I love Jeffe Kennedy's Twelve Kingdoms series, but unfortunately the subject matter of this particular story, and the fact that it is not a fantasy romance but purely fantasy made it not to my taste. Therefore I am unable to give it a proper review. I prefer not to read stories that include abuse plotlines and had I realized what this would be about, I likely would not have picked it up. I'm sure for others who can handle the subject material, and for fans of the Twelve Kingdoms who are not looking for a romance, it will be a fine read. The author excels at the worldbuilding and I'm sorry to have to pass here.

Not sure what to expect, I picked this book up because I enjoy being surprised by Ms. Kennedy. Surprise I was. This is well written and I rated it 3 star only because of my ill at ease with what happened. This world is loosely connected to the twelve kingdoms. It borrows the Arabic culture with women sheltered and bred for the amusement of men. This is a darker story with non consensual undertones. How a patriarchal society uses it women a pawns, whipping boys and property to trade.

The world building is very well done. I could see the places and I could almost smell the spices as Ms. Kennedy describes this exotic world. From a character building, it was well done with Jenna and her beloved brothers and sisters. The human interaction between these characters is what pulled me into the story and kept me reading, even if I was ill at ease.

Why did I have a problem? It's because the sexual tortures in this story are obviously sadistic and of non-consent. When Jenna breaks down and can't handle the sexual sadism, it breaks my heart because this very sheltered girl who is a starry eyed virgin is sacrificed in a most cruel way - by the people who supposedly love her and are supposed to protect her. And only one is brave or foolish enough to try and save her.

Here's my dilemma. The torture scenes are few and far between. It is also painting a sexual sadist in a very bad light. As it should because this male is doing it for all the wrong reasons. This is a heinous act and should be condemned. This story is not a rape fantasy non-con so this shouldn't generate any sexual arousal. The problem is, this is not a romance story nor is it a BDSM non con fantasy and using this sadistic sexuality is a pet peeve of mine. Too easy to believe this is something those in the kink world believe in and do. I know Ms. Kennedy does not intend it this way and I know this has nothing to do with BDSM. For a fantasy world including scenes which are actually not too bad because there is a bit of magic to fix it, I'm mixed. Because what was perpetrated upon Jenna isn't really that bad if it is consensual. And it is kind of arousing for those of us who are masochists. Sexual sadism aside, this backstory and journey Jenna goes through is interesting even if it moves slowly. This is story that may be a bit hard to get into at first, but once a reader dives in, it has to be finished because I wonder what will happen. And then I want to read the books following!

Recommended for high fantasy readers who enjoy a character progression tale.

Prisoner of the Crown is a fantasy read. The first 1/3 of the book was very slow with too much backstory. There also doesn't seem to be a cohesive feel to the setting—the seraglio and other Middle Eastern ideas mixed with Nordic ice—so I was unable to suspend disbelief. Added to that the odd assemblage of names like Jenna, Brian, Ada, and Nordic names also jerked me out of the story frequently.

I picked up this book purely based on the description, not having read anything by the author before or realizing that this was an offshoot of another series. While neither of these things proved to be too great of an obstacle when jumping into this book, I would warn future readers to pay a bit more attention to that book description than I did: monster husband and horrors of life, indeed. It was a bit more and also less than what I was expecting.

Jenna’s childhood was idyllic, but the future before her is anything but. She’s always known what her life’s purpose was, to be the first wife of a powerful husband whom she is meant to serve and provide children. But when she learns that her to-be-husband is a man with a reputation for having his young wives die off on him, she suddenly begins to see this role in a new light. Trained to please, Jenna is unprepared in every way to deal with her new reality, but knows that she must now find an inner strength she didn’t know she possessed to save herself and potentially much more than that.

For the positives, I liked Jenna, overall, as a character. Much of the book is devoted to her slow realization of what her life will be like going forward and what it means to have power in this world. Given the nature of her childhood, its limitations and the forced ignorance that was thrust upon her, Jenna is often naive and frightened, sometimes making very poor decisions. But as the story is told from the perspective of some future Jenna who is recounting her tale, these bouts of ridiculous moments are clearly set up to provide a point of change: she must start out truly struggling to learn to gather what power she can in this world. That doesn’t mean that actually reading through some of these aspects of her character change weren’t a bit cringe-worthy, but I appreciated the reality added to the story that Jenna wouldn’t simply suddenly become POWERFUL WOMAN after what her childhood had been.

That said, while much attention was given to this slow-burn characterization on Jenna’s part, I had troubles with the story as far as world-building and pacing goes. It was one of those strange mixes of a book where the story was too short to truly feel as if the world-building had been flushed out but also read incredibly slowly. Perhaps this world-building wouldn’t have been an issue had I read the other series, but a general criticism for books like this is that they should still be capable of supporting their world on their own, unreliant on a reader’s knowledge of a different series. As for the pacing, it wasn’t until almost 75% of the way through the book before I felt like the action was really beginning to pick up.

