I am new to the fantasy genre and found that this was a relatively accessible standalone book with good characters and plot.

This was an awesome standalone! It had everything a fantasy novel should have! Danger, political intrigue, and romance! I love how the main character is very tough! The world-building is very intricate. The writing is very beautiful and lyrical. Therefore, I recommend this fans of Tamora Pierce, Ilana Meyer, and Juliet Marillier!

This reminded me of the Guinevere deception ! Theres court politics, magic , slow-burn romance and is easy to get absorbed in. Im almost disappointed this isnt a series, but it was a fantastic standalone. Not too rushed at the end, was well-developed and didnt leave me with questions and needing more (though I did love the world a lot)

So this one took me an embarrassingly long time to finish, mostly because I simply got out of the habit of reading consistently. I feel like I should lose my librarian card for this, but I'm attempting to make up for it now by kicking my reading into overdrive! I enjoyed this book, but it wasn't particularly special or memorable to me. The story was interesting and kept me invested (again, I blame my ADHD and desire to do 20 things at once for not finishing this book sooner), and the characters were fun, but it wasn't a life-changing novel by any means.

<i>The Stolen Kingdom</i> follows the story of Maralyth Graylaern, a vintner's daughter with a very secret gift: she has the ability to make plants grow stronger and more quickly. Though she has used her gift to the advantage of her family's vineyard, Mara was taught long ago never to reveal her gift, as it could be incredibly dangerous. Unbeknownst to Mara, her gift marks her as the descendant of a secret bloodline, giving her claim to the throne taken by force years ago. When Maralyth is kidnapped after her powers are discovered one day, she soon finds herself embroiled in a plot to kill the current king and his two sons in order to claim the throne for herself.

While this seems like it will be easy at first (Mara's family has been threatened and she has no love for the cruel king of Perin Faye), her loyalty begins to waver when she meets the kind prince Alac Thungrave. As the king's second son, Alac has never wanted the throne for himself, nor the unruly magic that comes with it. To him, Mara is a beautiful and mysterious girl who seems to understand his family's power better than anyone else. As a forbidden romance begins to form, Alac and Mara have to decide where their loyalties truly lie, as the fate of the kingdom depends on the decisions they make.

Initially, this book had everything I could ever want: suspense, intrigue, betrayal, and a forbidden romance to top it all off. At first, I couldn't put the book down, feeling genuinely interested in and attached to the connection being formed between Mara and Alac. There were many things I liked about this book, from the strong friendship between Alac and his friend Tucker, to the sweet relationship Mara has with her brother Nestar. I loved that it was Mara, not Nestar who had the real skill for business, and that Nestar was incredibly supportive of Mara wanting to be an apprentice to her father rather than a housewife and cook.

I also loved Alac's plight as the younger brother with no desire for power or corruption. While his father has already been consumed by the stolen magic, Alac is slowly watching his brother Cannon descend into it, becoming a different person before his eyes. I like that the author portrayed a male character who was vulnerable, and who only had ambitions to learn how to be a vintner rather than a king. While this book seems to be aimed at teenage girls, I think it's important for all readers to see that boys don't have to be macho, aggressive, and power-hungry to be masculine; there are many different ways to be masculine in a healthy way. It was also heart-breaking to see how the magic had corrupted Alac's once kind and fair father into being a terrible and abusive leader, and I think it's an excellent metaphor for how power can change people for the worse.

While I really enjoyed the first half of this book, the second half felt a little too rushed for my liking. I know it's rare to find stand-alone fantasy novels, and I understand that not everything needs to be a series, I feel like this could have at least been a duology. Once the coup happens and Mara finds herself on the run, everything seems to move at a lightning fast speed. I really wish the author had slowed down at this point, allowing Mara to meet her supporters and come to understand the movement to put her on the throne. At the beginning of the book, she wants nothing to do with the throne, and her change of heart seems to come a little too quickly to feel genuine.

Similarly, I felt that Alac was far too quick to forgive Mara for allowing his father and brother to be killed without a warning. Their blossoming romance was done very well, but I think it would be hard for <i>anyone</i> to forgive someone that quickly for allowing his family to be murdered, especially since he hadn't known her very long before the coup. While Mara saved Alac's life and has justification for her actions (her family's magic was stolen and used to turn the Thungrave family into tyrants), I felt that the two of them needed a bit more time to sit down and talk about their differences.

