Review: The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen

I first read The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen shortly after it was first released back in 2018. If you've read my review of A Fate Inked in Blood by the same author, you already know that it wasn't a particularly enjoyable experience for me. It was by no means even close to the worst book I've ever read, but there was just something about it that didn't work for me. However, after recently giving the author's newest release a solid five star rating, I decided to give The Bridge Kingdom another shot to see if the problem back then was the book or if it was just me.

The book follows Lara, one of twelve princesses trained from early childhood to one day infiltrate the court of Ithicana (also known as the Bridge Kingdom) - the neighboring nation of her native Maridrina - as a bride to their ruthless king. The girls all know Ithicana is the enemy - the country hoards their wealth and restricts access to the bridge that allows for trade between the various kingdoms, causing the innocent citizens of Maridrina to face starvation and poverty. Lara is neither the most beautiful nor the most intelligent among her sisters, but she is probably the most cunning one, and when she learns of her father's plan to have all sisters but one killed off to protect a plot fifteen years in the making, she forces his hand by making sure she is the only woman left standing. And thus her father is left with no other choice than to send Lara off to be wed to the king of Ithicana.

Lara's instructions are clear: She has one year learn all of Ithicana's secrets, and she is to report everything she learns back to her father. When the time is right, his forces will attack and take control over the bridge. But Aren, the king of Ithicana, is nothing like the brute Lara had expected. Instead of a tyrant, she finds a troubled young king who loves his country and its people more than anything, and who wishes for nothing else than for Ithicana and its neighboring countries to live in peace. The more time Lara spends with her new husband and his citizens, the more she starts to doubt her mission. Torn between being being the traitorous spy she was raised to be or being the real queen of Ithicana, Lara has to ask herself some important questions: What if Ithicana has never been the enemy? What if the real villain has been someone else all along?

This is a difficult book for me to review. On the surface the book has everything I want in a story - a strong plot, political intrigue and a forbidden enemies to lovers romance - but there's just something about the story that doesn't grip me as much as I want it to. I think the main problem I have with the book is that I just can't stand Lara for the first half of the book or so. I get that she grew up being super sheltered and knowing nothing of the real world, but why is she just taking every word out of her father's mouth at face value? Her father straight up wanted to murder her and ten of her sisters! He doesn't exactly strike me as a particularly trustworthy man! However, Lara is so brainwashed that she just goes along with all of his plans without even raising an eyebrow. I just wanted to reach into the pages and shake the stupidity out of her. Fine, so she does eventually come around, and by the end of the book I even kinda like her, but that does not make up for the fact that I spent 50% of the book hating her traitorous guts.

Aren, on the other hand, is a wonderful marshmallow that needs to be protected at all costs. I really enjoyed the chapters from his point of view, as he is just an all-around decent guy trying to hold his country together. Although he makes some dumb decisions when it comes to Lara, he is always giving his all to protect his people, and that makes me like him a lot.

Despite my gripes about Lara, I enjoyed the story itself. Ithicana was described in a beautiful way - a wild country full of dangerous tropical storms, shark-infested waters and lush jungle islands populated by deadly snakes and gigantic spiders. And of course the gigantic bridge intersecting it all! It is probably not a place I would want to visit myself (because of the aforementioned snakes and spiders), but it did make for an interesting setting. I don't think I've read another book with a similar setting before. I liked the side characters, especially Ahnna and Aren's Nana. She's a firecracker that one! The plot was high-stakes, and once I started actually liking Lara, I really enjoyed the direction in which the story was heading. Her lies and deception (and stupidity) had to catch up with her at some point, and when it finally happened, I was at the edge of my seat! The betrayal! The tension!

While I cannot give The Bridge Kingdom a higher rating because of Lara's lack of character development in the first half of the book, I have no complaints about the writing itself. Danielle L. Jensen has an excellent way with words, and now that I am finally really feeling the story, I am very excited to see what happens in the next book in the series.

I am ready for Lara's redemption arc, so please don't disappoint me!