I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Trials of Virtuous Succession have ended. Prince Andreus is king—and Princess Carys is dead.

But even as he’s haunted by what he did to win the throne, Andreus discovers that his dream of ruling only brings new problems. The people love his twin even more in death than they did when she was alive. The Elders treat him as a figurehead. And worst of all, the winds of Eden are faltering.

But despite what everyone believes, Carys is alive. Exiled to the wilderness, Carys struggles to control the powers that have broken free inside her. And as she grows stronger, so does her conviction that she must return to the Palace of Winds, face her twin and root out the treachery that began long before the first Trials started.

The Kingdom of Eden is growing darker with each passing day. Brother and sister, former foes, must decide whether some betrayals cut too deep to be forgiven—and whether one will wear the crown or both will lose everything.

Short and Sweet Review

The Trials of Virtuous Succession have ended and now Andreus is king and Carys has been presumed deceased. We see Andreus struggle with his new found position as he’s haunted by what happened during the trials and he sees that people love his sister even more now. Even though Carys is believed to be dead she’s actually out in the wilderness learning how to control her powers and eventually return to the palace to face her twin. The kingdom of Eden is growing darker and its up to the twins to decide if they’ll come together to fix it or continue watching the cracks spread.

Eden Conquered picks up soon after the events of the last book, Carys is out in the woods with Garrett because that’s the only person she trusts, and Andreus is back at the palace not knowing he’s a pawn. I didn’t enjoy the first book and I didn’t have high hopes for this one and I was right this book was boring and we get both character’s POV but only Carys’s was worth reading. Andreus just isn’t smart it takes him a while to realize he was being played and then when he does he’s apologetic to Carys but it was just cringey. There’s not much I can reveal about the plot without giving spoilers but Carys and Andreus do reunite and then there’s a final battle and it was built up but it felt pretty meh at the end.

Overall, this is slightly better than the first book but not by much. I didn’t relate to any of the characters and the plot fell short. I would recommend readers pass on this book, Carys is a good character but not good enough to carry what the potential for these two books should have been on her shoulders.