I have very mixed feelings about this book. I really enjoyed the writing and plot but struggled with the love triangle (square?). I’m not a huge fan of love triangles to begin with but this one just made me sad. I felt so bad for Alexander and honestly hated that he was essentially strung along. I will be shocked if Norah doesn’t end up with Mikael by the end of the series. It just seems unnecessary to keep the love triangle going.

I’m not entirely sold on Mikael and Norah together. It felt a little forced to me and don’t think they have much chemistry but that could change as the series progresses.

Overall this book was pretty entertaining and I do intend on continuing the series.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC to review!

After being gone for three years Norah returns home without her memories. In a land still at war with the Shadow king. Pulled in all directions she tries to find a way to help her people. But will it be the end of her ?

It’s a very well written book. Enough description but not confusing. The chararcters are very likeable, although i would have like a bit more from the side characters. (Alexander i could do without)
You’re really rooting for Norah the entire story. The relationships in the book have a good buildup.

The pacing was a bit off for me. In the first half it’s all about the memory loss and not much else. And the other half it is only mentioned twice. So it really took away from the “memory loss trope” and the plot for me.

Overall good story and i’m looking forward to the next one.

Thanks to NetGalley, Nichola Tyche and Columbia River Publishing for the ARC that I couldn't put down! These honest opinions are my own.

Norah, the North Queen, wakes up in a cold forest, alone, and without any memory of who she is or why she is there. She's found by childhood friend and guard, Alexander. There is a war raging on and she is betrothed to a prince to join two forces and fight the Shadow King.

This book had me turning every page going "what is going to happen?" - Will Norah get her memories back, does she remember her childhood best friend, Alexander? Who will she marry? Is this guy a morally grey character? Who can Norah trust?

The only issue I had is that - I need the other two books in this series to be out like YESTERDAY so I can figure out the answers to all these questions! I need more story! I will be reading the entire trilogy!

I look forward to more stories from this debut author!
Overall: 4/5
Spice: 1.5 out of 5

A total joy to read! I loved everything about this book. Thank you so much for the arc. I will definitely be purchasing a physical copy when it’s released!

North Queen is just the first book in the Crowns Trilogy. It's not yet released but I'm already looking forward to Shadow Queen.

Okay, I obviously liked it if I'm this eager to read the next. But you're probably wondering what caused the 2.50 stars deduction.

I didn't like Norah at the first 40% of the book. She was passive, and those beneath her got to order her around like a little girl as if she was not their queen, memory loss or not. This situation was still evident beyond 40% of the book but at least, girl finally developed some guts and there was resistance. So, yeah, she redeemed herself in my eyes.

⚠️ Spoiler Alert ⚠️

This story is clearly not about Norah and Alexander. Instead, it's Norah and Mikael. So, the blurb's a little misleading. I mean, the author made us care for Alex. Norah and Alexander shippers will be disappointed. Anyway, I still cannot say who I like more for her. Perhaps, I a tad bit biased towards Mikael, but Alex is not a bad choice. He genuinely loved Norah and his feelings cannot be questioned. Mikael's a questionable character. He had some twisted values which needed to be straightened out, and I'm trusting the author for his good character development. Fingers crossed.

At times you find these books that are predictable, yet they are so great so you can’t help but enjoy them. That was North Queen to me.

The way the book focused on the trope of “lost heir” yet had such a great storyline regarding the character finding themself, makes this book unique to others in the same genre. At some point of the book you could see the inspiration from Game of thrones , but it was delightful to read.

This is not the best book I’ve ever read, yet it was a book I struggled to put down. I finished the same day I got it, and was fully submerged in the story the entire time.

The characters are flawed and make some doubtful decisions, and the different kingdoms and their “events” are more complex and goes deeper than ones might think.

thank you to the author and netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

what a strong debut to start <b>crowns</b> series. i found this book to have a promising premise and the pacing was excellent. a love triangle can be challenging but <b>north queen</b> proves to be written by a skillful writer. i’m not a big fan of memory loss, but this book had me seated at every single page. it was fairly predictable, but it doesn’t matter because i can still enjoy it immensely.

I'm sorry, but the whole love triangle/love square thing is just not for me. It always feels so childish within a book. Especially when one love interest is so clearly problematic. And when the love triangle takes away from or diminishes the plot, then you know it's a big problem. So, sadly, the inclusion of a love triangle, square, thing for the sake of unnecessary relationship drama ended up ruining the whole book for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of North Queen by Nicola Tyche.

I was first drawn in the by the cover, it’s gorgeous! When I read the blurb, it sounded right up my ally. The North Queen starts off by throwing us right into the action of the world. The world building in the book was done very well. Sometimes in a fantasy book, the world building can be too fast-paced or overwhelming. Nicola Tyche does neither of these things. The way the author describes the settings is very descriptive. It really captures your attention.

Princess Norah of Mercia has been missing for three years. A vision shows Norah will be captured by their enemy. In order to save her, her fathers takes her away to keep her safe. Three years later, Norah can remember nothing of her past. And that’s where the story starts.

