Shielded

*I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Random House Children's Books and NetGalley*Princess Jennesara's kingdom of Hálendi is at war and is losing.Jenna longs to use her skills for fighting on the battlefield, but her father, the king, instead announces that Jenna is betrothed to a neighbouring kingdom's heir in exchange for help in the war.Jenna has long kept her magic - something that only the first born, Jenna's brother, should have - secret, and will have to continue to do so as she leaves her home and family behind to begin her new life in Turia where she will marry the prince.But when Jenna's procession is attacked, she manages to escape.Believed to be dead, Jenna must decide who she can trust as she searches for the truth and a way to save her kingdom.Shielded is pretty much your average YA fantasy, and while it didn't particularly stand out for me, I did enjoy it.Jenna was a likeable and relatable protagonist. I liked that she would rather wear trousers than a dress or skirt, and that she knew how to fight and was good at it. I thought Jenna was brave to leave her home to marry someone she'd never met. I liked the relationships she made throughout the book, especially the ones with other girls/young women.The magic was interesting and I enjoyed reading about it.The romance was quite sweet at times, but it felt a little rushed to me.The setting was interesting and I would like to find out more about the different kingdoms.The plot was intriguing and held my attention, but I wasn't on the edge of my seat. I did guess a few plot twists, but not all of them.The writing style was easy to follow and I read this quite quickly.I'm unsure if I will continue with this series or not.Overall, this was an enjoyable read that I would recommend.

I will be honest, straight up, the first few chapters did not interest me very much and I thought this was going to be a DNF!I still do not understand how she wasn’t able to cover up, smear with some sort of dye or color or even chop the strands of hair that would have given Jennesara away since we were led into this story with her hair and how it shows her secret, that she has magic. This is the main reason it took me so long to just get over it and be invested.I do not lie when I say I was so salty about this and how it made no sense to me, but suddenly, the story got so much better once it got moving.The key to getting this story interesting to me seemed to be getting us away from the castle and into this very spooky and ‘trippy’ forest. I loved those moments so much and really enjoyed the descriptions of the forest and Jennesara’s journey through it.It is in all my hopes that Jennesara and Enzo can be together, they certainly have an interesting relationship, given who he is and specifically who he is to her and the problems that arise due to the tragedies she’s faced. I definitely loved that Jennesara kept her identity a secret, a very smart move on her part and it made for a much more interesting story.Seriously, the chemistry though between Jennesara and Enzo is at like 110% and I am there for it.The ending presented some great trails to lead into book two and it was so good compared to the beginning. I wasn’t always happy with character interactions they could seem shallow or too easily done but I think that Flanders will lean and grow into those characters next book and I can’t wait for it!3.5 Cups of Coffee from me, a good and satisfying read!!

I’m afraid this was a bit of a disappointment for me. I had been really looking forward to reading it but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I had hoped.The plot was engaging enough even if very basic. The good old good vs evil shenanigans. The “plot twists” and betrayals were predictable and that kind of made it a lot less exciting.I did like Jenna, our MC. She’s likeable, very reliable, a skilled warrior and caring. Although an amazing warrior, she is not bloodthirsty or vengeful, which was super refreshing for me. She’s still badass in her own way.The romance, however, did nothing for me. It was an insta-love where things didn’t advance fast but rather out of nowhere. After a week Jenna was already feeling jealous of other girls and Enzo was avoiding picking a suitor.The pacing of the story was not consistent. The story dragged for a few chapters before a action-packed chapter came along and then back to the same slow pace where nothing happened. The chapters in which Jenna is lost in The Wild could have been more engaging. I enjoyed how realistic they felt but they suffered from the same problem the rest of the book did, inconsistent pacing.On the other hand, I thought the world building was interesting and so was the magic system. They intrigued me enough to keep me reading. The action scenes were also super exciting to read and well-written.Overall it was a mediocre ya fantasy that had lots of potential but fell flat. I’m not sure yet if I’ll continue with the series as sadly I don’t think I’m intrigued enough by the story to endure another book of the same.