And while I liked the slow development of Jenna’s character over that first 75% of the book, I also very much struggled with the subject matter. This book doesn’t shy away from the monstrosity that is Jenna’s husband and the humiliation and objectification that Jenna undergoes at his hands. This is where my biggest issue with the book lay. I wasn’t quite clear on what the author was trying to do with this story. Obviously some level of criticism about the violent patriarchy that makes up this world was present, but it also felt almost a bit too close to torture porn at other time for any seriousness of its message to really get through. The tone was a bit strange, with a fantasy romp somehow being tied into a Margret Atwood-type dystopia ala “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Personally, for me, the violence and misogynism was a bit too much and started to feel as if it was being sensationalized.

I’m still curious about where Jenna’s story will go after this book, and have hopes that a sequel might not include as many cringe-worthy scenes. But I’m also not dying to get my hands on it. We’ll see how it goes, I guess. If you’ve read other books by this author, particularly the “Twelve Kingdoms” series, you might want to check this out, but I also give a strong warning to the casual reader about the darkness that this includes and the fact that it was a bit of a slower read.

Rating 5: Didn’t absolutely hate it, but made me incredibly uncomfortable at times and didn’t do enough to justify the use of that discomfort in a meaningful way.

Prisoner of the Crown is the first book in a new fantasy series by Jeffe Kennedy. While it is a spin-off of her Twelve Kingdom series, I had no trouble with the dynamics in this new series.

I really had to take a bit of time to put my thoughts together after reading Prisoner of the Crown. Ms. Kennedy completely and totally pulled me into this story, even though it did start off a bit slow. I found myself enchanted by Jenna and her sisters and yet horrified by the way they really were kept in a gilded cage as they grew up. Yes they had all the luxuries of royals, but no freedom what so ever.

Each of the Imperial Princesses is being raised to marry to someone who will help her father's reign continue. Jenna is the oldest of the three sisters we meet in Prisoner of the Crown, and I think her mother did her best to prepare Jenna for what was coming. Not that her mother really had anything resembling maternal instincts. I swear the only reason Jenna was even marginally prepared for the man her father picked was because her mother had been so very horrible to her much of her childhood. Yes she taught her the power of a woman, but the way she did it was barbaric at times.

I honestly wasn't prepared for the brutality from Jenna's husband. I knew he wasn't a nice person, but I honestly didn't expect him to as much of a beast as he ended up being. I honestly couldn't believe her father would allow her to be given to such a man even for political gain. While I wasn't a fan of Jenna's mother, her training did give Jenna the knowledge she needed about power to help get her make the best decisions when it came to protecting herself and removing herself from her horrible situation.

Prisoner of the Crown was a good start to the new fantasy series. While incredibly hard to read at times, I found myself completely drawn into the story and couldn't stop reading. I can't wait to see where Ms. Kennedy takes us with this series of books.


Rating: 4 Stars (B)

In her new fantasy series, the author gives us the story of the Princess Jenna who had such a profound effect on Harlan (Talon Of The Hawk) and Kral (Edge Of The Blade). Finally we have the answers that have intrigued readers about Harlan's blood oath (Talon of the Hawk) and Kral's regret and anguish (Edge of the Blade) and the security the two princesses in the seraglio enjoy purchased with Jenna's blood and tears. This story also give us some other interesting connections that were unexpected which I will leave to be discovered by readers.

Jenna was brought up in a gilded cage in the seraglio under the strict and sometime scary tutelage of her mother who impressed upon her the need for secrecy upon the pain of death. She anticipated her marriage with anticipation and dreamed off romance only to find herself married to a man so evil that a kind wedding guest offered her escape during the marriage ceremonies. After her marriage night when the veils were torn from her innocent eyes she demanded and won for her sisters a choice in their own marriages.
Stoned on narcotics supplied by her husband and tortured within an inch of her life she exists until she is able to fool the imperial guards and escapes on a ship that sails before the harbor is shut down. Alone, afraid, unaware of life she's rescued by a priestess of Daru and reinvents herself as a priestess who has taken a vow of silence and abstinence. She sets sail again fleeing from the Dasnarian force that is looking for her, this time a wiser more worldly passenger.
The story ends abruptly on a cliff hanger to be continued. If I have a complaint it is that it takes so long for the entire story to be revealed.

Prisoner of the Crown isn’t a romance but Kennedy does promise a happy ever after at the end of the series. Even though you know it will end happy, it’s the journey that makes reading worth it and Jenna’s story starts off with an agonizing scream.

If you are familiar with Kennedy’s Twelve Kingdoms books you will recognize Jenna’s brothers, Harlan and Kral. It is interesting to see them as young boys and how their early lives, and the life of their sister, formed the men they will become. If you haven’t picked up any of Kennedy’s fantasy romance books, you should because you’ll love them, but don’t worry about being lost in Prisoner of the Crown because the author introduces the world of Dasnaria from a completely new angle.

Jenna is a privileged princess but likable as you quickly see her steely spine under her mother’s tutorage. But the torturous lessons pale in comparison to what Jenna goes through once she is married. The abuse is dark, though not graphic. But be warned if you have emotional and/or physical abuse triggers.

