The premise of the book sounded interested which was why I had picked it up. The author did a fantastic job at sucking you into the story, but I wished we had spent more time connecting with the characters. Regardless, the plot was good although the book itself actually could've been just a bit longer.

actual rating: 3.5*

I loved this historical fantasy book and I would read it again! This book was well-written and I loved the characters. I'm glad that I was given a copy to review by the publisher.

Edith is a princess of Northumbria. She is her father’s chosen heir because her father has no sons. One night, her parents and sisters are killed by pirates. Her uncle becomes king of Northumbria and marries Edith to an old man. A few days later, her husband is killed and Edith becomes a slave to the Vikings. Under the hands of the Vikings, she trains as a warrior. While she is accustomed to her new life in Viking territory, she continues to harbor the dream of becoming queen of Northumbria. Would Edith ever take the throne back from her uncle and become the queen her father always wanted to be?

Edith is a strong protagonist. She has been raised to be the next queen of Northumbria. Therefore, she strategically makes political moves to help her to become queen. Even when she has nothing left and is in enemy territory, she continues to make political decisions. The only time she is not thinking of politics is when she marries for love. Edith is also understandably angry for what has happened to her family and wants vengeance. I found Edith to not only be a hardened warrior in the novel but also a survivor. She goes through so many tragedies but she becomes more determined, assertive, and confident. Thus, I was rooting for her all the way to find her own personal happiness.

Overall, this novel is about different cultures, acceptance, and survival. The story is very fast-paced and is full of political intrigue. I did find all of the characters to be very stereotypical with little character development. I found the romance to be forced and instantaneous with shallow depth. Many parts of the book seemed rushed. Still, I found the depiction of the Vikings to be very fascinating. The setting of both England and Germany was very well-written, and it is full of vivid historical details. The Last Princess is an enthralling read for those that love reading about the Vikings. I recommend this for fans of Shield-Maiden: Under the Howling Moon, The Norse Queen, and Rise of the Shieldmaiden!

I really enjoyed this story. At times it felt a bit rushed but I loved the characters so the pacing didn't bother me. If you love viking stories you will enjoy this one!

Shelley Wilson tells the tale of the Last Princess, the Saxon princess of Northumbria at the time of the Viking invasion. Her uncle Aelle betrays her father and entire family to pirates and the princess is sold as a slave. She makes her own fortunes in Hedeby, in a Viking earldom. Lots of colour and action with an unexpected conclusion. Good historical fiction.

Set in the middle ages, Edith is the only survivor when her family is murdered. Her uncle swoops in and takes the throne away from her. When Edith is sold into slavery, she ends up with the Vikings.

This book was a bit tedious. Every chapter recounted Edith's past, going over the same information time and time again. It was a bit hard to tell the passage of time - Edith could have spent 1 year or 10 among the Vikings. Overall, not a book I would re-read or recommend.

***Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher, for providing me with an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.***

I really enjoyed this and loved the stories and the characters so much would definitely read again and will be purchasing

There were some parts of this book I liked - the concept as well as some of the overall plot. However, most of the time I was frustrated. Overall, my frustration boiled down to a few main things.

First, and most important, the quality of the writing. There is an almost shocking level of emotional disconnect for the main character. She rarely emotionally reacts and processes in any meaningful way, instead giggling after horrific events or bouncing on to the next event. A particularly notable example is when a beloved character dies, in a completely avoidable manner because the princess wants to have a duel, and all she thinks is that they “saved her love”, not that she brought about this tragedy. This type of writing is irritating in third person, but it is unbearable in first person.

In addition, this novel tells instead of shows at almost every turn, skips portions of time as well as explanations and reactions, and manufactures relationships from a couple glances or a single conversation. The pace feels so rushed, and yet the prose makes it drag.

There are also a variety of issues such as plot holes, inconsistent logic, and thin character motives throughout, though I could have overlooked them more if the writing itself was stronger.

I try not to assume a lower quality of writing because of a smaller or independent publisher. In fact, Nova McBee’s Calculated series is a perfect example of truly outstanding writing not from a Big 5 house, and one of my all time favorites.

