Hello Shiquers and welcome back to Nerdy Shique Universe! It is time for another book review and this time it is another fantasy book!

Title: Shattered Hir
Author: N. M. Howell
Disclaimer: This Book is based on thoughts and opinions of the lead writer of this blog. Please respect her thoughts and feelings about this book and there might be spoilers.

Synopsis: This book is in the first of a series from what I have seen and it tells the story of Reia who is a daughter of a god in her world. She escapes from the world to get away from the violence and pain that her father has inflicted on the people of her world and ends up living in Detroit among humans and disguised as one. When she turns 18, her five guardians appear in her make shift apartment to tell her that her father is dead and must return to her world to take the throne. When she returns, she finds that the world that she once left is no longer the same place as it was before, she even finds out that she is a target to be killed so someone else can take the throne. Will she become the riteful queen and will she be able to save the world with her five guardians?

Thoughts: I liked this book since it was a nice break from reading a mystery book I started reading during Irma. This is a young adult adventure but it kind of puts it at the age range that Hunger Games put it at, as in wondering is this meant for teens really? I do like Reia and how she was able to get around as a street rat in Detroit and able to survive which it does work well for her when she gets back home, as in able to use her speed and strength. She does have magical abilities where she can absorb other’s magic to use against them or another enemy which is kind of cool but it is something she does inherit from her dad. She does inherit her mother’s powers since she was one of her father’s guardians which makes it interesting. I am guessing from reading that the Royal Guard are able to fall in love whoever they protect. I was surprised which guardian she ended up with in the end of the book which I won’t say who because she does start making a better friendship with each of them. Taylor trains her how to fight so she can defend herself due to only having her speed and does hand her daggers passed down from her mom, Eiri, who is the most happiest and positive, kind of relates to her more to me because of how they can be the same age to each other and he does have a love for human things especially technology. If I would I would so cosplay as this guy in his elven form or glamour form since that is what the fei can do, they can disguise themselves as humans which Reia is good at. And why would I cosplay as Eiri, of course I do love my tech! Keagan, who is the vampire, is more of the caring type towards her and she tries to see how he became a vamp but he doesn’t know because it just happened and according to earlier in the Detroit part it is said that vampires are rare in her world. I am wishing that would be explained more because I love my vampire stories and the lores they present and would like to know how Reia’s home does their vampires. I am hoping the next book would kind of explain it if they run into another vampire. Roan is a bit more of a beast guy who turns into a lion which does make sense for Reia’s status as queen. I was also hoping they would hook up but he is mostly the blanket for her to keep her warm at night. I do like his origin story where he was in a circus but was tortured and kept in lion form until he was rescued. And finally Grayson, the gargoyle, this guy was pretty fun but seems to be the one who gets targeted a lot in this book but at the same time does get back up. After seeing these guys, I like the idea of what kind of guardians royalty can have and we do get to see another guy’s own guardians but that felt like a short scene but knowing he may be back for the next one.

There were some things that seem to surprise me about the author and would like to give her advice from my own point-of-view as a writer myself. First is that when she promoted this book it was through a romance group and not a lot of people enjoyed it as much and she did change it and took some reader feedback to change it. They were minor but I felt like the book, especially the second edit, was fine. My first piece of advice is to promote the book in genre groups that it is based on. Yes there was a bit of romance between her guardians and her but most of it was due to friendships but this is mostly a fantasy adventure and this book should be promoted in groups based on that rather than romance readers. I would do the same thing if I was promoting Love Found In Cinders with not only fantasy but with romance too with what takes place at the end but it is mostly fantasy due to the magical aspects and goes the same way with Shattered Heir.

And second piece of advice, even though reader feedback is great but if you like the book as you kind of written it then leave it. I remembered this past MegaCon with Stan Lee’s panel where someone asked what is his advice to new writers and that is write for yourself not anyone else. As in, write the story how you want it rather than having people say it should be like this which the feedback was about Reia being whiny, which I hardly saw. She was inexperienced as a princess and yes they can be whiny a little weak but she does grow and there was one tiny scene with a dress which at first she made from a sheet, which that was unique in the story! Again, I found it fine. I admit there were times when I don’t like a scene in my writing and I tweaked it to make it look better in my ears with JAWS or Siri. Again, N. M., write the story how you would tell it and yes there are going to be people who will not like it or certain areas but there will still be people disappointed and upset so don’t let their negativity put you down and how you write the story. Keep writing!

Rating: 5 Star Pawprints Out of 5! This book was a fun read and it was something I didn’t want to close Kindle on every night. The story was well paced, well described, and of course it shows that someone can rise out of the depths to stand for what they belive in and love. I am hoping the next book does explain the vampires a little more which it makes me curious about them a tad bit more. I do have one of N. M. Howell’s other books but I do have tons of books to get through and it may take a while so I would sit tight for a while.

That is it for this review! Next ime I will be doing the Convention Spotlight on Holiday Matsuri 2017! Stay tuned!