I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Cursed Crowns by Catherine Doyle, Katherine Webber Series: Twin Crowns #2
Published by Balzer + Bray on 5/9/23
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 512
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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Twin queens Wren and Rose have claimed their crowns…but not everyone is happy about witches sitting on Eana’s throne.
Coolheaded Rose plans a royal tour to establish goodwill throughout the kingdom. But Wren balks—how can they gallivant around Eana when their grandmother Banba is imprisoned in Gevra?
Impatient Wren steals away on a ship to the icy north, where King Alarik offers a deadly magical bargain in exchange for Banba’s freedom. Desperate, Wren agrees. But her spell has unexpected consequences….
Meanwhile, when Rose's royal tour is interrupted by a mysterious stranger claiming to be from the long-lost Sunkissed Kingdom, the strands of destiny pull her south to the ancient Amarach Towers, where only the Seers of Eana know why the Restless Sands are erupting—and why Shen-Lo himself might hold the key.
But back in Anadawn, rebellion is brewing. And if Eana is to stand a chance at peace, the sisters will need to reunite once more and convince their people to forsake old loyalties for new ones.
Short and Sweet Review
In Anadawn, Wren and Rose are the twin queens, but not everyone is happy about having witches on the throne. Rose thinks the best course of action is going on a tour to show people that there is nothing to fear. There’s a group calling themselves the Arrows who are trying to stop Rose and Wren from having a successful reign and will even go as far as going to war with the kingdom. While Rose is thinking about the tour, Wren is thinking about Banba who is being held prisoner in the kingdom of Gerva. We see the twins go their separate ways trying to solve the problems plaguing Eana, but they’ll learn they’re stronger together than when they’re apart.
This book was so exciting and full of action. Rose is on a tour that Wren was supposed to join her on but instead Wren went to Gerva to try to rescue Banba. On the tour Rose and Shen are met by a stranger who turns out to be Shens cousin from the lost Sunkissed kingdom. The trio travel to Amarach Towers where they meet seers who help them figure out where the kingdom is. It turns out that Shen is the lost heir and when Rose learns this she gets hopeful that maybe the Sunkissed kingdom can help the Anadawn kingdom fight off the rebellion that is brewing, but Shen has other ideas about what his people should be doing. Wren on the other hand is face to face with King Alarik trying to bargain for Banbas life. Wren ends up having to use forbidden magic to bring Ansel back to life and she faces steep consequences.
Rose had more character development in this book, she was more mature. Wren on the other hand was reckless and she knows right from wrong but she’s blinded by her own desires. Rose and Shen still have a relationship which was cute based on the bond they built in the first book. Wren has a love triangle which was not something I liked because I was looking forward to her just being with Tor. Even though the sisters are separated they were able to talk to each other through a magic mirror and offer each other advice which I liked seeing because even though they had others around they to offer words of advice sometimes you just need your sister. I also loved the setting Rose is basically in the desert and Wren is in the ice kingdom it was interesting seeing how different their circumstances were. There was a big twist at the end that I wasn’t expecting and was left unresolved and I’m excited to see how it will be handled in the next book.
Cursed Crowns was a great sequel, I couldn’t put it down and I’m ready to see what the next installment will bring!
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