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dianagastelum's review
2.0
From the blurb, The Crown's Game is supposed to be a book full of magical duels, suspense and romance. I did not find any of that in this unfortunately. I seem to be a part of the minority on this one since from the reviews this book is getting lots of people seem to be enjoying it. I can't say I really agree though.
The Crown's Game is set in a fictionalized imperial Russia where two enchanters have to compete in the Crown's Game to become the tsar's Imperial Enchanter. Vika has been trained by her mentor, her father, on her magic that is based around nature. Nikolai is an orphan who has been trained by his mentor since he was young on his magic that is based on mechanics. The laws of magic say that there can only be one enchanter which led to the creation of the Crown's Game. The Crown's Game is initiated by the tsar in which each enchanter is given 5 turns to impress the tsar by displaying their magical skills and worthiness. At the end of the Crown's Game one of the enchanter will have to die.
The premise is what initially had drawn me in and I was so excited to read this book but it feel flat for me. I was honestly really disappointed but I did like the imagery and the way that Evelyn Skye described this fictional Russia she wrote about. There were also some events that occurred which I definitely wasn't expecting so that was a big contributor as to why I did enjoy this book at times.
Now onto the this that I did not like unfortunately. First of all, I thought that this book was going to be filled with dangerous magic and magical duels. The moments of magic that we do see weren't suspenseful in anyway at all. Both characters constantly keep thinking that they will use their turns to take out their opponent yet they never do. Instead they use their magic to paint the city. I'm not joking. None of it felt like a magical duel which left me disappointed.
The romance. I felt that it was all just insta-love and forced drama. Vika and Nikolai are instantly attracted to each other from the second they see each other but they don't interact with each other enough. They spend most of the book apart. I feel like their relationship wasn't developed enough in order to be believable. It felt lacking overall. Now Pasha is the other member of the love triangle but he was never even a contender in my mind. It's obvious that Vika and Nikolai would be the ones to be together. I felt that Pasha was just added into the romance to add some drama but it looked forced.
Overall, even though I did have various problems I can understand why some people would like this book. I guess it wasn't my cup of tea, it was too boring. Despite all of this though, I will say that due to certain events that took place at the end of the book, my interest was piqued again and I will be picking up the sequel to see what happens.
The Crown's Game is set in a fictionalized imperial Russia where two enchanters have to compete in the Crown's Game to become the tsar's Imperial Enchanter. Vika has been trained by her mentor, her father, on her magic that is based around nature. Nikolai is an orphan who has been trained by his mentor since he was young on his magic that is based on mechanics. The laws of magic say that there can only be one enchanter which led to the creation of the Crown's Game. The Crown's Game is initiated by the tsar in which each enchanter is given 5 turns to impress the tsar by displaying their magical skills and worthiness. At the end of the Crown's Game one of the enchanter will have to die.
The premise is what initially had drawn me in and I was so excited to read this book but it feel flat for me. I was honestly really disappointed but I did like the imagery and the way that Evelyn Skye described this fictional Russia she wrote about. There were also some events that occurred which I definitely wasn't expecting so that was a big contributor as to why I did enjoy this book at times.
Now onto the this that I did not like unfortunately. First of all, I thought that this book was going to be filled with dangerous magic and magical duels. The moments of magic that we do see weren't suspenseful in anyway at all. Both characters constantly keep thinking that they will use their turns to take out their opponent yet they never do. Instead they use their magic to paint the city. I'm not joking. None of it felt like a magical duel which left me disappointed.
The romance. I felt that it was all just insta-love and forced drama. Vika and Nikolai are instantly attracted to each other from the second they see each other but they don't interact with each other enough. They spend most of the book apart. I feel like their relationship wasn't developed enough in order to be believable. It felt lacking overall. Now Pasha is the other member of the love triangle but he was never even a contender in my mind. It's obvious that Vika and Nikolai would be the ones to be together. I felt that Pasha was just added into the romance to add some drama but it looked forced.
Overall, even though I did have various problems I can understand why some people would like this book. I guess it wasn't my cup of tea, it was too boring. Despite all of this though, I will say that due to certain events that took place at the end of the book, my interest was piqued again and I will be picking up the sequel to see what happens.
mganaim's review
4.0
An enticing book, filled with magic and love. The book explores many different genres and shows true character developments and how each of those characters grow to fulfil their roles.
The book however has a few fallacies within the laws of magic and is not explicit in the laws that the magic must follow which at time made it confusing to keep up with.
The book however has a few fallacies within the laws of magic and is not explicit in the laws that the magic must follow which at time made it confusing to keep up with.
amybraunauthor's review
5.0
Actual rating is 4.5, but only because I have some nitpicks. I don't feel there are too many YA stories set in tsarist Russia, and I was very happy to experience a book that is romantic, engaging, and feels like a reinterpretation of a fairy tale. I love the concept of the Crown's Game and really enjoyed watching the enchanters come up with truly creative ways to challenge themselves. The main characters, Vika, Nikolai, and Pasha, have a very interesting and complex relationship. Vika is a great lead character and I enjoyed her chapters a lot. Nikolai has his heart in the right place, but definitely broods a lot. I found Pasha to be very sweet for most of the book, save for the ending, which clearly begs for a sequel. The only thing that kind of irked me was the pace of the romance. Yes, it was a key part of the story, but I feel like it happened too quickly to be believable. There were a couple other events that seemed really rushed, especially regarding Nikolai's backstory, but all in all I truly enjoyed this book and can't wait to see what happens next!
kimberly88's review
4.0
This was like The Night Circus set in Russia. The Night Circus was better, but this was still an enjoyable read. I'm interested to see what happens in the sequel.
jessicaalexander95's review
4.0
I really enjoyed the setting of this book and found the magic enchanting. I especially enjoyed pasha’s character.
samrushingbooks's review
5.0
As I neared the end I thought this was going to be a 4-4.5 star rating but the last 10 chapters or so just cut me emotionally. I don't even know what to say for this review. Part of me wants to cry right now so I guess all I can say is that I hate that it'll be a year until the sequel.
esmeem's review
5.0
This book reminded me so much of all the things I loved about The Night Circus, and the entire book felt very magical. Also, Vika had a bit of a Lila Bard vibe going on, and some parts of the book gave me similar feels as one of my favourite books of all time, A Gathering of Shadows, did. So yeah, it's safe to say this is definitely a new favourite.
ameyawarde's review against another edition
4.0
I'm really glad I read this book despite all the 1 & 2 star reviews on here. I wish I hadn't read all the bad reviews, as I feel like it did make me more critical of it than I would have been otherwise, yet I still really enjoyed it. The writing may not have felt super sophisticated (for lack of a better word) but I still certainly didn't think it was bad. And most importantly, I enjoyed reading a story set somewhere I've never read about before (Russia!) It's always refreshing to read fantasy that doesn't use the same western European base for their ideas about magic (and mythology, and monarchy, etc etc). I'm looking forward to the next book!