The Crown’s Fate by Evelyn Skye

The Crown’s Fate by Evelyn Skye

Published: May 16th 2017 by Balzer + Bray

Amazon: The Crown’s Fate (Crown’s Game, Band 2)

Book Depository

Russia is on the brink of great change. Pasha’s coronation approaches, and Vika is now the Imperial Enchanter, but the role she once coveted may be more difficult—and dangerous—than she ever expected.

Pasha is grappling with his own problems—his legitimacy is in doubt, the girl he loves loathes him, and he believes his best friend is dead. When a challenger to the throne emerges—and with the magic in Russia growing rapidly—Pasha must do whatever it takes to keep his position and protect his kingdom.

For Nikolai, the ending of the Crown’s Game stung deeply. Although he just managed to escape death, Nikolai remains alone, a shadow hidden in a not-quite-real world of his own creation. But when he’s given a second chance at life—tied to a dark price—Nikolai must decide just how far he’s willing to go to return to the world.

With revolution on the rise, dangerous new magic rearing up, and a tsardom up for the taking, Vika, Nikolai, and Pasha must fight—or face the destruction of not only their world but also themselves.

The Crown’s Game was a book that I highly anticipated reading, which left me underwhelmed – so I went into this one a little wary. I wasn’t sure how the author was going to answer so many question in just this last instalment (this is a duology). I ended up DNFing this book. I found this book even more underwhelming than the first and I was really having to force myself through it.

Whilst this book starts off at the end of the previous one, I feel like it is basically a repeat of book 1 – but on a slightly different level. It is less a game and more of an open warfare between Vika, Pasha and Nikolai. The book is basically Nikolai trying to get the better of Vika and Pasha, whilst Vika hits back and Pasha sort of stuck in the middle. I didn’t feel like there was a huge amount of character development from book 1 (except for Nikolai with what his mother was doing to him) and the characters remained relatively 2D. I didn’t feel a connection with characters to actually care what was going to happen to them throughout the story.

I also feel like I was being given more questions than answers. How was Nikolai in the form he was? How did Aizhana come back? How does the transference of energy work? Why can Galina do magic if there is only supposed to be two people in the entire of Russia who can do it? Why can only two people do magic? There are more, but I feel like all the questions I have would take over this post. I have spoken to a couple of people who read both books and they have had similar opinions in the sense that they have a lot of questions that have, and will remain, unanswered.

The plot didn’t really interest me that much – to the point where I was having to force myself to pick the story up. The style and the form that the plot took was very repetitive from book one, but on a bit of a bigger scale (I don’t want to say too much because of spoilers). I also decided to read the ending after DNFing to see how it would all wrap up and I found the ending to be a little weak. It would have been better had it gone down differently.

I honestly don’t understand either canon for this book. I don’t see a connection between Vika and Pasha or Vika and Nikolai. Jealousy was a huge motivator for what some of these characters did and I honestly didn’t understand why because I didn’t see a spark between any of the characters.

All in all, I was pretty disappointed by this duology. This series was highly anticipated series for me and I ended up not really enjoying either book as much as I thought I was going to! I gave this book 1/5 stars.

Find me Here:

Instagram/Twitter/Goodreads/Litsy @ Lauren’s Page Turners

Other reviews for this book:

Alyssa @ Eater of Books

Jananee @ Head In Her Books

My Guilty Obsession

Diplomatic Immunity by Brodi Ashton

Diplomatic Immunity by Brodi Ashton

Published: September 6th 2016 by Balzer + Bray

Anna and the French Kiss meets The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks in a romantic and hilarious new novel from Brodi Ashton, the author of the Everneath trilogy. 

Raucous parties, privileged attitudes, underage drinking, and diplomatic immunity . . . it’s all part of student life on Embassy Row.

Piper Baird has always dreamed of becoming a journalist. So when she scores a scholarship to exclusive Chiswick Academy in Washington, DC, she knows it’s her big opportunity. Chiswick offers the most competitive prize for teen journalists—the Bennington scholarship—which would ensure her acceptance to one of the best schools in the country.

Piper isn’t at Chiswick for two days before she witnesses the extreme privilege of the young and wealthy elite who attend her school—and realizes that access to these untouchable students just might give her the edge she’ll need to blow the lid off life at the school in a scathing and unforgettable exposé worthy of the Bennington.

