fantasy, I think you would enjoy this one!

4.5 stars

It was back in April when I first learned of Shielded. It came up on my NetGalley dashboard, and I immediately knew I wanted to read it. It had the fantasy elements I was looking for with what looked like a strong foundation on which to build.

I wasn’t wrong.

KayLynn is an excellent worldbuilder. Nods to medieval settings create a familiarity while magical elements feel new and exciting.

If you are looking for high fantasy, you won’t find it here. It’s a good middle road for readers who already have their feet wet but don’t want to wade in too deep. It’s not groundbreaking, nor is it predictable.

Shielded is a fast -paced, engrossing read that’s a strong addition to the YA fantasy lexicon.

*Link includes mini review (above) and author interview

Shielded is the first installment in debut author KayLynn Flanders' Shielded series. Shielded tells the story of Hálendi Princess Jennesara who was born with magic that she should not have. Magic of old was supposed to have been banished ages ago after a bloody war with Mages who were defeated and sent to the Ice Deserts by Jenna's ancestor Gero. The heir of the Kingdom, her brother Ren, is supposed to have magic. But Jenna has a powerful connection to her brother and father King Shaeus. She knows that if anyone were to discover she had magic, she would be considered a threat to Ren as heir.


Those who have magic, possess the ability to manipulate the energies around them. Jenna can sense emotions of her father and her brother. For 7 months, attacks on the border have caused their father intense problems especially with the Kingdom of Riija demanding an alliance from Turia. Halendi's entire purpose is to protect the Turian's from the plague of Magic Gero banished to the Ice Desert. Gero also banished all knowledge of magic across the sea and exiled all artifacts, as well as manuscripts of magic.


The only resolution in sight is to send Jenna to Turia to marry Prince Enzo, the Turian heir, so that Turia can provide much needed military support. So, on Jenna's 17th birthday, she is given priceless artifacts (Sword and a ring) that allegedly were used by Kais in the great war against the Mages. But there is also the problem of an apparent traitor amongst the Kings advisers. As Jenna's caravan gets closer to dangerous territory, her caravan is ambushed. Her friend and lady in waiting Aleinn sacrifices herself to give Jenna a chance at escaping and surviving.


In order to keep under the radar, Jenna becomes Aleinn and is constantly fighting off shadow creatures and a dangerous mage named Graymere who wants to kill her. Jenna discovers that the threat of war is worse than everyone originally thought once she reaches Turiana and finds out that her own country has declared war believing that Jenna and her brother Ren were assassinated by King Marko. Something is amiss here and Jenna must decide if revealing her magic and her identity to would be enemies and a man who is supposed to be her betrothed, is worth the risk to stop the threat or to keep quiet and undercover the mystery behind the identity of her father betrayer.


Overall, this isn't a bad story. There is plenty of action with Jenna front and center. My only real issue is that Jenna gets hurt a whole lot. No, I'm not kidding. When she's fighting for her life, she's beyond reproach in her fighting abilities thanks to years of training. She ends up protecting Enzo's sisters who are constantly under attack. She digs deep into the libraries of Turiana looking for answers to not only her own magic, but the identity of the mages who seem to have her in their sights. She finds a connection to her alleged betrothed and discovers that he's not a bad person. I think the addition of Mari and Chiara give this story much needed brevity and humility. I would say that the ending is a bit on the twisted side, but that just means that I will aim to read the sequel whenever it is released.

Princess Jennesara is the second heir in a family line where only the 1st born is supposed to possess magical powers, identified by a white streak in their hair. Jenna, has been braiding her own hair since a very young age in attempts to hide the fact that she does actually possess magic powers so that she is not sent away. Unfortunately, she will still have to leave her home to help solidify a marriage alliance with another country. On the way, tragedy strikes and her adventures begin.

I found this to be a very charming and fun fantasy read, that was very simple and enjoyable. The main cast of characters were all wonderful, you could really feel the love and affection between the family members for one another.

