I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Actual review closer to 3.5 stars. This moved at a good place but I feel like a lot of the world and characters were kind of underdeveloped which takes away from the reading experience for me.

It has been a while since I've read a fantasy standalone and The Stolen Kingdom was a super fun, quick, and thoroughly enjoyable read. At just under 350 pages, this book was fast-paced and engaging with lovely characters and world-building. I loved the vibe of this story- it felt like traditional fantasy with a nice new twist. The world's magic, given to the Dalowyn family by the Gods centuries ago, was stolen by the Thungrave's who then took over the kingdom and have ruled ever since, as the magic turned dark and the country failed around them. This story is told from two perspectives. First, by Maralyth, a vintner's daughter, who has a secret, and illegal, magical ability, and by the "spare" Thungrave prince, Alac, who wants nothing to do with his family's dark magic or politics. The double perspective worked remarkably well in conveying the plot and building tension. The characters were likable and the relationship between Mara and Alac developed nicely. This was definitely not insta-lovey, which I appreciated, but at the same time, I would have liked to have experienced a deeper attraction and connection between them. While this book had a solid plot, characters, and world-building, because it was a fairly short book with a big story, I felt myself wanting more. It could be because I am used to fantasy series where there is more time to delve in, but everything in this book worked so well and was so intriguing that I kept wishing there was time for more detail and room to deeply explore the character's journeys and relationships. That being said, this was a wonderful standalone that had all of the elements it needed to create an awesome and entertaining story.

The Stolen Kingdom intrigued me from the moment I read the excerpt, but, of course, a new author is always an unknown quantity and I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. While it took me a little while to get into the story (likely due to Life Stuff and not a fault of the novel) once it grabbed me, it grabbed hard. I liked Maralyth, the main character, from the outset, but it was Alec, the bookish and kind younger son of the king, who I found myself really identifying with.

Maralyth is a vintner’s daughter who is kidnapped and informed that she is the rightful ruler of the kingdom she has lived in all her life – a kingdom ruled by cruel Thrungrave kings after the throne was stolen from her ancestors. The root of their power is magic that was stolen from the rightful rulers. She is then forced – by threat against her father – to go along with a plan for a coup. She does, however, start to think that perhaps she could do better as Queen than the horrible Thungraves.

Alec is the “spare” in the heir-and-a-spare equation for the King, and he knows the truth of his father’s power, that the stolen magic turns good men bad, and Alec wants no part of it. He is searching for a way to free his family from the curse so that, perhaps, his brother could turn out to be a good king instead of an awful one.

The two start out on separate but converging paths, both wanting to save their beloved kingdom.

The story is engaging, and where there is no real villain other than circumstances, you find yourself rooting alternately for Maralyth and then Alec and then, eventually, both of them together. The romance is there, but it takes a back seat for both characters as they are far more concerned with ensuring the survival of their kingdom, no matter who ends up on the throne, and neither of them are entirely right about how to go about doing that.

This book had a very similar feel to me to The Goblin Emperor, and if you loved that book, you’ll love The Stolen Kingdom. I thoroughly enjoyed this read and am looking forward to more from this author.

For 100 years the kingdom of Perin Faye has suffered under the rule of a cruel king. The once prosperous nation suffers under the weight of stolen magic and greed. Maralyth Graylaern is a vintner’s daughter, but she harbors a magical secret. Alac Thungrave is the king’s second son, the spare, but he’s always been uncomfortable with his father’s dark magic. When Maralyth is drawn into a plot to overthrow the king, a dangerous cat and mouse game ensues.



If you’ve read other reviews for The Stolen Kingdom, I’m going to echo a similar sentiment. I loved the magic system in this book. So much that I wanted more. There’s a light side and a dark side, and I wanted more of how they’d interact.



Both of our MCs, Mara and Alac, are so sweet. They have clear lines of what’s right and wrong, yet somehow it gets blurred. I loved learning about them and their motivations.



I think my favorite thing about this was the wine plot line. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book involving winemaking. It was a refreshing trade to delve into. Also...I just love wine.