Prisoner of the Crown is a slow build. Kennedy cements the world and gives us a clear picture of Jenna. The real action comes in the last quarter of the book and leaves you with a satisfied ending though eager to see what becomes of Jenna. A summary of my feelings for this book would be: the tip of an iceberg, dangerously sharp and yet fearsomely alluring because you know there is so much you can’t yet see.

I’m looking forward to book two!

Prisoner of the Crown is the first book in a new fantasy series by Jeffe Kennedy, which is either titled Chronicle of Dasnaria or The Lost Princess Chronicles... I'm seeing it as both, so I'm not sure which it is. I kinda like the latter best and feel it fits our protagonist best. Jeffe is branching out as this is straight fantasy (vs. fantasy romance), though it is connected to her prior fantasy romance series. As obtuse as I am, I didn't realize exactly HOW connected it was until I had read about 2/3 of the book!

Our heroine of this series is Jenna, Imperial Princess of Dasnaria. Jenna is the half-sister to Harlan (The Talon of the Hawk) and Kral (Edge of the Blade) and has lived her entire life in the seraglio below the Imperial Palace. The seraglio is like a harem, where the many wives of the emperor live and scheme, and raise their daughters to be pawns in political machinations. When Jenna is forced from her gilded cage, she is thrown into a harsh reality where she learns the cruel ways of men, her role as a pawn in a political game, and which family members she can trust.

This first installment is a coming of age, or coming to reality, for Jenna. While she learned harsh lessons that she thought prepared her for life beyond the seraglio, she quickly otherwise. Many of Jenna's lessons and experiences were hard to read, and may serve as a trigger for some people. However Jenna's plight forged a strong emotional connection with the reader, and drew me into the story. As I said above, I was so wrapped up in Jenna that I didn't realize exactly who she was until I was well into the book. I enjoyed following her path, and am very excited to see where the series goes from here. I have a feeling she is going to become a favorite heroine as the series progresses.

For those that have read The Twelve Kingdoms and Uncharted Realms series, this book takes place prior to those stories. It was interesting to peek into the early lives of Harlan and Kral... and once I realized who they were, I almost went back and started the story over from the beginning just so I could soak in the info with new eyes. I was a fan of both of these heroes in their own respective books... so I was caught off guard by how much I didn't like Kral in his formative years. Reading this story definitely made me nostalgic - I wish I had time to go back and re-read the brothers' books to see what new tidbits I could pick out.

If you are a fantasy fan, you can't go wrong with Jeffe Kennedy.

I really like everything Jeffe Kennedy writes. This one was also very good but the abuse the main character suffers is really painful to read. I'm looking forward to the next book in this series to see how the main character develops and strengthens as her life moves on.

This book comes with ALL the trigger warnings. Jenna’s story is not for the faint of heart, should not be read with the lights off, and probably should not be read just before bedtime. She has to survive a nightmare before she begins to step into the light, and reading her travails just before one’s own bedtime is likely to result in some epic nightmares.

I didn’t even risk it.

What keeps the first two thirds of this story from merely being page after page of increasing, unrelieved terror is that the story is narrated in the first-person, from the perspective of an older, wiser and cannier Jenna. A Jenna who clearly survived all of the terrible abuse she suffered in the first two thirds of the book.

It’s not just that the women of the imperial seraglio in Dasnaria are kept in a prison. Albeit a gilded, perfumed prison with regular, excellent meals as well plenty of companionship and entertainment. They are pampered pets who are raised not to even be aware that they are pets and playthings and not even considered exactly people.

It’s that Jenna is first abused by her own mother, who whips her, poisons her and punishes her to train her to survive what the outside world will do to her. And who is using Jenna to further her own ends and extend her own power.

Then Jenna is married off in a strategic alliance to a man who has murdered his four previous wives – because they couldn’t survive his constant abuse. Jenna’s parents, her father the emperor and her mother the empress, know that King Rodolf is a man who is only sexually aroused by beating women into terrified submission. All the emperor asks is that Jenna’s new husband refrain from damaging her face when he can see it.

The only “help” she gets from her mother is a servant who will provide her with enough drugs to keep the pain and terror at bay.

Jenna’s life is hard to bear, and difficult to read about. Just as she has reached the point where a quick death seems like her best option, her brother opens the bars of her cage, and sets her on the journey to freedom.

We’ve met her brother Harlan before in the Twelve Kingdoms series, of which The Chronicles of Dasnaria is an offshoot. A grown-up Harlan, exiled from his father’s kingdom of Dasnaria, becomes the consort of Princess Ursula in the absolutely marvelous The Talon of the Hawk.

Jenna’s rescue is clearly the first step in Harlan’s journey to become the man worthy of the Crown Princess of the Twelve Kingdoms. But the hero of Prisoner of the Crown is clearly the young, deluded, beaten, abused but ultimately unbroken Jenna.

Escape Rating B+: This is a hard book to rate, because Jenna’s journey from pampered child to determined woman take her through one dark place after another. We feel for her, we want better for her, but we spend most of the book terrified that she isn’t going to get anything approaching that better.

Although Harlan certainly provides a big assist, in the end, Jenna rescues herself, and that’s important for her story and her journey. She begins the book as a child who does not look beyond her cage, and ends by taking her life into her own hands and breaking free.

