Shielded by KayLynn Flanders

Hey guys!
Another day, another Fairyloot book! I can’t believe that I already went through so many of my subscription box books but still have so many more to go. Anyway, let’s find out if this was well-chosen by the lovely guys curating those boxes!

Shielded on Goodreads

The Plot (according to Goodreads):

As second born to Hálendi’s royal family, Princess Jennesara was never supposed to inherit magic. She is supposed to wed the prince of Turia to strengthen the alliance between their kingdoms. While traveling to Turia, she feels the magical tethers connecting her to her family snap one by one—a sign of her family’s death. At the same moment, a mage bent on revenge blasts through her traveling party, killing everyone in his path to get to her. Knowing she has to survive for her kingdom’s sake, Jennesara flees into the Wild, chased by hunger, wolves, and shadowmen.

She’s barely alive when she stumbles out of the Wild and into Turia, but vows to find a way to protect others from the mage’s destruction. She befriends the prince she was supposed to wed and works her way into Turia’s palace. But with war threatening at every border and the murder of her family fresh in her mind, she can’t reveal her identity to anyone, including the prince. Not if Jennesara, with her forbidden magic, hopes to defeat the mage before he becomes unstoppable and destroys all the kingdoms on the Plateau. 

The Rating:

At first, I was a little bit hesitant about Shielded. It has nothing to do with the book per se but rather it’s because I read so many novels just like it recently. Princess? Discovers some of her magical abilities? Kingdoms at war? Fighting? Conspiracies?
Does that sound familiar to you?

However, I quickly took a liking to the concept of magic Flanders presents here. Especially the heroine’s journey on her own (that goes on for quite a bit) was rather interesting! The world Flanders created certainly keeps you on your toes. Just about anything could happen and things are afoot here…

So, after some initial difficulties, I quite liked the novel. Honestly, the only complaint I have (and it’s one I mentioned about 795 times before) is that I could have done without the love story. No spoilers (so no details!) but why can’t there be just one damn book without one? Seriously, there are so many more important things going on in the story, I really couldn’t care less about some romance arc. Use those words for more world-building, give me more history, give me more info about the magic system!

That being said, I enjoyed just about everything else! The fight-scenes are well-written and thrilling. The magic system is intriguing and Flanders gives us just enough info to understand what’s going on but keeps us longing for more. I really hope that in the next book we’ll learn a lot more on that front.

I do have a question or two in the logic department, but those are just little things, so I’m prepared to overlook it. There are no major plot or logic holes, so we’re good.

To be honest, I still think I would have loved this more had I not already read so many books like this. There is a point where it feels like there is one blueprint that every author seems to be working off. There is nothing wrong with this novel. It’s well written, the pacing is great, the world-building intriguing, the characters are relatable. If everything I wrote above is your cup of tea, I can guarantee you’ll 100% love this book! I just need a little break and read something completely different. 🙈

Did you read this book? Let me know in the comments what you think!

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