If you’re looking for a YA regency story, I definitely recommend The Stolen Kingdom. It’s got lovable characters, a familiar trope with a fresh spin, dark magic, and forbidden love. All the things! It has all the things!


Thank you to Tor Teen and Netgalley for my review copy.

I love that this is a standalone book. I love the clean romance between the MCs, the family love, mystery, dark magic, and the conspiracy to claim the throne. It was well written and very descriptive that I enjoyed reading it until the end. Narrated in dual POVs, this book has been straightforward and entertaining.

Maralyth is vintner's daughter who performs magic which is forbidden in the kingdom. Little did she realized that her magic was passed onto her from the secret bloodline. Prince Alac, the king’s second son, was kind, charming, and friendly. He has always been displeased with the idea that one day he might inherit the crown and the stolen magic that comes with it.

I wish there was more back story with regards to the religion and how the first Dallowyn king received his magic. There are interesting revelations regarding the secret bloodline and I will not go further into details because I want you guys to find out! 😊

I would surely check out the other works of the author and would recommend this book to you.

I’m grateful to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for allowing me to read and give my honest review of this book.

I really loved this book! The setting including the vineyards was a perfect touch. I loved the main characters and although they didn't seem as fleshed out as they could have been, it didn't bother me much. I did feel the end wrapped up a little too nicely with Prince Alac just giving up. I would have liked to see his relationship with Mara develop a bit more before the end of the book. I enjoyed the alternating points of view each chapter and felt the story flowed quite nicely.

“I made most of my choices out of anger; you made choices because you knew they where right.”
•
This book has such an original story that I loved reading. Mara is able to make plants grow and her power is full of life and joy. The only thing she wants is to tend her father’s vine and live in contact with the nature. Since when she finds out she directly descends from the true royals that have been stolen of the kingdom many decades ago by the Thungraves. They wield such a dark magic that withers everything it encounters and even if she has never known it, she finds herself thinking she could be a good queen, a merciful one.. a queen that could make her people relive with her magic. So she disguises herself and she goes to the palace in order to reclaim her throne, but she would never have thought to fall in love with the king’s son, Alac. Honestly I was not that invested in the love story, it’s a sort of mix between Insta love and enemies to lovers that are pulled together by their respective magic, but they are quite cute. I honestly admire Mara so much, the confidence she has that she could be a good queen is very inspiring. The point is not having magic, but using it to do good. Even if it is a wonderful thing, it can be corrupted as any other good thing that comes into our lives. We should always remember to try not to distort nature and to use everything we have to become better.

Copy provided by NetGalley

This is a standalone fantasy, which manages to tell a riviting and enthralling story in the one book. I often find myself needing more from a standalone fantasy, however I was pleasantly surprised by this book.

I liked the characters, although it was difficult to fully appreciate them in the short time frame.

I was happy enough with this book. There is definitely a great deal of room for improvement, but I would recommend it to fans of Sorcery of Thorns.

To start off, I believe Jillian Boehme is a good writer and I will keep an eye out for everything that she publishes in the future. I just think she missed the mark with this one.
The book itself was decent although I think it would have been better as a duology so things would have time to be more fleshed out. Unfortunately, the pace was the biggest failing in this novel. Although the author did also fall into the trap of telling too much and showing too little. Additionally, the side characters felt more realized than the main characters. I could track the motivations of almost everyone but the protagonists.
One of the most redeeming qualities though was the ending, I feel Boehme's writing really got the opportunity to shine in the last 1/6th of the book.

This is going to be a DNF at almost 70% unfortunately. It really wasn’t bad - I found the premise interesting - but it was kinda predictable and it never grabbed me. For awhile I wanted to push through to finish the story, but at this point I’ve been reading it too long and I’m avoiding my kindle, so it’s time to admit defeat. Others will probably like it, but it just couldn’t hold my attention.

Thanks to Tor and to Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was very well written and fast paced. I loved the two main characters, Maralyth and Alac.. They were likable and fun and caring characters that kept the story going.

