Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Long May She Reign
    Unavailable
    Long May She Reign
    Unavailable
    Long May She Reign
    Ebook374 pages5 hours

    Long May She Reign

    By Rhiannon Thomas

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    Listen to the audiobook instead

    About this ebook

    The Girl of Fire and Thorns meets The Queen of the Tearling in this thrilling fantasy standalone about one girl’s unexpected rise to power.

    Freya was never meant to be queen. Twenty-third in line to the throne, she never dreamed of a life in the palace, and would much rather research in her laboratory than participate in the intrigues of the court. However, when an extravagant banquet turns deadly and the king and those closest to him are poisoned, Freya suddenly finds herself on the throne.

    She may have escaped the massacre, but she is far from safe. The nobles don’t respect her, her councillors want to control her, and with the mystery of who killed the king still unsolved, she knows that a single mistake could cost her the kingdom—and her life.

    Freya is determined to survive, and that means uncovering the murderers herself. Until then, she can’t trust anyone. Not her advisers. Not the king’s dashing and enigmatic illegitimate son. Not even her own father, who always wanted the best for her but also wanted more power for himself.

    As Freya’s enemies close in and her loyalties are tested, she must decide if she is ready to rule and, if so, how far she is willing to go to keep the crown.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperTeen
    Release dateFeb 21, 2017
    ISBN9780062418708
    Author

    Rhiannon Thomas

    Rhiannon Thomas is an English lit grad from Princeton University. She currently lives in York, England, in the shadow of a thirteenth-century Gothic cathedral. When she isn’t lost in YA fantasy, she writes about feminism and the media on her blog, www.feministfiction.com. Visit her online at www.rhiannonkthomas.com.

    Read more from Rhiannon Thomas

    Related to Long May She Reign

    Related ebooks

    YA Royalty For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Daughter Of The Moon Goddess

      Jan 26, 2022

      RELEASED OUT NOW! 496 pages | Hardback/ebook/audiobook Author Sue Lynn Tan Publisher HarperVoyager On paper, this story has so many familiar elements (a plucky runaway protagonist trying to help an imprisoned parent, cruel monarchs, a handsome prince

      1 min read

    • Article

      Diary of My Leg Hair

      Dec 8, 2022

      Diary of My Leg Hair
      21 min read

    • Article

      The Duplex

      Jun 9, 2020

      I moved to Los Angeles to sing. When was this? August? June? I was twenty-nine, and those were shapeless months, when the days blended together and I refused to pull them apart. My landlord was unusually close to her adult son. His name was Jeffrey,

      21 min read

    • Article

      Six Sonnets

      Jan 1, 2021

      Goldenrod, I could say, you know, everybody wants somethingfrom me, but, well, everybody wants something and nobody wantsnothing from me, goldenrod, towhead, beast. Goldenrod, you packthe meadows like gold-plated sardines. I have heart palpitationsbu

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Last Friend on Earth

      May 4, 2023

      It was as if Doreen Saunders had been waiting for me, passing the time until my arrival. She might as well have been sitting in a rocking chair, knitting needles clicking, jam tarts cooling on the side, the door wide open, waiting for the next visito

      6 min read

    • Article

      Ghost Girl, Banana

      Aug 21, 2023

      By the time I was 25, there were only two things I remembered about Mumma. The first was that she smelled of watermelons, the second was that we were happy. We’d taken our father’s name of course, but a name is only half a story. The other half exist

      6 min read

    • Article

      Notes on Etiquette

      Mar 1, 2019

      Notes on Etiquette
      10 min read

    • Article

      Helen

      Jun 5, 2023

      She was a friend of my family—the Carlins, as I have chosen to call them. She and my father met in the fifties through the editor of the architecture magazine where she began her career. My father had taken her out a few times. They were never lovers

      30 min read

    • Article

      Stay and Fight

      Jul 9, 2019

      Stay and Fight
      16 min read

    • Article

      Life In The past Lane

      Aug 27, 2021

      Life In The past Lane
      5 min read

    • Article

      J. Jezewska Stevens

      Dec 15, 2017

      The party was a failure. I can’t even tell you what a failure it was. There are no words. Only a great pain in my chest when I wake up. On the veranda. It’s better when I sit in the chair. Oh, but then I can see around. The gauzy curtains, pushed by