I really enjoyed reading Norah’s story. She’s a strong female character who doesn’t back down when faced with a problem. I won’t give away spoilers, but there is a bit of a love triangle. I know who I’m rooting for! I love a good enemy to lovers romance!

Overall, I enjoyed the story and I will be picking up the second book when it’s out.

North Queen is book 1 in Crowns Book series by Nicola Tyche was an utterly intoxicating fantasy romance.

Nicola Tyche’s writing had such light and an ethereal quality to it, which helps mold the events of the plot.
This book was so well written!!
All the characters were just so gorgeously written!! The development was great.
It made the book even more magical than it already was!
With the magic and action Nicola made this book damn near impossible to put down.
The plot twists were superb and the ending was shocking and brilliant.
I just adored the author‘s writing style and seriously cannot get enough of it!
I’m thrilled to say I can’t wait for book two!

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

Thank You NetGalley and Columbia River Publishing for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Norah had me hooked from the very beginning. Our FMC, even without her memories, is a confident, feisty force willing to do whatever it takes to protect her kingdom, innocent lives, and her heart. She's willing to look beyond the obvious, break with decades of tradition, and influence others to do the same. She is so strong and one of my new favourite characters.

4.5⭐️ I did not expect to enjoy this so much. And normally I hate love triangles (in this case more like a love square? But Im still not sure?) but this book kept me hooked. Gave me major Gilded Prisoner series vibes once we met the Shadow King, and there were some other themes that were relatable to other popular series’ but not too obvious to make it predictable and annoying. I can’t wait to dive further into this series once the other 2 books come out.

ARC from NetGalley.

This book wasn’t really for me. Idk. I love fantasy, alright. I also LOVE the “amnesia trope,” but this book delivered NOTHING for me. I do not like the plot but it would’ve been excused if the execution was good and likable, but Norah Andell—the protagonist—was not what I was expecting. Won’t say I like her but I also won’t say I dislike her. Alexander was so bland it was getting boring as each page passed. And I will never forgive the Shadow King for what he did. That man can rot in hell for all I care.

Also the POVs were so confusing most of the time that I sometimes forget it’s in 3rd-person??????

It’s an easy-read and people may find it good if it’s their first fantasy book. I tried liking this, OK???? But it wouldn’t do and I just found myself skimming through some monologues and dialogues because of how bland the characters were. The romance was also very dull and istg if Norah ends up with Mikael I will be RAGING MAD.

I understand this is Nicola Tyche’s debut novel so I won’t be really harsh, considering there’ll be a second book & third book to this that I WILL, maybe, read (though I hope there are some progress).

Overall, 2 stars.

North Queen follows our main character Norah, heir to the crown of Mercia. Her (future) kingdom is at war with the Shadow King for the last ten years. When a vision was shown of her capture by him, her father tried to change fate and took her away to safety. She has been gone for three years and nobody knows where her father took her. When she is finally found by the regents lord Justice Alexander, they find out that she has lost all of her memories...

Half of the book focuses mostly on Norah's memory loss. She was found in a forest called 'The Wild' and it is here she sees strange things like a fox that seemed to guide her and the people who attacked her anxiously killing themselves by an invisible 'force'. She is then found and brought back to the kingdom by Alexander, where she spends time trying to cover up her memory loss and discovering her kingdom and it's people again. She seems to be finding pieces of the puzzle back by touch and reliving things, mostly with Alexander - who she again catches feelings for. She's also slowly turning back into the more rebellious version of herself.

She eventually hears she is to marry a king she's 'never' met before, to strengthen her kingdom in the war against the shadow king, she is horrified but goes along with it for the sake of her people. She goes on a trip to meet him and is then captured by the Shadow King.

The book for me divides in two; the first half heavily focuses on Norah trying to memorize and kinda re-discover herself. There is tension between her and Alexander and a lot of mystery. Who is she? What happened to her? Where did she go those three days? Would she become the same person she was before? Will there be scheming? What is up with the Wild? Who is the Shadow King and why are they at war? Would she doubt anything she's told by people who know of her memory loss? This was the most intriguing part to me.

The second half of this book focuses on her relationship with the shadow king, her new path to marry him instead of Philipp, after she has been captured and is shown the other side of the story. She sees a kindness in the king. He proposes eventually to not go along with his original plan to use her as bait and kill her to strengthen his position in this war. And she agrees, it would bring peace upon her kingdom without any more deaths.

Towards the end of the book, Norah is definitely catching feelings and being torn about this; what does it say about her for liking such a bloodlusting king? She is definitely trying to find her place in all of this. Norah is by character a softer, positive personality and she hates all the death surrounding her. Eventually, the vision of Mikael - the shadow king- 's death seems to become reality when her friend Alexander, the lord justice, also known as the bear, leaves for the Kingdom of Aleon - King Philipps kingdom - for a 'quest'. Norah can't believe her grandmother would go against her and choose war regardless of her marriage. She decides to fake her escape to her kingdom to go see the powerful seer Mikaels been to for his fate, to finally found out what may have happened to her memories...

