The Queen's Wing (The Queen's Wing, #1) by Jessica Thorne | Rating: ★★★★☆

As a note, a copy of this novel was sent to me via NetGalley by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinions in any way.

This truly was a gripping story! The Queen's Wing is just the right amount of action and romance; mixing up quite the selection of genres. So, when you see the tagline: "A completely gripping fantasy romance" BELIEVE IT! I will say, however, that the story is more science-fiction than fantasy. It combines fantasy, science-fiction, steampunk and fantasy.

The Queen's Wing is a fun mix of the above genres and will surely appeal to fans of The Selection (I was getting some major parallels between the two when it came to the romantic plotlines), The Androma Saga and maybe a little of The Winner's Trilogy. Which makes it all the more enthralling to its target audience. It's action packed, driven by romance, and just an all around fun time.

That being said, it won't be for everyone. Like all works of fiction, it has it flaws and there are several kinks that Thorne will have likely sorted out in the sequel. While it worked for me, despite said flaws, I will say you should probably steer clear of The Queen's Wing if you aren't interested in love triangle tropes (there's definitely a big one in this first installment, however it is sorted fully by the end) or in romantic stories in general.

Some of you might even consider the likely endgame relationship to be rushed and a little too instant lovey-dovey. I had no issue with them, and thought they were quite sweet. I was smitten with them, but I did find myself hoping for a little more development and could certainly see why it might feel rushed for others.

I enjoyed the world featured in The Queen's Wing and am looking forward to seeing it built, and in the case of book two: rebuilt, because Thorne has offered us a richly thought out universe that I am looking forward to exploring right along with the characters. I do wish there had been a little more focus on that than there was--some moments felt a little in the dark or underdeveloped, but not enough to really raise any alarm because Thorne will likely continue to develop it as the series goes on--and that the characters were a little more developed, too.

(I sound like I'm ragging on the story when, in fact, I am probably just being greedy. I always want to know EVERYTHING.)

Other little things to note:

• Bel is an awesome lead character. I can see why the story itself will be appealing to Sarah J. Maas fans. While Jessica Thorne is not Maas (this isn't an insult; I just want to make it clear that Thorne has a style that is uniquely her own and sets her apart from her peers) I think a lot of readers will embrace Bel the same way they've embraced characters who are in a similar vein. 
• The love triangle is a pretty prominent one on surface only. While the relationships will be very drawn out for the reader, and romance is a really big factor in The Queen's Wing, I think that the triangle is less of a "Team Con!" and "Team Shae!" moment and more of a, "This is sweet, but we know who is probably going to be endgame." 
• As a whole, characters like Shae and Elara somehow both tugged at my heartstrings and felt a little underdeveloped. I liked them and thought they deserved better than the events of The Queen's Wing. I knew what was coming. But, I also had something of an indifference when their plotlines came about. It was like, "Oh, that's unfortunate."
• The world really is fascinating. I know, I said this already. It's true, though. I really liked the way that Thorne combined all the genres and these familiar tropes, but made them into her own little piece of unexpectedness. There was a lot to these lands, their technology and other little bits that we see, that felt like something we'd not yet seen. 
• I'd like to hear more about Con's life before Bel. More on Matilde. I'd like to see some flashbacks in book two, that focus on his life then vs. now. 
• The same can be said about Bel. I feel like there's so much more we don't know about her family, her brothers; life before The Queen's Wing. I want to see her, quite literally, fly. I'd like to see more of a background on her bond with Shae. 

Overall, I enjoyed The Queen's Wing and it was the perfect book to curl up with on a snowy day. I am presently snowed in (well, not so much today) and sick, so it was comforting to make some hot cocoa and curl up with this novel. This is the perfectly compelling YA novel you should be looking into this winter.