There is a similar "forbidden romance" plot in the <i>Red Queen</i> series, but the two characters in question are given plenty of time to reconcile their differences over the course of three books. I think this would've helped immensely in the case of Alac and Mara, as their reconciliation felt too rushed for my tastes. This didn't need to be a trilogy, but even a longer stand-alone book would've helped to make this feel more genuine.

That being said, I still enjoyed this book, and felt invested in he characters and the world. While I prefer longer stories with a slow-burn element, this book was hard to put down once I got into the groove of reading it. There was a great deal of suspense and intrigue, and I found myself quickly blazing through the chapters to see what would happen next. While my tastes might not be the most refined on the planet, I do think that this counts for something. I've definitely read books that were almost impossible to get through, but this one managed to keep my attention from beginning to end.

Speaking of the ending, I really liked that the book didn't end with a typical fairy tale ending. It is implied that Mara will learn how to be a ruler, while Alac will take some time to become a vintner's apprentice like he's dreamed of for many years. The two part on good terms, but with the promise that they will come together again to work on their relationship. As rushed as the latter half of the book felt, I'm glad that the ending didn't wrap <i>everything</i> up with a perfect little bow. If the author had decided to make Alac and Mara get married to solve the problem of who would rule the kingdom, the romance would have felt even more rushed than it already did, so this ambiguous ending leaves a lot of room for growth. Perhaps in the future she will write a novella with an update on these characters, but I like the idea of pondering what will happen to them next.

As I said at the beginning, this book wasn't groundbreaking or profound, but it was a really fun read nonetheless. As someone who thoroughly enjoyed the <i>House of Night</i> series as a teenager, I'm fully aware that not every book needs to be a masterpiece to be worth a read. Sometimes a book can just be a fun, interesting fantasy story with a forbidden romance, and I think this book delivered that really well. If you're a fan of stand-alone fantasy and don't like having to commit to a three or more book series, this would probably be a really good fit for you. It's got magic, suspense, romance, betrayal, and even a few laughs here and there. I quite enjoyed this book, and I'm looking forward to seeing what Jillian Boehme writes next.

DNF - Did not finish. I did not connect with the writing style or plot and will not be finishing this title. Thank you, NetGalley and Publisher for the early copy!

*3 out of 5 stars*

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed reading The Stolen Kingdom. It had many of my favorite elements- royalty, court life, magic, and a prince as the romantic interest. The plot was intriguing and sucked me in very quickly in the beginning. There was great character building which I am very fond of and I think is getting harder to find in today's YA genre.

Yet, I have to agree with other reviewers and point out that the antagonists were defeated in a very anticlimactic way and the ending felt very rushed and not the way I imagined it to be. Maybe because this is a stand-alone novel (something I'm not used to) the author felt like they needed to quickly come up with an ending and wrap it up because she is not planning to create a series out of this story. I personally believe that The Stolen Kingdom could have made a wonderful series and would have created much more room for a build-up and a better climax. Finally, I loved the romance but it ended up also not turning out the way I wanted it to which was very disappointing.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read and I would definitely recommend it to those that are into fantasy books with lots of royalty and magic!

I didn't have high expectations for this book because a few people who enjoy the same books i do didn't like it but I was pleasantly surprised. the plot is fun and the writing style flows and has a nice humor to it. The characters are relatable. I really like the cover, very regal.

No sos vos, soy yo, la verdad no me atrapo y soy muy jodona si no me enganchan desde el principio aunque la trama sonaba muy interesante.

This was such a wonderful book! It took me a few chapters to get into, but after that I was hooked!

The characters were so endearing and real. They all made their own unique (and sometimes stupid) choices. I feel like by the end, I could understand almost everyone's motivations and connect to so many characters.

And the way magic is used in this story is so interesting! I love the political and historical elements that are intertwined in with the magic. It made for such a interesting story.

If you like fantasy books with magic, political intrigue, and engaging characters, I'd highly recommend checking out The Stolen Kingdom!

5 stars!! The characters were incredible and the plot super pacey!! I LOVED the setting and the writing style! Definitely a must read for any fantasy and nature fan out there!!

Hello Books Lovers,

Today I’m talking about another book read in the summer, another title of my august / september TBR. This one was sent to me months ago by Tor Teen, whom I thank, and is a high fantasy, young adult, called The Stolen Kingdom by Jillian Boehme.

The Stolen Kingdom was a pretty quick read. In itself the book is not very long, 300 pages, which went through quickly. The plot played a huge role in this. It’s written pretty well, and the world we find ourselves in, Perin Faye, is well built even if a few more details wouldn’t hurt. The boundaries are well defined, but a little more exploration would only have been a plus for the story. The number of pages probably had a big impact on that too.