A few plus and minus points;
Please note: I'm a pretty picky reader and details do matter to me.
Here's things I loved and thought could use some improvements:

+ The writing of this book is amazing. It's pretty much flawless, it's descriptive enough to imagine and not overly descriptive. It captivates everything perfect and I found no repetitiveness in words or saying.
+ The characters are very likable and their relationships are slowly but steadily build.
+ Intriguing mysteries surround the character; it gets you involved and you just want those answers.

- I thought the memory loss was prominently focused on in the first half of the book and then barely spoken of towards the second half. It is mentioned a few times here and there, but you don't really see this again in her behaviour. She's a more confident lady and seems to know a lot, while in the first half she was more the opposite. She did seem to have most of her memory back through Alexander but it would still show in her not knowing or recognizing things, I think this could have had a smoother transition.
- Also in the first half she corrects people to call her Norah, not queen etc - but doesn't seem to mind this when the shadow king constantly calls her this, rather than her name. She calls him by his name, but doesn't mind the distant approach towards her? They're an energy that pulls them together as much as drives them away from eachother, however I found it took a long time for them to get more personal in words too.

I personally didn't feel the connection between her and the Shadow King. I felt more tension between her and Alexander, it was something forbidden but nothing able to fight against. Whereas for the Shadow King, he was just kind to her and she catches feelings rather quickly (however she is doubting about this all the time), as for Mikael - the shadow king - he turns "wuss" kinda fast and I found it a little off putting in the sense of it takes away the tension and he is less dark & violent, which he is described as. I think he changes too fast for her, and I would've personally loved to see him continue on in his old ways for longer and them growing closer slowly as he shows a little bit of his caring character each time.

All in all, this book was a fun read and I'm still very curious what is going on with the Wild, the visions, what is the seer going to tell her; where will she stand in all of this, where has she been those three years and what will change! I think book one has been the set up for the story, to meet the characters and get to know the dynamic in relationships, before it really sets off. And it definitely holds enough intrigue for me to want to read the second book!

Rating: 3.5 rounded up (LOVED the first half, second half was less intriguing for me and I did found some 'flaws', causing me to rate it a little lower than I initially intended to). However, it is by no means a bad rating and I enjoyed reading this!

If you like: Love Triangle, special connection with animals, enemies to lovers, slow burn, multiple pov, mystery in a fantasy book: This book may be the one for you! :)

Sometimes books are so great and yet so predictable at the same time, but you can't help but enjoy them. That's North Queen, a book that is highly entertaining.

This book is focused on romance, featuring an amnesia trope and a character who must find herself. Does she make foolish choices at times? Of course. Is there a love triangle? ... Perhaps. Is there clear inspiration drawn from Game of Thrones? Yes, that too. But it was all so delightfully entertaining to read.

It's not the best book I've ever read, but it's a book I couldn't put down. It may be somewhat predictable, but that doesn't matter. The characters are quite interesting to read about, even though they make foolish decisions, and the events between the different kingdoms are more complex than you initially think.

By the way, our main character also loves food and reaches for grapes when conversations get awkward. And if any of you happen to watch reviews by withcindy on YouTube, this is the perfect book for her to review.

Thanks to Netgalley and Nicola Tyche for providing the review copy!

This book is great for the fantasy genre. The character interactions work well, but the memory loss premise just kind of disappears part way through and isnt addressed again. Not sure still how I fell about the MMC lol. Overall I enjoyed it!

I loved this! I will admit I had a bit of a hard time in the beginning because the memory loss situation kind of made it feel confusing, but that seemed to pass quickly. The MC is strong willed, brave and a fighter but also compassionate and caring. It is a great mix to have and I always love a good love triangle! Lol I can’t wait for the rest of the series!

The North Queen was a great read after a major reading slump! The cover is great draw in for fantasy readers. It had some similarities to Game of Thrones, the shadow king reminded me of Khal Drogo. There is action, love triangle, amnesia, politics, betrothal and more. I am excited to see what follows in the series and if her love interest changes. Norah is an interesting character, she has no recollection of her life yet has some strong morals that seem very different then her previous life, I look forward to her character development. I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Nicola Tyche for an ebook in exchange for an honest review!

Rating: 5/5 Stars

WOW. Just WOW! This book completely blew me away. I was hooked from the very start! Stayed up all night reading it

Thank you to Nicola Tyche, Columbia River Publishing, and NetGalley for providing me with an E-ARC of North Queen.

Where do I start? This book was fantastic and I was definitely pleasantly surprised. Norah is an incredible character. We were able to see her grow and figure out who she is as a person through all the plot twists, love triangle, war, etc. She refuses to let anyone step over her and tell her what to do. Alexander instantly had me hooked. I love seeing the connection between him and Norah even after losing her memories. The Shadow King was a surprise - he has a soft side? Didn’t see that coming because of the way other characters would talk about him but it’s good to see that he isn’t entirely a terrible person.

I never knew what was going to happen next, which is why I enjoyed this book so much. Also that ending? Love to see Norah stand up for herself and continue to surprise those around her.

I cannot wait to read the next book.