The Kingdom

The Kingdom by Cordelia Castel
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The seventh installment of author Cordelia Castel’s Seven Kingdoms series picks up where its predecessor left off, with Rilla having restored the statues of her father Prince Evander and his fairy brethren to animate form, although the prince isn’t exactly happy to reunite with his daughter, who loses a subsequent fight challenge against him. Rilla leads her companions to a village whose babies elves have stolen, and promises to rescue them. Early on, Evander seals off his daughter’s fairy magic and alters her form to become more reflective of her ogre lineage, although a Kiss of True Love can restore her standard stature.

As Rilla seeks someone to kiss, she and her companions venture to Elf Mountain, which non-elves term Mount Magma due to being a volcano, although the King of Elves initially refuses to return the stolen babies. However, the chance to relocate to Bluebeard Mountain changes the elven monarch’s mind, although when they leave the mountain, they find forces from the Alkahest Alliance awaiting them, having taken over the country in a bloodless coup. Rilla ultimately needs to infiltrate the Academy in Metropole, with some twists abounding in the last few chapters, an epilogue occurring three years later and ending the initial plot arc of the series.

All in all, this was definitely one of the better books in the series, given its initial inciting incidents with Rilla’s father, although there are some events towards the end, one critical, that somewhat eluded me. The action is generally good, although before the main text, a synopsis of the book’s predecessors would have definitely given those who have briefly broken from the series a chance to catch up and receive reminders as to the crucial events of the narrative. The ending is definitely satisfactory, given the time skip from the main events of the series, and while the story isn’t great, I do definitely express interest in how the plot of the characters continues.

View all my reviews