This novel however, very much feels like a second draft, where the overall plot and concept is there but the depth is missing. With substantial revisions to bring nuance to the pace and flesh out character internalization and motivation, this could have been a solid story.

A final note: I felt the topic of slavery was not addressed respectfully. I don’t have a lot of knowledge about the practice in the viking era, so there is a possibility it was more accurate than I believe, but overall is was handled with a nonchalance that made me very uncomfortable.

I did not like this story as much as I wanted to. The writing threw me off. The story felt rushed and too slow at the same time. None of the characters felt fleshed out. I just was left wanting so much more. I finished the book and could barely remember what happened. I barely remember Edith or any of her character traits. She also never seems to process any of the violent things that happen to the people around her. I think perhaps this is simply not my genre of book. It just felt like Edith wanted to be Daenerys Targaryen sooo bad. I also felt unsatisfied at the end so maybe that comparison is warranted. If you do like historical fiction though this may be the book for you!

ARC provided by NetGalley.

The Last Princess by Shelley Wilson
“I want to watch the light go out in your eyes,”... “‘I want you to understand how dangerous it was to underestimate a daughter of King Osberht.”
~~~~
I first would like to thank Shelley Wilson, BHC Press, Netgalley for the eARC. This was an amazing read.
I love anything with Vikings, and finding yourself. And mixing it with romance; sign me up. I hopped on this immediately, and Wilson didn’t disappoint. The plot was detailed and I was able to follow along easily. My emotions were all over the place and this book legit transported me to this world. There was a little bit of spice in here and I didn’t think there was going to be; but I loved it. Nicely done. And then the badass female power, absolutely, YES! Here for it all the way!
This 100% will be a reread for me and I will keep my eyes out for whatever Shelley Wilson has in store next.

<p>I enjoyed this book very much. I do enjoy historical fiction stories but it is rare that I venture into historical fiction stories set in the 9th century, but I am glad that I did. </p>

<p>In this story, we follow Edith, a princess of Northumbria whose entire family was murdered before her. Though she is her father's heir and was next in line for the throne, her uncle usurps the crown and forces her to get married to one of the Eldermen. The group that attacked her sisters and parents comes and attacks the Elderman intending to kill him and Edith, but Edith escapes, only to be caught by pirates. She then becomes a slave for the Vikings and the rest of the story unfurls from there. It is in the first person, from Edith's perspective.</p>

<p>I do not know if I want to rate this story 3.5 stars or 4 stars. While I did enjoy the story, there were still some elements that I did not like. For one, certain elements of the story were extremely predictable and obvious, but it took Edith forever to realize them. Without spoiling, I am particularly talking about who was behind the attack on her family. It was extremely obvious from the beginning who was behind it, but she needed someone else to tell her that. </p>

<p>The pacing of the story was also very fast. It was too fast for this kind of story. One of the main themes in this book is about Edith's growth but it was hard to actually watch her grow with the way the story was paced. There were parts that were not fully developed. </p>

<p>With the fast pacing, also came a confusing timeline. With the way time was referenced it seemed to me that the story took place over a year and a half, maybe two years max. Then you reach the end and the characters are talking about how it has been years since the start of the story.</p>

<p>Though I do have these issues with the structure of the story I did enjoy the overall story and whenever I would pick it up, I would have a hard time putting it down, so it is still a good story.</p>

I really enjoyed this story. Edith was something else. This book had the right amount of dialogue and discriptions and the character are lovable.

Thank you Netgalley and BHC Press for allowing me to read and review this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Last Princess is a fierce and brave story about Edith, a Saxon princess whose parents and sisters were killed in an ambush to take over her home Northumbria. Edith runs from home and is captured by pirates and sold into slavery. One day she is taken in by Jarl Aaric, a Viking man and begins training as a shield-woman. She and her new "found family" prepare to go to battle against her uncle, who took over Northumbria by force.

I really liked this book. Edith is a strong female character with a warrior's heart. We are introduced to different religions of the Saxons, who believe in Christianity, and the Vikings, who believe in the Norse gods. Edith wants revenge for the death of her family and to combine both Saxons and Vikings together. I liked the Norse lore and the views of both sides. I adore her friendships with Baldred and Solveig both who support and make her stronger. I do like Leif, the love interest and one of Jarl Aaric's sons. I wish Edith and Leif had more moments together to flesh the romance out a bit. He was understanding, protective but not in a possessive way, and let Edith be independent while also training her in the Viking ways.

