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Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated The Queen's Choice (Heirs of Chrior, #1) in Books
Jan 23, 2020
Kluver has all the good things to write a fantastic book the world building is interesting, the characters are complex (for the most part), and her writing style is interesting enough that it somehow managed to keep my attention with the whopping 500 pages it has (for the most part).
On the fabulous elaborations of "for the most part," Anya and her companion (Shea, for the most part) probably spent approximately 300+ pages walking, getting attacked, and avoiding the Constabularies of the Warckum Territory. Then the cycle pretty much repeats itself no particular pattern. Anya spent approximately 100+ pages being healed before all of that walking, attacking, and avoiding began perhaps I'll even call it WAA for the fun of it all does it sound appealing? Probably not.
But somehow, in some way, Kluver managed to keep my attention, despite the fact I don't really "connect" to her writing. Maybe it's the writing style (eh... not really), or perhaps the complexity of her minor characters (Illumina and Shea are certainly complex enough that they're not entirely predictable). Maybe it's just the entire idea behind the book in the first place, though that part is most likely not true.
And then there's Anya. Anya the main character, Anya the Royal Faery of Chrior, and maybe Anya the Hopeless. Anya seems a little stereotypical or perhaps, more accurately, Anya simply makes quite a few assumptions sometimes that may be hilarious to a little human like me. Certainly not as hilarious as <i>Of Mice and Men</i>, to which I make fun of the book the entire time I'm reading it just so I'm not bored. It's no wonder why I'm called the sarcastic one among my circle of friends.
<blockquote>"Now, how do I get on this thing?" she asked, taking the reins to her mount from me.
"You don't know?"
"Nope. Not the slightest idea."
"I thought all humans knew how to ride horses."</blockquote>
You know, for a nonhuman who seems to visit the human world as often as possible, you would sort of expect them to not assume all humans can ride horses. Really, I'm not terribly sure how one can be born with a talent like riding horses. Though, oddly enough, that's probably possible. The person would then have to nurture it. But really, humans are not centaurs. For one to be a centaur, we're missing a horse's ass. Pardon my language (and the grotesque image coming soon), but no horse and certainly no human would appreciate being cut in half and glued together to become a centaur.
Grotesque image and crude comments aside, Kluver puts us at a sort of a cliffhanger with something Anya discovers about Illumina in the last couple pages in the book. Much as I'm interested in the sequel, I'm not terribly sure I want to continue reading about Anya walking and traveling constantly (and avoiding and being attacked).
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-the-queens-choice-by-cayla-kluver/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
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Merissa (13585 KP) rated Heart of Hope (Hooves & Hearts #2) in Books
Nov 27, 2025
Isabel is a rider at her dad's place, River Green Farm. From what I understand, she competes in horse shows and events on behalf of the horse owners. Her dad (and I use that word loosely) is an antagonistic character with plenty of sharp edges that he usually uses on Isabel. She is lucky enough to have a trust fund, but lives frugally, which is how she can buy two horses (Kaspar and Knight) to go with Cadence when they are up for sale. Unfortunately, Knight is quite old, and Kaspar is having issues. That, coupled with Cadence's problems, is where Derrick comes into play. Rodger (dad) doesn't like Derrick, but his own vets have missed problems in both Cadence and Kaspar.
I'm going to be probably controversial here, and I apologise to the author, but I connected more with the horses than with Isabel and Derrick. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed reading about the two of them, and I was rooting for them to get together. What really held my attention, though, and had me turning every page, was Kaspar, Cadence, and Knight. I desperately wanted Kaspar's issues to be found so he could be helped, along with Cadence getting better, and Knight getting the retirement he'd earned.
Meg and Carter make an appearance here, which was wonderful to read. There are also a host of other characters to help bring the story alive. Some I liked, Sierra, for example, while others I really didn't, like Sara and Trevor. I mean, I know I'm not supposed to, but I didn't enjoy any of the scenes they were in. There was too much unknown - like why did Sara's attitude change even before Isabel left - that I just didn't care about.
A good, solid read and I was happy to return to their world. You don't need to have read book one to get the full enjoyment from this one. Definitely recommended by me.
** Same worded review will appear elsewhere. **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Nov 26, 2025
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