Bestselling authors and real-life sisters-in-law Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber join forces on a compelling YA fantasy bursting with high-stakes adventure, romance and humour. Two queens, one throne. What can possibly go wrong . . .?
Twin queens Wren and Rose have claimed their crowns . . . but not everyone is happy about witches sitting on Eana's throne.
Cool-headed Rose sets off on a Royal Tour to win over the doubters, but soon finds herself drawn to the Sunless Kingdom. Here secrets are revealed about those closest to her, and Rose finds her loyalties divided.
Meanwhile rebellious Wren steals away to the icy north to rescue their beloved grandmother, Banba. But when she accepts King Alarik's deadly magical bargain in exchange for Banba's freedom, the spell has unexpected - and far-reaching - consequences . . .
As an ancient curse begins to arise from the darkness, the sisters must come together and unite the crown. Their lives - and the future of Eana - depend on it.
Break the ice to free the curse,
Kill one twin to save another . . .
Maybe it's just because I'm (mumble) years old, but I'm starting to get tired of horrifically evil villains, who turn out to have an excuse so it's fine. Never mind they killed lots of people, they looked soulfully at the heroine so we're all cool! That's not in any way a comment on this book specifically, the characters here are complex and interesting as they often are in the kind of story I'm moaning about, but I am noticing the trend more and more. There are very few villains allowed to be villains any more.
But! Let's get a bit more specific about this one.
The first title in this series was a huge hit last year, and I think this one is going to do just as well. Wren and Rose manage to get themselves separated fairly early on (::cough::Wren::cough) and so the book splits into two storylines, just like the previous one. We meet some new characters and visit some new, beautifully described locations. Like the previous book, this is a cliffhanger, but most of the characters have ended up in relatively good spots, so it's not too bad.
I'm looking forward to the third (last?) volume about this next year, I'm sure it'll be just as exciting as this one!
Cursed Crowns publishes on the 27th of April, 2023, in the UK, and on the 9th of May, 2023, in the US, using the same cover as far as I can tell. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.
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