Reviews

The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye

lararoki's review

2.0

Me ha costado mortal engancharme, pero de repente me ha empezado a gustar muchísimo. Sin embargo, siento que al final ha ido demasiado rápido y apenas ha profundizado en nada. Igualmente me leeré el siguiente libro :)

jmatsumura's review

3.0

Shmeh. Cinderella retelling meets the height of Russian folklore that was 2017. It had really cool moments but lacked depth.

emmibeach's review

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

alyssaindira's review against another edition

2.0

Hey guys, so I finished The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye and... I guess it was okay. The plot line was smooth enough, not to chaotic. Some aspects of the book were more heavily detailed than others. For some, those details might have enhanced the plot,but I just skimmed over them. Actually, I'm not sure whether I skimmed this book, read it just on the surface, or invested just a little bit of my energy into it. Still hard to tell.. I shed a few tears over some of the elements, that must mean I connected on some level, right? Eh, anyway, this book is set in ancient Russia, which is interesting to say the least. Vika is someone who wields magic and stuff, then there is Nik(my nickname for him) who also has magic. To sum, they are brought together to try and kill one another. Sounds simple enough? Yeah no... Im not sure whether if going into detail would be spoiling it for you guys, so I'm just gonna say that a lot of obstacles were thrown in their way and many dark secrets were revealed, yada yada. Plus, there was the prospective of a love triangle. Sometimes I like those, sometimes I don't. In this case, I just wasn't really feeling it. There wasn't really enough build up to be honest. It was just kinda shoved in the storyline. Like guy 1: "I think I love her" guy 2: "well, I loved her maybe before or at the same time as you" *glares at one another". Yeah.. That was that.. But to tell you the truth, this book just felt somber, only light hearted and a tiny bit of humor scattered throughout the pages. Yeah I know that killing one another is not a very happy go lucky situation, but I've read several books that have this element and intertwine it with more than just that dark piece. They dont dwell so.much on it. Skye just made it feel like a dark cloud hanging over the entire story. Maybe she intended for it to be that way? Who knows.. But I am glad it was am eBook that I got only for a few bucks.. I'm glad I read it, but I'm not.going to read the second The Crown's Fate.

haniah__x's review

4.0

I can't with that ending. Like, way to make me have to mess up my reading schedule and grab the sequel, Evelyn Skye. Way to go! Because now I need the sequel...that cliff-hanger.

"She wanted again to hold on to him, and have him hold on to her, so they could whirl together through the cosmos like galaxies that could not - and would not - be confined.
If only he weren't the other enchanter in the Game."

So this is about 2 enchanters - Nikolai and Vika - who are destined to compete in The Crown's Game, a game in which they have to show off their magic and basically try to kill each other, until the Tsar decides who the winner is. There can only be one winner - who gets to serve the Tsar as his Imperial Enchanter - and the other enchanter is fated to die. Of course, Nikolai and Vika fall for each other eventually (and I SHIP THEM SO MUCH- there's a few swoon-worthy scenes....masquerade ball!!), it's a sort of enemies to lovers trope and I've lost count how many times they've tried to kill each other now. I love how this is set in 19th century Russia, before the revolution, but I must admit, the writing is rather slow, and my patience was tested. It's fascinating though, and certainly worth the read if you're into this sort of intrigue.

There's a love triangle though. Yes, the Tsarevich, Pasha - in other words, the crown prince - is the other love interest, and to be honest, it was a bit annoying. Like seriously Evelyn Skye? It's plainly clear that Pasha, although he's sweet, is no match for Nikolai, the shadow boy, and frankly the love triangle serves no purpose whatsoever other than to break Pasha's heart, and make him more depressed than he already is. Not good. Vika and him could have been best friends or something, but no and there's absolutely zero chemistry between them, so what's the point in romance?


Other than that though, this is a great novel, and I recommend it...the highlight is definitely the romance - excluding the love triangle with Pasha - but still. :D

raeneshine's review

2.0

This, to me, was a more watered-down version of [b:The Night Circus|9361589|The Night Circus|Erin Morgenstern|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387124618s/9361589.jpg|14245059]. It's been quite some time since I've read this but a few things stick out in my memory:

- romance was not believable and happened too quickly for virtually every character
- I get the feeling I was supposed to dislike Yuliana by the way the narration was written, but she was the only character I actually enjoyed. She's strong-willed, actually has a backbone, and got stuff done that her brother couldn't
- speaking of, the one time I actually liked Pasha because he actually acted like a king, turns out it was because Yuliana made him :|
-

Spoiler

why the hell did Aizhana have everyone sit down so she could tell them her backstory? you're really telling me that people would willingly sit down to listen to a zombie without at least one person trying to flee? info-dumping at its finest

Idk maybe I was just too annoyed that their "duel" wasn't an actual fight

Spoiler

(until the end, I guess)

but comparing magical exhibitions. It was a bit of a letdown right off the bat and made me wary about the rest of the book.

Spoiler

I will say I was impressed that Nikolai died at the end because I thought the author would just find a way to circumvent it...but based on the sequel, I'm guessing it was for the sequel hook

ingygamaly's review

3.0

3.75*

jordun9008's review

3.0

I enjoyed this book, but by no means is it a favorite. I thought it was a great concept, having two enchanters battling it out to be on top. However, I knew this was not going to turn out the way I wanted it to

Spoiler

the second the two boys set foot on the island and Vika froze their feet.

The love triangle was annoying the majority of the time, and I found myself getting irritated with Vika for leading on Pasha when she clearly had feelings for Nikolai. However, I find that is my problem with pretty much all love triangles; the person never truly loves both people the same and I can always pick which one they will end up with.

Spoiler

The twist concerning the Tsar being Nikolai's father, I should have seen coming, but for some unknown reason I didn't until it was happening. The signs were there, I was just oblivious. And how creepy was Nikolai's mother. She creeped me out and it was fantastic.

I feel like I'm all over the map with this review. Parts of the book I really enjoyed, but other parts not so much. I might have enjoyed it more if I had read the book instead of listened to the audiobook, which was pretty awful. But still with that love triangle, I might not have.

wonton_the_phoenix's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Death, and Suicide attempt

Minor: War

aliena_jackson's review

3.0

Nothing to write home about, but I loved Nikolai. I will say that as much as Vika was supposed to be a “strong, independent woman” she was pretty reliant on men throughout the novel, and it feels like her perspective is seen through the eyes of a man.