Review: Tear Down the Throne (Gargoyle Queen #2) by Jennifer Estep

Title: Tear Down the Throne

Series: Gargoyle Queen #2

Previous series: Crown of Shards

Previous book in this series: Capture the Crown

Author: Jennifer Estep

Genre: Adult, high fantasy

Publication date: May 3rd 2022

Published by: Harper Voyager

Source: ARC from author for review

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Synopsis: Bestselling author Jennifer Estep continues her Gargoyle Queen series with a highly anticipated sequel to Capture the Crown: Gemma Ripley must protect her kingdom and herself from threats of war, assassination, and a dangerous attraction that could break her reign... or her heart.

Crown princess. Clever spy. Powerful mind magier. Gemma Ripley of Andvari is all those things, but these days, she’s also extremely worried. Her problem? Figuring out how to stop an enemy’s plot to somehow use magical tearstone weapons to conquer her kingdom.

Gemma’s quest for answers leads her to a trade Summit between the various kingdoms. Among the other royals in attendance is Queen Maeven Morricone of Morta and her son, Prince Leonidas—Gemma’s charming and dangerous nemesis.

Gemma knows that Maeven always has a long game in motion, and sure enough, the cunning queen invokes an arcane tradition that threatens the fragile truce between Andvari and Morta. Despite her best intentions to keep her distance from the Morricones, Gemma once again finds herself thrown together with Leo and battling her growing feelings for the enemy prince.

When a series of deadly attacks shatters the Summit’s peaceful negotiations, Gemma realizes that someone wants to tear the royals down from their thrones—and that this enemy just might succeed...

My rating: ★★★★★

My favorite book of the year last year was, without a doubt, Capture the Crown! I’m not a big fantasy reader—high/epic fantasy, I should specify. But this series, I LOVE IT! But if you know me, it should come as no surprise because you know that Jennifer Estep is one of my favorite authors 😆 Tear Down the Throne was one of my most anticipated books of 2022, and it definitely lived up to my expectations! I absolutely loved it!

One of my favorite things about this series is the characters. Leo is the absolute sweetest and I adore him! Throughout the book, he tries to gain Gemma’s trust and the way he did it just melted my heart 🖤

“I am going to earn your trust, Gemma Ripley,” he said in a serious, earnest voice. “And your heart too, if I am lucky enough to manage it.”

Gemma is reluctant to trust him, which is understandable since he’s a Morricone and her mortal enemy. His family is awful, yes, but he is so kind!

Gemma, too, is great! She’s also very caring, smart, and an absolute badass! I love having her as the main character!

“Choosing mercy is not a weakness, Gemma. Sometimes it is much, much harder to be kind than it is to be cruel.”

And then the slow-burn romance between these two? Yes, please! This was another of my favorite things about this book! I almost cried at how happy it made me 😆 They are just so freaking cute! And I never get sick of the enemies-to-lovers trope 😆

Another thing I love, about Jennifer’s books in general, is all the cool supernatural abilities and the interesting ways the characters use them! Both Gemma and Leo are mind magiers. Essentially, they have telekinesis and telepathy, but that’s putting it simply. Gemma also has a little time magier in her from her mom, which makes things even more interesting. But like I said, the way they use these abilities is what is so cool! It makes for some great action sequences, which Jennifer Estep is amazing at writing! You can always count on her to give some incredibly action-packed books! I love it! And honestly, she’s just a great storyteller, in general. At the beginning of the book Maeven invokes this challenge that Gemma and Leo MUST participate in, and the thing that Maeven wants... It's insane! Why? Because if the challenges are completed, I wouldn’t exactly HATE the results. But because this is coming from Maeven, you’re just like, “Nooo, she’s up to something horrible! What does she get out of this?!”

I loved the story, though! It was insane and engaging and I loved every second of it! It took some unexpected turns and some of the characters really surprised me. I am really looking forward to seeing how this series wraps up in Conquer the Kingdom!

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! 😊