Review: The Golden Gryphon and The Bear Prince by Jeffe Kennedy

Updated: May 12, 2021

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

“I wouldn’t have advised Her Majesty to send the seven of you on this quest, if I didn’t believe that you are our one chance to avert a cataclysm that will eventually tear our world stone from stone, until nothing remains.”

The Golden Gryphon and the Bear Prince is the spectacular first book in Jeffe Kennedy’s new series Heirs of Magic.

Crown Prince Astar has only ever wanted to do the right thing: be a credit to his late-father’s legacy, live up to his duties as heir to the High Throne of the Thirteen Kingdoms, and cleave to the principles of honour and integrity that give his life structure—and that contain the ferocious grizzly bear inside. Nowhere in those guiding principles is there room for the fierce-hearted, wildly free-spirited, and dizzyingly beautiful shapeshifter, Zephyr. They’ve been friends most of their lives and Astar is able to keep Zephyr safely at arm’s length. He’s already received a list of potential princess brides who will make a suitable queen, and Zephyr is not on it.

Zephyr has wanted the gorgeous, charming, and too-good-for-his-own-good Astar for as long as she can remember. Not that her longing for him—and his perfectly sculpted and muscular body—has stopped her from enjoying any number of lovers. Astar might be honourably (and foolishly) intent on remaining chaste until marriage, but Zeph is Tala and they have no such rules, and she wants him to at least taste life before he chains himself to a wife he didn’t choose.

But things change when a new terror threatens the Thirteen Kingdoms. Astar and Zeph—along with their mismatched group of friends— follow a prophecy & embark on a quest to stop a magic rift before it grows beyond anyone’s ability to stop. And, in the face of life and death battles with lethal monsters, Astar begins to lose sight of why having Zephyr, even just once, is such a terrible idea.

“You are a force of nature, maybe the one person I know who is fully herself. You are the fresh air that blows into my life and makes me realize how stuffy I’ve let it become. Please don’t change because you think it’s something I want. I don’t. You are perfect exactly the way you are.”

Heirs of Magic is a new spin off series set in Jeffe Kennedy’s Twelve Kingdoms Universe, set about twenty-five years after the events of The Fate of The Tala - the last book in The Uncharted Realms Series.

I was so excited when I found out that Jeffe Kennedy was writing more books set in this world and after reading the prequel novella, The Long Night of the Crystalline Moon in the Under A Winter Sky anthology I was dying to read more.

I loved this book so much that I was almost heartbroken when I finished it. I was nowhere near ready to leave this brilliant & vivid world, or these charismatic characters behind, even if it is only until the next book releases.

The plot was original and fresh. Normally when I read a book, I will have some idea of how I think it’s going to end, if not figure it out entirely. But with The Golden Gyrphon and the Bear Prince I was in the same boat as the characters in that I didn’t know what was going to happen or what they were going to face and it really allowed me to completely immerse myself in the story.

I was thrilled to get to see the characters from the other series and that we got to explore more of the incredible world Jeffe Kennedy has created.

Zephyr is such a strong and multi-faceted character & I liked that she didn’t fall into the category of ‘strong female character = tomboy who rejects anything traditionally feminine’ which we see so frequently in media. Not that that trope is inherently bad – it’s not – but it does seem to be the default for the way a lot of female characters are written, and it’s nice to have variety. Which is another thing I love about Jeffe Kennedy’s books; all her female characters are complex and each one feels completely new & independent from the others with so many different personality types and ways of being strong.

I loved how unapologetic & confident she was, particularly when it came to her love for sex & it was so refreshing to see that in a female character. I also liked that we still got to see her vulnerability and that she still felt self-conscious & unsure at times in the same way the most confident person on earth would still have moments of self-doubt.

Astar has been raised to become the next High King, and one who will do what’s best for his people. He values honour, integrity, and duty, and we can see through his point of view the pressure he puts on himself to live up to both his father’s reputation and his duty as heir to the High Throne. A lot of Astar’s character arc is learning – with help from Zephyr – to let go, relax, and realise that he doesn’t have to sacrifice everything in order to be the honourable High King he aims to be.

“No, Astar,” she hissed, dropping her façade and letting her fury shine bright, all gríobhth now. “You want to save yourself pain, because you’re afraid. You’re terrified of who you might be if you let go even a smidge. You call it honor, but that’s a shield you’re hiding behind. Your First Form is a grizzly bear for Moranu’s sake, not a mouse. But you’re so locked down, so determined to be a mossback prince in every way, that you stop yourself from embracing the ferocity of your nature—or of taking on any other form.”

I loved how much depth Astar had to him, and that his character subverted a lot of the typical (often toxic) characteristics that we frequently see used for the hero. I loved that it showed him feeling vulnerable, nervous, and worried about embarrassing himself at times – particularly when he was about to have sex for the first time. It was such a normal way for someone to feel in that moment, but it’s not something that seems to get applied often to male characters.

“There’s no wrong way to do this, as long as we’re both willing. Forget your rules and however you think you might be judged or found wanting. I want to please you. That’s all this is.”

I also really liked the importance that Astar puts on consent, and ongoing consent. There is a scene where Zephyr and Astar have discussed and established that they are going to have sex and he regularly checks in to make sure she is ok with what’s happening. Zephyr does end up saying that he doesn’t need to keep asking because she is comfortable communicating with him what she does and doesn’t like.

I am also dying for Rhyian and Selena’s book. I loved them in the prequel novella, and somehow loved them even more during The Golden Gryphon and the Bear Prince. I’m so fascinated by their characters & the dynamic (and the angst) between them.

“We can’t change the past, Salena,” he gritted out, “but we can change the future.”

“That’s exactly right,” she retorted, planting her palms on the table. “And my future has no place for you. If I could excise you from my past, I would.”

I’m really interested to see how Rhyian’s character arc is going to develop, he appears to let his fear & uncertainty dominate his life and presents himself as nothing more than a lazy, self-interested slacker as a way to protect himself. He does seem to have a developed a lot of bad habits because of this that he’s going to have to unlearn, and I’m eager to see his development & growth over the course of the series because I have a feeling it’s going to be a fantastic evolution.

One of my favourite scenes in The Golden Gryphon and the Bear Prince is a conversation between Astar and Rhyian. I loved that Astar calls him out on his behaviour towards Selena and challenges him to do better, that pushing Lena isn’t going to help his cause and that he needs to put her needs and wants ahead of his own. I just loved everything about that scene and I can’t think of any other book that I’ve read that has had two men have that sort of discussion.

“I can’t prove myself to Salena if I’m not here,” Rhy growled in frustration.

“Then go and come back. Prove that you can do something against your self-interest,” Astar growled back, then relented, softening his tone. “You broke more than Lena’s heart all those years ago, Rhy. You broke her trust. That’s what you should be trying to fix.”

Rhy threw up his hands. “And how in Moranu am I supposed to do that?”

“By demonstrating your trustworthiness.”

The Golden Gryphon and The Bear Prince is a fantastic start to what I know will be a sensational series. While it does spin off from The Twelve Kingdoms series and The Uncharted Realms series, you will be able to read it without having read either or both of those. However, I do highly recommend checking them out, both series are two of my all-time favourites and will add so much more enjoyment to this fabulous story.

The Golden Gryphon and the Bear Prince is due for release on January 25th. The prequel novella, The Long Night of the Crystalline Moon, can be found in the anthology; Under a Winter Sky and is currently available for purchase.