Chancery may be the youngest ruler of the Evians, but she won her first battle. Thanks to her success, the powers ruling the rest of the Earth are aligning against her, and her supporters’ demands grow with every passing day.
Her days of hiding are over… planned for herself. As she navigates the roiling waters of ancient prejudice, assassination, war, and refugees, she discovers how deeply unprepared she was to assume this unwanted role.
But standing tall makes you a target.
She isn’t alone, but everyone around her is working an angle. Noah’s missing, Edam’s planning their wedding, and the rulers of the Evian nations watch her every move like hungry panthers ready to pounce. A prophecy may have led her to this point, but the rest is up to her. Can she locate the true threat amid the school of red herrings? And what price is she willing to pay to prevent the threatened catastrophe?
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This series keeps getting better and better! Things are heating up for Chancery— and the twists keep coming! This author is brilliant and writes an addicting tale!
Back to Chancery and her internal and external struggles. She wasn’t prepared properly for the role she has taken on, and no one can explain or coach her through this prophecy of which she is supposed to be the heart. Or what all these crazy rings are doing. She is still coping with the loss of her mother and unborn sister. Still trying to unravel the murder mystery as well as the secret paternity. Her sisters’ loyalties have her head spinning, not sure who to trust or even where her siblings all are right now. A lot of sadness with the losses and betrayals. (Talking about me! Why???) She is trying to do her best for as many as she can, including the peon humans not many others seem to care about. Edam and Noah are still both fiercely by her side, trying to protect her from herself as much as all the outside threats. She is pretty stubborn still and just does not learn that she can lean on others sometimes. It’s hard to know who to trust when you have people trying to stab you in the back (or the front), literally. A bit more action in this book. Plus a pandemic and some explanations for human messes that perhaps were caused by the evian overlords none of them even know exist. Lots of puzzle pieces to ponder in this one!
This is book 5 in the birthright series and I couldn’t wait for it to be released. It came out on Friday and I started reading it Saturday and couldn’t put it down. I just finished and I am again absolutely impressed by the writing. Bridget Baker has an easy writing style that pulls you in. This is most definitely not a standalone you will need to start with book 1 for it to make sense but you will not regret it. Unlike a lot of other series Bridget has taken an approach were she flip flops the perspective of who tells the story. I find it ingenious because this gives the characters a whole book to have their story told and it gives you an insight into things that might make it otherwise to confusing. Book 5 is again the voice of Chancery and she is not disappointing. The love triangle we have come to know and expect is still a big part of the story and I keep going back and forth am I team Edam or team Noah. They both have great qualities and what is going to happen to our world.
I love how Bridget in these trying times has incorporated a fact that has us all rethinking what we want from ourselves and the world as it is. I am sure this is a huge point of controversies for many but I believe she did a fantastic way of talking about how the world is dealing with thinks and how the Evians are seeing us. It is dystopian so never forget this is a fiction story even if some parts are very real to us right now. But if we think further on what a great way to preserve what is happening right now in the world be incorporated in a novel that our grandchildren can still read and enjoy because a dystopian world will never not be something a good reader can stay away from.
The flow of the plot and the ease of the writing style make this a story that is exactly what you would expect when picking up a book written by Bridget Baker. No matter if she writes her young adult books or her clean romance novels you can never go wrong with a book from Bridget Baker and you will be immediately drawn into the story from page one. You will want to be one of the characters and you will want to fight, cry, love, and cheer with them. I cannot wait for book 6 to come out and see what Inara has to say. Book 7 will be the conclusion of the series which has to be once more from the point of Chancery with a title like Destroyed I can’t wait and I hope you are joining me in praying that we don’t have to wait so long to find out what is going to happen to Chancery, Noah, Edam, and all the sisters.
Lately I’ve been of the opinion that the shorter the series the better, but this one is an exception. None of these books feel like filler, and that can be hard to do when writing a series. Five books in and I’m still enjoying this series. I think it helps that three of the books are told from other points of view. It’s an interesting and potentially risky way to write a series, but it works here.