What makes the story so difficult to bear is that we see the cage tighten around her for so much of the book. Her hard-won freedom barely has time to register before the book ends – while clearly the story does not. She has taken just the first few steps on a journey that is far from over, but readers will have to wait until September to see how Jenna handles and protects her dearly-bought freedom. It’s going to be an exasperating wait.

But for those who have not read the previous series, The Twelve Kingdoms and its followup The Uncharted Realms, this is not a bad place to start as all of the action in this story takes place before The Mark of the Tala, the first book in the Twelve Kingdoms opens. We do meet both Harlan, the hero of The Talon of the Hawk, and Kral, the hero of The Edge of the Blade, as young men. In Harlan’s case, very, very young as he’s only 14 in Prisoner of the Crown. Prisoner, at least, presupposes little previous knowledge of this world. However, I suspect that the future books in the Dasnaria series are going to edge closer to the time period of The Twelve Kingdoms. If you get caught up in Jenna’s journey, there’s plenty of time to catch up with the rest of this world before the next book.

Jenna’s journey continues in Exile of the Seas. And I can’t wait to continue it with her.

An easy read and a long “prologue”.

I still don't know how to categorize this meaning is it romance fantasy or historical romance? As for the former, it lacks "magic" and other elements to qualify it as such, it's not necessarily historical romance either because it takes place in a fictional place. I personally was thinking it's similar to the Naamah Trilogy by Jacqueline Carey.

Anyway, I felt like this first installment is nothing but a prologue. I do appreciate the world building and character introduction but it lingered too much there and didn't really push the plot towards something "more" than the main character getting married to an abuser and stepping out of the palace for the first time. I do admit that there's some emotional tug by the Princess' plight, she was essentially a prisoner of her palace since birth, brought up with every conceivable comfort imaginable but she's an illiterate in every sense of the world. For example, there's a certain fascination with elephants and haven't seen how blue the sky is or have seen her empire's landscape until she journeyed to her husband's territory only to be held like a glorified prisoner again.

I am curious as to where JKennedy is going to take us with this series. I hope the next installment has more action, more tension, more of everything!

PRISONER OF THE CROWN surprised me. I wasn't 100% into it when I started reading, but it didn't take long to fall into the world and characters.

PRISONER OF THE CROWN is book one in the new The Chronicles of Dasnaria series, but book seven in The Twelve Kingdoms Complete Universe. I haven't read any of the books in this universe yet and I didn't feel lost one bit.

There is nothing romantic in PRISONER OF THE CROWN. In fact the relationship parts are very dark and emotionally hard to read. I was horrified at many points while reading, but there was no way I could have put the book down. I NEEDED to know what would happen after all was said and done.

The world was very strong. I felt like I was there seeing—and feeling— everything through Jenna's eyes. The pace in the beginning was very slow, but did pick up towards the middle of the book.

The ending gave me some hope that the next book might be so dark and horrifying. Jenna changed and grew a lot in PRISONER OF THE CROWN and I look forward to seeing what she does next. EXILE OF THE SEAS is set to release September 4, 2018.

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

It is no secret, I’m a huge fan of Jeffe Kennedy’s The Twelve Kingdoms series. I’ve been reading it since I met her at RT15 in Dallas. Back then, I got a copy of the second book in the series, The Tears of the Rose. The third book, The Talon of the Hawk, wasn’t even out yet. Now, we have three The Twelve Kingdoms books, three more of The Uncharted Realms books (which follows the same characters in chronological time.

Now, we have The Chronicles of Dasnaria, which starts before any of these books. We actually see Kral (hero in The Edge of the Blade) and Harlan (hero in The Talon of the Hawk) as children back in their home realm of Dasnaria. We also get to meet their brothers and sisters and even mothers and father.

We learned early that Dasnaria isn’t a great place for women. Harlan had little good to say about it in book three. We even get to see some of it in Kral’s book. But that doesn’t prepare you for what you see in this book. Dasnaria, women really have little rights. We start with Jenna and all her brothers and sisters living in the seraglio, a paradise for the women deep within the palace. There are lagoons and the temperatures are always warm and comfortable. In the Imperial Palace seraglio, there are no windows (though some of the other castles do have them). Jenna has never seen the sky or the sun.

When her brothers come of age (I think it was around seven), they leave the seraglio and don’t return, as men aren’t allowed, only young boys and females of all ages. Jenna doesn’t see her brothers again until she is to attend an betrothal party where she is to meet her husband.

Jenna’s life was pretty pampered as a child. She was the first daughter of the first wife, which basically put her above everyone in the seraglio except her mother, the first wife. She could even push over the second and third wife. Once she’s married to her fiance, that all changes. She now has to answer to him. Plus she will have to leave the only home she’s ever known, to live with him in his kingdom that is part of her father’s empire.

