Okay so trade disputes, water worlds and too many fucking snakes may sound like a hard sell. BUT HEAR ME OUT . . .

I really loved the action scenes and I am such a sucker for enemies-to-friends-to-lovers-&-confidants tales. I could def. use more steamy scenes - that't totally a personal preference - BUT the action and intrigue held my attention! ( )

A bit obvious but I enjoyed it a great deal. ( )

This is my favourite fantasy book! ( tied with the SoC duology)
Here's a couple of reasons why :
- Enemies to Lovers
- Forced Marriage/ Arranged Marriage
- Badass / spy Female MC ( no seriously , the first chapter made my jaw DROP)
- Excellent Visuals ( Worldbuilding is A )
- Murder , poison , knives AND snake bites

“A king should rarely take a compliment at face value. Sycophants, and all that.”
“How fortunate that I now have you to give me the unvarnished truth.”
“Would you prefer varnished lies?”

Normally when I start a new fantasy series ( or standalone ) it takes time for me to get acclimatized to the new world which the book drops me into ( much like Alice in Wonderland) but with TBK, the transition is flawless and I basically went to a book-trance ( this is the word for when you are so hooked on the book that you forget that your actually reading and not daydreaming the whole plot).It was a fast paced read filled with Action and Romance.

Overall The Bridge Kingdom is everything I look for in a fantasy novel : excellent writing , a compelling story and a phenomenal enemies-to-lovers romance ( )

3 stars in general but extra 4th star for super interesting world building. ( )

As far as the quality of the writing goes, this book is a 4-star (maybe 4.5-star) read. As far as being able to recommend it, due to the content it's only a 1- or 2-star read depending on the age, marital status, and specific content preferences of the person asking. (Readers who are squeamish at violence or vomit won't like this book, in addition to the other content I'll mention later.)

For a year or two I've been wanting to find books that portray arranged marriage well, i.e. that show the couple in an arranged marriage making the marriage work instead of trying to avoid it at all costs. So when I read the description for this book, I was thrilled. It wasn't quite a normal situation for an arranged marriage, but just the fact that they weren't trying to get out of the arrangement was a great start.

The book hooked me with its worldbuilding and action, drawing me in immediately with its twists and turns and the richness of the setting. I love deep worldbuilding that's integral to the plot, and this book wholly delivered on that front. The world is rich and deep, and it has impact on the characters and the characters impact it in turn. It's also richly described; description is definitely one of Jensen's strong points. Which is a two-edged sword in this book, given how much she decides to describe of the sexual tension and sexual interaction between the main characters. I skipped multiple portions.

The characters are also interesting, with firm values (some positive, some negative, but the characters are always consistent about them) and believable relationships. They all have notable characteristics that cause them to stand out, and most were enjoyable to read about. (Nana was not. Grandmothers oughtn't be so despicable.) Most of them cursed and made crude jokes and comments in excess, which is my other issue with the content of this book. (I am frustrated that I found this book in the YA section, since it would be R-rated by film standards, but that's a matter to take up with the bookstore that shelved it. NA should arguably be placed in the adult section rather than the YA section, at least nine times out of ten. But I digress.)

Overall, I enjoyed the bulk of this book. It was certainly well-written (aside from the excess of language) and I'm pleased to see an indie book that was so well-edited and well-formatted that I would have assumed it was traditionally published. But ultimately my enjoyment was dampened way too many times by the levels of adult content and I wouldn't be able to comfortably recommend this book to almost anyone I know, nor would I read it again in the foreseeable future. ( )