The Queen's Choice by Cayla Kluver Review

I received a copy from Harlequin in exchange for an honest review. 

"Magic was seeping out of me, black and agonizing. I could see it drifting away. The magic that would let me pass the Road to reach home again. 

When sixteen-year-old Anya learns that her aunt, Queen of the Faerie Kingdom of Chrior, will soon die, her grief is equaled only by her despair for the future of the kingdom. Her young cousin, Illumina, is unfit to rule, and Anya is determined not to take up the queen's mantle herself. 

Convinced that the only solution is to find Prince Zabriel, who long ago disappeared into the human realm of Warckum, and persuade him to take up his rightful crown, Anya journeys into the Warckum Territory to bring him home. But her journey is doomed to be more harrowing than she ever could have imagined…."

Scores and scores of reviews ago, I reviewed another book by Cayla Kluver. I believe it to be called Legacy, starring a princess and an enemy. Many of you know that I was sorely disappointed in its debut. Legacy (you can read the review if you like) is one of the most disappointing books ever because the synopsis is so damn great. (Total letdown. I hate books like Legacy.)

The Queen's Choice is unfortunately as disappointing as Legacy. Without the romance (or the near absence of it) in Legacy, The Queen's Choice is still as exciting as Legacy.

When I say the Queen's Choice is as exciting as Legacy, I mean it is as boring as Legacy. They both hold the same level of excitement. Frankly, the four hundred pages of The Queen's Choice could have been cut down to three hundred and be more awesome than Legacy. There's too much distraction of events for the main characters that the book starts to get dry and boring.

I like what is going on in The Queen's Choice, but it gets too overwhelming quickly. All these events mimic real life (other than the fact that there's pirates, faeries, killers, murderers, royalty, etc.). It has the same pace of a busy/bad day in your life. And you can tell what the plot is going to be like from what I just said. (And endings are usually fast paced right? Yep, its really fast and crazy. There's lunatic in every page, especially the main character, who is perhaps the biggest lunatic of all. I think she's going crazy without her...whoops, almost spoiler alert!)

The Queen's Choice starts off promising. I like it, but I was suspicious of it because Legacy had a good start with the right foot. My suspicious thoughts are correct, it turns out. As the plot starts turning around in circles, my fears grew and I instantly knew. The ending left off with me bored out of my mind. My thoughts on the last few chapters: Yawn. Gasp. Gasp. Yawn. Uh-huh. Yawn. Yawn. <-Yup, I was bored and slightly interested in a certain part, but overall I wasn't entertained.

Even without romance, The Queen's Choice is actually decent and I'm delighted (for a little while) by this change. (I know I mention this earlier; I don't have Alzheimer's yet.) It's interesting. I wish Cayla Kluver explain the world of The Queen's Choice in more details because she didn't give a lot of details in the book. 

Anya is (a lunatic) fey. She longs to be free of duty and responsibility. She's a confusing character, complex yet not really hidden. She's intelligent and sometimes stupid in the most annoying way possible. I'm practically screaming "It's right there!" when she is having one of her problems.

Rating: Three out of Five

Legacy by Cayla Kluver Review

"I noticed his eyes. They were blue, sharp and intense. Despite the youthful glows of his suntanned face, his eyes were cold and unfriendly, suggesting he had great experience in the world and was now expecting the worst.

In her seventeenth year, Princess Alera of Hytanica faces one duty: to marry the man who will be king. But her father's choice of suitor fills her with despair.

When the palace guard captures and intruder— a boy her age with steel-blue eyes, hailing from her kingdom's greatest enemy— Alera is alarmed… and intrigued. But she could not have guessed that their clandestine meetings would unveil the dark legacy shadowing both their lands.

In this mystical world of court conspiracies and blood magic, loyalties will be tested. Courage won't be enough. And as the battle begins for everything Alera holds dear, love may be the downfall of a kingdom."

Legacy... Okay, in my opinion, Legacy is disappointing. I thought it would be more awesome, but no, it is not legendary or anything. The synopsis sounds so amazing and addicting. Alas, some synopsis, like this one here, are overselling the book. I won't recommended Legacy to anyone. If anyone is brave enough to try it, I wish you luck.

The plot is not so great, not so bad. It's a fairly normal plot with all its structures, beginnings, climax, and resolutions (sort of). The plot isn't the biggest concern however. It's the writing. The writing isn't too addicting or anything, but it easy to understand and to read. At least it makes sense, but it isn't easy to want to read, to finish,  and/or to adore Legacy. I do feel as if I'm reading Legacy, but I don't feel as if I actually visualizing Legacy. I feel as if I'm only reading the plot and only picking up the surface.

The chemistry is also a big no-no. Twilight's Bella and Edward has more chemistry between Alera and the oh so heart thumping mysterious boy. *Yawn* Oh, the toilet paper and poop joke also has more chemistry than Alera and the blue-eyed boy.

The ending! Cayla Kluver, the author, seriously has to step up her game. This type of ending is suppose to be dramatic and heartbreaking. Right, so can anyone tell me what kind of ending is? Oh wait, I already know that: A stupid ending with no sense of reality. Yeah, that sounds about right and I didn't even sugar coat the ending.

Character:

Alera is perhaps the most annoying character in history, if my older friends aren't right about Ana from the Fifty Shades Trilogy (haven't read it yet or else my mom will kill me). Alera is an idiot; I don't know how many times I have to yell "The answer is right in front of you, idiot" while waking up the sleeping neighbors and dogs. (Yeah, the neighbors had to spend the moment shushing the dogs up. Sorry, neighbors.) This girl is the most shallow, boring character I've ever read.

Other characters are as boring as above.

Rating: One out of Five.