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adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Infidelity
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Took awhile to get into, but the world setup is interesting and the romance is well developed. Good if you want a gothic slow burn.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Sexual content
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
**Quietly moves this to my All-Time-Favorites shelf, and orders the second book….
I had the same feeling when I was reading The Cruel Prince: this book was meant for me, and I am the target audience. Every time I put the book down, I kept thinking about the story. And I think it’ll be on my mind for a while even after I’ve finished. I guess I’m a sucker for gothic dark fantasy….? It definitely had one of the coolest magic systems I’ve seen in a book.
I had the same feeling when I was reading The Cruel Prince: this book was meant for me, and I am the target audience. Every time I put the book down, I kept thinking about the story. And I think it’ll be on my mind for a while even after I’ve finished. I guess I’m a sucker for gothic dark fantasy….? It definitely had one of the coolest magic systems I’ve seen in a book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Mental illness, Death of parent
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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:
Complicated
One of the best books and duologies I’ve read recently and ever!
Rachel Gillig continues to be a unique, poetic, beautifully spoken, and well-written author with this as another testament to her work.
This darker take on a fairytale style “what if?” manages to be completely its own, while reflecting many beloved pieces of tales you may know, making a world that is both easy to fall into and dazzling in detail. Perfectly planned, leaving breadcrumb details to unravel the mystery throughout every chapter while remaining completely unpredictable without hindsight, and consequently leaving you hooked for one more chapter every time you reach a final page.
Easily loveable yet complex characters are quickly enthralling especially as their dynamics mix and unfold leaving blossoming friendships, addictive romance subplots, and family roots ready to fight for one another… or those that they have found to call such.
Rachel Gillig continues to be a unique, poetic, beautifully spoken, and well-written author with this as another testament to her work.
This darker take on a fairytale style “what if?” manages to be completely its own, while reflecting many beloved pieces of tales you may know, making a world that is both easy to fall into and dazzling in detail. Perfectly planned, leaving breadcrumb details to unravel the mystery throughout every chapter while remaining completely unpredictable without hindsight, and consequently leaving you hooked for one more chapter every time you reach a final page.
Easily loveable yet complex characters are quickly enthralling especially as their dynamics mix and unfold leaving blossoming friendships, addictive romance subplots, and family roots ready to fight for one another… or those that they have found to call such.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death, Cursing, Mental illness, Sexual content, Death of parent
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical trauma, Death of parent
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This year I'm leaning hard into escapist reading...like, obviously. But I've been burned before by popular romantasies being poorly written, so I'm trying to be more discerning in my research. This one popped up multiple places/across multiple platforms, so I decided to give it a go. Similar to Broadbent's Crowns of Nyaxia, this one is soliddddd.
This story opened a little rocky for me, if I'm being honest. The first few chapters of world-building and describing the magic and starting character development felt a little flat, with some very real unclarity. But the writing settled in, and I settled in, reasonably quickly after we got past those "introductory" chapters. ...then, the world-building and development really found its pacing and stride! As a specific example of that transition, the intro of the magical cards, in number and format that lines up to the "12 Days" holiday song, made me snort pretty derisively to start, BUT as we got more development of how they were formed, the way they carry/imbue power, and the associated costs for using them, really grew on me. Similarly, I was confused to start by how the cards had magic, and then there was a magic-causing infection too (that causes a person to "degenerate" over time)?, but that cleared for me over the course of reading as well. And now having finished, I am very interested to see how the remaining mysteries of that process will be addressed in the second book, and how that affects the culmination of the story as well! So, overall, solid writing, if at times it could have used a little more polishing/clarity.
As far as the romance piece - big yes. This is a really well done enemies-to-lovers development for Elspeth and Ravyn. The softening started pretty quickly (which is par for the course for this genre, in all fairness), but other than that, I was totally into it. It was a really well done slower (but not too slow) burn, and there's a really believable connection and pull. I was bought into them from the start and was *very* happy when they finally happened. I also deeply appreciated that after they chose to be together, they handled secrets/disagreements in a pretty mature way. There was no third-act-breakup-over-a-miscommunication situation. And that's a huge win for me. The rest of the characters, and their interrelated relationships, were similarly well-developed as the novel progressed - there was some depth, and still some mysteries left to be uncovered in the second book.
Last two comments. First, as always, I am a sucker for a blurb to open a chapter. So, I really enjoyed the little song-songy rhymes about each type of magic/the history of the world that opened each chapter. Second, there were some really unique elements to this plot, especially in the final chapter(s) with what happens with Elspeth's character. I’m not sure I can see how it'll all unfold, which is awesome, and I am so curious for what's coming in the second half of this story.
“My magic moves, he said. My magic bites. My magic soothes. My magic frights.”
“Practice restraint, and know it by touch. Use Cards when they’re needed, and never too much. For too much of fire, our swords would all break. Too much of wine a poison doth make. Excess is grievous, be knave, maid, or crown. Too much of water, how easy we drown.”
“Something ancient—born of salt. We were the same, he and I. Gifted with ancient, terrible magic. Woven in secret, hidden in half-truths. We were the darkness in Blunder, the reminder that magic—wild and unfettered—prevailed, no matter how desperately the Rowans tried to stamp it out. We were the thing to be feared. We were the balance.”
“The girl, the King… and the monster they became.”
“I am the shepherd of shadow. The phantom of the fright. The demon in the daydream.” Her yellow eyes flickered to Ravyn. “The nightmare in the night.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Mental illness
Minor: Child abuse
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
challenging
dark
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
I had been dying to read this book and finally had a chance to read it for our book club. I was so worried that this book wouldn't live up to the hype but it did. I fell in love with Elspeth, Ravyn, and the others and got wrapped up in the story. Some parts of the story were predictable but it was still well-written. There were parts I had guess would happen but they happened in an unexpected way. It's part fantasy, part heist, part romance, and part mystery. If you are a fan of Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, you'll love this. I'm going to have to get a copy of Two Twisted Crowns to see how it all ends!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Police brutality, Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Toxic relationship, Death of parent