Okay.. woah.
This book was so full of action it was almost hard to keep up!! Betrayal, lies, familial ties, magic, fantasy, love interests..
I will say, this book was really fast paced, but it also held my attention SO well!
I loved the main protagonist. She was more “real” than most fantasy heroines. She was just a normal girl trying to do right by her kingdom. No terrible back story or tons of bloodlust.
The insta love worked well in this book when it doesn’t in so many others.
Overall, wonderful read and can’t wait to see what happens next.

Familiar yet fresh, and filled with some of my favorite character-related tropes (including badass warrior princesses, royalty in disguise, and a “mutual pining” sort of romance), Shielded was an enjoyable read and a solid start to what promises to be an interesting new fantasy series.

There is a lot to love about this book, most notably, the characters. Jennesara is a pretty cool princess, who is a crazy-competent fighter and also loves to spend time in the library–in other words, my kind of heroine. She isn’t a flawless Mary Sue type; she works hard for what she has, and we actually get multiple scenes of her stretching, practicing her sword skills, and doing exercises to stay in shape. Her magical abilities don’t come naturally, either, and she struggles a lot to be able to wield them with any degree of precision. Heck, there are at least two or three times in the book where she is badly injured and her injuries impair her abilities to do what she needs to do. This is so important: characters can’t be perfect all the time, and the fact that Jenna isn’t makes her relatable.

Jenna’s relationships are fun to watch as well–a friendship-turned-romantic-interest that she can’t act on, a strong female friendship with another princess, and–one of my favorite things–an adorable, overly eager child who treats everything like an adventure and majorly looks up to Jenna. What can I say? I’m a sucker for little kids, both in real life and in books.

The worldbuilding here was also handled well—three distinct kingdoms with their own cultures, linguistic quirks, fashions, and views on magic (though we really only got to see two of them in this book–here’s hoping we get more info on Riiga in book two!). There were a lot of questions that were left unanswered, from details on the magic system to explanations of national politics, but I have a feeling that those are going to be expanded on in the next book.

In terms of plotting, this was a book that felt incredibly familiar. The tropes in it are, for the most part, not anything new: betrayal by people once thought to be allies, arranged marriages, a princess hiding her identity for the sake of both her own safety and the safety of others, ancient mages out for revenge, and all that fun stuff. This isn’t a bad thing; those tropes are popular for a reason, and Flanders’ writing made it easy to keep turning the pages. But it is worth noting that, if you’re expecting twists galore, this probably isn’t going to deliver on that front. Even the few twists that were written in were, at least to me, very predictable. Again, this isn’t bad–it is par for the course for this type of book.

As a final note, can I just say, Flanders writes awesome fight scenes? Her descriptions of physical maneuvers, swordplay, strategy, pain, and every other element of one-on-one combat are vivid without being overwhelming. I do love a good fight scene.

Honestly, this was just a really solid debut. It wasn’t quite the level of “oh my god my mind has been blown” that would make it a 5-star, but it is definitely still worth a read.

"The kingdom of Hálendi is in trouble. It's losing the war at its borders, and rumors of a new, deadlier threat on the horizon have surfaced. Princess Jennesara knows her skills on the battlefield would make her an asset and wants to help, but her father has other plans.

As the second-born heir to the throne, Jenna lacks the firstborn's--her brother's--magical abilities, so the king promises her hand in marriage to the prince of neighboring Turia in exchange for resources Hálendi needs. Jenna must leave behind everything she has ever known if she is to give her people a chance at peace.

Only, on the journey to reach her betrothed and new home, the royal caravan is ambushed, and Jenna realizes the rumors were wrong--the new threat is worse than anyone imagined. Now Jenna must decide if revealing a dangerous secret is worth the cost before it's too late--for her and for her entire kingdom."

As someone who has read a lot of fantasy novels throughout the years, this book held a lot of familiar tropes and character archetypes while bringing something new to the table. I loved the well-developed and well-explained magic system, and the rich worldbuilding that's seen through the two countries and the expanding lore behind the mages. I found the characters to be too predictable and I hated the instalove that happened between two characters. I also found the pacing to be a little slow as the entire plot was based on Jenna running and hiding from the mages, however, I loved the fight sequences, which were intense and fast-paced. Overall, Shielded is great fantasy staple with enough world-building and action to pull any reader in.