As for the narrative instead, the chapters are divided between Mara and Alac, respectively the protagonist who discovers she has the powers and inheritance to ascend the throne, and the second son of the king who does not feel comfortable being only the second choice.

I will not hide the fact that for events and story this book is very close to Of Silver and Shadow. In the fact that magic is forbidden in the kingdom, the second son of the king who does not accept his role, and the protagonist who is able to use magic and could claim the throne and not to forget also the plan to kill the king. In short, it’s nothing that hasn’t already been written, even in the past. But in itself it’s a very nice story.

The most negative side for me is that the romantic component, which one would strongly expect in a young adult, is instead almost nil and very youthful, in the sense that it seems more a friendship than a romantic story. Let’s say it’s too transparent even for a young adult. The potential was all there, if only the story had been slightly different from usual. After all, being fluent is not all the beauty of a book.

This book was good.

It’s a standalone fantasy novel with interesting story line, nice motives, and good characters.

I liked the vineyards motive throughout the book. The relationship between characters is well developed. In parts the story lacks elaboration, some motives are not clearly set up or better said they are not explored in depth and that is due to the length of the book. If just a few more chapters were added in the beginning of the story to affirm main character motivations and in the end to wrap up the conflicts in more satisfying way it could easily been 4 stars, this way it has to be 3.

Overall, I would recommend this book to someone who Is new in fantasy or doesn’t want to commit to a longer book or series. As the author is ferly new I’m interesting in her development and future work.

The retaking-the-throne plot did not offer anything new, a lot of the dialogue came off as stilted, and the romance was just meh. The writing style is juvenile, the characters are one dimensional, and as a whole the story did just not flow.

I liked this fantasy more than I thought I would. I was captivated by the magic system and how it ultimately drove the plot. While much of the story seemed familiar, like following along with the "chosen one" and "rightful heir to the throne" sort of story, Boehme managed to take something familiar and make it an exciting, easy ride.

Review for free ARC via Netgalley.

The Stolen Kingdom is one of those books that I just want to fall into and swim around for days and days and get lost in the immersive magic. Our main character has hidden magic, and our prince battles against a dark unknown that has cursed his kingdom. This was a wild ride that I really didn't want to put down.

I've been going back and forth with reading this book and although the imagery and descriptions within the book is beautiful for some reason I can't get into it. I'm blaming me not being able to finish on my self rather than the book's character and I’m hoping to try again at another time.

From what I did read the descriptions and imagery were incredibly well written and thought out. Jillian's writing is stunning, I also love a dual perspective written book. The cover is lovely and the shade of green is really appealing, I'll probably buy a hardcopy for my collection purely for the cover.

I'm hoping to come back to this soon and leave a proper review.

Thank you NetGalley for an early copy for an honest review.
I'm so glad I picked out this book to read. The cover is stunning and it was such a fun read.
The Stolen Kingdom was a phenomenal stand-alone. It had forbidden love, secret identities, and the world-building was amazing. The author did a great job developing the characters and making her own magical rules. This book was not a let down and can't wait to read more by this author.

the romance in this book was a bit strange and unrelatable, and the start of the book was very slow. the characters were not quite relatable. i did not dislike this book, but i didn't like it either.

4.5/5

The Stolen Kingdom is about a vintner’s daughter, Maralyth, who has always had to hide her magic, knowing that to be caught with it would mean death. And a spare prince, Alac, scared of the dark magic that has his father bringing war and misfortune to the kingdom. A story about, magic, deceit, and doing what is right, Jillian Boehme delivers a well-crafted novel that will keep you enthralled until the last page.

A stand-alone that has good world-building, dynamic characters, proper problems and interesting resolutions?
Yes, yes and yes.

God I’ve really come to hate cliffhangers so thank god for this book.

Boehme does a great job in making this story full and exciting in just one novel. Stand-alones of this calibre in YA are so rare these days, and so this was a delight to read. I easily read 75% in 1 day.




Minor Spoiler****




The only reason I’m taking .5 away is because I have this thing about a person being able to use their newly obtained powers without some trial and error/having to work to master it.

Otherwise, this was a fun and easy novel to read and I look forward to future works by Boehme.

First of all thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read this book.
I was really interested by the plot but unfortunately for me it's not my cup of tea. The writing style bored me and I couldn't go on. Right now it's a dnf. We'll see in the future I'll change my mind.