Conquer the Kingdom is the final book in Jennifer Estep's "Gargoyle Queen" trilogy, which is itself the second trilogy in the world that Estep started with her Crown of Stars trilogy (so this is really the sixth book in this universe, and events and characters from the first trilogy are important here, even if readers didn't necessarily need to read those books to enjoy this trilogy). This trilogy has followed princess Gemma - known for being a ditzy princess but really an intelligent adventurous spy who relies upon her mind magier magic (telepathy and telekinesis) to try and protect her country from the forces of the sinister Morta. There's just one problem: while Morta's evil Queen Maeven is a clear threat and her son Milo is a monster whose plans to grab power involve destroying her country, Maeven's son Leonidas is another mind magier with whom Gemma has shared a connection since childhood...and a passionate attraction.

This has resulted in a trilogy that deals with the same type of simple fantasy adventure as the first trilogy - there's nothing particularly complex or deep in themes here and will never be - but that has added just a little (but not much) more depth to the romance, including a few actual decent if unexceptional sex scenes. The trilogy has been enjoyable, if often predictable and never really that super exciting and Conquer the Kingdom is the same: a fan fantasy adventure conclusion to this trilogy as Gemma and her friends try to lay a trap to stop the evil Milo and save her kingdom. At the same time, six books in - and three books into this trilogy - it does kind of feel like this style of book and plot is getting old, and I kind of had trouble maintaining my interest enough to finish it.

Note: I read part of this in audio format, which helped me finish it. The audio reader is very solid, if unexceptional, so this is not a bad choice in that format.


Plot Summary:
Princess Gemma Ripley has these past few weeks been desperate to find her enemy, exiled Mortan prince Milo, who previously tortured her and has developed strange near tearstone weapons that can harm and even kill Andvari's beloved gargoyles. But the search has been fruitless, leading Gemma to hatch a desperate plan: to invite the Mortan royal family, including the hated Mortan Queen Maevan Morricone, to Andvari's capital for the traditional Sword and Shield gladiator tournament. Gemma intends for Maevan to serve as bait to draw out Milo....even if it also means inviting one of her other deadly enemies into her own home.

But Gemma soon realizes that inviting so many enemies into her home has left her unable to know where to look for enemies and who exactly she can trust....and that paranoia threatens to devastate the thing that bring her the most joy in life: her romantic relationship with Prince Leonidas Morricone, brother to Milo and son of Maevan. And when Milo appears at last, Gemma finds out quickly that his new plot is even more dangerous than ever...and that Gemma's inviting him into the capital may have doomed both the country and everyone else she loves and cares about....
Conquer the Kingdom continues the story of Gemma, who readers should have gotten pretty used to by now. Gemma, three books in, retains a bit of a hero complex: she feels that she has to be the one to stop Milo (oddly, the book doesn't try to disagree much and doesn't really show anyone else organizing their own plots to stop him) and is absolutely devoted to finding a way to track him down and to take him down for good. She's good-hearted but also a little cunning...while at the same time isn't quite as cunning as she might think she is, which allows for her enemies to occasionally get the jump on her. And, as she has been since the start of the series, she's incredibly impulsive and prone to decisions that, when she has time to reflect upon them, can result in some really bad predicaments. Gemma is who she is, and this time it results in her not only facing personal danger, but also getting into a situation where the biggest surprising joy in her life - her love with Leonidas - is put in jeopardy as the two of them come into conflict over Gemma's need to defeat his family and how bloodthirsty Gemma and her Andvari family might really be in doing it.

That emotional conflict could've been the big addition to this book, but Conquer the Kingdom doesn't really let it hang around too long before events conspire to resolve that conflict: namely, by putting Gemma in extreme danger. If you've read the prior books, and perhaps the former trilogy, none of how this book proceeds should surprise you (and even if you somehow haven't, none of how this book proceeds is all that surprising). Gemma will plot a way to find and stop Milo, kind of fail, wind up in danger as trouble finds her, find her way out of it, and with some help from her allies find a way to save the day - rinse and repeat. Oh and she'll come into her own in a fashion so as to fit a prophecy that has been repeatedly mentioned by the series' evil queen Maeven for the last three books. None of this is too surprising or unexpected, but the book at least executes it decently well...although some of the predictability is so so obvious that it almost gets frustrating at a certain point.

