Amazon ~ Goodreads
September 14th 2021
530 pages

A girl with nothing. A prince with everything. Only one can win.

In a world of haves and have nots, where petty crime is punishable by death and magic is forbidden, a deadly contest unfolds in secret. Twelve competitors are mysteriously invited. The winner gets one wish.

For 17-year-old Briar Bishop, this means saving her brother from execution by guillotine, and she’s not going to let anything or anyone get in her way. Especially not Leo Davenbrook, the handsome High Prince, who has grown up with everything she never had and whose very presence threatens her chance at survival. She has no idea a darker battle wages in secret, one that could lead to a fate far worse than the death of her brother.

MY THOUGHTS

I’ve been struggling with a massive reading slump lately. Nothing has given me that overall five star enjoyment factor in a while… until now. I saw this book, The Contest, being recommended in a Facebook group I lurk in (Swoony Fantasy Romance) and decided to give it a go because the premise sounded like my thing.

And it was my thing.

K.E. Ganshert has a very descriptive, imaginative writing style I appreciate (I haven’t read any of her books before). I was invested in the main characters (and their motives/wishes) and felt satisfied with how the story ended.