The Queen of Ieflaria

I loved The Queen of Ieflaria. I devoured it, staying awake way past midnight to finish reading it. This book has so many wonderful things: strong female protagonist, dragons, a unicorn, battles, palace intrigue, and a romance between the two main characters who are pansexual.

Princess Esofi of Rhodia has been betrothed to the heir of Ieflaria since she was three years old. Her education has been focused on being the best queen possible to what will be her new homeland. Over the years she has gotten to know her future husband, Crown Prince Albion, through letters. After she begins the months long journey to her new home and marriage, she receives the news that the Crown Prince has died in an accident.

Esofi arrives in Ieflaria and is faced with a choice: marry the new heir, marry another in the line of succession or go back home. Esofi chooses to marry the new heir, Crown Princess Adale. Adale never expected to rule. She has not been educated to rule but she does know how to drink, hunt and start a really good bar fight. Yet she is such a wonderful match for Esofi.

From the first introduction to Adale, I fell hard for her. I wanted her to marry Esofi and not let one of her cousins take her place. Adale was strong, vulnerable, prickly and caring. She is such a wonderful character. Esofi carries a touch of superiority because of her education. She needs to learn about her new home from the bottom up. Meanwhile others at court plot to remove Adale from the crown and marry Esofi to someone else.

This world that Effie Calvin created is so unique. Gender is not a barrier to anything, whether it be a crown or a marriage. Under the right conditions and with a little magic help, individuals can transform to the opposite sex long enough to insure a child is conceived. This world also has dragons. Big, fire breathing dragons who do more than just eat sheep. The descriptions of everything from the architecture to the clothing is amazing. The reader learns so much about the world by the author's wonderful flowing descriptions.

I absolutely loved The Queen of Ieflaria and am eagerly looking forward to the next book in the series. This book does have a logical ending so readers are not left hanging but instead are left wanting more.

A brilliant story with a rich cast and fantasy elements. Magic and Science is at odds in Leflaria and I cannot wait to read more about their world. I hope the author writes more about them.

I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH!

Okay now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, on to the review! The first thing that called to me when I saw this book was the cover. It’s beautiful. I’m so happy that the story with in it matches the cover. Two princesses falling in love? Yes please!

Esofi of Rhodia was intended to marry Albion of Ieflaria since she was three years old. Tragedy strikes and Albion is killed by the thing Esofi is supposed to be able to offer protection to, dragons. It’s been her destiny to marry one of the crowned heirs and she’s determined to follow through on the commitment no matter if it is a prince  Albion or princess Adale.

What I loved about Esofi is that she isn’t overly beautiful and not everyone is falling at her feet. She felt like a real person. I personally thought she sounded gorgeous and I loved the fact that we eventually got to hear that from Adale’s lips. Ieflaria doesn’t know how powerful she truly is until she’s tested by a dragon.

Then their entire world is flipped on it’s head. Are dragons truly as terrible as they thought they were? Is Adale the princess for Esofi or should she go with one of the twin cousins?

I love that Adale went an unexpected route to show Esofi that she was interested in their match and believed it could work. She didn’t go for buying pretty things or spoiling her. Instead, she showed Esofi the people of Ieflaria and by sharing the knowledge she found about dragons and the temple and gifts that had been bestowed upon the people.

They were so cute together. Anytime there were scenes with the two of them I was grinning and wishing for more. I started this last night and the only thing that stopped me was the fact I fell asleep. Then I finished it off as soon as I woke up. I want to read so much more of this world! I’m excited that it’s a series! I’ve already went to follow the author on GoodReads and plan on stalking every book she releases. That’s how much I enjoyed this.

I received a copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Release date: February 19th, 2018 by Nine Star Press

I remember seeing this wonderful cover on Twitter and hearing that the book would be about queer princesses, and I immediately fell in love. And let me tell you, when I finally got to read it, The Queen of Ieflaria turned out to be everything I hoped for and more.

To say that The Queen of Ieflaria has queer princesses is technically true, but it's a huge understatement. In fact, The Queen of Ieflaria has a main cast made of several unique, funny, supportive and fleshed out characters, most of whom are female. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I was in love with not only both Esofi and Adale, but every single one of their ladies-in-waiting - all of whom had their own unique personalities and beautiful moments. (Lisette is definitely my favourite though, hands down.)

The only reason why I didn't devour this book in one sitting is that I started reading it too late and had to go to sleep at 1am and finish the next morning. I adored the writing style, the characters, the plot... This book has princesses fighting in duels in dresses, princesses fighting dragons, talking magical creatures, good dragons, baby dragons, princesses kissing, princesses in love... I'm sorry, why are you still here reading this review when you could be pre-ordering The Queen of Ieflaria?

I loved how different Esofi and Adale were, and yet they worked together well and both helped each other grow, or see things from the other's point of view. I especially enjoyed their different views on science and religion and how they changed (and yet still stayed true to themselves) during the book.

Note: While this first book unfortunately didn't have any major trans characters, it did have minor nonbinary characters (referred to as neutroi) and even a nonbinary god, and referenced a canon magical way to transition, so I hope this will change in the future installments.

This is my new favourite book, and it might be yours, too.

My rating: ★★★★★

Author Effie Calvin has created a unique and vastly rich universe where magic, science, and mythology collide in a tasteful way. The novel's cover immediately captured my attention; what was within it sealed the deal. The vivid imagery and setting greatly added life to the story and its characters.

The Princess Esofi is escorted from her home the Kingdom of Rhodia to the Kingdom of Ieflaria, her purpose: to fulfill a marriage contract created when she was just a child. Ieflaria has long since been plagued by legions of hostile dragons. Enduring relentless attack, Ieflaria requires the magic and authority Esofi can command. 

However, not everyone is quite accepting to the changes that this future queen will bring to Ieflaria, especially the Crown Princess Adale. Although Esofi's and Adale's initial meeting is shaky, throughout the book both princesses learn that there is more to life than just courtly obligations. Responsibility to be true to oneself and respecting the growing changes in their world will deeply affect them all. 

Calvin displays considerable skill, consistently developing her characters from beginning to end while keeping her readers engaged and emotionally invested with their favorite characters. As further testament to her skill, Calvin plays a delicate hand in weaving the intricacies involved in the royal court to the pantheon of gods the people worship in the novel, along with the emergence of science changing how people live. Her portrayal of magic has a pleasant twist in the world of Inthya; respecting Nature is paramount to this world and all the creatures in it. Calvin captures all these elements in such a way that all readers are in for an indulgent treat stepping into her rich lore for Inthya. 

The last time I enjoyed a fantasy novel of this caliber was over two years ago, and this author has reignited my interest in exploring more books of this genre. I definitely look forward to the next novel in the series and learn what fate has in store for her enriching characters and the beautiful world she has created.

I loved this! The mithology in this book is so complex, and the world has a lot of between-states differencies that I can’t help but love. 
It was just great how normal different sexuality were in this book, it is NEVER a problem. It's so refereshing reading a book so positive about this.
My only problem with this book is that I fell in love with yet another girl. From her first intoduction Adale had my heart. She was great and despite being a princess she was so relatable. She and Esofi were so cute and all I wanted were more scenes with the two of the together.