Reviews with content warning for Torture - Crown and Bones

I love this book! Absolutely thrilling, I was on the edge of my metaphorical seat the whole book. I love how unexpected the plot could be—it kept things interesting.

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_malia_pt's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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fraanini's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Bro, dude, poppy is a badass through and through

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ashlightgrayson's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I think this installment helped greatly expand the lore of the world which felt like it was lacking in the previous two books. We discover a lot more about the gods as well as Poppy's heritage. By the end of the story you can tell there is a lot more left to know about the world and based on the next book being released by the author, she will be delivering on that.

Casteel, Poppy, and Kieran are pretty well established characters at this point, so there isn't as much character development for them in general. There is more focus on the plot in this book than in previous book, which I appreciated since the previous books felt much less eventful. The author strikes a better balance between plot, world building, and character development than before.

We have seen Casteel be assertive and protective of Poppy and I was happy to see that sense of protectiveness be reciprocated by Poppy. It shows that there is trust and affection on both sides of the relationship that wasn't as present there before. Newly married to Casteel, Poppy takes a more active role in Atlantian politics as a new royal family member. She is an outsider and we get to see how she handles opposition to her new role. She has a newfound sense of confidence and independence and her naiveté is mostly gone. She handles obstacles in the plot with maturity and is as vicious as Casteel when she needs to be, which was great to see.

My main issues with the book were pertaining to the flirting between Casteel and Poppy sometimes occurring at inappropriate times. In additoin, I would have liked to spend more time with side characters like Kieran. Everyone in Atlantia is interesting and I feel that as the world continues to be development we'll also learn more about side characters. Overall, a solid installment and I'm looking forward to more.

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baexlee's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

I had really high hopes for this book. When I first got it delivered I actually waited until I finished my re-read of the first two books in the series before I started because I enjoyed those so much. While overall I enjoyed reading this and it was a continuation of the story, it felt like a downgrade from what I had been enjoying previously. Perhaps it was the mindset that I was going into it with, but overall the plot feels convoluted and confusing and some of the character choices are difficult to reconcile with the idea of them I had from previous installments

like Casteel deciding to Ascend Poppy, risks be damned, when she was killed being freed from the Unseen, and he despite his hatred for the Ascended he would kill anyone who tried to kill her even if she was no longer the same? It felt so out of character and it is explained away with Heartmates which is also weakly explained and followed through with. The impact just isn't there.

Nothing feels planned out at all, and the twists feel like they were decided as they were happening and it really just leaves me wanting more. There are some glaring editing errors that just made me feel like the entire thing was rushed (if you want an example of what I'm talking about look at the contradiction that is written one sentence after something is stated on page 639) This installment honestly feels almost wholly separate from the other installments in the series in some ways. It does manage to shine in other regards though.

The main reason that I don't give this a rating lower than a 2 is that the romance is still steamy and Poppy and Casteel still manage to steal my breath away, which is always a redeeming factor, and in addition to that the relationship between Poppy and the wolven is interesting and developed. There was enough that reminded me of the previous installments, well planted call backs and genuinely laugh out loud heart warming moments that I have hope the story can be redeemed in later installments, but as it currently stands I'm nervous to see where Poppy's Crown will take her.

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mybookthrone's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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finnickdeservedbetter's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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lisacanteven's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

Let me preface this review with this: I am a huge JLA fan. Bury me with her books. So this review could be a little biased.

However this book is my favorite book of all time. I have never quite had such a connection with a book before. I just finished it a few hours ago, and I haven't though about much else. I am ready to reread it, and maybe I will when it releases in 26 hours since I received an early copy (this did not affect my review) so I can read with everyone else.

I love this series, and I thought FBAA was by far the stronger book out of the first two. KOFAF was very much a second book. I still loved it because JLA, but it dragged and didn't reveal as much as I was hoping. That is because JLA was waiting to hit us with this third book. WHOA. She lets it all out in this book, and now I see why she had to extend the series. Not only did she answer so many of our questions, but she brought in new characters and new fantasy races. I'm dying for everyone else to see what shapeshifters we get the in the next however many books. They are going to be better than the wolves (sorry Kieran). The only thing (and it's so minor) that I didn't love about this book is that Kieran got on my nerves. He needs better jokes basically, and I don't fault JLA for this because I think that's just his character. He is definitely the comic relief in these books, but he needs to step up his game or get laid.

One thing I noticed is that we got a lot more fantasy in this book than the previous two books. The romance was as good as ever, but I guess since the chase was gone there was more time for fantasy and A LOT OF POLITICS which honestly I love in a fantasy novel. Give me kingdoms fighting over politics and kingdoms fighting internally over politics and I am in. Sign me up. The politics in this series have always been there, but they were ramped up in this third book.

I thought I would be sad if I didn't get that one thing I wanted out of this book, but honestly it was too good the way it was to notice. I would not change a thing about it, and I am just praying that JLA is almost done with the next book because the ending took my breath away. Literally no breath was left.

"Bow before your queen or you will bleed before her."

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