Again, none of this is bad and it's done decently well enough. The main character in Gemma is enjoyable and easy to root for, the side characters in Leonidas, Reiko, and others, both human and Gargoyle/Strix, are all fun solid additions who have just enough depth to stand on their own, and the story ends in a satisfying fashion. But it's just feeling done to me after six books - and the fact that the series still doesn't have a single queer character whatsoever doesn't really help this book feel like something of an older style of fantasy novel that's been written many a time before.

In short, Conquer the Kingdom is fine fun fantasy, but just not exciting, and I suppose after six books of that world I'm finally ready to move on. If you liked the other books in this trilogy, this will be a solid conclusion, but this book won't make me super excited to recommend the trilogy over other books to those looking for a new series to start alas.

The previous books in the series were thrilling. However, the last book relied too much on the concept of deus ex machina, where Gemma's dead mother became an external force that saved her. This made it difficult for me to feel worried about Gemma's survival since I knew some outside force would ultimately rescue her.

Moreover, I found the villain Milo to be less compelling than Maeven. While Milo had malevolent plans, he was like a spoiled boy who desired his own kingdom. In contrast, Maeven had a broader perspective and could see the big picture.

On a positive note, the romantic relationship between Gemma and Leo was sweet and realistic. They love each other, but Gemma is uncertain about their future together.

I'm still looking forward to the next book in this world.

This review is based on an advanced reader copy provided through Netgalley for an honest review.

A great ending to the trilogy and more action packed! This one sucked me in basically from the beginning. Gemma and Leo make a great team and of course I loved all the side characters too. Highly recommend this series!

This was a satisfying conclusion to the Gargoyle Queen trilogy, but unfortunately I didn’t love it as much as Everleigh’s series because I didn’t get a good sense of how Gemma has grown up and matured and still imagine her as the child in the Crown of Shards series.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my chance to review.

This was such as good series! I’m glad I got the chance to read it and based on the ending I hope there’s more to come!

I have been provided with a review copy of Conquer the Kingdom from NetGalley for an impartial review. Oh my gosh this story was just epic. I just couldn’t put this story down and I was just captivated by everything that was taking place. The author truly outdid herself with this story. This story just had my emotions all over the place and I am so sad to see this book end. I just can’t wait to see what’s next from this author.

Conquer the kingdom

So I did a reread of the previous two books before diving into this one and I’m not sure why but I didn’t like the series as much as I previously did.

Something that is an ongoing thing from book 1, even from the Queen of Shards trilogy, is the Seven Spire Massacre. While I get that it’s a huge event in Gemma’s life, it got old and annoying how she kept comparing EVERYTHING in her current life to how she was when she was 7 years old. She’s 29 now, at this point, she’s a completely different person from that 7 year old.

Overall, this particular book did a good job tidying things up for the trilogy. I do wish we had had a little bit more info on the whole gargoyle Queen though.

Conquer The Kingdom's final book is the Gargoyle Queen Series, where we follow Gemma Ripley in that battle against the Morricone Prince Milo. Along this three-book series, we learn more about Gemma and her magic, we watch her fall in love or admit to being in love with Leo, and we watch as a clever plot by Milo almost destroys her world. I loved this final book so much. Luckily, Milo is an evil creative genius who doesn't succeed with his crazy plans. Estep crafted some innovative evil plans with Milo as she wrote this book, and I was in awe of how Gemma worked out how to throw them every time. I am sad that, as of now, this Goodbye to Crown of Shards world, I would love to see another spin-off, this time featuring Delimar, as she is the third queen mentioned in the prophecy we find out about in this book. Maybe someday we will get to come back cause I think following a Morricone around for a few books would be a treat.

I’m not sure how I missed picking up the first series in this world created by Jennifer Estep. She’s definitely not a “new to me” author because I have been a fan since I was first introduced to Gin in the Elemental Assassin series. I’m just glad that I finally dove into the Gargoyle Queen series and now that I’ve been introduced to the world, it won’t be long until I pick up the Crown of Shards series.

Conquer the Kingdom picks up pretty much where Tear Down the Throne left off. As the description hints, there is a fine line between “friend and foe” and Gemma and her family have made the decision to keep some of those “foes” very close. Things aren’t exactly as they seem on a lot of levels in Conquer the Kingdom. The story is full of lots of twists, turns and some interesting confessions and some surprising allies.