The key to the whole story lies with Rafael Amador, the son of the Spanish Ambassador—and the boy at the center of the most explosive secrets and scandals on Embassy Row. Rafael is big trouble—and when he drops into her bedroom window one night, asking for help, it’s Piper’s big chance to get the full scoop. Except Piper discovers that despite his dark streak, Rafael is smart, kind, funny, and gorgeous—and she might have real feelings for him. How can she break the story of a lifetime if it will destroy the boy she just might love?

I have had this on my TBR since last year, so when I picked it out of my TBR jar I was glad to finally be getting to it. I thought it would be a quick, possibly predictable read – however, I ended up DNFing this book. I got about 30% of the way through this book before putting it down.

My biggest issue with this book was the fact that the characters were superficial. There didn’t seem to be any depth to them and they were relatively boring within the story itself. We didn’t really get to know out characters on a deeper level by 30% of the way through and it led to me being pretty bored for most of the time I was reading. The characters were very cliche in the sense of poor girl who has to work for everything meets rich boy who can get away with anything – and there was obviously the mean girl who hated the poor girl. It was pretty eye rolling inducing.

Another major issue I had with this book was the fact that the writing itself was very repetitive. The same words and phrases were constantly being thrown at me – if I had turned the 30% I read into a drinking game, I probably would have been on the floor, it was that bad. I was constantly being reminded that she went to the same school as the rich kids but was on a different planet and the nickname she gave the rich kids (Diplomatic Immunity (DI’s fo short)) and it got to the point where it was in pretty much every other sentence.

I also felt like the plot took too long to actually kick off with something interesting. By 30% she was just getting an idea of what she wanted to do to achieve her goal within the book and, for me, that was way too long an amount of time to slowly start introducing the point of the book. Had the characters been developed at the beginning of the book to then support the late plot introduction, it wouldn’t have been so bad. As it was, the characters were very 2D and the plot itself lacking.

All in all, I was pretty disappointed with this book. I do have some of Ashton’s other works on my TBR, so hopefully I will enjoy those better. I gave this book 1/5 stars.

Find me Here:

Instagram/Twitter/Goodreads/Litsy @ Lauren’s Page Turners

Goodreads Monday

Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme hosted here. To participate, choose a random book from your TBR and show it off! Don’t forget to link back here and add your link in the comments so that others can see what you picked! 

Hey Guys! I hope you all had a good weekend 🙂 The weather here has been a bit on and off, so it’s been a bit iffy! But a lot more time to read 😛 Anyway, this weeks pick for me is the second book in a duology – I wasn’t really blown away by the first, but I’m still interested to see where the series is going to go – and whether all the points can really be wrapped up in the second book! Also, quick note, I am going to stop putting inlinkz at the bottom because there aren’t really enough people linking up to put it in every week – despite the number of people that participate!

The Crown’s Fate by Evelyn Skye

Published: May 16th 2017 by Balzer + Bray

Russia is on the brink of great change. Pasha’s coronation approaches, and Vika is now the Imperial Enchanter, but the role she once coveted may be more difficult—and dangerous—than she ever expected.

Pasha is grappling with his own problems—his legitimacy is in doubt, the girl he loves loathes him, and he believes his best friend is dead. When a challenger to the throne emerges—and with the magic in Russia growing rapidly—Pasha must do whatever it takes to keep his position and protect his kingdom.

For Nikolai, the ending of the Crown’s Game stung deeply. Although he just managed to escape death, Nikolai remains alone, a shadow hidden in a not-quite-real world of his own creation. But when he’s given a second chance at life—tied to a dark price—Nikolai must decide just how far he’s willing to go to return to the world.

With revolution on the rise, dangerous new magic rearing up, and a tsardom up for the taking, Vika, Nikolai, and Pasha must fight—or face the destruction of not only their world but also themselves.

 

Goodreads Monday

Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme hosted here. To participate, choose a random book from your TBR and show it off! Don’t forget to link back here and link up to the inlinkz below so that others can see what you picked! 

Hey guys! I hope you all had a great weekend! This weeks pick for me is actually a book that I have already read, but I never got around to reading the sequel, so I need to do a re read of it before getting there! I got these in last week and I am really excited about getting to them!

Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

Published: October 14th 2014 by Balzer + Bray

A heartbroken girl. A fierce warrior. A hero in the making.

Sixteen years ago the Kingdom of Winter was conquered and its citizens enslaved, leaving them without magic or a monarch. Now, the Winterians’ only hope for freedom is the eight survivors who managed to escape, and who have been waiting for the opportunity to steal back Winter’s magic and rebuild the kingdom ever since.

