Review: Sabre Woods Academy by Laura Greenwood

Sabre Woods Academy (Sabre Woods Academy #1-3)
by Laura Greenwood

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Urban Fantasy/ Paranormal Romance
Age Category: New Adult
Type of romance: m/f

Blurb:
A tiger shifter, an academy, and a royal court full of drama.

Starting at Sabre Woods Academy is everything Kayra hoped it would be, but it also comes with its challenges, including facing the rival to her position as the Shifter Heir.

With friendships building and romance blossoming, Kayra discovers that there’s more to being the heir, and the queen, than she ever realised. But one thing is for certain, she’s determined to make a difference, no matter the cost.

Uncover the secrets of the Shifter Court alongside Kayra…even if it means deposing a queen.

–

Sabre Woods Academy is a complete urban fantasy paranormal academy series with a slow burn friends-to-lovers m/f romance, royal courts, and a heroine who isn’t afraid to stand up for others. Sabre Woods Academy includes Tiger Crown, Tiger Throne, and Tiger Queen.

My Review

I received a free copy from the author and voluntarily reviewed it.

Tiger Crown Review
I like Laura Greenwood’s books and enjoyed the academy setting in Obscure Academy series, so I was excited to receive this shifter academy series for review. Tiger Crown is the first book in this series and follow Kayra who attends Sabre Woods Academy. She is the daughter of the current shifter queen, but her mother hasn’t named her as the shifter heir. Kayra ends up competing in the shifter trials for the title of shifter heir.

I liked reading this one. It’s a quick read with a lot happening and I enjoyed seeing it all play out. I liked Kayra and thought she was an interesting character, she has a complicated relationship with her mother the shifter queen and wants to find her own way at this academy. She has some anxiety and struggles, but also knows what she wants and I liked seeing her visions and dedication to being a good ruler shine through. I liked seeing how much she thought through some things about ruling the shifters and things about the current situation she didn’t like and why.

It was fun to see her make two good friends, Demi and Marcus. With Marcus also being the love interest. There were some sweet scenes between Marcus and Kayra and I could feel their connection, I am looking forward to see how their relationship develops.

I thought the plot line with the shifter trials was interesting, but would’ve liked a bit more details of the first and third trials. The second trial had a lot of detail, but the others I would’ve liked a bit more. The academy setting is a fun one and I liked the vibe, but there aren’t as many scenes with them taking classes and such and I was wondering what this type of academy would teach the students.

To summarize: This was a solid start to this new series. I liked Kayra, her anxiety made her feel relatable and her vision for how to be a good ruler was interesting to see. The shifter trials were the focus of this book and I liked seeing that play out, although I would’ve liked a bit more detail about the first and third trials. I liked how Kayra makes two good friends and Marcus is the love itnerest as well with some sweet scenes between him and Kayra. The academy setting is a fun one, although I would’ve liked a bit more about the type of classes they take.

Tiger Throne Review
Tiger Throne is the second book in the Sabre Woods Academy series and I read this right after finishing the first book. This book definitely has a bit of that middle book vibe, with it it being a bit calmer plot wise, but I felt this was actually a very important book for Kayra and her character development. Now that’s the shifter heir she’s struggling between her duties at court and keeping up with her studies. She doesn’t have time for much else like spending time with her friends and figuring out what’s going on between her and Marcus.

This book felt like a powerful one for Kayra, she’s juggling all these different responsibilities and have to deal with being the shifter heir. My favorite part is the ending and seeing her figure out what she wants and stand up for herself despite being anxious and worrying about things. I liked that and thought it was inspiring. I also liked seeing all her ideas for how she wants to change the shifter court and improve things for all shifters.

I also liked seeing Jeremy play a role, he’s gets his own story in the Obscure Academy series and I liked seeing how he meets Kayra and why he knows her and see a bit of his past. I thought it was interesting to see how Kayra handled the whole situation with Jeremy.

There’s also the romance with Marcus and I liked seeing how that went in this book. I feel like they’re in a good place at the end of the book and am excited to see them together in book 3. I also liked seeing more of Kayra and Demi’s friendship.

To summarize: While plot wise this book was a bit calmer than book 1 I thought it was a very important book character development wise. Kayra is juggling multiple responsibilities with her duties at court and her studies. She has to figure out how to manage it all and I really liked the ending when she stands up for herself for multiple things and really figured out what she wants. I thought it was great seeing her stand up to her mother and be clear about what she wants despite being anxious. I liked her thoughts about how to change the shifter court and I liked seeing her handle it all. It was fun to see Jeremy whom I already knew for the Obscure Academy series. And I liked seeing how things went romance wise for Kayra with Marcus.

Tiger Queen Review
Tiger Queen is the third and final book in the Sabre Wood Academy series. In this book Kayra is working to unseat her mother from the shifter throne and become queen herself. It’s clear why this is necessary and it was exciting to see Kayra work toward her goal with the support of her friend and boyfriend.

I thought this was a satisfying conclusion to the series. I liked seeing how Kayra handled everything and there are some glimpses of what she has planned next, which was fun to see. I like how much she cares about the shifters in general and want to make things fair for everyone. There was an interesting twist involving some of the side characters and I liked how Kayra handled that.

I like how Kayra has the support of her best friend Demi as well as her boyfriend Marcus. And I liked seeing how Jeremy helps her as well. The romance gets wrapped up nicely as well. I thought it felt realistic how Kayra had anxiety to deal with and it was inspiring seeing her accomplish her goals despite worrying and being anxious. There isn’t a whole lot about the academy life, but there are plenty of scenes taking place there and some mentions of the classes. I had hoped to see Kayra shift more, but besides book 1 that doesn’t really happen, but Demi did shift in this one and that was fun.

To summarize: This was a great ending to the series and wrapped things up well. I liked seeing how Kayra worked toward her goal of unseating her mother and seeing her passion for making sure things were fair for all shifters. I liked how Demi and Marcus supported her as well as Jeremy who helped too. Kayra deals with anxiety and I thought that made her feel real and it was inspiring to see her go after her goals despite being afraid. There’s not as much shifting or about the academy, but the themes and setting still add to the story. I had a great time reading this series and am glad I picked it up.

Conclusion
This was a fun series following Kayra from how she fights to become the shifter heir to unseating her mother as the shifter queen. I liked Kayra as a main character and reading about her goals to improve things for all shifters. I liked seeing her get supported by her good friend Demi and fall in love with Marcus. There are some interesting side characters besides that. I like how this book touches upon shifter politics, but there isn’t as much actual shifting. The academy setting is a fun one, even though the focus is more on the political plot line, I still thought it was a fun setting. Kayra struggles with anxiety, but despite that works hard to achieve her goals, which was inspiring. The ending wraps things up with a satisfying conclusion.

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– B&N
– Kobo

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.