As with all series with characters I’ve fallen in love with, I was sad to see this series end, but I’m kind of curious about what comes next. I’m pretty sure readers haven’t seen the last of this world. ❤

I hate to say it butI had to drag myself self through this book. The first was good but as this series progressed I lost interest. I would rather the main character be stronger in power than Jennifer Estep allowed her to be. Weak characters are just boring stories waiting to happen. Pass on this series if you haven’t started yet.

Conquer the Kingdom is the third book in The Gargoyle Queen series. It's filled with a ton of fast paced action, adventure, and magic! I loved it.

My only regret was not rereading the first two books before starting it! I love this world. Fingers crossed we get more books!

5/5⭐️
1.5-2/5🌶

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the e-ARC!

Conquer the Kingdom was a fantastic finish to the Gargoyle Queen Trilogy. It was fast-paced, and the stakes were high. Gemma’s romance with Leonidas was satisfying and the side characters held their own. I loved Estep's style and attention to detail. Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

DNF @ 48%

This is my 6th Estep book (all in the Crown of Shards universe) and it just… didn’t hold my attention. One of Estep’s key strengths in this series was the fight scenes, the more combatants the better. But in this book - maybe it’s because Gemma isn’t as much of a fighter as Everleigh was - we’ve had very few fight scenes and they were all rather… perfunctory.

The main romantic pairing is inexplicably hot-and-cold practically from one page to the next (when the switch flipped to cold I had to like flip back and see if it was foreshadowed or otherwise hinted at but it wasn’t; it came on so suddenly that if I didn’t know any better I’d say it was mind control).

Much of the plot hinges on Gemma being paranoid and, honestly, it got boring rather quickly. I wanted melees and conspiracy and instead we’ve got an invisible enemy (maybe?) and a whole lot of talking about nothing much in particular. I couldn’t even bring myself to care enough to dislike the book.

Oh well.

This is the final book in the Gargoyle Queen trilogy. After the events in Tear Down the Throne, Milo Morricone is on the run with Wexel, his loyal captain. Gemma has vowed to kill him and stop the threat to her kingdom but Milo always seems to be one step ahead of her. The final tournament for the Gladiator games is being held in Glinter, the capital city of Gemma's kingdom. With some many new people, it is hard find any trace of Milo Morricone but Gemma is convinced he's plotting. With the help of Leo and Reiko, can Gemma stop Milo once and for all.

This one was okay. I didn't feel like we got to see a lot of Leo, so I missed him. Delmira is my favorite character and the liladorn is the best. Maeven remains wonderfully complicated. Gemma has grown a bit in this book, it shows in her interactions with Maeven. I'm still not sure about her magic and how it works but its fine.

There is reason to believe that there will be a third trilogy about Delmira. Also I am still hoping for an Evie cameo.

The Gargoyle Queen series has been pretty consistently fun, hitting a nice balance of adventure, fantasy, and political intrigue, with a heaping side of romance. And Capture the Kingdom, the conclusion of the trilogy, ticks all those same boxes.

That said, this third installment also felt clumsier and sloppier. The plot felt a little slapdash, some of the writing didn't quite land for me, and the characters felt a little hollower than they had in the past. I found myself skimming occasionally to get through the book, and especially to get past long descriptions of outfits or other unnecessary background info.

While I think this is a satisfying conclusion to the series in terms of the way it wraps up the story, the book unfortunately didn't entirely work for me as a whole, leaving me a little bit disappointed.

3.25/5

This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart


Review copy was received from Library, NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I loved the Crown of Shards trilogy. As with any urban fantasy or even other types of series, I prefer to read in order and have the full world building and character backgrounds. The first trilogy had the main character of Everleigh Blair, this next trilogy is about Gemma Ripley. Some of the things I said in my review of Capture the Crown are still true.

The Gargoyle Queen is a continuation, but a full 16 years later. Gemma Ripley is now grown. However, Gemma still has fears and doesn't know how to control or use her power effectively. She still feels very young. I tired of her repeating her past, her guilt, her shoving down her power and being a little too daring.


