Series: Sovereign #1
Release Date: June 25th 2018
Pages: 303
Find It On: Goodreads. BookDepository. Amazon.
Source: The author kindly sent me a copy of this book to review.

Synopsis

In the Blue, the world’s last city, all is not well.

Julia is stuck within its walls. She serves the nobility from a distance until she meets Lucas, a boy who believes in fairytales that Julia’s world can’t accommodate. The Blue is her prison, not her castle, and she’d escape into the trees if she didn’t know that contamination and death awaited humanity outside.

But not everyone in the Blue is human, and not everyone can be contained.

Beyond the city’s boundaries, in the wild forests of the Red, Cameron has precious little humanity left to lose. As he searches for a lost queen, he finds an enemy rising that he thought long dead. An enemy that the humans have forgotten how to fight.

One way or another, the walls of the Blue are coming down. The only question is what side you’ll be on when they do.

Review

The Gilded King by Josie Jaffrey is the first in a new fantasy series in which we follow the residents of the Blue – the last remaining city on Earth. As soon as I picked this book up I was hooked on this intense and action packed story, and I’m so excited to find out what’s in store next!

The story is told in alternating points of view – one from Cameron, a noble with many secrets in his past, out in the wilds attempting to find someone who disappeared many years ago, and Julia, a young girl forced to serve the reigning nobles. I really liked the differing perspectives in this story, the characters were really complex and fascinating and I certainly found myself becoming attached to them as the story progressed.

The Gilded King is definitely an unpredictable story – I was never quite sure where it was going to turn next. The world building is excellent and Jaffrey has created a really fascinating world with a whole wealth of paranormal creatures. The story is well paced and has plenty of action, ramping up more and more to the intense ending. The story blends action packed moments with romance and mystery incredibly – this makes for one really exciting story. If you’re a fantasy lover, this is bound to be your new favourite series.