      15 min read

    • Article

      The Man I Should Have Married

      Dec 29, 2019

      The Man I Should Have Married
      11 min read

    • Article

      Pam Ayres: ‘I Inherited A Love Of English From My Mother’

      Aug 5, 2023

      It’s important to be yourself in life. Don’t think you have to adapt according to the people or situation you’re in. It’s perfectly all right to be exactly who you are, to like what you like. That’s a lesson it took me a long time to learn. I grew up

      3 min read

    • Article

      Happy Endings

      Sep 1, 2023

      Happy Endings
      5 min read

    • Article

      Our Lady Of The Rockies

      Aug 7, 2023

      Our Lady Of The Rockies
      13 min read

    • Article

      OreoArroyo

      Jul 6, 2021

      WHEN THE STRIPPER STRUTTED INTO THE LIBRARY, SHE COULDN’T hide her dismay. Probably, she and her bodyguard expected a bachelor party or investment bankers celebrating a big deal at the mansion overlooking the Newport Coast. She wouldn’t have anticipa

      21 min read

    • Article

      The Wolf

      Nov 6, 2018

      The Wolf
      12 min read

    • Article

      The Courage To Be Happy

      Feb 1, 2023

      MARRIAGE and columns have this in common: you tend to repeat yourself. More than once in these pages, I have quoted the New Yorker’s legendary film critic Pauline Kael. After President Nixon’s landslide victory in 1972 she wrote: ‘I live in a rather

      3 min read

    • Article

      A Brand-new ending

      Jan 29, 2022

      A Brand-new ending
      7 min read

    • Article

      Caught Out

      Oct 2, 2022

      Caught Out
      9 min read

    • Article

      Cricket League

      Sep 1, 2022

      First prize 10 and under Tang Li, age 9 Palmetto Bay, FL My name is Anisa. I was in Hawaii on vacation. I enjoyed sipping refreshing drinks, overlooking the turquoise ocean, and dancing with others, before I overheard that the priceless Fire Ring wa

      10 min read

    • Article

      A Temporary Arrangement

      Oct 2, 2023

      A Temporary Arrangement
      19 min read

    • Article

      Howl Palace

      Sep 15, 2019

      Last week, I finally had to put Howl Palace up for sale. Years of poor financial planning had led to this decision, and I tried to take some comfort in my agent’s belief in a buyer who might show up with an all-cash offer. My agent is a highly organi

      25 min read

    Reviews for Long May She Reign

    4/5

    82 ratings12 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      Received via HarperTeen and Edelweiss in exchange for an completely unbiased review.
      Also posted on Silk & Serif

      Long May She Reign is about a girl with crippling social anxiety who becomes queen. In an effort to handle the social pressures and constant presence of being queen, this girl obsesses over the question why. Why is she the one in line to have survived the massacre? Why would anyone massacre the king? And why doesn't anyone want to figure out who actually poisoned everyone?

      Freya doubts those around her, herself and the core morality of the court over which she is now reigning monarch. She struggles to change the injustice of her world, to overcome her preconceptions of the courtiers, and over come her anxiety spells. Pretty heavy stuff, all in all.

      Going into Long May She Reign I was cautious. I wasn't sure what to expect: a girl who is 23rd in line for the throne ends up Queen? Mass murder? I was honestly expecting magic and all the jazz that come with modern fantasy, but was delighted to end up with an non-magic fantasy novel with plenty of court politics and sketchy advisors. Long May She Reign is a plain fantasy novel with a who-dun-it twist which is obviously written for a younger generation. I am a bit biased in my desire for less magic and more gritty "by hand" work when it comes to fantasy - so this portion of this novel was a definite win for me.

      I feel like this novel is really going to be one of those titles that people either love or feel supremely "meh" about. I mean, Thomas has incorporated all the makings of a great novel: a believable main character, a stalwart best friend, an unlikely romance, some seriously scary circumstances and court politics..but in the end not a whole lot happened in this novel. Freya isn't present for the mass poisoning of the entire court, the mystery takes forever to solve with far too many unrelated events interspersed and Freya herself is far too much of an introvert to be an enthralling major player.