The cover miiiight be my favorite part.

★★★☆☆

This book really asked me to suspend my disbelief on lots of things, but I had a decent enough time reading it.

I spent the first... half? of the book very focused on how the main character was braiding her hair to hide some of its color so we're gonna look at that. It just seems like it would not work. There are at least four other ways I can think of, just off of the top of my head.

1) Shave your head. Not ideal and probably not suitable for the style of this fantasy world but... it would work.
2) Shave just the strand of hair you want hidden
3) Dye? Your? Hair???
4) Keep the strand just long enough to be braided in, and then cut it off -- you can at least have your hair half-down with that method.

I felt incredibly lukewarm about the whole thing up until the caravan was attacked, and then things started getting interesting! And by the end, I was much more attached to the characters.

Some worldbuilding issues:

- language: there's another language in Turia, that I assume is supposed to be the primary language... but they all only speak whatever the MC speaks
- cultural exploration: Shielded definitely falls into the "warm country" and "cold country" stereotypes and any cultural exploration of this is mostly relegated to fashion and exports.
- magic system: this might be explained in later books, but? in one country, magic isn't just for the ruling family and then in the other... it is? what is the magic dispersal here? how does this work???? if you're going to have that as a main conflict I need more info
There are some plot points that don't have follow-through, but I'm hoping that's a result of this being the first in a series.

The romance was probably the strongest parts. First of all, they are a couple that fights fluidly together against their enemies, complementing each other's styles, which is a Thing I am very into. They don't know each other long but it's not insta-love because they find things admirable about each other and that's cute. Still went a bit fast there at the end, but I'm already overlooking a lot of things, what's one more?

I found Shielded severely lacking in substance. This book is not offensively bad in any way, but it's afraid of taking any sort of risk to differentiate itself from a generic fantasy story.

Shielded is too safe. Over the course of the book, Jenna gets injured several times and then gets healed almost immediately. There's almost no consequence to her injuries besides showing "oh she's trying to protect X so hard." There's no sense of urgency or danger because we know Jenna will be alright every single time. Even though the countries in this book are at war or have tenuous relationships, it's like well, whatever.

This was such a fun fantasy story full of adventure and magic! WHile Shielded isn’t the most unique story, it definitely made up for that with the amount of fun I had reading this book.

Things I liked:

- I loved the nature aspect (surviving in the wilderness) because it gave me such dark cottagecore vibes which I have been super into lately! In fact, I based my moodboard around dark cottagecore, so definitely admire that 🙂
- I also loved the betrothed plotline. I’m such a sucker for arranged marriages for whatever reason, and this one definitely didn’t disappoint. I loved how both Enzo and Jenna kept their identity a secret for one another. Their romance was super fluffy and very much a b-plot but I didn’t mind too much. ( I did wish we got more scene where they were alone together cause I love their interaction so much!)
- I also just absolutely adored the main character Jenna a lot. She was super skilled with a sword, but I appreciated the fact that she had never killed a man before, and was still innocent in that aspect. I find that there are so many badass ladies in YA fantasy books, and they are never fazed when they have to commit some horrible and intense act (awesome but it gets old), so seeing that take such a mental toll on the main character made her feel that much more authentic.
- The sisterly bond between Jenna and Enzo’s sisters was also such a pleasure to read. They almost immediately bonded, and their friendship was so fun to read. They got up to a bunch of shenanigans that really lightened the mood to this story at times.

My only compliant is that I was a bit confused when the perspective changed to such an ambiguous and omniscient narrator once in a while. I understood what it was trying to do, but it left me with more questions than I think was necessary, and only served to confuse and distract me from the story. Overall though, this was a strong debut, and I’d highly recommend Shielded to all my fantasy readers out there.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Netgalley, Delacorte Press, and the author in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed this book! This is definitely one of those books that you can't put down because you need to know what happens next. The world building and magic scenes were amazing. I loved all the secrets and the betrothed triangle of Prince Enzo and Princess Jennesara. I also loved reading about the sibling relationship between Ren and Jenna because it is how most siblings would act today. This book is truly an amazing read and I can't wait to read the second one. If you enjoy action-packed fantasy books with magic, secrets, and romance then this is the book for you!