However, the villainous characters were not nearly as strong or well rounded. I also felt confused when it came to the magic system, it just seemed there was a missing component but I cannot put my finger on exactly what it is.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the sequel in the future.

**ARC provided to me by Netgalley and Random House Children's books in exchange for an honest review**

Princess Jennesara is the second sibling and therefore is not in line for the throne of Halendi. She's had some freedom to train how she likes and is highly proficient with a sword. However, things aren't looking great for her country and since she's not the firstborn, she's not allowed to have magic, but she does. Jenna does all that she can to hide her abilities, even if they are small, so that her brother Ren doesn't feel pressured.

Jenna would willingly fight for her country, but her father has other plans: marrying her off to their neighbor in order to cement a marriage alliance and troops. But on her way to Turia, the Royal caravan is ambushed and Jenna is the only one to escape with her life.

The first 20-25% was all right, but I wasn't really invested. It wasn't until Jenna was suddenly alone and forced to survive that I was truly interested in her journey. Jenna is incredibly strong not only physically, but also emotionally. I loved that she took up the mantle of her country and was determined to rat out the spy in her country no matter the cost to her. She would make an amazing ruler.

Eventually, Jenna ends up in the Turian castle and befriends the nobles. I loved how her relationship with the siblings slowly developed. We could see how they each came to clearly care for each other. Also the slow burn between Enzo and Jenna was so good. I am a huge fan.

My only big hang up about this book was the lack of queer characters. Literally, everyone we meet is straight and like while straight people are the norm, there was a big enough named cast of characters for at least one or two of them to be queer.

I really enjoyed this, especially the end and I'm curious to see where this series will go!

Unfortunately, this book just isn't for me. I had to put it down at about 23%. The main character hiding her magic on her way to a strange country to marry a stranger, who she's probably going to hate. But at 23%, I should be at the other country. The opening sequence is entirely too long. I do like the family aspect, they have a healthy family dynamic, between the brother and the dad. It's clear they love each other very much. You don't see that often, but all the other things are very vanilla.

Maybe I've been reading, or have tried to read, too many of this type of book lately. I couldn't get into it and did not finish. It will go back on the pike for another time. There are a couple books -- I'm calling them my "pandemic books" -- that I wanted to like and perhaps my mood just didn't permit it. I might come back to it at a later date.

This novel was absolutely wonderful. I really enjoyed the worldbuilding and the medieval setting. I always love when a book set in a fantasy world, eases information onto the reader so it does not feel like the author is info dumping on you, and this is what this book did! It was so easy to learn how the world worked. The characters were very well rounded in my opinion and were very easy to come to care about. I really cannot wait for the sequel to this. I honestly think this was a 4/5 stars for me! I really enjoyed this.

First of all, thank you Delacorte Press for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Hennessey is the princess of Hálendi, an ice kingdom. All she's ever wanted is to be a warrior, but forced to hide her magic and with the war ravaging her country, her father accepts a marriage match with the Prince of neighboring Turia.

The story is a bit generic, but I was immediately piqued since its comped to Sorcery of Thorns! Overall, I enjoyed the beginning and the ending, but I did feel that the story lacked a bit in the middle. I think this is one of those books of enjoy more as an audiobook.

Overall, pretty decent, but it felt like it was missing something. Eating this a high 3.8, so rounding it up to a 4!

It took me about a week to finish this book, because I kept losing my interest. The author's writing wasn't bad, but I didn't really like the characters. I feel like I read the story before and felt the same. I do think this is good for people just getting into fantasy especially children 12 and younger.

I loved this book. The world was interesting and action packed. The writing was very enjoyable and detailed for the world building. I enjoyed the characters and the magic system. The romance was enemies to lovers which is my Favorite trope. I look forward to more in this world in the future.

