Review: The Bridge Kingdom (The Bridge Kingdom #1)

The Bridge Kingdom (The Bridge Kingdom #1)
By Danielle L. Jensen

Published By: CLA
Publication Date: October 16, 2018
Date Read: April 15, 2022
Genre: NA – Fantasy
Source: Bought
Format: Audiobook
Pages: 356

From Goodreads:
A warrior princess trained in isolation, Lara is driven by two certainties. The first is that King Aren of the Bridge Kingdom is her enemy. And the second is that she’ll be the one to bring him to his knees.

The only route through a storm-ravaged world, the Bridge Kingdom enriches itself and deprives its rivals, including Lara’s homeland. So when she’s sent as a bride under the guise of peace, Lara is prepared to do whatever it takes to fracture its impenetrable defenses. And the defenses of its king.

Yet as she infiltrates her new home and gains a deeper understanding of the war to possess the bridge, Lara begins to question whether she’s the hero or the villain. And as her feelings for Aren transform from frosty hostility to fierce passion, Lara must choose which kingdom she’ll save… and which kingdom she’ll destroy.

Passionate and violent, The Bridge Kingdom is a seductive fantasy perfect for fans of From Blood and Ash and A Court of Thorns and Roses.

“I love you. And I will always love you, no matter what the future brings. No matter how hard I need to fight. I will always love you.”

The Bridge Kingdom has been on my radar for quite a while. I always see this book all over bookstagram, and everyone is always raving about how amazing it is. I have had it on my shelf for quite a while and never got around to picking it up. After being told how good the Audio editions are I finally decided to pick these up, and I listened to this book on Audio.

I really enjoyed The Bridge Kingdom. It’s a fast-paced and action-packed fantasy and I really enjoyed learning about the new worlds. This book is the epitome of the enemies-to-lovers trope, and for once, I found I really enjoyed it. I really liked the dynamic of this arranged marriage between enemies where one is determined to bring down the other from inside. The narrators did a fantastic job of bringing these characters to life. They were very dynamic in their narrations and so if you’re an audiobook lover, I do highly recommend the audio version of this series.

The characters were fantastic. I really think Danielle L. Jensen did a fantastic job of developing these characters. Aren is just fantastic. Right from the start I absolutely adored him. He has been made out to be this brute, but he is actually the sweetest guy ever. Lara is different. I liked Lara well enough. I completely understood that she had been manipulated and brainwashed by her father… but my god she irritated the life out of me. My word is she stupid. Everytime she was faced with something true she deluded herself into thinking the worst… and she makes some damn stupid mistakes. I hope she’s gonna do a lot of groveling in the second book… because honestly? Aren deserves so much better! Having said that, I really liked the fact that it was the female character who was one doing the betraying (don’t come for me for spoilers, the second book is legit called The Traitor Queen), it was quite refreshing to have that switched from the norm.

Honestly, I think this series is a little bit overhyped. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed it, but it is amazing and quite as good as everyone makes it out to be? In my opinion, no! It’s really, really predictable. I guessed every single plot twist in it. However, it was still a really fun read. I enjoyed it regardless of the predictability and I will be going straight into the audiobook of book 2. I can’t wait to see what is going to happen.

“Since the moment I set eyes on you in Southwatch, there’s been no one but you. Even if I’m a goddamned food for it, there will never be anyone but you.”

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