DNF Review: Long May She Reign by Rhiannon Thomas

Release Date: February 21st, 2017
Read: August 12th-20th, 2018
Publisher: HarperTeen
Series: Standalone
Format: ARC, 422 pages
Source: Borrowed

Description from GoodReads:

   Freya was never meant be queen. Twenty third in line to the throne, she never dreamed of a life in the palace, and would much rather research in her laboratory than participate in the intrigues of court. However, when an extravagant banquet turns deadly and the king and those closest to him are poisoned, Freya suddenly finds herself on the throne.

   Freya may have escaped the massacre, but she is far from safe. The nobles don’t respect her, her councillors want to control her, and with the mystery of who killed the king still unsolved, Freya knows that a single mistake could cost her the kingdom – and her life.

   Freya is determined to survive, and that means uncovering the murderers herself. Until then, she can’t trust anyone. Not her advisors. Not the king’s dashing and enigmatic illegitimate son. Not even her own father, who always wanted the best for her, but also wanted more power for himself.

   As Freya’s enemies close in and her loyalties are tested, she must decide if she is ready to rule and, if so, how far she is willing to go to keep the crown. 

Review:

   Gather more evidence. In the name of science.
   Long May She Reign had a very interesting synopsis, something that I’d certainly read and just pick up on a whim if I encountered it at the library. Unfortunately, in this case, I found the story just wasn’t for me.

   The story was basically everything I’m not, and not in a good way. I’m not a huge fan of science, I’m not a huge fan of politics and I’m not a huge fan of slow starting books.

   The protagonist, Freya, is a scientist, and where I could see how her little experiments and excitement at anything science related could be interesting, I literally could have cared less in regards to it. Sure she seemed like an interesting character besides her love of science, but unfortunately her love of science overpowered anything else that could be interesting about her.

   Politics is a topic I discuss when I have to, it’s certainly not a topic for pleasure. Unlike other Fantasy stories that contain royalty and ruling a kingdom, Long May She Reign stood out in a different way then the rest of them do. Whereas most fantasy books slowly bypass any definite rules in regard to ruling, Long May She Reign depends on it for the story. Making it a politics based story.

  On top of the other two things, the story had a very slow start. One to the point where I was almost 100 pages in and couldn’t see myself finishing it.

   In the end, Long May She Reigns was certainly not for me. I’m sure that many others would enjoy if they like reading about anything science or politics related, but otherwise I couldn’t see myself picking it up again any time soon. 

Rating:

Favourite Quote:

“You have to weed the garden before you can plant flowers, must you not?”

Recommend to People Who Enjoy:

Young Adult, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Historical, Science, Royalty