Title: shielded
Author: Kaylynn Flanders
Rating:4.5

*possible spoiler alert* (because I suck at reviews)

In Halendi the second born never inherits magic, almost never. He besara has hidden her magic from everyone, being the second born heir to the throne it’s viewed as a bad omen. Jen leaves Halendi to meet her betrothed Enzo prince of Turia. On the way she is attacked and forced to flee into The Wilds, a harsh land where few survive. She manages to find her way into Turia but soon realizes that unrest with Halendi could get her killed. She finds her way into the palace, albeit by accident, and tries to stop the war that could destroy both kingdoms. Can she defeat this evil with her magic or will she be killed before she gets to save her kingdom?

Jennesara is an awesome princess who doesn’t sit and wait to be rescued. She has been trained to fight since she was young. She has always been overprotected by her father. She shows the world that she is no damsel in distress. I love her relationship with her brother Ren. They are so supportive of each other. Jen/Enzo is rocky at first but develops into a nice and caring relationship. And the connection Jen shares with Enzos sisters (Mari is my favorite) as she gives gives them what she always wanted growing up in the castle.

Evil strikes and action starts right around 1/2 way through the book. It has plenty of world building and exposition. After I hit 52% I couldn’t put it down. It has been an amazing debut novel.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I would like to thank the author and PRH International for providing the digital galley of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.


Shielded by KayLynn Flanders is a straightforward, delightful YA fantasy read. I love the intriguing world-building, the characters are well-written, the action scenes are on point that they naturally played in my mind like a film, and lastly, a heroine that I am actually rooting for and genuinely care about.

The story followed Princess Jennesara, the second-born heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Halendi. The war in their border was getting worse, and their kingdom was leaning toward the losing side. Jenna wanted to help, but her father arranged her marriage to the prince of Turia in exchange of manpower they needed to win the war. On her journey to Turia, they were ambushed by another deadlier threat that would also endanger the entire kingdom.

Plotwise, it didn’t add anything new to YA fantasy books. It had elements and formulas that were already familiar. The plot was a little predictable, too. Nevertheless, I still liked it. The way the story was written was entertaining, and the reveal of plot twists was still satisfying. Just like I said earlier, the world-building was intriguing. I liked how there were magical forests, artifacts, and a legendary library where secrets of magic were kept. Although it was pretty established, I felt it was lacking details. The magic system wasn’t explained much, as well as how the magic worked. I wasn’t able to fully comprehend how the magic system. I think it was because the narrative was told by Jenna’s POV, and most of the magic’s understanding was lost during the war. I just hope this will be explained more in the next book. There was also romance. I wasn’t a fan of instalove, but for this one, I didn’t become an issue for me. Lastly, this book’s pacing is too fast. A lot of things were happening, and sometimes there were events that I needed to linger a little to calm myself, but they just flew by.

I really liked the characters in this story. Jenna is a likable character. She is a princess but also a warrior. She grew up in with her brother and father. She loved and valued her family so she kept a secret that might cause future conflict. Even when she didn’t like the idea of being betrothed to someone she hasn’t even met, she still obeyed her father because she knew it would be what was best for their kingdom. All she wanted is for her kingdom to live in peace and to be with her family. She wasn’t impulsive and thought carefully about the consequences of her actions. I rarely see this trait in YA heroines because most of them just do whatever they want. The characters in this novel weren’t as complicated or morally gray. They are their character archetypes.

Overall, Shielded is a striking novel to start a series. It’s fast-paced, action-packed, and has awesome characters. I will definitely wait for the sequel.

4/5 stars!

“Shielded” tells the tale of Princess Jennesara, who is sent to marry her betrothed, the prince of neighboring Turia in exchange for resources needed to save her Kingdom. When she is en route, a surprise ambush alters the course of her life forever. Filled with betrayal, world-building, romance, fantasy, magic, and strong family ties (surprising to say the least), the reader is thrown into epic adventure that will have you turning pages faster than you had ever imagined. I really enjoyed Shielded, however the romance was a little to "instalove" for my liking, hence the 4 stars rather than five.