Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Book review: The Kingdom by Amanda Stevens

Amanda Stevens is back with her second novel in the creepiliciously   good Graveyard Queen series. Do you enjoy a good urban fantasy/paranormal romance ghost story that make you shiver almost non stop? Look no further you've just discovered your new favorites series! Welcome to Amelia Gray's world of mysteries and cemetery restoring. This review is SPOILER FREE.


Amanda has been asked to restore a cemetery in the foothills of Blue Ridge Mountain, more exact in the dying town of Asher Falls, South Carolina. A perfect excuse to runaway from problems back home in Charleston. Upon Amelia's arrival she instantly feels a disconcerting connection to the place. After discovering a hidden grave nearby the cemetery Amelia gets in trouble with the towns citizens, the dead and an ancient evil residing in the mountains. Not only will Amelia have to solve a mystery, she will also have to dig deep into her own family history trying to discover who she really is.

I got my copy for review from the publisher via Netgalley.


My thoughts:
The second book in a series is more often than not when I decide whether it is worth my time. Needless to say I was nervous before diving into The Kingdom... because I'd already asked if Amanda Stevens would like to make a guest appearance here on Escape In A Book. What if I disliked the second installment? Honesty is my only way, so luckily for me I was yet again completely sucked into the world of Amelia Gray and the tranquility of the peaceful cemetery in Asher Falls.

However the good feeling didn't last very long. Amanda Stevens started wielding that masterful skill of hers, creating that utterly spine chilling feel, Amelia feels it and the reader perhaps even more. I normally don't like being scared but Stevens writes in a way that gets me completely hooked on the story and it is almost impossible to put the book down. I was like "ok, I'm so taking a break for the night, when there is a scene that allows me to calm down and breathe(and I'm not too scared to turn off the light and go to sleep)", but there rarely ever happened.

The Kingdom offers up a continued story about the mystery evolving Amelia and why she can ghosts. What is she? In addition to that we have a mystery that will be a closed case by the end of this novel(well almost, one loose thread still hanging in the air). That means you can read on without fear of a big cliffhanger ending.

The characters in this story are all very interesting, Amanda Stevens knows how to give enough from her characters to make for interesting people. I was invested in every character because they all had their personal story to tell. My favorite character would be a dog named Angus, I'm guessing he will be a regular member of the cast in the series as of now on. Angus was a poor little creature who had been used as a bait dog for dog-fighting. Angus has much to offer Amelia, unconditional love and protection, something she can never have enough of in her in between worlds kind of life.

There is a gush of love in the air, but will it blossom into something more?

Check out my review of the first book in this series, The Restorer.


My rating of this book:


- FIVE silvery moons for Amanda Stevens and her wonderful character Amelia Gray. I want more!




By the way I want to say a big CONGRATULATIONS to Amanda for being nominated as a 2012 RITA Finalist in the Paranormal Romance genre for her first novel in this series, The Restorer.

 Check out Amanda Stevens on Twitter and visit her homepage!

26 comments:

  1. Lovely review. Love the cover on the book, never heard about this book before:)

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    1. Thanks, Elin! This truly is a great series :)

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  2. Great review, I am loving this series and can't wait to read Prophet.

    I wonder if Angus will still be in the next book, I felt we didn't get enough so if he is that would be great.

    I love the creepy feel, execution is perfect.

    Can't wait for some of the older characters to be back, yaaaay.

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    1. I so agree with you, Marce. I've started The Prophet and it's been excellent so far. I don't think you will be disappointed.

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  3. argh! This is on Net Galley! And no one told me!

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    1. I'm so sorry, hun! The Prophet is also there :)

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  4. And i think I need to read book 1 by the look of this

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    1. I got one word for you my friend :D That is Y E P

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  5. Sounds like Amanda Stevens will be a great new author to read. I loved book one, so I'm excited to continue reading this series now. :)

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    1. I'm happy to hear that, Chrystal. If you loved book #1 the second one won't disappoint I'm sure :)

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  6. I always feel relieved when the second book is as good as the first in a series. I should definitely check this one out.

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    1. Me too and more often than not I experience that the second book fails me.

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  7. Good to know, I always have high(er) expectations for the 2nd book if I loved the 1st book, and always fear of being disappointed, good to know The Kingdom lived up to your expectations. And you got me at "creepiliciously good [...] series. [...]a good urban fantasy/paranormal romance ghost story that make you shiver almost non stop", I WANT TO READ IT!! Off to add it to my TBR ;-) Thank you!

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    1. Yaaaay. I'm thrilled that you're adding it, Stella :)

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  8. This series looks so good I will have to add to the growing pile of great reads to check out. Thanks for the post.

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    1. I know the look of that pile, I have a huge shelf on Goodreads ;)

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  9. I tried to skim read, so I would not learn too much. I desperately want to read this series.

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    1. I've made sure to leave out all spoilers in this review so not to worry ;)

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  10. Thanks for the review. Sounds like the series is well worth all the hype.

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  11. Good to know that the series doesn't fizzle out at Book #2. So often the second one doesn't measure up to the first one!

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  12. Ooh I haven't read any really creepy/scary books lately this one sounds like it could be really good!
    I can't wait to get may hands on these books, thanks for the review.

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  13. I need to book. Obviously I'm missing out! Great review!

    Emily
    Ed and Em's Reviews

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  14. Also... this* not to... Brain fart.

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  15. scary lol really i meant sounds haunting

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  16. This review makes me want to read this series even more. Great review.

    Thank u :)

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Thank you for sharing your thoughts =)