Orphaned as an infant during Winter’s defeat, Meira has lived her whole life as a refugee, raised by the Winterians’ general, Sir. Training to be a warrior—and desperately in love with her best friend, and future king, Mather — she would do anything to help her kingdom rise to power again.

So when scouts discover the location of the ancient locket that can restore Winter’s magic, Meira decides to go after it herself. Finally, she’s scaling towers, fighting enemy soldiers, just as she’s always dreamed she would. But the mission doesn’t go as planned, and Meira soon finds herself thrust into a world of evil magic and dangerous politics – and ultimately comes to realize that her destiny is not, never has been, her own.

Bright Smoke, Cold Fire by Rosamund Hodge

Bright Smoke, Cold Fire by Rosamund Hodge

Published: September 27th 2016 by Balzer+Bray

When the mysterious fog of the Ruining crept over the world, the living died and the dead rose. Only the walled city of Viyara was left untouched.

The heirs of the city’s most powerful—and warring—families, Mahyanai Romeo and Juliet Catresou share a love deeper than duty, honor, even life itself. But the magic laid on Juliet at birth compels her to punish the enemies of her clan—and Romeo has just killed her cousin Tybalt. Which means he must die.

Paris Catresou has always wanted to serve his family by guarding Juliet. But when his ward tries to escape her fate, magic goes terribly wrong—killing her and leaving Paris bound to Romeo. If he wants to discover the truth of what happened, Paris must delve deep into the city, ally with his worst enemy . . . and perhaps turn against his own clan.

Mahyanai Runajo just wants to protect her city—but she’s the only one who believes it’s in peril. In her desperate hunt for information, she accidentally pulls Juliet from the mouth of death—and finds herself bound to the bitter, angry girl. Runajo quickly discovers Juliet might be the one person who can help her recover the secret to saving Viyara.

Both pairs will find friendship where they least expect it. Both will find that Viyara holds more secrets and dangers than anyone ever expected. And outside the walls, death is waiting. . . 

I was really looking forward to going into this book. I absolutely love the story of Romeo and Juliet and I was excited about this retelling. However, I was left pretty disappointed and DNFed this at just over 100 pages.

My biggest issue with this book was the fact that I genuinely had no clue what the heck was going on! I didn’t understand why they wore masks, or what the Juliet actually was, the guardian, the sisters… pretty much everything. Nothing was explained in detail or very well within the first 100 or so pages and I felt more like I was blundering through with the hope that it was going to get better/I was going to find out what was going on exactly and why. I didn’t enjoy the feeling of being lost throughout and I started putting down the book in order to do something else.

I also feel like the plot was affected by the fact that I didn’t certain aspects of the society and why some things happened. Without a certain understanding of some of the things the characters were doing, the world building etc. the plot was confusing – even more so because it kept switching between the sisters and Paris and Romeo.

My other issue with this book was the characters. I struggled to empathise with them and I didn’t feel like the characters each had their own individual voice despite the book being multiple pov. I struggled to differentiate between the pov’s and only managed to based off of the chapter titles. I felt like they were all too similar and none of the personalities stood out particularly.

All in all, I was pretty disappointed with this book, considering that I was extremely looking forward to this retelling! I gave this book 1/5 stars.

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted at Breaking the Spine

Hey guys! It is time for another WoW! This weeks pick for me is an author who I actually really like, but haven’t read all of her books! I have been meaning to, but you know how it is!

The Glass Spare by Lauren DeStefano

Expected Publication: October 24th 2017 by Balzer+Bray

A banished princess.
A deadly curse.
A kingdom at war.

Wil Heidle, the only daughter of the king of the world’s wealthiest nation, has grown up in the shadows. Kept hidden from the world in order to serve as a spy for her father—whose obsession with building his empire is causing a war—Wil wants nothing more than to explore the world beyond her kingdom, if only her father would give her the chance.

Until one night Wil is attacked, and she discovers a dangerous secret. Her touch turns people into gemstone. At first Wil is horrified—but as she tests its limits, she’s drawn more and more to the strange and volatile ability. When it leads to tragedy, Wil is forced to face the destructive power within her and finally leave her home to seek the truth and a cure.

But finding the key to her redemption puts her in the path of a cursed prince who has his own ideas for what to do with her power.

With a world on the brink of war and a power of ultimate destruction, can Wil find a way to help the kingdom that’s turned its back on her, or will she betray her past and her family forever?

I absolutely adore this cover and the blurb sounds really interesting as well! I have been meaning to finish her Chemical Garden Trilogy and hopefully I will do that before this release! I also have the Internment Chronicles on my TBR!