The Midsummer Captives by Lea Doué
Fantasy. 222 Pages. 4 Stars
Synopsis:
A sorcerer’s fortress. A lost heir. A determined princess.
Princess Gwen, second in line to the throne of Ituria, has given up on happy endings. After a neighboring kingdom’s heir stole her heart and then disappeared four years ago, she buried her heartache and vowed to serve her eleven sisters. Her most recent mission: to arrange a match with her sister Hazel and the lost heir’s youngest brother.
But when her traveling party is ambushed, her flight from danger leads her into the path of a blindfolded man with a familiar smile. Imprisoned with him deep in the forest, Gwen and her fellow captives are at the mercy of a treacherous beauty on a mission of her own. Contending with her schemes—and a love potion gone awry—they must find a way past enchanted guardians, who are capable of crushing not only their bodies but also their dreams.
The Midsummer Captives, inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is the second novel in The Firethorn Chronicles, a series drawn from fairy tales and other classic stories. Follow the sisters on their adventures in a land where sorcery is feared, women can rule, and dragons fly.
My Review:
Mmkay, so I think–despite my love of the 12 Dancing Princesses–I may have liked a lot of this sequel better than the first book. Perhaps I was more acclimated to the writing style and used to the strange world-building (or lack thereof)? Maybe it was the smaller cast or the survival setting? I’m not sure, but I had a much easier time reading Midsummer Captives.
I liked getting to know Gwen and I really liked Eddy. I liked the antagonist and I liked the predicament the characters found themselves in. There were several problem-solving spots, which I enjoyed. I am wholly unfamiliar with A Midsummer Night’s Dream, so I have nothing to compare the inspiration to and cannot comment on that aspect of the story at all. However, I liked the plot. I enjoyed the plot of the first book, but this setting and the limited characters felt more intimate and, like I said, it was easier to follow. I knew some of the rules of the world by this point and the author did expand on the dragons somewhat, though not as much as I would have liked. There was virtually no expansion on the history of the kingdoms, but the plot didn’t really call for it either. There were a few surprising characters who reprised their roles, including my favorite character from book one there at the end. As well, there were quite a few new characters to get to know. I think my favorite part of the character aspect was getting into Gwen’s head and learning her motives and personality. As for the setting, it was in the middle of nowhere with a bit of a magic castle, so how could I not enjoy that?! The plot was well-paced until the end. I felt it rushed to the end a bit, which kind of set me off kilter, but other than that it was engaging and a little mysterious. Oh! And that end. Let’s just say, I was disappointed with the “resolution” to that minor subplot. I love my bro/sis relationships. Anyone who knows me knows that and that just…hurt. I’m sort of holding out for a better fix in the third book, but don’t have high hopes…
Again, no language, mild violence and magic, no explicit romance-though quite a bit of talk about sorting through one’s feelings. All pretty G-rated for the most part.
More:
Book 1 in the Firethorn Chronicles is The Firethorn Crown (4 Stars)
Book 2.5 (a novella) is Red Orchid (Read, but not rated or reviewed)
Book 3 is The Red Dragon Girl (5 Stars)
Book 4 is The Moonflower Dance
Snapdragon is a Firethorn Chronicles short story (4 stars)
Book 2.5 (Red Orchid) is free for Leah’s newsletter subscribers!
I have reviewed each of the above on Goodreads, except for Red Orchid; it wasn’t available on Goodreads when I read it. I may go back and reread it to leave a rating and review. Follow the links to find more info on the books and then scroll down to see the reviews. Mine is among them.
This series should be read in order. Snapdragon isn’t directly related to the main storyline and can be read at any time.
On GraceBought
If you missed it, check out my thoughts on the previous book below! And stay tuned next week for the next book in the series!