The story itself was interesting. I liked that it was a dark blood magic that secured the throne for the actual antagonists to the story and that the pure magic of the main character was the true and pure form. That being said, my only true disappointment in this book was that we never really got to see blood magic. There were a few moments, with the grape and the nail that it reared its ugly head, and then in the obvious way of killing or again people but there was never a true "battle" between the pure and the stolen magics. The closest we got to that was the power hungry Ellian.

All of that being said, I do like the the overall flow of the story and the character arcs. I like that it presented a strong a capable female lead that bested all that came at her and showed a supportive male lead that got to follow his dreams while supporting her.

"Regardless of my attempts at guarding my heart, he'd wormed his way in."

I love a good standalone fantasy and I am happy to add this to my collection. A slow quiet romance led by a young woman unafraid to be herself. Mara's average regular approach to life spoke to me. She is level headed and her appreciation for the normal every day resounded with me. I appreciated the romance I felt brewing. Neither slow nor fast, it seemed to grow naturally with space for independence. And the food!!! I found myself hungry reading about the meals Mara clearly appreciated.

A standalone fantasy can be alot to pack into one book and overall the world and magic system were built well. My one complaint would be my desire for more. The magic is beautiful and I would have loved to dive into the complexity of it, but I believe this would have been too much for this neatly packaged standalone. I truly enjoyed this story and I look forward to see what Boehme brings forth next.

Thank you so much to TorTeen and the author for this gorgeous story and sending me a free finished copy.

Fantastic world building, a brilliant fantasy that's hard to put down. The stunning cover is a plus. This novel checked all the right boxes for me.

Thank you to Jillian Boehme, and Tor Teen for providing me with an advanced copy of ‘The Stolen Kingdom’ via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

A great book that will live in your heart rent free!

Overall: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Plot: 4.5/5
Writing and Setting: 5/5

*Content Warning: graphic violence, threatening male figure, violence, self- inflicted wounds. *

Gist of my review: A really fantastic standalone that will yank you right out of a reading slump. The way this book was set out was nothing short of a masterpiece. The dynamics between the characters was done brilliantly, and the plot flowed logically. There were only minor things that I had issues with.

Summary:

“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 vintner'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.”


Characters: 5/5

In my opinion, every character that played an intricate part in this book was created so phenomenally well. I have no issues with any characters in this book as such, I just think that there were elements that the author could have explored a little more (explanation in next segment). They all had their own arc and as a reader, you bear witness to such incredible character development, particularly in Mara and Alac.


Plot: 4/5

The ‘rightful heir’ plot always ropes me in. Although it isn’t necessarily an original plot line, and some parts was a little predictable, I do like how Boehme went about making elements of this sometimes over used plot seem refreshed and new.

Now for the story itself. The journey you go on in this book is absolutely fantastic, however, being a standalone book and approx. 350 pages, the pacing of the story was just that little bit too quick at times.

One example which stood out for me was towards the beginning of the book. To me it seemed that Mara’s time with Nelgareth early on seemed a little rushed. During this time in the storyline, Mara learnt a lot and was put through several lessons. I think that there needed to be more scenes on what those lessons entailed, because these details would have provided the reader with more detail on who she was as a character. This would also provide more depth to Nelgareth’s and Mara’s dynamic.

With the book being a standalone and as short as it is, I understand why the above things may have been an issue, but I do feel that because there isn’t going to be a sequel – that I know of at this stage – that this book could have been just that bit longer to fill in those gaps.

Writing and Setting: 5/5

This book is a great example of an imaginative and artfully written book. The language used to flesh out the settings was beautiful, and it created such stunning imagery in my head.

Conclusion:
Pros- Almost everything about the book was perfect
Cons- Maybe some rushing at the beginning of the book
Overall- 4/5

Must admit it: this cover is beautiful. The story itself? Also great.
I'm not much of a fantasy-gal, so I loved the fact that this book is a standalone. The world building isn't as intense, which I prefer. Yet, I can understand that fantasy lovers prefer more world building and a detailed surrounding.
The characters itself were fine, but a little flat to me. I missed the connection and band with them. On the other hand, I adore the fact that the characters seemed to have a double meaning to the plot itself.
As a non-native speaker of the English language, it is pretty hard to understand sometimes. I'm pretty good at English, but some sentences and words were way too hard for me. This made that it was hard to understand the story sometimes.
I enjoyed the story, but I guess I messed a little sparkle to make it 'great'.

