Book Review #52: The Heiress of Gaia by Daphne Paige

Hello Dear Reader!

I come bearing another book review!!! And in a reasonable time, too!

This week, I’ve got another indie read, but this time by Daphne Paige. The Heiress of Gaia is her debut novel, and I found it an absolute joy to read! And just to plug this in, Daphne is also an absolute joy to talk to, and I love seeing her content on my feed, so if you want to check her out, you can find her on Instagram @daphne.paige.books!

Now let’s get into the back-cover summary! (from Goodreads):

Ayne is the heiress to the throne of Gaia; she's been trained and prepped and told her entire life that this is what she's destined for. But when a traveler tells her of his adventures, she can't help but feel trapped, longing to see anything besides her palace walls. Sneaking from her chambers with her faithful gerbil, Caz, she follows the man into the night. Little does she know that the man isn't just a passing traveler, he's actually a spy, sent to capture and hand over the heiress of Gaia to the queen of Klymora. Inside the Klymora palace she's forced to serve on the Caledonia Court, where she discovers a treacherous secret harbored within their walls. The only people she can confide in are Miss Dendlewind and Prince Talin. After a failed attempt at escaping, she's pushed into a marriage with the enemy prince, promising that the war between their kingdoms will stop.

But with lies, magic, and murder causing mayhem in her life...who can she really trust?

End synopsis! Time for the review!

The Heiress of Gaia follows the story of thirteen-year-old Princess Ayne Edelweiss, heir to the kingdom of Gaia as she is cleverly kidnapped and handed over to the queen of their enemy kingdom, Klymora. Throughout her time as somewhat of a privileged captive, Ayne learns much about her enemy kingdom along with the royals governing it: Queen Stella and her son, Prince Talin. With twists and turns hitting her at every step, Ayne’s experiences helps her grow as a character, maintaining her many strengths while opening her eyes to many lessons she had yet to learn.

Even though she is only thirteen, Ayne is very mature for her age, which makes a lot of sense. She has been taught all her life the necessary behaviors and knowledge to become a good queen, the ideal heir, of her kingdom when she eventually becomes of age. Still, what I love most is even though we see a lot of this maturity in her, there is a pure, thirteen-year-old spirit who longs for adventure. This ends up getting her in trouble, but it was really nice to see the young spirit in the girl who had to grow up quickly in order to fulfill her given role. Ayne is also very kind and has a generous heart of gold, never hesitating to help a poor soul in need and ignoring their status while doing so. The confidence and steadfastness she possesses is something I absolutely admire.

Joining her is a wide cast of characters, my favorite of which is Prince Talin, the boy she said she’d never ever fall in love with. Though he’s first introduced as someone who is just a bit arrogant, this prince turns out to be quite a lovely personality, showing kind, caring, and a willingness to learn and change the rather brash ways his kingdom, particularly his mother, treats those much less fortunate than he. While Ayne is my favorite character, he’s a really close second, and the friendship that blossoms between these two did nothing but warm my heart! Surrounding this wholesome pair is the kind maid miss Dendlewind, the loyal gerbil Caz, one of the cruelest mothers I’ve ever read about Queen Stella, and many other unsavory characters who don’t deserve one more minute of screen time.

Daphne does a great job of creating characters I can’t help but hate, and I absolutely love it.

The world these characters reside in is rather massive, and it excites me that this book has only scratched the surface! The kingdoms of Gaia and Klymora are as different as can be despite how close they are together geographically, and the culture and values held in both were so clearly represented through Ayne’s experiences throughout the story. Of course, those aren’t the only two kingdoms, as in book 2, Ayne gets to visit yet another in order to… deal with a certain issue that came up. Obviously, it’s a spoiler.

I absolutely enjoyed reading The Heiress of Gaia, and I was very pleased to find that there was little I personally disliked about it. The two things that come to mind can be considered nitpicky and personal preference. The first is that there are a few time-skips throughout the book, and a small few felt a bit choppy. The second is that I personally found the revelation of a rather alarming piece of information at the end of the book rather convenient. Though, it does serve its purpose to provide much more of a cliffhanger ending than if the story ended without it. Other than these two small things, I loved this book!

So, The Heiress of Gaia rating

4.75/5 and excited for the next book! Though this book is a quick read, it is so charming, and Daphne does a great job of making it fast-paced without it feeling too fast. Ayne is a great main character, and I’m looking forward to seeing what she does in the next installment.

Thanks for reading!