Shielded (Shielded, #1)

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.

Rating:

Many thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. Many thanks to TBR and Beyond Tours for inclusion on this tour. Quotes are taken from an unfinished version and may differ from the final product.

I’ve been looking forward to this book for so long! Do you not see that fierce woman, with her warrior braid and magic sword, on the cover looking like she’s taking no BS whatsoever? Jenna’s character certainly delivered on that, too, I’m happy to say.

Shielded flips the princess paradox on its head, giving us a princess who can save herself, an elaborate threat against two kingdoms, and some precious sibling bonds.

This book has a lot of really common YA tropes, so if you’re looking for something familiar, something a bit tried and true, this would be a good choice for you. There aren’t a lot of twists in this book or big reveals, but there are some pretty heavy feels and some big emotions.

Jennasara is a princess who’s easy to root for: one who is torn between her freedom and her duty and who is a little too handy with a sword and magic.

I loved that she was a warrior princess, essentially, and proud of it. Because why not? You take pride in that pointy thing you wield, girl! It isn’t unearned, either. There are several scenes showing Jenna practicing and honing what she deems to be an important skill, and I loved that. She is a warrior in every sense of the word.

Her loyalty to her people is also unwavering, even in the face of having to give up her future. Even if she is afraid of not being accepted by them, in the same breath, she would sacrifice her well-being for her kingdom.

There are times, however, where it feels like Jenna is a little too good at things, especially considering she routinely talks about how she hasn’t been allowed to travel or interact much with other people since she was young. Yet, she falls into life outside the castle like it’s nothing and she’s been doing it forever.

I wish that she struggled a little more with things in Turia, because she doesn’t strike me as a sheltered princess, like she claims in the beginning. To the point where her brother gives her a field guide to familiarize herself with the plants of Turia because she’s never been there or traveled far from the castle. I really would’ve loved to see even little nuances of daily life or small customs that she has no idea about and has to learn or relearn, but from what I could tell, Turia was pretty much the same as Hálendi with a few foreign words thrown in.

There are some fantastic sibling bonds in this book, and I am so in love with this dynamic!

Jenna and Ren are just *chef’s kiss*. I fell in love with Ren almost immediately, and who could blame me? The way the two tease each other and are comfortable with each other is endearing, yet they’re not immune to the normal sibling struggles, either.

My favorite siblings, by far, are Chiara and Marietta, though that may be because we spend more time with them. Chiara is extremely naive, but at a confusing time of her life, too, and just wanting the opportunity to decide who she is at her core. And who can blame her for that?! Marietta, on the other hand, is five and seems to have things worked out pretty well, because she is just an adorable ball of fluff.

I really enjoyed the chance to see these relationships grow and change with the characters.

Aspects of this world are so interesting, and the mystery surrounding its history is what immediately grabbed my attention!

I don’t even know where to begin. The magic feels a little too soft, in that I still can’t exactly tell you all the rules except some people have it … because? And they can do … things. I wish I had a little more of a grasp on it than that, but I don’t. I did, however, really enjoy seeing Jenna growing into her magic and discovering different things it can do. I hope to see more of this in the second book!

I want to talk about The Wild for a second, because that place is fabulous, and I officially want one.

By that I mean it’s terrifying, which is totally my brand. The Wild itself has magic, and it kind of just … does what it wants. In an almost creepy, predatory sort of way. I love it. The way Flanders describes The Wild really brings it to life and highlights both the beauty and the danger of the place. All good things are balanced, after all, right? Although I doubt it will, I would really enjoy seeing The Wild pop up again!

But wait! There’s also some dark magic afoot, the kind that was supposedly sealed away forever ago (but we all know what that really goes, don’t we? Ancestors are as sloppy as ever).

The Ice Desert absolutely fascinated me, and I want to know more about the mages. As the antagonists, I feel like by the time the book ended, I didn’t actually really know anything at all about them. But I want to! I’d really like to know more about their goal and where they came from and if there are more of them. I’m hoping the next book will delve more into this!

The one place I think the world-building is a little weaker is in describing the kingdoms of Hálendi and Turia themselves.

Other than the repeated distinction between the people (fair-skinned, blond-haired people in Hálendi and dark-haired, olive-skinned people in Turia), the kingdoms feel mostly the same? Oh, and Turians wear looser clothes, but their climate is also warmer. There aren’t really customs Jenna stumbles across or facets of the culture that she has to get used to, and I’d really been hoping for more of how the kingdoms are different or similar from her perspective.

Turia is also obviously based off Italy, from the description of people’s clothes to the fact that a few random Italian words are thrown in (and by that I mean like, four Italian words used in the book and they may as well not even have been there). So that was fairly obvious, but less obvious is whether Hálendi is also based off a real country? And if so, where? Given on the emphasis on the fairness of the people, I was thinking one of the Nordic countries, but there’s no hint of that in the culture, or not that I noticed at least. Same with Riiga, which barely comes up. Not anything wrong with any of this, per se. I was just a bit curious.

