by KayLynn Flanders
Series: Shielded #1
Published on July 21, 2020 by Delacorte Press
ISBN: 9780593118535
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 352
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
For fans of Sorcery of Thorns and Furyborn comes a thrilling new fantasy about a kingdom ravaged by war, and the princess who might be the key to saving not only those closest to her, but the kingdom itself, if she reveals the very secret that could destroy her.
The kingdom of Hálendi is in trouble. It's losing the war at its borders, and rumors of a new, deadlier threat on the horizon have surfaced. Princess Jennesara knows her skills on the battlefield would make her an asset and wants to help, but her father has other plans.
As the second-born heir to the throne, Jenna lacks the firstborn's--her brother's--magical abilities, so the king promises her hand in marriage to the prince of neighboring Turia in exchange for resources Hálendi needs. Jenna must leave behind everything she has ever known if she is to give her people a chance at peace.
Only, on the journey to reach her betrothed and new home, the royal caravan is ambushed, and Jenna realizes the rumors were wrong--the new threat is worse than anyone imagined. Now Jenna must decide if revealing a dangerous secret is worth the cost before it's too late--for her and for her entire kingdom.
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Typical YA Fantasy in the Best and Worst Ways
I’ll be adding Shielded to my list of YA fantasies that will appeal to readers and not to me (a list that seems to be growing at an increasing pace). While every author will put their own spin on the same idea, I’ve grown tired of the generic warrior princess forced into marriage to save her country, and the interesting magic in Shielded wasn’t enough to save it from that.
I found I couldn’t muster much of an interest in Jennesara. Her narrative style is fairly basic (not a criticism, just a fact), and she followed the template for YA heroine warrior princess. Something I’ve read a lot of but also not bad either. Really, I think my biggest struggle was what she chose to talk about. We’re told what she’s feeling before we have the chance to pull from her actions, and rather than a strong character voice we receive info dumps at random. In third person, I can almost accept those but in first person they often come off as clunky and awkward to read.
The rest of the cast wasn’t really memorable. I appreciated the fact that the prince didn’t follow the dark and mysterious route and was someone I could actually root for (even though the romance that popped up felt rushed and insta-lovey in the bad way, I definitely wanted to see that developed more to make it believable). The villains were very much one note and never contributed to the tension which flatlined this book even further.
The plot itself was nothing terribly exciting or new, and moved quickly to make this a quick read. Though I questioned a number of the plot points because the way they played out seemed more than convenient for Jenna’s story rather than challenging her or at least making me, as the reader, fear for her. The stakes were there but I wasn’t feeling the tension which, like I mentioned, was in part due to the villains holding no weight for me in the story but also just the way the story was told.
But Shielded is easy to get through and the sort of book you might pick up as a comfort read if you love YA fantasy. It hits those key elements I’ve come to know and (usually) love in the genre. Warrior princess, arranged marriage, a bit of romance, magic (that I wanted explained further because that was the interesting part!! but it wasn’t explained enough for me to get a good sense of the boundaries and rules), adventure time across the land, it’s all there. It just lacked that extra oompf, the thing that makes it stand out in the crowd. Which the magic system might have done if it was developed on the page further.
I definitely think this was a strong case of “it’s not you, it’s me.” For readers just getting into YA fantasy or those who love those recognizable elements, I would bet you’ll absolutely love Shielded. I was just looking for this book to take it up a notch and it didn’t.
About Austine
I'm a 20-something research proposal developer with a background in the life sciences and education. Reviewer of books since 2011, amateur photographer by day, and aspiring author by night. I believe animals (and books) are better than people.
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