The Dark Queen

by Jessica Miller, Jeremy Bennett (Illustrator), Kim Geissler (Photographer)

This isn’t the fairytale your mother taught you. In the dark woods, everything you believe to be good is rotten, and when dusk comes, the tales of every nightmare come to life… Sydney Whitman is queen bee of Forest Hills High, and she will stop at nothing to put everyone in their place. She has no remorse for letting those who are below her know, including those in her own inner circle. On the night of Forest Hills High’s annual Halloween bash, a classmate of Sydney’s decides to end her mean streak. Having been the butt of Sydney’s jokes for too long, Gwendolyn takes matters into her own hands, ready to teach Sydney a lesson. Sydney finds herself in an unknown territory of the woods, but before she can figure out what happened, a young man with piercing green eyes attacks her and threatens to cut out her heart. In the midst of her terror, she is rescued by her knight in shining armor. This knight with baby blue eyes promises to help her and keep her safe. But, her knight isn’t just any knight. He is the prince of darkness and believes Sydney is his long lost Dark Queen. Sydney denies she is who he believes her to be, but the power that comes with being a queen is too tempting not to play along. Soon, Sydney finds herself in a twisted story of who is good and who is evil, and the boy with the piercing green eyes becomes somewhat of a troubling situation, causing Sydney to question her so-called knight in shining armor. Can Sydney find the truth behind all of the lies? Is she really who the blue-eyed knight believes she is? And, when the truth comes out, who does Sydney want to stand by her side?

309 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 19, 2016

About the author

I live in a fantasy world and have an overactive imagination. But the best part is that I never stop creating new characters and stories to share. I love writing and expressing myself in a way everyone else can enjoy.

Reviews

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE DARK QUEEN BY JESSICA MILLER


About :Sydney Whitman is a popular high school student who doesn't take no for an answer ,she loves telling her followers what to do and commanding respect, she will step on anyone to get what she wants and doesn't care who she destroys in the process in fact the destroying part is what she loves .After her boyfriend dumps her for a friendless loser named Gwendolyn, Sydney and her friends go to the annual school dance and humiliate Gwendolyn . They decide to hit up a party after the dance where Sydney heads outside with a guy that she has a crush on when he leaves for a second to use the bathroom Sydney spots Gwendolyn in the woods where she follows her to confront her about her ex she gets lots in the woods twists her ankle ,falls and hits her head causing her to black out . Sydney wakes up with a pounding headache and a twisted ankle where she is instantly attacked by a woodsman with and axe ,a hunting knife ,swearing she is the dark queen and that he will rip her heart out .Sydney is saved by a stranger from the huntsman's attack he takes her to his cabin in the woods . As Sydney start to recover she starts to question whether her savior(Pax) is really a savior or her captor ,why the crazy guy with the axe(Hayden) called her the dark queen and wants to kill her and find out where she is and what the heck is going on .


What I liked :The imagination of this book is amazing I loved how one minute it was one story and then the next it was something else and I just fell into a story I wasn't expecting . It made me sit up and take notice as I was reading along .There were also no dull parts in this book I didn't feel bored at any point I just kept reading and gasping and laughing out loud . The author paced out this story in a very well thought out way .This story was narrated from each of the main character's of this book so it was nice to listen to their points of view and have each character give voice to what they thought . There is action and adventure in this book and there's also romance this book has it all in a good way that's not over packed .


What I didn't like : THE CLIFFHANGER !!!! I was very frustrated with the cliff hangers because I hate them I actually screamed at the end and almost threw my phone but then I remembered I need my phone so I had to settle for releasing a stream of expletives .However I understood why the author left it where she did if she would have continued on this book would have needed a part two and would have been way too dang long this book is already a whopping 698 pages which may not seem like a lot but when it comes to eBook's the length of this book is longer than most others I have read in the eBook realm. so even though I was angry about that cliff hanger (boo, hiss) I had to tip my bonnet and say well played author ,well played .



Authors blog where you will find more info on this book and other books
jesslmiller.blogspot.com


This book was published :July 19th ,2016 so good news its available now !