I think most fans of The Twelve Kingdoms World (including The Uncharted Realms)will enjoy this new series. However, there are some that may not. The Twelve Kingdoms is fantasy romance. There is a couple that will get their happily ever after in each book. That is not the case here. Knowing Jeffe Kennedy, there will be a happily ever after at some point for Jenna, but that doesn’t happen in this book. While The Twelve Kingdoms isn’t all hearts and flowers, there are some dark moments in the series, it does end happy for each couple. I think if people can deal with the dark side of this series, they will be greatly rewarded in the end. I also want to point out that Ms. Kennedy did a great job of showing us the darkness of this world without getting into the gruesome details. I think that will also help people who maybe wouldn’t enjoy the darker side of this series. I really hope that fans of The Twelve Kingdoms will give this series a try.

You can read this book if you haven’t read anything from The Twelve Kingdoms world. If you haven’t read Jeffe Kennedy, she writes really great fantasy stories. Her characters are great. You will find yourself really rooting for her characters.

Book Review
Title: Prisoner of the Crown
Author: Jeffe Kennedy
Genre: YA/Historical/Fantasy
Rating: *****
Review: The opening to Prisoner of the Crown was, we are introduced to Princess Jenna who is a princess of Dasnaria, along with her many brothers and sisters from the 3 main wives of the Emperor. We learn about her life and the firstborn from the first wife, and how she will be the one to return her ancestors to glory. She also begins to learn some painful lessons about the place of women in their society, but her mothers, is lying to her telling her she can be the most powerful women in the empire which might be right, but she fails to mention that she will always be beneath a man, but her mother begins teaching her the things she is going to have to know to succeed in the world but none of thing includes anything useful like politics or history.
We then jump forwards to when Jenna is fifteen and is set to find out who he future husband is going to but despite all her mother’s grooming Jenna has retained her kind heart and still cares for her siblings. As she is about to meet her brothers for the first time in years and meet her husband for the first time Jenna is understandably nervous. However, she is also aware of some ways of the world from her mother and understands the parade she is about to become a part in. As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, she meets her father for the first time and her husband to be; Rodolf, ruler of the kingdom of Arynherk. Jenna soon learns that her husband to be is nothing like she imagined, he is well beyond her years and through her brothers she learns his nickname is Bloody Rodolf, as all four of his other wives died suspiciously in their twenties, but they know this won’t happen to Jenna as she is the firstborn daughter of the Emperor and Rodolf seems desperate for an heir, but I can sense that this marriage is going to be much harder for Jenna than her mother has made it seems.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, Jenna is beginning to become friends with Princess Ada and learns of the different ways of life for wives outside of her home, where wives share their husband’s beds during the nights and so many other things which seems infinitely strange to Jenna. What disturbs her the most is when Ada offers to rescue her from this marriage considering Rodolf’s history with wives and Jenna doesn’t understand what she is beginning offered or what she could be walking into, she only knows how to obey the will of her mother.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, not a lot has happened, but I have a feeling that this second half will be more interesting that the first. And it definitely did, it is on her wedding night that Jenna truly learns what it means to be a woman after suffering the brutality of her husband and not being able to do a thing about it and she only lasts for days of this treatment before she tries to run and ends up being delivered there bound and gagged. The only protect her father affords her is that her husband won’t mark her face, but he seems like a sadist to me getting off on basically beating his young, naïve wife.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, Jenna is beginning to realise what Ada meant when she asks if she needed to be rescued and, in some sense, regrets not taking her up on the offer when it was presented. As she leaves her home for the prison she is going to, she leaves knowing she has freed her sisters, through careful and clever bargaining the Emperor agreed that the sisters can marry but only if they choose to but after seeing the way Jenna is treated they don’t want to and agree to stay at the palace and wait for Jenna to return and if she does they will free her of her prison. Jenna knows she will never be able to return and doesn’t plan to give Rodolf children either as she will lose her sons to her husband and she would rather kill her daughters than send them to the fate she is now being forced to endure. When her brother appears in her escort to her new home, she is worried that her husband will kill him if he suspects Harlan of causing trouble and Jenna begs him to return home, which he refuses until he has found a way to free her of the beast she is wed to.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, the long journey to Rodolf’s palace is taking its toll on Jenna especially with his cruel treatment but Harlan is working on a plan to free her and Petra is helping her keep the pain at bay with the use of drink and drugs to numb Jenna to the world. More than once Jenna contemplates getting Rodolf to kill her or killing herself rather than live her whole life like this and it is made even worse when she learns that most men aren’t like Rodolf and that she was the sacrifice for an alliance which Rodolf doesn’t plan to honour anyway but being a woman, she doesn’t have any sway in this world of men. The night they actually reach the palace Harlan has a plan for them to escape and they do but now the struggle is getting far enough away before they can be caught and killed. However, Jenna is injured, and bleeding and it needs to be taken care of before they can go any further as they can move quicker without stopping.
When they reach the ocean city they need to find a way to remove her wedding bracelets chained to her arm, but it is too risky, but they do cut her hair, so she doesn’t stand out as much, but getting aboard is going to be hard as women travelling aboard is rare and it might give Rodolf the hints he needs to capture Jenna once more. In the end, despite being caught by the imperial guards Jenna manages to get passage aboard to a place ruled by a Queen where she might be able to get some help and be able one day to return to her homeland free of the demon that haunts her. I will definitely be reading the sequel as soon as I can, and I highly recommend it.

