Review: Hereafter by Jody Hedlund
Y’all. I’ve been fangirling over this book all week. It’s so good! And officially my favorite of The Lost Princess series!
The rest of the series has been good, but Jody really hit it out of the park with this one! **squeals in happiness** Ever since finishing Always, the prequel novella, and learning where and with whom the third princess, Emmeline, was raised, I’ve been excited to get to this book. Also, I’m a sucker for a good marriage-of-convenience story. 😉
Check out the official blurb, then read on for the rest of my fangirl-y thoughts!
The third lost princess. The final key to the treasure. And a battle for the throne.
Growing up deep in the forest as a poor charcoal burner’s daughter, Emmeline has always known her identity as a princess of Mercia, and she lives in fear of being caught and killed. When her adopted father returns from town with news regarding the imminence of war, Emmeline has no wish to join the rebellion against King Ethelwulf.
Prince Ethelrex, the strongest warrior in the land, has done everything he can to prove his loyalty to his father, including searching for the last lost princess. When Ethelrex finally captures Emmeline, the king commands his son to marry the princess in order to win the support of the people and undermine the rebellion.
Forced into marriage, Emmeline has one goal—to escape. But Ethelrex takes his marriage vows seriously, including his promise to love and cherish his wife, and has no intention of letting Emmeline get away. As the battle for the throne rages, will the prince be able to win the battle for Emmeline’s heart?
Hereafter is a non-stop adventure from the start and a seriously swoon-worthy romance—make sure you have your fan or fainting couch ready, ladies. LOL! 😉 But for real though, Prince Ethelrex—while you could classify him as a “villain” at first—is a hero worth fainting over. His determination to take his forced marriage to Emmaline seriously and win her heart endeared him to me from the start. He, along with Emmaline, had the most well developed character arc of the series; both characters changed so much over the course of the book.
I loved the fact that this book and this series left me guessing how things would turn out until the very last chapter. Based on the premise of the series, you would think it would be really easy to figure out the entire plot; but I genuinely wasn’t sure how exactly the “good guys” would win, and several plot lines played out differently than I initially imagined. Ultimately, the ending of Hereafter was exquisitely satisfying. I especially LOVED how Emmaline and Rex’s story resolved. I was sighing and squealing through the last two chapters (at 1 AM because I was determined to finish the book that night)!
I am sad to bid farewell to the world of this series, but now I’m eagerly sharing about it with my sister and her best friend, telling them they have to read these books. Ha! Hopefully they’ll listen to me. 😉
5/5 Stars for Hereafter and the Lost Princess Series as a whole! If you enjoy YA fiction, medieval historical fiction or fantasy, fairy tales and princesses, or just an great romantic adventure, you will love this book/series!
Before you go: check out my reviews for the prequel novella for this series and Book 1 & 2!
Book 0.5: Always
Book 1: Evermore
Book 2: Foremost