The Pride of Riverstone by Mandy Schimelpfenig: A Book Review
Genre: Fantasy
The sequel to The Rise of Riverstone, author Mandy Schimelpfenig brings the readers back to the land of Praed in her newest edition to the Daughters of Riverstone Saga, The Pride of Riverstone. Following the events of its predecessor with a time jump of five years, readers are greeted by the charming characters they grew to love. Again, just like before, Risteard still holds my heart and Laria is a literal queen (as well as figuratively). They also are on their way to having half a dozen children – so we KNOW what they have been doing these past five years. Constantly, flirting and being vulnerable when alone, it was nice to see both the characters again. However, The Pride of Riverstone really resided on the story of Ula, Laria’s youngest sister who we met previously as an enslaved laundress deep under the castle of the past king. Ula’s current story tells of her new role as an aunt and a lady-in-waiting to her sister and, while I deeply enjoyed the novel, I do wish Schimelpfenig elaborated more on the story in places.
For example, Ula does fall in love. The man appears to be great, but I wish there was more interaction between the two of them in a romantic sense. As it was, I felt suspicious of the love interest, Finton, right from the start and was unable to grow fond of him as I did Risteard in the previous book with how little it showed of his pursuit of the Lady Ula. Even with his slight contributions to the story line, Finton was a pretty flat character in all. While a romance was certainly possible between the two, I do feel that Schimelpfenig rushed it.
In fact, I think it is also fair to say that I felt Schimelpfing rushed the whole book – but I’m also a person who would have been fine reading a story about Riverstone twice (or even trice) the thickness than the 386 pages Schimelpfing gave. I guess I might be bitter on how nice Schimelpfing was to the characters. While they did certainly have their challenges, Schimelpfing really did not give them really any big TOILS. Like Risteard didn’t miss the birth of a kid or come back wounded. Laria barely struggled with anything. Ula did not really have to make a life altering decisions to make (even though she might beg to differ). Finton did not have any big moments he had to overcome or anything. As a result, the characters were quite static throughout. I loved them – don’t get me wrong. I loved being back in Praed…. But from what I saw in The Rise of Riverstone, Schimelpfing certainly could have done better. Even so, Schimelpfing did receive 5 stars and a score of 38 out of 40 – so she is doing something right. All I am saying is that based on her previous work – she could have done better.
Of course, nothing of mine is published and I am practically a nobody behind a screen giving opinions on things that I don’t really know anything about, so the question is raised just how much is my opinion worth?
Enough for free books apparently. Of which, myself and my husband, are extremely grateful for as it saves me some money towards the amount of books I bring into the house.
Who would most enjoy the work and who should stay clear (if necessary):
Fans of George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones would enjoy this especially if they really enjoy stories that take place with royalty as a center. I would say though that if you have a quezy stomach and don’t like images of broken bones and the like dancing through your head, you might want to stir clear. If you don’t mind this type of stuff, though, the amount of it in the story might disappoint you. There were certainly points that I wish Schimelpfing was more graphic in her approach just because her description didn’t satisfy my curiosity toward what was happening.
Other books like the one reviewed:
The Rise of Riverstone by Mandy Schielpfing
A Queen in Hiding by Sarah Kozoff
Beneath the Keep by Erika Johansen
| Plot: | 9 / 10 |
| Characters: | 9 / 10 |
| Writing: | 10 / 10 |
| Editor: | 10 / 10 |
| Total | 38 / 40 |
Title: Pride of Riverstone
Author: Mandy Schimelpfenig
Edition: ARC paperback [I received this book in exchange for a complete and honest review]
Published: 2023
Publisher: Independent
ISBN: 9781737669623
If you want to get it: Amazon; Barnes&Noble
Rosey Reviews 
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