The book doesn't just focus on romance but just adds to the story and Edith's growth as princess, to slave, to shield-woman, and warrior. Shelley Wilson created an easy world to follow and wrote a fantastic story.

I highly recommend checking out Sweet Black Waves, Beyond a Darkened Shore, Beasts of the Frozen Sun, Furyborn for more fierce books featuring strong women.

4.5 stars

This was a hard one to rate. I liked the characters and the ‘big picture’ of this story.

I struggled with how abruptly things happened- battles and love stories and best friends and a seers prophesy- all very cool and exciting… but it felt clunky. I wish there was more of the backstory/ build up between the big things.

A fun one if you want a fast paced book. With lovable, battle hungry Vikings.

Thanks to Netgalley and BHC Press for the advanced copy.

I was so excited when I picked up this book series. I love anything to do with Vikings, especially the action-packed stories surrounding them. I think the premise of the book was fabulous and it did have great plot points, The opening scene let my jaw drop, but I became less impressed as the story progressed. I don't think all the events were well developed. The story moved quickly and while I like a fast-paced novel, this was more fast-paced due to the fact that the author skimmed over large amounts of important events. Vikings have a completely different lifestyle, and the way she portrayed the characters and the characters' arcs just did not seem to fit with what I know of the time period. Honestly, I think this story could have been spread out into a duology to provide time to develop the characters and events more. I think everything was a great start to the novel, I just wish it had been refined a bit more. The bones of this story are good! It just needs to slow down a bit.

This story set in the 9th century is concerning the eldest of 3 daughters of the king of Northumbria. At the start it seemed pretty mediocre and didn't seem to have any real individuality. Basically, princess captured by Vikings and sold into slavery. There were numerous battles and a lot of death and gore, more than possibly appropriate for young adults.

It really didn't do much for me.

I received an advance reader copy of The Last Princess by Shelley Wilson. (Thanks to NetGalley and BHC Press for the copy.)

Well, after reading the blurb and seeing the beautiful cover I had a feeling I would love this story. And I was right.

This is such a compelling tale of bravery, love, friendship, family, disloyalty, greed, slaves and vikings! Everyone loves a good viking story… who could not? There is passion, war, fight scenes, sword wielding and shield maidens! Yes, women are fierce too. And, I liked the finer touches of this story too… the details of viking marriage ceremonies. It is obvious that Shelley Wilson has researched with care and this is evident in her descriptive passages, and the finer details.

In my opinion, the story really comes into its own as it progresses. I’d say the beginning had me wondering a little… My initial uncertainty was perhaps not quite enough emotion at the beginning given the terrors of what happened to the heroine Edith. But, in the midst of such terror perhaps there is not much time to pause and reflect. This is a time period when such experiences, death is all to common I suppose. So, this slight hiccup, which pulled me momentarily out of the story is soon swept away by the brilliance of the storytelling. Everything thereafter is captivating. A real page turner, I loved this.

My rating 4.5 stars.

I attach my link below (I am a blog tour host, my spot on the tour is 26th May, so the link will not work until then.)

A solid three star book. This is a Netgalley review.

Things is liked- I loved the setting, the main character, and the Viking. The story was engaging and interesting. I really love the idea of the story.

Things I didn’t like- everything was too rushed. We barely meet Leif and then they are married. I could get into the writing either. It was very basic. I can see the non-fiction wiring peeking through. The sentences weren’t engaging and with the face paced nature of the story, I could never get into the characters. I also didn’t like the pregnancy. I know a lot of people don’t like that and I wasn’t a fan of it either. Another problem I have with the book is how quickly her family dies. I know it needs to happen soon, but it’s so close to the beginning of the book, that when they do die, I don’t feel a thing for them.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is fast-paced and engaging. Edith is an incredible female protagonist and I adore what a strong character she is. The pacing in this book was wonderful and was just perfect for a quick, intriguing read. I wish there would have been more story or if there could be a possibility of another book from Edith’s POV as she is so wonderful.