As soon as I read the synopsis for this book, I knew it was the YA fantasy book I had been craving!I finished this book pretty late last night because I could not put it down! I was sucked in right at the start of the book and instantly felt like I could connect to the main character, Jenna! There were some parts of the book that dragged towards the beginning, which I feel is to be expected a bit in the first book of a series to allow for some world building. However, once I was through the slower part, the book flew by! 
I really enjoyed the characters and their relationships and it made me ache for my family that's spread out across the US. I kept startling my cats because I would get excited or nervous for the characters. I cannot wait to see what happens in the rest of the series! 
Rating: 4.5 stars!
**I was given an eARC in exchange for my honest review**

Shielded was a book I was excited for and it didn't disappoint at all! KayLynn's writing style really sucked me into this story and wouldn't let me go. I was in this world while reading and could feel what the characters were feeling. Those are two things that make me fall in love with books, so Shielded was off to a good start.

Our main character Jennesara was amazing! She's always hide to hide certain aspects of herself, so when her life takes a big turn unexpectedly it's a lot to handle. Jennesara is such a strong character and is focused on helping her family and finding out what's going on. She's brave, strong, creative and just wants justice and peace. I loved that there is definitely magical going on with her that she's slowly learning more about. I really hope we get to see more of that in the sequel!

Enzo is another character I really enjoyed. He's the perfect fit for the bookboyfriend list, but there's still plenty I want to know about him. Just like Jennesara, he has his people he needs to think about and is very protective of his family. Enzo is also one that wants peace and I loved that he trusted Jennesara. When he could've had his doubts, he decided to take her word for many things. I loved that.

On top of these two characters we read a lot about, there is also an amazing cast of side characters: Luc, Ren, Yesilia and definitely Enzo's sister Marietta. Main characters are important in a story, but I love when the side characters keep me equally entertained! They really helped this story be complete and I think they were all really important to the story's development.

I really loved the politics and magic side of Shielded. My only remark about this story is that the pacing was a little too fast at times. There were certain things that take place in the story that we barely see any of. It didn't take away my enjoyment, but I think the story would've felt just a bit more complete for me if I had seen some things take place. I still enjoyed all the twists and turns, even if some were a little predictable.

Last but not least, I have to talk about the romance. An arranged marriage is something we read a lot in fantasy stories, but I really enjoyed how this one played out. Also, yes, our main characters definitely felt a connection from the start, but it wasn't really instalove. I loved how they got to know each other and it slowly developed. This doesn't always happen and I enjoyed every minute of it!

All in all, Shielded will definitely be a book I remember. I can't wait to see what KayLynn Flanders writes for us next.

I'm not sure what I was expecting from Shielded, but this book exceeded all of my expectations. This is an epic introduction to an enthralling new fantasy series. Shielded by KayLynn Flanders left me wanting me more and highly anticipating the next book. There was a bit of a slow start for me, but once I got into the world, I was completely hooked. I found myself reading along at some points and just stopping and saying, "This is so good"!

Our heroine is Jennesara, princess of Hálendi. Her country is in trouble and instead of fighting on the battlefield like she has been training for her entire life, her father decides to give her hand in marriage to the prince of neighboring Turia without consulting her. She is upset by this, but understands that this is the way she can help her country by procuring Turia's resources to help Hálendi in the war. Jenna leaves the only home she has ever known and sets out to her betrothed's lands. But on the way her caravan is attacked and she soon realizes that the trouble her country faces is much more dire than anyone could have known. Jenna is faced with the decision to reveal a dangerous secret that could possibly save herself and her kingdom.

Jenna is a fantastic heroine. She is likeable, strong, and honest. I wanted her to be protected at all costs. The romance in this book could be categorized as insta-lovey, but it didn't feel that way. I loved these portions of the book and only felt warm all over and they are just so sweet. Also, I am very much into supporting characters and they were just amazing in this book. I loved them all so much! I wanted to be in the castle right there with them. There is so much packed into this book, but it was all handled so well! Overall, Shielded is the epic, magical fantasy book that my heart craves. I cannot wait until the next book comes out!

