I enjoyed this book. I would say it’s about 3.5 stars, but it wasn’t my favorite. It was an easy read, but rather predictable. It was pretty tropey too. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love a good trope, but there wasn’t anything that would leave me raving about this book.

This was a great read! Strong female character, descriptive and mind catching. This is the exact type of book I recommend to others when looking for something in this genre.

This was a great book. I loved the characters and the story. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure. Cant wait to read the next one.

Shielded by KayLynn Flanders is a highly entertaining fantasy debut. The characters and story overall are enjoyable. However, there are certain aspects of the book I disliked, such as the use of fake swear words. Despite this, I had a fun time reading it.

I really liked how fast pace this book was. The world building was pretty decent but I found that the characters fell flat. I just didn't enjoy this book as much as I could have.

I decided to DNF this one initially. I planned to give it another try, but every time I try to convince myself to pick it up again, I just can't bring myself to do it. It's a very stereotypical YA fantasy with nothing to help it stand out. The writing wasn't horrible, but it didn't pull me in either. The characters were bland and it just felt like nothing was happening.

Unfortunately, I think I've aged out of the YA genre. It's entirely my fault for not reading this book in time. I enjoyed the premise, and the writing was really good. I didn't connect as much with the characters or their decisions, but that is entirely on me. Overall it wasn't a bad book, it's just not for me anymore.

I loved the characters. They were so well written. The story line was awesome. The magic in the story was wonderful

I will not be giving feedback on this book as I couldn’t really get into it but I think others may enjoy it.

This was one of my most disappointing reads. I was really looking forward to this, but I feel like our main character was incredibly stupid. I didn't like that a strand of her hair meant that she would be stronger than her brother and that she had to hide it, it felt like the most useless reuse of the chosen one trope and I rolled my eyes every time it came up. Her father was the typical evil father character but I didn't care about him. If I wanted to read a character like that, I could select several that are much better written than this. No one in this novel felt reasonable, and I actually felt bad for those who lived under their rule because they are truly some of the stupidest people alive. I really wouldn't recommend this at all. If I saw someone holding this, I would ask them to put it down so they don't waste their time or money.

The summary drew me into this book. I thought "Wow Vikings with magic and a warring kingdom. Nothing can go wrong."

Somethings sorta went wrong. Pacing for one felt really slow and dragged out, I don't know why, and the characters just didn't feel...relatable. I didn't care for anyone throughout the book. I thought Jenna was alright, had a clear objective but her character execution still somehow fell flat for me. The storytelling from ber POV just gave me extended details about minute gestures that just didnt need to be expanded upon and her train of thought dragged in for paragraphs. It made skimming through this book easy to get the gist of her thoughts and that's never a good sign for me in a debut novel. I was already losing interest in the plot.

It was interesting to get the POV of the supposed rising evil in this novel but others than that, I didnt feel their supposed threat in the overall novel. They just felt like inserts for the sake of conflict where the opposing kingdom could've very well been the bigger conflict instead of making every character Jenna runs into so nice. This isnt the Wizard of Oz.

The romance was eh for me. I didnt see enough build up for it to be believable for me. And Enzo was an ok character. The plot didn't have me fully invested to immediately start the second book.

I loved everything about this book! The arranged marriage trope, the characters, the plot, the world building. It was all so well written and exciting! I am very much looking forward to book two, and seeing what’s next for Jennesara and Enzo.

A fantastic character driven fantasy with one of the coolest MCs I've read in a long time. I loved the world and the development in this book, and can't wait for the next installment,

I enjoyed this book! A fast-paced YA adventure story, "Shielded" follows Jenna as she attempts to stop a war and save her kingdom, putting the needs of her people above her own desires, and learning about a tangled past to perceive the threats of the present.

It did pull on some YA tropes but managed to avoid the pitfalls of the dystopian-fantasy-angst books that have been so popular lately. Flanders creates a fantasy world with the traditional fantasy Scandinavian-type Northerners and Mediterranean-inspired Southerners. Jenna has a little hint of "the Chosen" one as well as "I'm not like other girls," but Flanders doesn't overplay the tropes and instead creates a fierce, determined character who makes her own mistakes and takes responsibility for what she can. I appreciated that the character had to grow and not just talk the world into changing to accommodate her, a trend I've seen in YA fantasy and movies.

The magic is interesting, the dialog moves well, and the characters may be a little stock (gruff swordmaster who trained the princess? princess who would rather be a warrior? mildy-overprotective dad-king who has a gruff exterior and soft interior? check, check, and check), but Flanders manages to make these characters their own people. With solid twists and turns, intriguing red-herrings, and a strong first-person voice, Flanders has crafted a solid YA debut. I'll look forward to her future books!

Almost 5 stars! The only thing that set me half a star off was because the beginning was slow and a little repetitive. Other than that, I loved the characters Jenna, Enzo, Chiara, Mari and Ren!

DNF - Did not finish. I did not connect with the writing style or plot and will not be finishing this title. Thank you, NetGalley and Publisher for the early copy!

The story was interested, but the writing was a bit amateur. I could see the author developing into a compelling writer. I would definitely read a different book by this author, this one did not however work for me.

I was excited by the premise of the book, but it unfortunately didn't deliver for me. The beginning really knocked me off kilter, and it was SLOW. I had to fight to keep reading, and by the time the pace picked up, I'd already stopped caring. I ended up finishing it just to say I finished it. The ending was great, and the story definitely has potential! I may read the next book in the series. But the slow beginning really weighed down the novel, so if you can get past that, you could really enjoy it!

THIS IS SUCH A FAST PACED BOOK WITH AWESOME CHARACTERS! I LOVE OUR MC BUT I FIND THE ENDING TO BE A LITTLE ABRUPT AND THE PACING A LITTLE UNEVEN BUT OVERALL IT IS A GOOD START AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND FOR BEGINNERS

The premise to this book sounded very intriguing. The story tells of a princess who enters into an arranged marriage to save her country. However, the story was very slow with very little action happening. It takes a long time for the princess to enter her new country. Still, there were some precious moments in the story. It ended well. The characters were very likable. The world-building was very creative. Thus, I recommend this for fans of Stacey Jay, Rachael Hartman, and Lisa Maxwell!