PRISONER OF THE CROWN is book 1 in the Chronicles of Dasnaria world. This series is part of the overarching Twelve Kingdoms world. The Twelve Kingdoms books so far have been romances, although in some cases it has taken all of a particular trilogy for a couple to reach their Happily Ever After. Let the reader be aware, however, that Jeffe's new high fantasy book is not romantic. The author hints that there will probably be an HEA by the end of book three, but let me tell you, PRISONER OF THE CROWN is the farthest thing from a romance. I'll admit that I did not pay super close attention to Kennedy's pre-release blog posts, so the utter darkness of this story took me aback.

The author says on her blog, "[Jenna's] husband is a monster. He's not an alphahole, not a hero-in-disguise, not a villain transformed and redeeemed. This is Jenna's story and no romance AT ALL in this first book." Yup, yup, and double yup. This book may keep you up at night with trepidation.

Imperial Princess Jenna was raised in opulence, every whim catered to, and every unimportant desire met instantly. She's been raised in a stifling seraglio, never even seeing the sky or a man for her whole life. Her awful mother, the First Wife of the emperor, has twisted Jenna's upbringing to teach her how to rule via guile and treachery in the corrupt world of the palace seraglio. To survive, Jenna has learned to hide her hate and despair away, until she learns that her brutal dictator of a father has betrothed her to a true psychopath. Sheesh, every individual of any power that Jenna interacts with is horrible. My heart aches for her.

Jenna's struggle to exist as a free individual is agonizingly fraught. The stakes are so high, and Jenna seems to be barely hanging on by her fingertips. I spent a lot of time reading with bated breath as scenes played out! I wondered how in the world Jenna's agony would be resolved by the end of this book, until I reached the last page and discovered there is no resolution in PRISONER OF THE CROWN. Now we have to wait for September 4th for Exile of the Seas, book 2 in the trilogy. Kennedy's PRISONER OF THE CROWN is a dark and grim fantasy detailing the degradation and despair of royal princess, although I'm confident the end result will be worth the agony of the journey.

Let me start by saying what a huge fan I have been of the 12 Kingdoms series. When I heard the next book would feature a Desnarian princess, I figured this was Jenna’s story and I was pretty excited. What I didn’t expect was a set-up for a trilogy on her story. (For fans of the series, remember, Jenna was the older sister who Harlan helped escape from an abusive husband. It was quite the mystery and now we are finally learning what happened.)

Here’s the thing, though. This is not a romance. This is the story of Jenna’s life leading up to the point in which her infamous escape took place. We have seen Desnarian culture before. It is highly unfavorable to women and that is in full force here. Jenna, just like every other woman, is a commodity. She has no rights. She is not allowed any knowledge or opinions of her own. And when faced with unimaginable cruelty, there is nothing she can do but take it.

The book is very well written, which is a good and a bad thing. Good, because I was completely engrossed in the story, but bad because I was horrified and it made my heart hurt. The abuse is horrific. And while the author does not go into gratuitous detail, what is on page is enough to make you want to look away. True enough, there were difficult portions in some of the other (12 Kingdoms) books, especially in Ursula’s story. But this is an entirely different level.

As always, the world building is fantastic and immersive. It’s just that the world is awful. I loved seeing young Harlan and young Kral. And, of course, the sisters we met in Kral’s book. And the ending is like a warm light at the end of a very very dark tunnel.

It is a difficult journey, but an important one. The character development for Jenna was very well done. And, for sure, I will be back for the next book to see the next leg of her journey. Just be warned, there is a lot of darkness here. And again, I cannot stress this enough, no romance. Maybe, hopefully, somewhere in the trilogy, Jenna will meet a man that teaches her the other side of a relationship. One that is about caring and loving instead of causing pain and misery.

This one is worth reading, just know what you’re getting into before you start.

Rating: B

Jeffe Kennedy offers an exciting new look at the world she created in her Twelve Kingdoms and Uncharted Realms series with Prisoner of the Crown. The opening tale in the trilogy about the lost princess of Dasnaria, this is one of the best books in this fantasy saga. It is a standalone novel, so you don’t have to read the other books to enjoy this one.

On the surface, Imperial Princess Jenna, daughter of the Emperor of Dasnaria, has an opulent, pampered life. In the seraglio, her every desire is met instantly by a servant, her every need taken care of. Look closer, though, and you will see a woman trained in the arts of pain, poison and secrets. Jenna is not simply a pretty ornament meant to be a powerful man’s bride; she is a cleverly disguised dagger her mother intends to aim straight at the heart of the Emperor’s power. Or so Jenna has been raised to believe

When Jenna’s betrothal day finally comes, she walks into the wider world of the grand palace with wonder and confidence. She is aware of her own beauty and grace, and is certain her mother’s machinations have borne fruit and will give her the husband of their dreams. When she meets the old, rather repugnant king she is to wed, Jenna is disheartened. She has been trained in the arts of pleasing a man and knows just what she’ll have to do with this person who so repulses her. Her mother assures her this is all necessary to her grand plan to place Jenna’s brother – the second born son – on the throne. Jenna resigns herself to her marriage and enters her bridal bower determined to please. She leaves it broken, bloodied, bruised and horrified.

