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A review by heartbrekker
Kingsbane by Claire Legrand
5.0
Kingsbane is most certainly one of my top reads of 2019, specifically it may be my favorite.
Kingsbane starts off nearly right where Furyborn left off. Eliana is dealing with the revelation that she is the daughter of the Blood Queen and that to save her world she must become the Sun Queen.
Rielle, on the other hand, is her world’s anointed Sun Queen, but she’s been tasked to search for the seven hidden castings of the Saints to repair the Gate, which is failing to hold the angels.
I’m at a loss for words for this sequel. I will say: DO NOT ignore the chapter headers. One in particular became the literal epitome of this book, in my opinion.
Claire is magnificent at displaying the turmoil in labeling a person as a Blood or Sun Queen. People aren’t wholly bad or good but are made of all the emotions and feelings in between. Rielle and Eliana grow and try to find themselves in a world that tries to endlessly shove their own opinions of these women’s identities down their throats, and I think their torn allegiances to how they want to live exemplifies that.
It’s similar to how our own societies try to put women in these boxes they’ll never fit. It’s downright toxic for young women to exist within the confines of societal expectations, and while some of these people mean well, it’s still detrimental to that individual’s mental health. You have to be you. Not someone else’s expectations.
For example, the most profound aspect to this sequel for me was Eliana’s identity struggle. I tear up thinking about what she goes through in Kingsbane because she doesn’t want any of this. She’s the first character, in my opinion, to be so utterly human in a novel because I know 100% I could never do what heroes do, but at the same time, Eliana doesn’t get a choice. El MUST take up her destiny, and it scrapes against her mental health because of all these growing expectations that are choking the life out of her. I felt as if I couldn’t breathe at times because Claire was figuratively suffocating me with these revelations, a mirror to Eliana’s own feelings. I just want El to be happy and healthy because Claire doesn’t hold back in the tolls she takes.
Now Rielle is.. Rielle is going through A LOT, and I honestly can’t allude more than that because it’s just too much. It’ll lead to spoilers and that is a big no. She really receives the bulk of events in Kingsbane (and I mean why wouldn’t she? Kingsbane is HER title haha), and just like El, I want her to find some peace.
They’re plenty of times where these two are selfish or righteous or making the wrong decisions, but they’re also plenty of moments where they step into who they are, what makes them happy, and are constantly questioning the expectations on them. I see so many of my own attributes (some not so favorable) reflected in Rielle, and then I just feel for the position El is put into. Nobody is perfect. Claire Legrand is one of the best at tearing aside these facades of heroic perfection and replacing it with the brutal truth: humans are flawed.
As always, Claire is one of my favorite writers, so sliding back into her style was wonderful. She’s a great storyteller, and after the ending... I just... the reason this review took so long was solely because the ending hurt for me to even think about. I still refuse to think about what actually happened because my heart ACHES.
Betrayal is all I can say.
Betrayal and loss.
Kingsbane starts off nearly right where Furyborn left off. Eliana is dealing with the revelation that she is the daughter of the Blood Queen and that to save her world she must become the Sun Queen.
Rielle, on the other hand, is her world’s anointed Sun Queen, but she’s been tasked to search for the seven hidden castings of the Saints to repair the Gate, which is failing to hold the angels.
I’m at a loss for words for this sequel. I will say: DO NOT ignore the chapter headers. One in particular became the literal epitome of this book, in my opinion.
Claire is magnificent at displaying the turmoil in labeling a person as a Blood or Sun Queen. People aren’t wholly bad or good but are made of all the emotions and feelings in between. Rielle and Eliana grow and try to find themselves in a world that tries to endlessly shove their own opinions of these women’s identities down their throats, and I think their torn allegiances to how they want to live exemplifies that.
It’s similar to how our own societies try to put women in these boxes they’ll never fit. It’s downright toxic for young women to exist within the confines of societal expectations, and while some of these people mean well, it’s still detrimental to that individual’s mental health. You have to be you. Not someone else’s expectations.
For example, the most profound aspect to this sequel for me was Eliana’s identity struggle. I tear up thinking about what she goes through in Kingsbane because she doesn’t want any of this. She’s the first character, in my opinion, to be so utterly human in a novel because I know 100% I could never do what heroes do, but at the same time, Eliana doesn’t get a choice. El MUST take up her destiny, and it scrapes against her mental health because of all these growing expectations that are choking the life out of her. I felt as if I couldn’t breathe at times because Claire was figuratively suffocating me with these revelations, a mirror to Eliana’s own feelings. I just want El to be happy and healthy because Claire doesn’t hold back in the tolls she takes.
Now Rielle is.. Rielle is going through A LOT, and I honestly can’t allude more than that because it’s just too much. It’ll lead to spoilers and that is a big no. She really receives the bulk of events in Kingsbane (and I mean why wouldn’t she? Kingsbane is HER title haha), and just like El, I want her to find some peace.
They’re plenty of times where these two are selfish or righteous or making the wrong decisions, but they’re also plenty of moments where they step into who they are, what makes them happy, and are constantly questioning the expectations on them. I see so many of my own attributes (some not so favorable) reflected in Rielle, and then I just feel for the position El is put into. Nobody is perfect. Claire Legrand is one of the best at tearing aside these facades of heroic perfection and replacing it with the brutal truth: humans are flawed.
As always, Claire is one of my favorite writers, so sliding back into her style was wonderful. She’s a great storyteller, and after the ending... I just... the reason this review took so long was solely because the ending hurt for me to even think about. I still refuse to think about what actually happened because my heart ACHES.
Betrayal is all I can say.
Betrayal and loss.