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A review by chelsss_ann
The Rivaled Crown by Holly Renee
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
3.0
Thank you to Holly Renee and Valentine PR for an early copy to read and review!
I really wanted to love this book, but a lot of it dragged for me. It felt like some things were focused on too much, like the inner thoughts when Verena and Dacre are separated (don't get me wrong, we definitely needed some inner thoughts), but other things were over too quickly, like Verena learning to control her magic. For example, I think the book needed more than one scene training with Dacre's grandma. Dacre went a bit soft for a lot of this book too. I wanted more Daddy Dacre from book one. We got him more as the book went on, but I expected him to be feral trying to get Verena back.
Now, there are definitely things I liked about this book. I loved Dacre's grandma. She is a force to be reckoned with. And even Verena seems to come into her own after Dacre's grandma gets her hands on her and helps her with her magic. I loved the way she stood up to Dacre's father. I also loved how Verena and Wren spoke so openly to one another. The open communication was so refreshing, as well as how Holly Renee showed that Verena struggled with PTSD after escaping her father. I love when a main character is strong but realistic. And someone who has been tortured is not going to be fine after that. And while we didn't have very many spicy scenes, the ones we got were so good.
So if you liked the first two books in this trilogy, I'd definitely recommend reading The Rivaled Crown. You do need to read these in order, so start with The Veiled Kingdom if you haven't read these at all yet.
I really wanted to love this book, but a lot of it dragged for me. It felt like some things were focused on too much, like the inner thoughts when Verena and Dacre are separated (don't get me wrong, we definitely needed some inner thoughts), but other things were over too quickly, like Verena learning to control her magic. For example, I think the book needed more than one scene training with Dacre's grandma. Dacre went a bit soft for a lot of this book too. I wanted more Daddy Dacre from book one. We got him more as the book went on, but I expected him to be feral trying to get Verena back.
Now, there are definitely things I liked about this book. I loved Dacre's grandma. She is a force to be reckoned with. And even Verena seems to come into her own after Dacre's grandma gets her hands on her and helps her with her magic. I loved the way she stood up to Dacre's father. I also loved how Verena and Wren spoke so openly to one another. The open communication was so refreshing, as well as how Holly Renee showed that Verena struggled with PTSD after escaping her father. I love when a main character is strong but realistic. And someone who has been tortured is not going to be fine after that. And while we didn't have very many spicy scenes, the ones we got were so good.
So if you liked the first two books in this trilogy, I'd definitely recommend reading The Rivaled Crown. You do need to read these in order, so start with The Veiled Kingdom if you haven't read these at all yet.