Her husband gets off on pain. He can only take her after inflicting blows, bruises, pinches and degradations which make the beatings Jenna took at her mother’s hand seem like child’s play. Each day Jenna must be drugged in order to manage her physical agony. And this is only the honeymoon phase, while she is still within her father’s palace! Fearing she is headed to her death when she begins the journey to her new home, she finds instead an unlikely ally in her young half-brother Harlan and, with his help, she discovers the dream of an unhoped-for freedom.

Readers of Ms. Kennedy’s previous two series will recognize many of the players in this narrative. Harlan and Jenna’s brother Kral are both heroes from earlier novels and we met Jenna’s sisters in a previous story as well. However, since the focus of this book is on Jenna, a character whom we have only ever heard about, and the story takes place in Dasnaria, which we have only briefly visited before, this book is easy to read as a standalone. Since it contains prequel information only, it also won’t spoil the other tales in any way.

This is a fantasy novel, rather than fantasy romance as the other books are, so that is another difference. Here, the emphasis is on Jenna, her personal journey and examining the world in which she lives, and that works, because Jenna is the perfect character to grant us entry into this realm. She believes in the system and has rarely chafed under the limitations of a woman’s life in the seraglio. She accepts, almost from the beginning, not being allowed to read or write, learn math or geography or other things about the greater world. Sure, she has a child’s initial curiosity to see, learn and do more but she comes to be satisfied with the life she has been given and to acknowledge an alternative type of learning and route to power. She doesn’t waiver from that path till she is beaten off of it. I think I appreciated that so much because most people are average and accept society as it is. Such a character makes a good introduction to a new culture because they see both the good and bad in it.

Unlike Jenna, Harlan rejects the system they have been born in to; he has seen firsthand what it takes to gain power in Dasnaria and has determined he wants none of it. In this tale he is young and has not yet acquired the strength and skill to become a truly great warrior, but that is made up for by his compassion and courage. He is the only one to care and take action when Jenna is being beaten to death with her family’s full knowledge.

Ms. Kennedy always writes unique and interesting worlds, even if she never seems quite able to bring the full concept of them to fruition. In this case, Dasnaria, depicted as a seasonal kingdom with winters cold enough to freeze lakes, and buildings made of stone, would most likely resemble somewhere like Germany or one of the Nordic countries. Introducing the seraglio, a uniquely Middle Eastern and Mediterranean concept, is an original approach and provides an intriguing twist to a common fantasy construct.

The conflict portion of the tale revolves around Jenna’s desire to break free of a horrific situation. There are allusions to what is going on in the greater world – the schemes for the throne for example – but the focus stays on Jenna leaving behind all she ever knew just for the chance of survival. It’s a shortened version of what most abused women go through in gaining their freedom, but it is a powerful reminder that this type of situation exists the world over and deserves more attention than it gets.

So, the story is engaging, filled with great characters and has an interesting conflict. Had this been a fantasy romance with a great hero meeting Jenna along the way, it would have been a DIK. But this is a straight fantasy novel, and for that genre the story is a bit weak. The conflict isn’t epic, and the world building is incomplete and requires clarification to explain some of its more discordant elements such as sari-like costumes being worn in a deep, icy winter.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading Prisoner of the Crown as the start of a romance fantasy series and I think fans of Ms. Kennedy will feel likewise. While this book in no way provides any sort of pay off and is very clearly book one of a saga, I think it makes a nice edition to the author’s Twelve Kingdoms collection.

This book is short, it’s more a novella than a novel. The world building was good and it was easy to get wrapped up in Jenna’s plight. The issue I had was the majority felt like the start of a story. A lot of the story was spent on her life in the castle. We got it, she was a caged bird with a absentee father and ambitious and abusive mother. I was quickly bored on her sheltered life. I wish since so much time was spent at her home that some had been spent on her brothers. It would’ve been nice to see their point of view, wants, and needs. Especially since their actions became important at the end of the story.

I will read the next installment, because I do want to know what happens to Jenna and her family. Hopefully the pace picks up, and interesting things happen throughout the book not just at the end.

Prisoner of the Crown by Jeffe Kennedy
The Chronicles of Dasnaria #1

Not a huge fan of Sci-Fi but thought this book might be worth a try. I like to start series with the first book when I can so this was a good first book for me to try by an author I have never read before. I had mixed feelings about the book as half of it told about Princess Jenna’s life as a child and young woman and how she was prepared in a seraglio to later become a well-trained obedient wife. The second half of the story was what happened after she married, spoke of her seeing the outside for the first time as she traveled to her horrible husband’s castle, incorporated a younger brother’s tenacity in keeping her safe and ended with her seeking her freedom from the chains that bound her to her husband and kingdom.

I liked Jenna but found her a bit clueless and do hope she wises up. I am on the fence about this book. I liked parts of it, wished there had been less in the first half and more in the second half and would like to see where the author plans to go with this series. I should also say I am not a fan of abrupt endings and this had a bit of that feel to it.