This time around Chancery seems to be in over her head. I’m really wondering how everything is going to be sorted out in the end. She is learning how to use the ring that she inherited from her mother. As it keeps growing in size and power with each stone that is added to it, she continues to question herself and her abilities, but she is also slowly growing in confidence. There were times I got a little annoyed with her for blaming herself for things that weren’t her fault, and making some seemingly rash decisions, but she is still growing.
As for the love triangle, Edam is still my favorite love interest, but now Noah has grown on me a bit. I like that he isn’t pushy and is supportive, but the chemistry between Chancery and Edam is still off the charts! I swear I have no idea who Chancery will end up with.
In the end, there were some important revelations in this book, and also some things that I was left wondering about. Bridget Baker’s books always seem to end with a good balance of the two. As usual, I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
So back to Chancy’s story!! This girl on s amazing! She has conquered so much over the few weeks she has been empress! She continues to overtake the other families while dealing with so many heart break. I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
The story keeps building and your perception of characters continues to change as you read thru this series. There isn’t a lull in this book. It’s very fast paced and difficult to set down once you’ve started. I love how Chancery’s relationship with Judica is developing and I also love how she incorporates the Coronavirus into her plot. It’s one of those series where you want to know the end, but you also don’t want it to end.
The phrase “weight of the world on her shoulders” is a figure of speech. Usually. For Chancery Alamecha, it’s her life. Only a few weeks have passed since she went from being daughter of Empress Enora, royal but never expected to rule, to becoming the prophesied Queen of Queens. She has to figure out how to fulfill the prophecy while keeping her kingdom running, searching for her kidnapped sister, and solving her mother’s murder. There’s not really time for details like wondering if she’s really in love with her fiancé or what secrets the enigmatic Noah is hiding.
It doesn’t help that her claim to the prophecy isn’t appreciated by the other five rulers of the world. Millennia ago, a single chunk of staridium was broken to form seven stones, set in rings that the rulers wear. Chancery is tasked with recovering and rejoining all of these stones. Amid declarations of war, diplomatic bargaining, and not even knowing whether the seventh stone still exists, it’s a basically impossible task to keep the world from destruction as she continues her quest.
For Chancery, perhaps her greatest struggle is trust. She must make alliances with other leaders and trust that they’ll support her when it matters. As she continues to pursue her mother’s murderer through new layers of mystery, it’s hard to know who is on her side and who may be conspiring against her. And even though she has faith in a small circle of friends and family, she’s not sure she can trust them to support her when she’s ready to risk everything for peace. More importantly, she doesn’t know if she can trust herself to make the right call when the whole world is depending on her. When she’s responsible for the fate of the world, does she have the courage to make the right call, and can she be sure that it IS the right call?
I love watching Chancery’s growth through this series. She didn’t change from shy teen to confident world ruler overnight. She still has growing to do, but she consistently progresses. She struggles between ruling by love (campaigning for equal rights for all regardless of blood or gender) and controlling her people (forcing DNA tests and blood donations), always moving on from her failures and trying again. And as she grows in wisdom and inner strength, she is also growing in power. Each new ring she conquers gives her a new ability that no one else can wield, proving that she is the prophesied queen.
When I start a series, it’s hard to beat the first book, the one where I first fell in love with characters, explored a new world, and lived through the main character as she discovered herself and her purpose. But Disavowed may be my new favorite. The action is fast-paced, just balanced by humor and pathos. The mysteries…there is enough revealed about Noah, the new rings, and the murder investigation to be satisfying while making me more and more intrigued. Watching Chancery succeed AND fail, and deal with the results of both, make me love her more. I rarely see this depth and continuous growth and development in teen fiction. Fair warning: only read this series if you’re prepared for these characters to become part of your life.
Disavowed, the fifth book in Bridget E. Baker’s The Birthright Series, pulls you back into her Christian fantasy world easily and completely. I hardly put it down! I really enjoyed getting to know Chancery’s character even better and seeing her decisions, relationships, strengths, and abilities changing. Each piece of the puzzle that is this story leaves you wanting more. I really like that the romance is clean and the ending is good, even though it’s not quite the end. I’m excited to read the next books!