      Unfortunately, Freya is the type of person who spends a lot of time self-doubting and struggling confidence issues that sound more like an abused teenager than a spoiled court inhabitant. Her inner dialogue often detracted from the story for me and her social anxiety meant she wasn't present or focused enough for huge scenes to be really portrayed in the best light/detail. However, I feel it's important I point out I do not suffer from social anxiety or generalized anxiety so I cannot really understand what Freya's experiences were like for her.

      I felt like Long May She Reign is a YA novel written for older teens coming of age and dealing with issues of self identity and changing roles in life's own version of the court. Personally, this novel would have resonated strongly with me around that age. In addition, I feel like this novel is going to be huge hit with the young adult fantasy community because it meets all the expectations for a hard core, but contemporary-feeling fantasy novel. If you like this book, that's wonderful, but for myself personally (and this is an entirely personal feeling), Long May She Reign was not memorable and probably won't make any lists for the year. Sorry.

      Long May She Reign is a fun fantasy novel, void of magic, with an alluring murder mystery at it's core. A dash of scientific curiosity and a clever best friend..and an adorably feisty feline..make up a cast of interesting core characters who suss out the bad guy and save the day.

      Finally, I feel like its important to point out Long May She Reign is a fantasy novel with a not-so-hidden-meaning. The entire novel is about over coming social anxiety and learning to control it. Freya begins the novel with the inability to even sit at a banquet with all of court, but ends the novel able to lead an army to victory in a very theatrical way - a huge leap forward for a girl with crippling social anxiety. In the end, I think the best part of this novel (other than the cat!) was the slow evolution of Freya: terrified girl to strong leader. In a way, this is a wonderful story about facing your fears - even if the action sequences are a little far and few between.

      This novel will appeal to readers who enjoy fantasy without magic, political intrigue, and who-dun-it mysteries. This is a novel that is most definitely written for teens and hard core fantasy readers who want a light, but interesting read or for readers who want a novel that focuses on overcoming social anxiety in the face of extreme circumstances.
    • 3/5
      Freya is twenty-third in line for the throne and would much rather be experimenting in her lab than celebrating the king's birthday in the extravagant court. In fact, when she gets an idea for an experiment she and her best friend Naomi skip out early to try it out - and that's why Freya's still alive when most of the court is poisoned. Now queen, she has to learn the court rules that she once scorned, all the while figuring out who should be a trustworthy ally and who the murderer.I thought this book had a lot of potential but never quite delivered. I liked Freya's being a fish out of water and trying hard to do the right thing, her friendship with Naomi, and her dealing with anxiety attacks. But a lot more could have been done. The kingdom is barely sketched out and I was left with a vague idea of the extravagant court and then some sort of poorer town. "The Forgotten" are referenced as sort-of gods who became disenchanted and left the kingdom to its own devices when it became too corrupt, but little else is said about history or legend or religion in this town... or kingdom. And exactly how big is this kingdom? Where is the map? I did like how some of the characters turned out to be different from what Freya expected, and having such a scientifically-oriented fantasy heroine was interesting. Also, the book is a standalone and doesn't leave you with a cliffhanger.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this mystery book, though I had waaaaaay too much internal conflict for the main character. A good mystery and a ton of fore shadowing that keeps you guessing of the villain to the bitter end- typical YA with a female main character that has a love interest that may or may not be the killer.
    • 5/5
      This was an entertaining fantasy novel. Freya is 23rd in line to the throne and has no interest in being part of the Court. She is an excellent scientist and prefers spending time doing experiments in her lab. She's socially awkward. She was compelled by her father to attend one of King Jorgen's extravagant banquets but left in the middle when she got an idea for a new experiment.Hours later, her father discovers her in her lab and tells her that the King and most of the court are dead from arsenic poisoning. She is now the Queen! Freya finds herself in charge of the country with only a few surviving advisers and a few surviving courtiers. Also, someone orchestrated the massacre and she not only wants to bring him to justice but keep herself safe from future murder attempts. She has a restless country with a political group that wants to get rid of all the nobility and various suspects inside the court. There is William Fitzroy who is the former king's bastard son. Madeleine Wolff was away during the banquet is is next in line for the throne now. She is everything Freya isn't - lovely, socially adept, and loved by the people. Another suspect is Torsten Wolff who was the former king's best friend and chief adviser. The murderer could be any of the king's surviving advisers too. Freya is a scientist, so she turns to scientific experiments to track down the murderer. Along the way she finds a way to test for arsenic poisons that will eliminate the need for food tasters. She manages to find out how the poison was introduced into the food at the banquet and where the poison came from. But, while she was experimenting, Torsten Wolff decides that she was the poisoner and tries to overthrow her. The country which hadn't fought a war for centuries was now on the verge of one if Freya couldn't find a way to convince Torsten that she wasn't the killer.This story had it all - intrigue, a mystery, an awkward heroine who learns to accept herself for her own strengths, friendships lost and found, various betrayals, and a nice romance too. I really enjoyed this story and think it will appeal to any fantasy lover.
    • 4/5
      I've never read a YA story before and thought to sample one with this story and author I've never read as well.