Did I like this book? Yes & No
Would I read another book by this author? Perhaps, to see what happens next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books – Rebel Base Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

3-4 Stars

Jeffe Kennedy offers an exciting new look at the world she created in her Twelve Kingdoms and Uncharted Realms series with Prisoner of the Crown. The opening tale in the trilogy about the lost princess of Dasnaria, this is one of the best books in this fantasy saga. It is a standalone novel, so you don’t have to read the other books to enjoy this one.

On the surface, Imperial Princess Jenna, daughter of the Emperor of Dasnaria, has an opulent, pampered life.  In the seraglio, her every desire is met instantly by a servant, her every need taken care of. Look closer, though, and you will see a woman trained in the arts of pain, poison and secrets. Jenna is not simply a pretty ornament meant to be a powerful man’s bride; she is a cleverly disguised dagger her mother intends to aim straight at the heart of the Emperor’s power. Or so Jenna has been raised to believe

When Jenna’s betrothal day finally comes, she walks into the wider world of the grand palace with wonder and confidence. She is aware of her own beauty and grace, and is certain her mother’s machinations have borne fruit and will give her the husband of their dreams. When she meets the old, rather repugnant king she is to wed, Jenna is disheartened. She has been trained in the arts of pleasing a man and knows just what she’ll have to do with this person who so repulses her. Her mother assures her this is all necessary to her grand plan to place Jenna’s brother – the second born son – on the throne. Jenna resigns herself to her marriage and enters her bridal bower determined to please. She leaves it broken, bloodied, bruised and horrified.

Her husband gets off on pain. He can only take her after inflicting blows, bruises, pinches and degradations which make the beatings Jenna took at her mother’s hand seem like child’s play. Each day Jenna must be drugged in order to manage her physical agony. And this is only the honeymoon phase, while she is still within her father’s palace! Fearing she is headed to her death when she begins the journey to her new home, she finds instead an unlikely ally in her young half-brother Harlan and, with his help, she discovers the dream of an unhoped-for freedom.

Readers of Ms. Kennedy’s previous two series will recognize many of the players in this narrative. Harlan and Jenna’s brother Kral are both heroes from earlier novels and we met Jenna’s sisters in a previous story as well. However, since the focus of this book is on Jenna, a character whom we have only ever heard about, and the story takes place in Dasnaria, which we have only briefly visited before, this book is easy to read as a standalone. Since it contains prequel information only, it also won’t spoil the other tales in any way.

This is a fantasy novel, rather than fantasy romance as the other books are, so that is another difference. Here, the emphasis is on Jenna, her personal journey and examining the world in which she lives, and that works, because Jenna is the perfect character to grant us entry into this realm. She believes in the system and has rarely chafed under the limitations of a woman’s life in the seraglio. She accepts, almost from the beginning, not being allowed to read or write, learn math or geography or other things about the greater world. Sure, she has a child’s initial curiosity to see, learn and do more but she comes to be satisfied with the life she has been given and to acknowledge an alternative type of learning and route to power. She doesn’t waiver from that path till she is beaten off of it. I think I appreciated that so much because most people are average and accept society as it is. Such a character makes a good introduction to a new culture because they see both the good and bad in it.

Unlike Jenna, Harlan rejects the system they have been born in to; he has seen firsthand what it takes to gain power in Dasnaria and has determined he wants none of it. In this tale he is young and has not yet acquired the strength and skill to become a truly great warrior, but that is made up for by his compassion and courage. He is the only one to care and take action when Jenna is being beaten to death with her family’s full knowledge.

Ms. Kennedy always writes unique and interesting worlds, even if she never seems quite able to bring the full concept of them to fruition. In this case, Dasnaria, depicted as a seasonal kingdom with winters cold enough to freeze lakes, and buildings made of stone, would most likely resemble somewhere like Germany or one of the Nordic countries. Introducing the seraglio, a uniquely Middle Eastern and Mediterranean concept, is an original approach and provides an intriguing twist to a common fantasy construct.

The conflict portion of the tale revolves around Jenna’s desire to break free of a horrific situation. There are allusions to what is going on in the greater world – the schemes for the throne for example -  but the focus stays on Jenna leaving behind all she ever knew just for the chance of survival. It’s a shortened version of what most abused women go through in gaining their freedom, but it is a powerful reminder that this type of situation exists the world over and deserves more attention than it gets.

So, the story is engaging, filled with great characters and has an interesting conflict. Had this been a fantasy romance with a great hero meeting Jenna along the way, it would have been a DIK. But this is a straight fantasy novel, and for that genre the story is a bit weak. The conflict isn’t epic, and the world building is incomplete and requires clarification to explain some of its more discordant elements such as sari-like costumes being worn in a deep, icy winter.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading Prisoner of the Crown as the start of a romance fantasy series and I think fans of Ms. Kennedy will feel likewise. While this book in no way provides any sort of pay off and is very clearly book one of a saga, I think it makes a nice edition to the author’s Twelve Kingdoms collection.

Buy it at: Amazon/Barnes & Noble/iBooks/Kobo