{Review} Hope's Reign by Selina Fenech

ASIN #: B00CMXP8NM

File Size: 2088 KB

Page Count: 360

Copyright: May 1, 2013

Publisher: Fairies and Fantasy Pty Ltd

Book Summary:

(Taken from Amazon)

Everything is slipping away from Memory. The bond of friendship between her, Eloryn, Roen, and Will, that was formed while running for their lives is tearing. In a world that doesn't feel like home, with a mind filled with nothing but questions, Memory struggles to be true to herself ... whoever that is. When her past self starts haunting her, she knows her sanity could be the next thing she will lose.

Mandy's Review:

With Hope's Reign being the second book in the Memory's Wake Trilogy, let me give you a brief background on the first book, Memory's Wake. Memory is a teenage-girl who entered a new world through a Veil Door. Upon arriving in Avall, Memory (who has ironically lost all of her memories) meets Eloryn, who turns out to be her twin sister, Roen, who is currently a thief because of his royal family's current living situation, and Will, who is a boy from her world whom she hasn't seen in a long time. They join together and defeat Thayl, the man who loved Memory and Eloryn's mother but was also the person responsible for getting her killed. Once Thayl is captured, the rule of Avall is given back to Eloryn and Memory, the last blood heirs to the royal family.

In Hope's Reign, Eloryn and Memory are being taught the proper royal etiquette so they know how to behave after Eloryn becomes Queen and Memory a princess. Legally, Memory should be Queen since she is the first born of the twins but Eloryn's personality is better suited for ruling ... or so they think.

Eloryn really annoyed me in this book. It was blatantly obvious to everyone that Eloryn was being manipulated by Hayes. Eloryn remained clueless and naive. She wound up giving Hayes way too much power all because she didn't have the backbone to make a few difficult decisions.

Memory's magical abilities are starting to become out of control. Any time she feels a strong emotion, things happen without her meaning them to. The one teacher she finally finds that can help her control her magic conveniently winds up dead. Is it an assassination attempt on the twins or was it intentionally done to prevent Memory from getting knowledge about her abilities?

Roen has been re-established as royalty but still feels some guilt and shame about his thieving ways. He formally asks for permission to court one of the twins, but is refused by the Council because he is the seventh son of a seventh son and, therefore, has no magical abilities. He agrees to move on, not because he doesn't love her (I'm not going to tell you who) but, because he loves her so much he wants the best for her.

Thayl winds up being even more mysterious in this book. He connects emotionally with Memory and makes mention that he is glad she never had a father like him. Then, later on in the book, it's mentioned that Memory and Eloryn's mother never had "relations" with her husband, insinuating that Thayl may be the twins' father after all. This never gets fully confirmed or denied, in my opinion, and I'm still wondering which is true. I'm hoping this will be fully explained in the third book.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and appreciate how the author ended it. Hope's Reign is the perfect continuation of this trilogy. The writing remains superb and engaging. This is a unique storyline that I've not seen before and think many of you would enjoy reading.


*An ecopy of this novel was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.