      What I found in it was intriguing, at times entertaining and part of the time slow moving, but all in all, not bad.

      I enjoyed the young heroine's character a lot and most of the characters in the tale, but I also liked the prose as well as the mythical Kingdom, but if you're looking for complex within the pages of this book, you'll not find it. But then again, sometimes less complexity within the pages is good. Once in a while, lighthearted stories can give you just as much satisfaction as the complex, heavy stories.

      In the end, I do recommended for its mystery and many interesting and entertaining characters.

      Melanie for b2b

      Complimentary copy provided by the publisher
    • 5/5
      A delightful book I wish was bigger. recommend for everyone
    • 4/5
      This book was truly worth reading. If you have some great stories like this one, you can publish it on Novel Star, just submit your story to hardy@novelstar.top or joye@novelstar.top
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this mystery book, though I had waaaaaay too much internal conflict for the main character. A good mystery and a ton of fore shadowing that keeps you guessing of the villain to the bitter end- typical YA with a female main character that has a love interest that may or may not be the killer.
    • 3/5
      it's was enjoyable especially second half of the book. I like the ideas of the protagonist interesting in science and laboratory, however it was just bland but not bad.
    • 5/5
      Do you want to read another royalty fantasy novel? If it’s Long May She Reign then you do!A gawky young girl who is distantly connected to the throne and who loves her laboratory and experiments suddenly finds herself as the next in line for the crown. With an overly ambitious father, a handsome and antagonistic illegitimate prince, and another girl vying to be queen, this is a fast-paced murder mystery that had me hooked from the very start.The strengths of this book were the ongoing mystery of whodunit along with the incredibly strong character development. Freya is not your typical crown princess in any sense but she is incredibly real and endearing to the reader. Written in the style of classic fairy tales with a magical twist, this is a book that won’t disappoint.
    • 4/5
      LONG MAY SHE REIGN is a standalone, but I would happily read more in this world.Freya never expected to be queen and she never wanted to be queen, but after the banquet that she snuck out of early turns deadly that is exactly what she finds herself being. I found that I liked Freya from the very beginning. She has dreams and does everything possible to pursue them, but she also takes on her position head on and tries really hard to be the best queen possible even though those around her try everything to make her fail—or just try to use her to their advantage.LONG MAY SHE REIGN was full of mystery and it was really well done in my opinion. Although the ending was a bit anti-climatic, I still really enjoyed the way that everything leading up to the reveal played out. There is a bit of a romance, but it isn't a main part of the storyline. I really enjoyed the friendship between Freya and Naomi. She both really shine when they are in each others presence and the way she treats Naomi throughout the story makes it clear that just because she's now queen, she will never think herself higher than those that deserve her friendship.As I stated when I started this review, LONG MAY SHE REIGN is a standalone and I would love to read more, but it was still completely satisfied with the story when it ended.* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
    • 5/5
      I liked this SO much. Great MC, one of my favorites. Incredible mystery, tough choices.

      Highly recommend.

      1 person found this helpful