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 vintner'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.

This book is so unique and lovely! I highly reccommend!!!!!!

Archived before I could review, I would’ve loved to read this further, but unfortunately I could not.

The Stolen Kingdom has been one of my favourite reads of 2021 so far. This book had me hooked from start to finish and I couldn’t concentrate on anything but this! This was another book that I can add to my “finished in 24 hours” collection!

‘I’d been catapulted into a plot for the throne, and there didn’t seem to be any way out.’

The author has created a world where magic is forbidden, unless you are the king, anyone else found with magic is thought to be a thief. However, the king is the real thief and one of our main characters, Maralyth, is the true heir to the throne. I liked Mara straight away. She is a strong character from the beginning and knows exactly what she wants to do, in a world where she is restricted by being a daughter. Mary remains true to herself throughout this book, and I feel like this is quite unique for a fantasy book as a lot of characters begin weak and then come into their true self. I really enjoyed that aspect of the story. Alac is our other main character, and he is the second in line to throne. He doesn’t want to be King and appears wary of the magic that his father has. Alac’s personality and individuality shine in this book, and he also sticks to what he believed, which I loved! Will I be adding Alac to my long list of book boyfriends? Yes, I will.

‘In the single heartbeat in which our eyes met, something nameless shifted inside me, as though it were making room for him.’

The Stolen Kingdom is told from a dual perspective which I thought was perfect for this book as it allowed the depth of each character to be explored. I was eagerly awaiting their meeting, which didn’t happen until about a third of the way into the book! Mara gets wrapped up in a plot to murder the king and the two princes, and seize the throne as the true heir. Obviously, this creates tension and conflict between Mara and Alac. I loved the chemistry between them when they first met and their growing relationship went through many highs and lows! There was an element of my favourite trope – enemies-to-lovers – although their relationship was much more complicated than just that one trope!

‘My heart and head were tangled in an endless knot. And I’d be damned if I let my heart win.’

I was obsessed with this book whilst reading it and could not get enough of it. It felt like a fresh story as so many things happened differently than I thought they might. As this was a standalone, I was initially worried that the pacing might be off, but it felt like it fit the novel perfectly and kept me reading. I loved the magic system in this book. It showed how magic could be used in the wrong way and how that could become dangerous. It also showed the beauty behind it and I loved reading about the healing and growing powers of Mara’s magic! I do wish some of the side characters had received a little more development and prominence in the story, as I loved Nestar, Mara’s brother, and Tucker, Alac’s personal guard. They were very interesting characters and kept me amused, particularly the banter between Tucker and Alac which felt very familial.

I find it odd that I haven’t seen enough people talking about this as this book was thrilling on all levels. It has action that leaded me continuing flipping through the pages and the pacing was perfect as I never felt too bored or things were unraveling too fast!

Big thanks to NetGalley and TorTeen for providing me with a copy of this book! This did not affect my review.

I was cover whoring again and requested The Stolen Kingdom on NetGalley because of its cover (obviously). And let me tell you, the book did not disappoint. Lots of aspects of the book are quite common in other fantasy books, like a bad king, protagonist finding out she's royalty and insta-love. That did not make this book any less enjoyable though!

Fortunately, the book has some unique characteristics as well! For example the fact that stolen magic changes the personality of the one who stole it, or that the book contained both enemies-to-lovers and insta-love. The chain of events made an incredibly big impression on me as well. The protagonist's actions were really admirable. I wish I could elaborate, but that would spoil a big part of the story so I won't. ;)

What I didn't like however, was everything wine related. It was given quite a big role in the book, but I couldn't find any added value in it, other than the fact that it was their common interest. I would've put less emphasis on the wine, or given it a different role in the book (like extra symbolism or something like that).

In short, it was an enjoyable fantasy standalone. It's not one of the best books I've read, but I definitely enjoyed it! The book had a slow start, but I couldn't put it down as soon as I got into it. It had an interesting mixture of insta-love and enemies-to-lovers that I'm sure lots of readers will enjoy!