Prisoner of the Witch Queen: A sapphic dark fantasy romance

by Edie Marr

The price of peace is my freedom.

I grew up with Elsin the Witch Queen haunting my nightmares.

Nine years ago she gave my mother a terrible choice. She threatened our land with a terrible curse that would destroy us all. The only way to avoid this me, her daughter, to be delivered to her on my twentieth birthday. And Elsin makes no secret of the terrible fate she plans for me.

My mother refuses, insisting I grow up knowing nothing of this demand. She teaches me instead that Elsin the Witch Queen is pure evil, a terror to be feared.

A few months after I turn twenty a terrible Sickness comes to my beloved Brightstar Castle. When it strikes my brother, the young King, I learn the truth about what Elsin wants.

To save my brother and the realm I love, I must deliver myself into the clutches of a woman I consider a monster. A woman who’s twisted story I’ve obsessed over my entire life.

But is the story I’ve been told about Elsin the Witch Queen the truth?

A fairytale-inspired dark sapphic romance with enemies to lovers, lots of spice and dark scenes

CONTENT This is a dark fantasy story it contains dark themes and disturbing elements.

Genres: Lesbian, Fantasy, Romance, Lesbian Fiction, Dark Romance, Witches, Queer

288 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 2, 2024

Reviews

[Lady Olenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

Hmmm… I don’t think I felt a strong connection with the story or the characters. The plot wasn’t grounded enough, the characters’ motivations were flimsy making the events in the story less impactful and meaningful.

[Belle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was bad. I literally had to force myself to finish. The premise is interesting enough, the delivery is terrible. The characters are underdeveloped, the dialogue is cringe, the story itself was very fluffy and without depth. The pacing is inconsistent. And the smut don't smut well.

I did not enjoy this book. I am actually upset that I wasted time reading this.

[Kaylayne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't think I'll be finishing this book. Stopped on chapter three. The writting is just annoying, and as many had commented on, the dialogues are cringe. There were so many unecesary "Oh".

On chapter three, what made me give up on this was this scene where the princess had just arrived at the magic land and is brought before the witch queen and all her court. The queen thinks it's a great idea to magically undress the princess for all to see, but she dresses her again and after some awful dialogue, the queen goes in to kiss the princess.
The princess refuses and shy away, to witch the queen goes: "Oh princess, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I forgot myself"
Coming from the woman who seconds ago was saying that the princess was no more but her concubine, her property, and even got her naked in front of who knows how many people??? Doesn't sound much sincere now, does it?
Why would the queen even apologize, anyway?!!

It says dark romance but the author doesn't know how to write a morally grey character. At one moment, Elsin is saying awful things and putting on this "bad guy" performance. Then, shes apologizing and saying that she would make a different choice if she could.

Sigh... Pick a fucking side!

[Annika · Rating 2 out of 5]

Half the time the mc was fine, and the other half made me want to rip my hair out. Also, I cannot in good conscience give a book that uses the word “cunny” unironically more than 2 stars.

[Amy Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this as an ARC reader and I was not disappointed. I was hooked from the first chapter and had a love, hate, lust relationship with Elsin! Each twist and turn of the story kept me desperate to keep reading. There’s a few spicy scenes but it is quite mild for a “dark romance” novel.
Really enjoyed it and would recommend to others!

[MelissaBu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy reading this book. This had a few twists that I did not see coming. And you will know why the witch queen did what she did. A little dark but you will understand why. I am trying not to give no spoilers because there is a mystery in the story also. A great book to read.

[lupine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the writing and characters and the story of this novel. I rarely like all three of those things, but I did! It could have used a little more editing, sure, there were some typos and misspellings and grammatical mistakes, but all in all it felt pretty polished for what is probably a self-published amazon book. And of course, I always love when the story is queer, and better, sapphic. I marked it as a "shameless bodice ripper" because there are definitely some spicy scenes, but it's actually fairly restrained, and there's none of that "as soon as I saw her I wanted to be with her forever" nonsense going on (although there is a time and place for that in a story, it can lend a sort of... ridiculousness to everything that comes after). It definitely has all the elements of your favorite high fantasy kings-and-queens-and-knights-and-such stories, it's sapphic, and it's on kindle unlimited! A win/win/win in my book!

[Aisha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, it was a no from me, Dawg. Was this book looked over by an editor? There are so many grammatical errors. That aside, the story felt rushed in some places. Literally, the character explained everything in her head at one point. Then Elsin was talking, but there were no quotations, so I didn't know if she was thinking it or saying it outloud. It was just a mess.
Now, the story was unique. I would have liked a little more world building and character development. The steamy scenes were nice but I'm used to a lot more detail. Overall, I don't think I'll be reading anything else by this author.

[Ewok · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was an interesting plot nestled in there for sure. Sadly, the romance felt very flat to me, steamy scenes very one sided and awkward. I didn't quite comprehend the character development as I felt you were shown the before and after in lengths, but no in-between progress and key situations resulting in said development.
Sadly, to me, this book didn't fulfill on its great promises.