Gemma continues to grow. While it annoys me how she doesn't know how to use her power and still takes life-threatening risks, she really cares about her people, as well as the gargoyles and the strix. I would have liked to see her work more with Leo since he was with her during this book. Actually, they work together but she doesn't really talk to him. His family is here as are many people for the gladiator battles. Gemma does everything she can to get her people to accept Maeven, Leo and Delmira. Her compassion for others, even those who hurt her, is a great quality.

Of course, Gemma suspects Milo and the Captain are here with some grand plan. I guessed right away where they were hiding but it took half the book for her to find out with Reiko figuring it out first. I knew the DiLucri clan was involved from the first mention of them.

The battles were exciting and a bit worrisome. Gemma tried to protect everyone more than herself. Luckily, she is finally able to use more of her magic. I was happy to see Delmira understand her magic better also. Maeven actually helps a bit in the end. Leo is a good guy with a difficult family, but he makes an effort to support Gemma and be with her.

The ending in Conquer the Kingdom is satisfying. There aren't more books planned but it would be interesting to see Delmira's future and learn more about the plant magics.

I recently finished Conquer The Kingdom which is book 3 in a fantasy series! We are still following Gemma in this one as she tries to save her kingdom. I was glad to be back with these characters, they are so fun to read about. I did think the pacing was a bit slow and it took awhile for me to get invested in what was going on and it really didn't pick up until the last quarter. In some ways this felt like an end to the series but I hope that it’s going to have a spinoff because there are a few side characters I want more of! Overall I would recommend this series as a whole and can't wait to see whats next. Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager for my gifted copy for review.

4 stars = Great! Might re-read.

I'm sad this series is coming to a close - I love the world and the characters. But this was a satisfying end with lots of action and solid resolution for my favorite characters. There are a few threads left dangling in case the author ever comes back to this world, but if this is truly the end, the major pieces are resolved.

I did have moments in the reading of this where I felt like the story was... engineered. In reality, every story is engineered by the author to accomplish their purposes, but there were times in this where I was pulled out of the story because something happened - or didn't happen - that seemed obvious or in character but was changed to keep the story going or to draw out the drama. And those moments poked at me a bit and tainted a little of my enjoyment of the story.

Overall, though, this was a winner and I was pleased with how the whole thing wrapped up. Series fans should carve out some time to dive into this for a fast-paced conclusion to Gemma's story.
(Language, sex, violence)

Thank you so much to Harper Voyager and Netgalley for letting me read an eARC of Conquer the Kingdom. I have loved all of the other books in the Gargoyle Queen trilogy, so I was the most excited to read book 3!
Conquer the Kingdom 4/5 Stars
Summary from Goodreads: Magic reigns, plots abound, and a new love might not conquer all, in this must-read finale to the epic Gargoyle Queen trilogy by international bestselling author Jennifer Estep.

Time is running out for crown princess Gemma Ripley. Despite being a cunning spy and a powerful mind magier, Gemma hasn’t been able to track down the most dangerous enemy her kingdom of Andvari has ever seen. Adding to her worries is the Sword and Shield tournament. With gladiators flocking to the capital city of Glanzen, Gemma can’t tell who is friend—or foe.

Determined to protect Andvari at any cost, Gemma hatches a bold plan, but things aren’t what they seem. Soon, everything she holds dear is being threatened, including her burgeoning relationship with Prince Leonidas Morricone.

With the kingdom she holds dear slipping through her fingers, Gemma will have to conquer her fear and unlock the true secret of her magic—or watch her friends and family die and her beloved Andvari fall . . .

I really enjoyed Conquer the Kingdom! I thought that it was a super satisfying end to this trilogy, but with the prophecy that was introduced, I love how there’s now the possibility of a great spinoff series, and I would 100% read that spinoff series! In terms of this book, I like how we had everything centered around another gladiator tournament, with Gemma and co trying to find Milo and take him down before he can do more damage and try and take over. I really liked how Gemma had invited Maeven and Delmira to the tournament- I’m all for a long game! The gargoyles and strixes were such fun additions and I always loved hearing them in Gemma’s mind and I really liked the liladorn vines as well! Overall, this was a super fun fantasy series and I cannot wait for y’all to read all three of the books today!

Link to be added once post goes live

I loved the grand finale to this amazing series! Five stars!!!
Full review up on my blog at ihyperomance.com