I want to thank the author for giving ARC copies out to review I enjoyed it !

[May · Rating 4 out of 5]

** First, thank you Ms Jessica Miller for giving me a copy of your book in exchange for an honest review**

(Disclaimer: I don't know if this is the right way to do a review. Since it is my first time doing this I will try my best to deliver. Feel free to correct me or give me some suggestion, I apologized in advance but here goes..)

I will just have to sum up and be honest with it. I was so close to abandoning the book. At first I don't like Sydney. She's a piece of work and a total mean girl. But as the story continues, her character unfolded and she evolves. I love how the book turns out. I can feel the darkness of the story at the same time felt the rosy undertunes. I love and despise Pax I can't seem to hate him fully, his devotion to the his queen is admirable. But I love Hayden more,his fierce determination of trying to stop the Dark Queen at all cost and his softness when it comes to Sydney is swoon worthy. Other characters like Cybil and Trenton and so on, adds more substance to the story.The plot is amazing, it's woven in a retelling of Snow white and at the same time a unique story of its own. I can't wait for the next book, I want to know what will happen to Hayden and can Sydney break free from the grip of the Dark Queen. I can't wait.

[Sharon Mariampillai · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy from the author, in exchange for an honest review.

Actual Rating: 4.15

Thank you Jessica Miller for the opportunity to read your book. This was an intriguing read. The story is in a parallel dimension where Snow White turns evil. I thought the storyline was really good, although there were some boring parts in the middle. I thought Sydney Whitman was a great character. She had a great journey in this book.

I went from a 3.5 to 4.15 rating because of the ending. I thought that Sydney was similar to Regina from Once Upon A Time. They were both good girls before they turned evil, and they both had great character arcs. The ending was a cliffhanger. I need book two to find out what Sydney will do. Overall, a great read.

[Jessica Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably the only book that took me over a year to write. I would constantly put it aside and come back to it. I wanted to get it right and do something different and I hopefully accomplished that. This is a young adult novel and I'm looking forward to sharing it with you all.

[Unicorn Forever · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got a free e-book in exchange for a honest review so here it goes: The Dark Queen was a pretty good book overall, the main character Sydney Whitman I feel was not developed enough and was too superficial. The plot was good enough, but huge cliffhanger at the end. This series should probably probably continue for another couple of books.

[China Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Disclaimer: The author provided me with a free copy for an honest review.*

There are a few things I consider before reading a book;

A good plot-the synopsis intimidated me a bit. I think it could do some shortening.
A captivating cover-you could actually tell a lot by the front cover tbh, screw all sayings.
And captivating characters to keep the condescending part of my brain asleep in her not-so-cozy bed.

The Dark Queen did not totally satisfy that criteria. But heck I'm not a quiter.
Clearly, I wasn't expecting so much for this novel. Albeit, it did not surprise nor frustrated me.
It was merely, okay.

First of all, Sydney Whitman did not attract me as a reader. I understand her development throughout the story, although that somehow

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

***I received this book in exchange for an honest review, Lovers of Paranormal and the author.***

So this is my second book by Jessica Miller and I loved this one as much as I did her other book (Strange Fate). The Dark Queen takes on a parallel dimension where Snow White is the root of all evil and a normal girl lands in that alternate dimension looking exactly like evil incarnate.

Sidney Whitman was seriously one of the most annoying characters I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. I literally did not think she would EVER change. Thankfully I was proved wrong, but the explanation of why really helped with the connection to the story. Hayden was one of my favorite characters. The strong Huntsman was both alluring and courageous. Together, they were perfection. Other great characters were Charlie and Trenton, hopefully their is more good things from them to come.

That ending though! What a cliffhanger....I cannot wait to read what happens to Sidney now!

One small critique centered on the cover art. I was not a fan and it almost made me feel like I didn't want to read it because it was a little corny for me. Obviously it's worth the read, I just feel like the cover doesn't assist the book in any way. Just my opinion though, this does not reflect my feelings on the book.

4.5 stars!