Review: The Bridge Kingdom

Review: The Bridge KingdomThe Bridge Kingdom (The Bridge Kingdom, #1) by Danielle L. Jensen
Series: The Bridge Kingdom #1
Published by Context Literary Agency on August 13, 2019
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 354
Goodreads
four-half-stars

FINAL DECISION: Great world building, political espionage, combined with a strong woman lead and romance, I enjoyed this book, but it is only part of the story, so I’m withholding final judgment until I see what happens next.

THE STORY: Lara is a princess trained from childhood to be a spy and ultimate destroyer of the Bridge Kingdom. Sent in marriage by her father to the King of the Bridge Kingdom under the pretense of a peace agreement, Lara is determined to complete her mission. In the Bridge Kingdom, however, Lara meets her new husband Aren. Her experiences eventually make her question what is the truth in the conflict and where her ultimate loyalty should reside.

OPINION: I read this book because it came as part of a book of the month package I get. I didn’t expect much, but ended up really enjoying it. I thought the strongest points were Lara’s character and the intrigue and mystery over what is happening with the Bridge Kingdom.

Lara is both devious and desperate. Her loyalties are unclear from the start and she is challenged by her experience with Aren in the Bridge Kingdom.  I liked her strength and her cleverness and her willingness to challenge her own views. She makes some mistakes but she also learns.

The book has great world building, but I thought the questions about who is lying in the story was the highlight. I wanted to know what the truth was.

The relationship of Lara and Aren was also quite good as the romance was more slow burn than I expected. The romance is a heavy element here which makes me happy, but might be unexpected for those looking for a pure fantasy novel.

WORTH MENTIONING: This book ends on a cliffhanger. I’m rating this book a little lower because of that because I’ve been burnt by bad sequels of fantastic good books quite a few times.

CONNECTED BOOKS: THE BRIDGE KINGDOM is the first book in the Bridge Kingdom series.

STAR RATING: I give this book 4.5 stars.

four-half-stars