ARC Review: The Crown's Fate (The Crown's Game #2) by Evelyn Skye
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Series: The Crown's Game #2
Author: Evelyn Skye
Published May 16th 2017 by Balzer + Bray
Goodreads Synopsis
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
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.
The Crown's Game was one of my favourite debuts of 2016, and I knew that as soon as copies of The Crown's Fate became available, I would have to request a copy as soon as possible, and I dove straight in when it finally got to me! Now, first things first, there is a lot more angst and tension in this book than in the previous one, but there are still some moments of lightness.
Following the death of his father, Pasha is now Tsar of Russia, with his Imperial Enchanter, Vika, at his side. Both are feeling guilty about Nikolai's fate, not knowing exactly what has happened to him, but believing him to be dead. Becoming the leader of an empire might be enough problems in itself, but he also has the fact that his legitimacy is in doubt - should he even be the Tsar, or not? - and Vika loathes him, and everything he stands for. Vika wishes she didn't have the power that she does, and somewhat wishes that Nikolai had won the Game, rather that it being her. And Nikolai, well, he's alive, but stuck in the shadow world, trying to contact the others, but not being too successful. Nothing can ever be easy in a fantasy world, and that is definitely the case with this story.
Now, I adored book 1, and really thought I would for this book too, but it was lacking something. I don't know what, but it didn't have the same feel as The Crown's Game did. I think one of the problems was that the book was a bit too long - a lot of it felt like filler material, and didn't really add much to the plot as a whole. Overall, it was still enjoyable, but if I'm being 100% honest, I can't remember all that much from it, that's how 'filler-y' it was.
The characters all seemed different from book 1, in good ways, and in bad. Nikolai was still an enjoyable character, and his change was down to his death and shadow-ness, which really worked, and made him even more mysterious. Vika got on my nerves a little, but I still appreciated her character, whereas Pasha was extremely whiney, and actually took away from the enjoyment of the book, rather than adding to it. The ending was a little bit of a cop out too, as if it had been rushed, when a lot of the rest of the book had dragged - the pacing was just wrong!
I was a little disappointed in this one, and I know a lot of other bloggers were too. I do think I'll read more books by this author, but I'm not in any major rush, like I would've been.
Dates Read:
April 17-20, 2017Rating
3 Stars
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