Blog Tour | The Lost Kingdom

Hello all!

Welcome to my tour stop for The Lost Kingdom by Stephanie Beerden. I reviewed her book early this month via Goodreads and I totally enjoyed this book.


Title: The Lost Kingdom

Author: Stephanie Beerden

Series: The Elements series #1

Genres: YA Fantasy

Publication Date: April 28th, 2014

Source: Received a copy from the author a few months back

Purchase: Amazon | B&N | Smashwords |

Synopsis from Goodreads: 
A Prophecy made long ago, announced the arrival of the new Ladies of Elements.

And now almost a millennia later, it finally came true …


All her life Arima thought she knew who and what she was. That is until the day of her sixteenth birthday came and her world is turned upside down, when she’s told she’s not a White Witch but Lady Spirit. And that she is the one that has been foretold, will unite the Five Ladies of Elements once again and save Ilendia and the Other Lands from Ahriman, the Demon King.

At first Arima refuses to accept her new fate, but when Shanums come and destroy her village and kill her loved ones, she has no choice but to flee and fall right into the destiny she never wanted.

As she grudgingly starts her journey into the unknown, she is accompanied by her unicorn familiar Sirrim, Blythe, a Vampire with a dark past and Myrddin, a mysterious Ljosalfar.

And the longer her journey lasts, the more Arima begins to realise that she can’t escape her own destiny and she must learn to control her powers and learn to be a Lady for the sake of the Sisters she doesn’t know and the people of Ilendia and the Other Lands.

However, things get more complicated when Arima comes into the possession of a key. Her instincts compel her to go towards danger when she discovers that the key she holds, can unlock the legendary kingdom of Eléssima, the home of the Ladies of Elements.

She will have to make the choice to follow her instincts …

…or stay on the path that has been laid out for her.
My Rating: ★★★★★

Excerpt

This excerpt is from chapter called "In The Eye Of Evil"
"Neat trick. Want to see one of mine?" he asked, irritated. Then he just disappeared. 
"What?"
"Right here," a voice whispered into her ear.From the corner of her eye, Arima saw Ahriman standing behind her. She wasn't prepared for the punch  in the face she got, sending her flying and landing harshly against the ground, even rolling a few times. She bumped her head against a rock on the ground and started to feel dizzy. Her vision blurred.
"Pathetic." Ahriman sneered. He picked up his sword and casually walked towards Arima. "Your ancestor at least put up a better fight. I had hoped to enjoy my revenge a little." He sat on his haunches beside Arima and laid his sword down so close, that she could almost feel the energy on her neck. "But I'll take my time with your Sisters when I kill them." Arima tried to hit him, but her hand was grabbed by Ahriman's scaled one. He gripped it so tightly that Arima could almost feel the bones breaking. She screamed. The satisfied smirk on his face made it clear he enjoyed watching her be in pain. He let go of her hand and roughly grabbed her hair, earning him another cry.
"You're weak and pathetic. Illendia's last hope is nothing more than a helpless little girl." Ahriman spat at her. 

My Review

Stunning story!

The Lost Kingdom is a fabulous first book to a trilogy. Stephanie Beerden has created a marvelous fantasy/paranormal novel. The world building, characters and pacing was great!

This book follows sixteen year old Arima. She was born as a fallen star to be the new Lady Spirit. She was found by White Witch Bryeia and Wizard Gideon. When she was found Bryeia and Gideon decided to cast a spell that would mask her true identity, but at the age of 16 her awakening occurred and Arima knew she was definitely Lady Spirit because of her magical abilities, snow white hair and her violet eyes. Arima's goal as Lady Spirit: unlock the Lost Kingdom, reunite with her sisters and defeat the demon king Ahriman.

Along her journey she lost her only family (Bryeia, Gideon and Rowan) and in a way foun a new one among her followers and friends. Arima was such a fabulous character. For her age she handled her responsibilities so well and her snarky attitude to the demon king and his followers were awesome. Arima definitely looked like a girl, but her maturity was that of a true queen. She definitely surprised me every time an obstacle was in her way.

I totally loved Blythe and Sabre. They were amazing characters that I will never forget! They both had similar backgrounds when it comes to working for Ahriman and losing their families because of Ahriman.

Blythe is an amazing vampire from the moment he met Arima in Glynn. He swore to protect her and he definitely did. He stayed be her side through thick and thin. Helped her learn to battle with both hands and when she's injured. Blythe seemed like an older brother during the journey always warning her to becareful and being.protective of Arima. I loved it! Even the ending for what Arima gave him in return...I surely cried.

Sabre, the white wolf, seemed a little antsy and annoyed at first when hefirst met Arima because of his past efforts to help the Numinal. I completely understand his distrust, but as the story progressed he realized his error in making Arima pay for something she did not do and helped her along side Blythe.

Characters I couldn't stand: Ahriman the denon king, Myoni, Enchantra and Crimson. Ahriman just seemed to be the one to have everyone's family killed and hitting a 16 year old is just ridiculous!! Enchantra just was a snarky b*tch for no reason and I have no idea what she is. Myoni took everything away from Arima and didn't care at all. I'm glad she died and her death was awesome! Crimson I simply cannot even express my rage and disgust for what she's done to Blythe and anyone else. Anyone Ahriman's army is just annoying.

The ending was by far amazing and it shocked me because of my own doubts. I can't wait to find out what happens next for the other four Ladies.

PS: I love the dictionary/ translation for the magical holy language.

About the Author

Stephanie Beerden was born on Friday the 13th (no joke, she really was) in a small city called Genk in Belgium. She has always been fascinated with the occult, magic and books. Her childhood and teen years were filled with reading lots and lots of books and imagining what life would be like as a vampire. Until one day she decided that she wanted to try her hand at writing her own books and that was the beginning of her writing adventure.



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