This was probably one of my hardest reviews to write. I blew through this book in two days and loved Jenna along with her brother Ren and the love interest Enzo. I was enraptured by Jenna’s journey from sullen, lonely princess to fierce warrior willing to do anything to save her kingdom. She really held this book together for me while the rest of it fell flat.

The world building was pretty good. We got to know a lot of the histories between kingdoms, but were missing information about the war of the mages. I felt like how the mages lost the war was important information. The pacing was spot on with never a truly drawn out or boring moment. We also never really got a firm grasp on the magic system, which was understandable since no one really understood how magic worked or where it came from. I feel like this will be explored more in the next book.

My favorite part of this book was obviously Jennesara. I loved how strong she was and that she was this bada** warrior princess who could actually kick butt. Girl had skills. The secondary characters didn’t fare very well though. While I loved them as well they just weren’t as fleshed out as Jenna and fell flat once I took a step back from the book and really started to think about them.

Enzo was such a cinnamon roll who couldn’t hide that softness from the beginning. The love was extremely insta-lovey though which is not my favorite. I also couldn’t get past the fact that I knew nothing about Enzo and neither did Jenna. He was handsome and kind but his list of attributes stopped there. I needed more from him. Insta-love can be turned around if we see just why they love each other or even know the love interest I feel like. A love that grows.

Shielded followed the typical fantasy warrior princess format and was utterly predictable at ever turn of the page. I knew who the villains were and just how it would play out within the first few chapters. I love classic tropes when done well and for me this just wasn’t done well. Maybe I’ve been reading too much fantasy lately though. I stuck around for the character development of Jenna though and was not disappointed there.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this book. Shielded is a great first entry into the world of Halendi. It introduces you to all the major players (characters, countries, mythology) that make up the world and the epic adventure that follows. Jenna is not supposed to have magic, but she does. She keeps it a secret her whole life so as not to cause problems in her country, and then when her family is under attack she is forced to learn how to use that magic to discover the traitors, their goals, and how to potentially save the world. The book moves along at a fairly decent pace, and while it does include a lot of information- it is distributed organically throughout the book rather than an info dump all at the beginning. I think readers will enjoy Jenna's journey to discover her magic and her sense of self, and look forward to the next installment of the story.

I gave this book a solid 3.5 almost 4 stars out of 5. The only reason it's not a 4, is because the first half of the book dragged a bit for me. It may have been my mood while I was reading or that although I was invested, it was a bit too drawn out. Whereas I felt the ending was a bit rushed... That's my only real negative. This story follows our heroine Jenna and the mysterious aggressors who are in the process of hatching their plot. I felt like these different styled chapters really invoked their inner Remnant Chronicles by leaving a bit of the unknown as to who the mages are. I really enjoy it when authors leave a lot of hints but you're really just not sure who you can trust. This book was a lot of fun with a swoon-worthy romance, be still my beating heart, and I really enjoyed the experience... (I may or for sure... have a special edition of this book coming in the mail). I don't really want to give too much away or say too much but I've edited a fun playlist for you guys to listen to as you read this book and I've left the synopsis and author info, etc.. down below as well!

I really enjoyed this one! I read it in 2 days and I feel like it really helped to get me out of a month long reading slump!

Using the CAWPILE system developed by BookRoast, I gave Shielded:
Characters- 7
Atmosphere- 6
Writing Style- 8
Plot- 7
Intrigue- 9
Logic- 6
Enjoyment- 10

Altogether that comes out to a 7.655, which is a 4 star rating!

Overall I felt like this was a fairly easy read that was a good mix of familiar YA Fantasy tropes and themes and a few unique twists and tones that made it really enjoyable. I felt like the characters were well developed for a debut novel, and appreciated the female cast that were more than just damsels in distress.

Easily my favorite part of the book was the part that took place in The Wild. It was the most unique part of the book and had some of the most interesting and atmospheric moments of the book. I'm definitely hoping to see more of The Wild in the next book(s) in this series. I also really enjoyed the sibling relationships.

The lowest category I gave this book was logic. While nothing was irredeemable, there were definitely a number of plot points that felt a bit shoehorned in, and there was one twist in particular that got a full eye-roll because it was not at all explained how it was even plausible.

