A review by naiapard
The Unseelie Crown by Kathryn Ann Kingsley

5.0

I read the entire installment in one sitting. That is, if you liked this review, you can check out my review for the other three books by following the respective hyperlinks: The Unseelie Prince(Maze of Shadows, #1)\\The Unseelie Throne (Maze of Shadows #3)\\The Unseelie King (Maze of Shadows #4)

I sincerely thought that this installment will get worse with the second book. I did not have enough faith (foolish of me) that the second book will be able to carry the story.

Thank you to any deity/entity that I did not give up and I rowed with the second book, too. I distinctly remember that as the series proceeded the books only got better. (I am writing this review months apart since I finished them all).

I was also quite distrustful that this format (of having both their PoVs at the same time) will NOT destroy the feeling of the books. I think it is really hard to pull off both PoVs in a romance. Plenty of times it results in having a really corny conversation in the heads of the male protagonists that does not resonate as truthful only is overly sugar-coated and so far away from anything and everything taking place in the plot.

But this book was able to pull that off, so cheers for that, because it made it to be a very enjoyable ride!

Well, beware also that this is a DARK fantasy, so the way the relationship of the two protagonists is approached falls between gray lines. You have to keep that in mind, that everything that is happening is metaphorized and hyperbolized exactly because this is supposed to be fantasy and not mirroring reality.

For example, take this quote:

“The sound of her voice had nearly made him weep, it had been such a relief to his ears. He had wanted to wring her neck. To scream at her for having the gall to die, when he could have made everything all right. He wanted to shake her for her impertinence and whip her for her stubbornness. He had wanted to kiss her, to clutch her to him and whisper that no harm would ever touch her again.”

Here we are seeing his PoV after she tricked him in believing she was still dead. When he found out that she was in fact alive, but did not want to return to him, well, he was … distraught. So, understand why this is a dark romance fantasy because otherwise, it can so easily sleep into romanticizing domestic abusive relationships.

But if you can behave yourself with this genre, then you are in for a ride because it hits some of the right sposts. Look, another quote, this is tamer:

“I am the Master of the Maze. Remember that. You are strong, little witch, but within this place, you are only as strong as I allow you to be.” He nuzzled into her hair, the hands-on her upper arms tightening just a little. “And you walked into my lair.” He chuckled. “Foolish girl.”

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