There’s a really sweet, soft insta-love romance in this book.

If you know me at all, you probably know that the insta-love aspect was kind of a turnoff for me. It’s not my trope. But the good news is that if it’s yours? This romance will be your thing.

It could be argued that this romance is maaaaybe insta-attraction instead (which, you know, totally happens) but with the immediate, electrifying connection between them without any explanation as to why they might feel so strongly, it seems more like insta-love to me.

While I didn’t feel like the love interest had a particularly strong personality, I did like that he was kind and noble. They made a strong pair, and some of my favorite scenes were when they worked together as a team. So I can definitely see all your insta-love tropers out there falling for this romance!

My favorite part was that it was sort of a doomed love, which isn’t quite enemies-to-lovers, but I still love. Ill-fated lovers would be a close second for me. As you might imagine, this causes quite a bit of emotional turmoil and ramps up the will-they/won’t-they tension between the two, since it seems like everything is pulling them apart.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that the first 50% of this book is a really long traveling montage.

When hubby says he’ll never finish reading Lord of the Rings, he explains that it’s one big traveling montage and he’s really tired of reading about people traveling. That’s the feeling that I got from the first half of this book.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some awesome scenes in the first half (and The Wild is fantastic and trippy), but I thought the journeying would never end so that the rest of the plot could finally start.

I kept thinking surely, any minute now, we’ll run face-first into the plot, right?! I will say, once it tips past that 50%-ish mark, things start moving at a better pace, and the mystery carries things along nicely. So I would caution readers that if it’s getting a bit slow for your tastes, try to hang in there a little longer!

The story is mostly told from Jenna’s point of view, but every so often, it switches to an omniscient narrator for a page or two of the antagonists’ points of view, and I’m not sure it added anything to the story for me.

Actually, if I’m honest, this confused the heck out of me, because random characters that we’re not introduced yet just appear out of nowhere, talking about things I didn’t know about yet, and I was immediately lost. More lost than usual. I think the intent is to build suspense, but there was plenty of suspense for me in Jenna’s section, not to mention that she has no idea what’s going on. As a reader, that’s where I want to be, is uncovering the mystery with her.

By the time Jenna starts learning things about the Big Bads, it’s basically an exposition dump of what she read from a book, which is where they’re officially introduced to the reader … you know, like, 60% of the way through the book. Which by then, I had kind of just accepted that I was going to be confused at the end of every chapter when the point of view shifts and that was that.

The Turians are too nice, for no discernible reason.

I don’t want to say too much because I don’t want to spoil anything, but what I will say is that too many Turians go out of their way to help Jenna, despite there being so many reasons not to and no obvious reason why they would. One or two people I could buy, sure, since there will always be those personalities. But everyone in Turia seems to be all too eager to help this rando stranger.

Ultimately, in the context of the world, this just doesn’t make sense, and it’s a little frustrating that not one person is suspicious or even considers that Jenna might have ill intentions.

What I’m saying is Turia would be super easy to conquer, because none of them, right down to the king and the council, have any amount of survival instinct. None whatsoever. So when I make my bid for world domination? I’m starting there. Hey, fictional worlds are worlds, too.

About KayLynn Flanders

KayLynn Flanders has a degree in English Language and editing, and has been a freelance editor and book designer for over twelve years. Her debut novel, a YA fantasy, will be published by Delacorte Press (Penguin Random House) July 21, 2020. KayLynn and her family live in Utah between some mountains and a lake, and she is directionally challenged without them. She loves reading, writing, traveling, and volleyball, and thinks there’s nothing better than a spur-of-the-moment road trip.

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You can find the full tour schedule (plus Instagram schedule) here.

✦ August 3rd ✦
TBR and Beyond – Welcome Post and Book Tag
Stuck in the Stacks – Review
The Shelf Life Chronicles – Promo Post
Bookson Tuesday – Review & Playlist

✦ August 4th ✦
Confession of a YA Reader – Promo Post
Endless Pages – Review
Emelie’s Books – Review & Moodboard

✦ August 5th ✦
Metaphors and Miscellanea – Review
Jena Brown Writes – Review & Favourite Quotes
Stocked Up On Starbooks – Promo Post

✦ August 6th ✦
Allisa White’s Book Blog – Review
Mahkjchi’s Not-So-Secret Books – Review & Favourite Quotes
Fangirl Pixie Blog – Promo Post

✦ August 7th ✦
The Writer’s Alley – Review, Favourite Quotes & Dreamcast
Grownup Fangirl – Promo Post and Moodboard
The Book Dutchesses – Interview

✦ August 8th ✦
Young at Heart Reader – Review & Moodboard
The Book View – Promo Post
Moonlight Rendezvous – Review & Favourite Quotes

✦ August 9th ✦
Books and Shadows – Review
The Bookwyrm Den – Review & Favourite Quotes
Sarah’s Book Life – Review & Favourite Quotes
Wild and Wonderful Reads – Interview