I definitely recommend this to fans of YA Fantasy, and in particular would recommend it to fans of A Curse So Dark and Lonely, The Shadows Between Us, and The Storm Crow.

This book was amazing. It caught my attention in chapter one and kept my attention for every chapter that followed. I honestly cannot think of a single critique for this book! The writing was amazing, the characters were perfect. I loved Jenna. She’s a badass but she also has her struggles. I laughed, I teared up, I gasped.

Perfection. I cannot wait to see what comes next from Kaylynn!

I was hooked within the first few pages. I absolutely loved the characters, story, world-building, and writing style. I thought that the story was fast-paced but still gave me plenty of time to catch my breath and spend some time with the characters. I only wish I got to see a little more of the world, but I can tell that it will be expanded upon in the next book (which I will definitely read).

Honestly, this felt like a run of the mill debut. However, I had such a good time reading it. Strong female lead, war, a magical forest. What more could you want? Highly recommend.

My Review: When I read the synopsis for this book I was really excited, I was looking forward to being sucked into a dangerous and magical world. I ended up struggling to stay focused on the story. I enjoyed the characters but wasn't super invested in them. It took quite a while to get the story moving along and the pacing was a bit all over the place, sometimes rushed and other times very slow moving. The world was interesting but it took quite a while to develop. Based on the writing, I would recommend this for younger YA reader just getting out of the Middle Grad books. I did love the sibling relationships throughout the story, the close family bonds were great to see. This is also clearly a first book in a series with a lot of open story lines.

My Rating: I think this might be a great book for those just getting into YA books, it has a little more simple story structure than most of the YA fantasy books I have read, and the writing style is a little more simple as well, but the story is still interesting. I give it a rating of Two Paws and a Stump Wag.

Shielded by KayLynn Flanders is a fun if somewhat familiar-feeling YA fantasy adventure. The novel is told mostly from Princess Jennesara (Jenna for short) of Hálendi's POV. There is an unwanted betrothal to a prince she has never met, murder and betrayal, travel through a nefarious and magical forest, and hidden identities.

Some Notes
The names all felt quite similar and perhaps a bit too simplified for my liking. Ren and Irena. The Gray Mage is called Graymere, the Brown Mage is called Brownlok, the Red Mage is called Redalia. I know a lot of intention goes into naming characters, and the author's choices just didn't work for me.

I did not feel like there was enough world-building to properly translate the high stakes Jenna faces in her own kingdom if it were discovered she had magical abilities. Her anxious need to hide the streak in her hair (indicative of her magic) felt almost baseless. A princess using her magic to try to take the throne from her brother centuries ago was not enough for me to believe that Jenna would have been in danger.

A large chunk of the book consists of Jenna traveling. This lagged a bit for me. While traveling/going on adventures can be really interesting, I think it is much harder to write successfully when there is just a single character.

I thoroughly enjoyed Jenna's levelheadedness in the face of danger. If KayLynn Flanders writes more battle/fight scenes in which Jenna has to utilize her training, I'll definitely pick up the sequel.

TL;DR
Shielded is worth picking up if you enjoy high fantasy worlds filled with magic, betrayal and a cool-headed, strong female MC. It may not feel original, but sometimes getting lost in a story that reads familiar can be a good way to distract yourself for a few days.

Huge thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I admit that I was completely drawn in by the cover and went in fairly blind with this book. Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised and thoroughly enjoyed reading this.

The heroine, Jennesara, was portrayed as a fiercely strong individual. Despite being a member of the royal family, she’s used to hiding her magic and skills from her family and kingdom. Without her magical prowess, she’s also a ferociously skilled fighter and definitely not your stereotypical princess. She isn’t afraid to stand up for herself and she always puts her family first.

The pages just seemed to fly by whilst I was reading this. There seemed to be so much happening and I was far too eager to find out what was going to happen next. I love a fast-paced fantasy and this certainly fit the bill.

The only minor bugbear I have was that the romance aspect of the story seemed too quick. It was more of an instant attraction than love, but it all seemed to happen a bit too quickly for my liking.

The world-building was fantastic and I loved how realistic all of the characters were. I definitely will be continuing to read the series and cannot wait for the sequel to be released!

A huge thank you to Delacorte Press for providing me with an eARC to review. I loved reading this!