Review: The Reign by Lynne Stringer

Gripping Finale

The Reign is the third and final book in the Verindon Trilogy, and it is best to read The Heir and The Crown first. In fact, if you haven’t read the first two and want to, you might be better going to my previous reviews to avoid spoilers.

Review: The Heir

Review: The Crown

All three stories follow Sarah, a teenage American girl who finds out she’s actually the heir to the throne on a far-off planet, and her best friend and teenage crush are actually aliens from her home planet, sent to Earth to guard and protect her (The Heir). Upon arriving on Verindon, she finds her life threatened by unknown forces, and learns she is required to marry but forbidden by law to marry the man she loves (The Crown).

The Reign begins with Sarah finally deciding which of her approved suitors she will marry, as her efforts to change the law have failed. Another attack on her life reveals information that will change everything—and place her in even more danger.

I’ve really enjoyed this debut YA series by Lynne Stringer. It’s not Christian fiction, but it is written from a Christian world view, so it doesn’t have any of the sex, violence or negativity so prevalent in contemporary YA fiction. The Reign pulls together all the plot points of the earlier books, and delivers a satisfying finale.

The books are all written from Sarah’s point of view, which has plusses and minuses. It was a strength in The Heir, because it meant the reader discovered the secrets of Sarah’s past as she did. I would have liked to have seen some alternate points of view in The Crown and especially The Reign, because both have strong male characters, and I would have liked to know what they were thinking!

Overall, I’ve really enjoyed this series and recommend it to fans of YA sci-fi.

Thanks to Wombat Books for providing a free book for review. You can find out more about Lynne Stringer at her website, or check out yesterday's interview.