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A review by kelseigh
The Lily and the Crown by Roslyn Sinclair
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This was a pretty fun, breezy read and not a bad romance story overall. But it's definitely flawed in ways that made it difficult to get fully invested in the plot.
In brief, The Lily & The Crown concerns the reclusive botanist daughter of the prestigious head of a space station in an interstellar empire. The region is bedevilled by space pirates, and early on she's given a slave by her father, the sole survivor of a defeated pirate ship. And that's where things get uncomfortable.
The whole idea of chattel slavery as an accepted, even common part of life in a galaxy-spanning highly advanced civilization should need quite a lot of explanation to make it work. But no, it's just a part of life and nobody but the main character thinks twice about it. In fact, it's so ubiquitous that not only does the Empire practice it, so does the other rival empire mentioned here and there, and so do the pirates. Slaves for everyone, as anachronistic as it seems.
Which brings us to this particular slave, and really the only other major character in the book. She's not your typical slave, and the author never once misses a chance to remind you of the fact. In fact it's so often pointed out that she's Not What She Appears To Be that it's a challenge to get past the first couple of chapters without knowing full well what her true identity is.
Those not insignificant points aside though, the characterization is good, the romance is enjoyable, and of course the sex scenes are well written, even if almost all of them have the shadow of questionable consent hanging over them. Hidden identities and literal slavery, after all. Those issues are eventually addressed to a degree, but not with any great depth and that discussion is quickly over with.
Overall, I'm not certain I'd recommend the novel. It's not bad per se but it does have flaws and generally avoids touching on the implications of the setting in a satisfying way. Which unfortunately is not entirely balanced out by the good points.
In brief, The Lily & The Crown concerns the reclusive botanist daughter of the prestigious head of a space station in an interstellar empire. The region is bedevilled by space pirates, and early on she's given a slave by her father, the sole survivor of a defeated pirate ship. And that's where things get uncomfortable.
The whole idea of chattel slavery as an accepted, even common part of life in a galaxy-spanning highly advanced civilization should need quite a lot of explanation to make it work. But no, it's just a part of life and nobody but the main character thinks twice about it. In fact, it's so ubiquitous that not only does the Empire practice it, so does the other rival empire mentioned here and there, and so do the pirates. Slaves for everyone, as anachronistic as it seems.
Which brings us to this particular slave, and really the only other major character in the book. She's not your typical slave, and the author never once misses a chance to remind you of the fact. In fact it's so often pointed out that she's Not What She Appears To Be that it's a challenge to get past the first couple of chapters without knowing full well what her true identity is.
Those not insignificant points aside though, the characterization is good, the romance is enjoyable, and of course the sex scenes are well written, even if almost all of them have the shadow of questionable consent hanging over them. Hidden identities and literal slavery, after all. Those issues are eventually addressed to a degree, but not with any great depth and that discussion is quickly over with.
Overall, I'm not certain I'd recommend the novel. It's not bad per se but it does have flaws and generally avoids touching on the implications of the setting in a satisfying way. Which unfortunately is not entirely balanced out by the good points.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Slavery