Overall, I liked the world this was set into and would pick up another one in the hopes of a bit more lore and improved writing in the future.

[Alicia Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edie Marr
Prisoner of the Witch Queen: A sapphic dark fantasy romance (Wildwood)

I have discovered a newfound passion for captivating tales of forbidden love. This book I stumbled upon was truly exceptional, filled with unexpected surprises and captivating plot twists. The passionate scenes added an extra layer of intensity, making it an enticing read. It was also a pleasure to delve into another remarkable story by the talented author. If you're in the mood for a thrilling and dark journey, this book is readily available on Amazon KU. Don't miss out on this enthralling read!

[Bearrigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a solid book. Was it a literary masterpiece? No, but it was a short, interesting, and at times steamy (less than I expected which is okay) book that kept me engaged. Considering the length there were quite a few fade to black moments with time jumps that I was interested to see for myself. But 9x out of 10 I’m here for the sapphics and less for the plot. There were def dark elements but idk how much of a dark romance it was. There were a few editing errors. Age gap situation was a little off putting but once you get an explanation later in the book it's better

[Liz Brewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish it was longer

I liked the story, plain and simple. But I feel it had a potential to be longer and more drawn out, giving more time for the relationship to blossom and political intrigue to occur. I’m sad to see such a good plot line end so quickly and not given the patience it deserved. However, brava to the writer as I thoroughly enjoyed what I did get to read. I enjoyed it immensely.

[Marsha Wheeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Story/Editing Problems

I liked this story, but just when would get into it, there would be an editing error, mainly the swapping of her/him. It was prevalent in the beginning of the book. Then it stopped. I thought it was done. Then it happened again toward the end. Like I said, I liked the story, but it's a lesbian story. If you can get past the errors, I think you'll like it.

[Alecto · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.8
I liked it, I can say it was a very satisfying read. Despite the premise, the story handles the contextualisation of the world and the circumstances of the characters quite well, it's not all porn and that's why it's great.
son las 2:00 am , no he podido dormir hasta terminar esta historia (eso si me quede con las ganas de que una roca aplastara a esa cabrona cabeza de tomate, esperaba mínimo que le dieran con un palo en la cabeza)

[Autumn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, but something was missing…

I really like the premise of this story. However, the effort to make characters a world of grey failed, for me at least. It was very black and white, good and bad, honest and dishonest. I think it could have benefited from some variety and the story being expanded upon a bit. I understand the idea of enemies to lovers. However, with this story it didn’t feel gradual.

[Shannon Luchies · Rating 3 out of 5]

The problem is have with most 'dark romance' novels is I'm left going 'WHY is the one heroine acting like a asshole?' and 'Why should the other heroine like this asshole?'

This book suffers from that. I did like the twist about what really happened, tho. And there IS a good reason the villainess can't explain what is going on, which was a nice touch.

But yeah, just not my thing.

[Trippentigger · Rating 3 out of 5]

okay

This one was just okay for me. Maybe it could be fleshed out more, that would help it be better. Underdeveloped characters with little spark or tension between them. Readable, but frustrating to see the potential in the storyline fall flat.

[Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars. Good plot and I liked the main character but the romance was not well developed, the spice wasn’t that great, and the ending was lackluster. I much preferred Bride of Lady Blueheart by this author instead and would recommend that one over this one.

[Caro · Rating 1 out of 5]

Same story told over and over again.
More than 200 pages of the same thing with an awful narrator.
And let me ask: what aspect of the story makes it a dark romance? I’m still trying to find it.

[zoe · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ 59%. Literally so stupid. No plot. No personality from the characters except their perfect boobs. No tension. They are not even really enemies. Absolutely nothing. This book provided nothing. Stupid waste of time. Will not be reading anything from this author again.

[Christine Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow what a fantastic storyline talk about capturing your undivided attention into their world it was everything and more I couldn't put it down definitely highly recommend MUST READ congratulations

[Zureena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartbreaking 😔

This novel is so emotional f what was done to the witch. She didn't deserve it and wish the queen and warlock could have died more gruesome. A 5🌟 all the way.

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Witch Queen

I love witches & sapphic queens, but put them together in one woman. Wow! Edie Marr wrote a fantastic book. I can’t wait to dive into more of her books.

[Soup · Rating 1 out of 5]

dnf 41%

[Kayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish it would have explained some more things. It was also quite repetitive but still a good read, in my opinion.

[Emmy Graham · Rating 2 out of 5]

This world made no sense to me and the plot jumped all over the place. not to mention the romance seemed like it was trying to be slow burn, but it ended up just feeling rushed at the end.

[Tula · Rating 3 out of 5]

I ended up feeling a bit unfulfilled with this book. Everything felt a bit too shallow, maybe I just needed more to feel invested in the story/characters.

[Yolanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

It could have been more with such an interesting premise, but alas the writing was clunky and a few scenes were awkward to read.

[Malote · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was so bad I had to force myself to finish. It started amazingly and it was downhill from there.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm being generous with this 3, but that doesn't mean I disliked it. It's just exactly what you'd expect from a KU read with this premise, warts and all.