The Promised Queen (Forgotten Empires #3) by Jeffe Kennedy @TantorAudio

Hello, my lovelies. Today, I’m sharing my thoughts about The Promised Queen by Jeffe Kennedy. The third and final instalment in her bestselling fantasy trilogy, Forgotten Empires. My thanks to the publisher, Tantor Audio, for the free audiobook in exchange for my candid review.

What’s The Promised Queen about?

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This fantasy world of Kings and Queens, tyrants and rebels, reminds me of the historic fiction I read years ago.  Forgotten Empires is similar to the stories written about the royal houses of Europe. However, the added elements of ancient magic and forgotten arts shifts these tales into the fantasy genre.

What did I think about it?

A Gripping Finale To This Engaging Trilogy.

Forgotten Empires has been a captivating series and I’ve loved Jeffe’s writing style. I’m impressed and enthralled with her beautiful and descriptive use of language. The prose she uses is intelligent, eloquent, and very reminiscent of a historical novel. It plunges you into the fantasy world she’s created. The words that Jeffe chooses and the way she forms each sentence sets the scene beautifully in my mind.

Gabrielle Baker is a new-to-me narrator.

I loved the pace at which Gabrielle read this story and the emotions she conveyed. She created some wonderful voices for Jeffe’s characters – and they are many in this fantasy tale. 😉 I was never confused as to whose perspective we were listening to or who was speaking during the conversations. Gabrielle brought the story to like in my ears!

Characters I can believe in – even the evil sods.

Jeffe weaved realistic human behaviours, known historic attitudes and etiquettes into her fantasy world. For me, this attention to detail made it feel more believable. Lia and Conrí lead us through the story with their own chapters and sections. Therefore, giving us a chance to know their inner dialogue. I really like this because it helped me to gain a further depth of understanding, empathy, and connection to both of them.

A female protagonist that ticked my boxes.

I crave certain personality traits; intelligence, resilience, self-reliance, and gumption. Although Lia is a queen and lived under a plethora of restrictions, she showed plenty of gumption through the many trials and tribulations thrown at her. I loved seeing her grow and blossom in this story. She has a sharp political mind, a wonderful sense of humour and immense compassion and love.

There are so many aspects of The Promised Queen that captivated me.

Jeffe created a gripping plotline, both for the trilogy as a whole and within each book, that felt inventive and well planned out. The subtleties of court life were intriguing and the differences between Queen Euthalia and that of Emperor Anure’s stronghold were insightful. The brutality, prejudice and injustice were hard to read at times, making my heart break. The fight scenes were breathtaking, keeping me on the edge of my seat and I was caught out by some surprising twists. Tears trickled down my cheeks listening to some of the more emotional scenes. However fear not, there was enough gentle humour and banter to balance the tears, the relationship between Lia and Conrí both warmed my old romantic heart and set the fires a-blazing too. *oh my*

The Promised Queen is my favourite book of the trilogy!

Has my review of THE PROMISED QUEEN (FORGOTTEN EMPIRES #3) encouraged you to find out more? ‘Course it has! 😉 Click on any of the links to check it out yourself.

Keep reading to find out more about Jeffe Kennedy, but first, here’s some information about this amazing series.

And now, as promised, here’s Jeffe’s bio.

[about-author]

As this is a review for an audiobook, it’s only right that I share Gabrielle’s bio too. 🙂

[about-narrator]

Thank you for stopping by and for taking the time to read my review of The Promised Queen. Have you got this one or any of Jeffe’s other books in your library? Drop me a comment below so that we can chat books! 😉

Jeffe Kennedy is now on my Favourite Authors’ Page because of this trilogy. Before you go, check out all the other amazing authors I’ve listed. Is YOUR favourite among them?

Bye for now,

Flora x