crownprincessofbooks
🍀esther grace • score music lover, avid writer, reading princess ✨ physical library 1035+ books strong ✨
1505 points
crownprincessofbooks started reading...
6d
This Blade of Ours
Shalini Abeysekara
Death isn't finished with them yet. Sarai believed the worst was behind her. However, months after exposing the government’s corruption in what has now been deemed “the Great Unravelling,” she faces scorn from citizens who preferred her and Kadra as the underdogs. Worse, eerie omens rock the country: from a deadly plague outbreak to a sweeping madness that leave the afflicted ranting of an approaching reckoning. Accused of angering the gods, Sarai returns to the only place that can clear her name: Ur Dinyé’s frozen north. But among the secrets buried in its ice are Kadra’s. When historical tensions between the north and the south worsen, a powerful religious order seizes control in the chaos, led by a man whose very voice can kill—Noceo bu Kader. Trapped between love and a crumbling country, Sarai and Kadra must outwit a power with roots as deep in fear as in cruelty. But the gods are always watching, and Sarai and Kadra may not escape a second time.
crownprincessofbooks finished a book
6d
This Monster of Mine
Shalini Abeysekara
This dazzling Ancient Rome-inspired romantasy is a bloodbath of manipulation, deception, and forbidden love. “With sizzling romantic tension, intricate world-building, and an irresistible mystery at its core, this book is an absolute feast for the senses. A dazzling and deliciously dark debut” ―Keshe Chow, author of The Girl With No Reflection She knows the taste of death. He’ll stoke her hunger for it. Sarai doesn’t know why someone tried to kill her four years ago, but she does know that her case was closed without justice. Hellbent on vengeance, she returns to the scene of the crime as a Petitor, a prosecutor who can magically detect lies, and is assigned to work with Tetrarch Kadra. Ice-cold and perennially sadistic, Kadra is the most vicious of the four judges who rule the land—and the prime suspect in a string of deaths identical to Sarai’s attempted murder. Certain of his guilt, Sarai begins a double life: solving cases with Kadra by day and plotting his ruin by night. But Kadra is charming and there’s something alluring about the wrath he wields against the city’s corruption. So when the evidence she finds embroils her in a deadly political battle, Sarai must also fight against her attraction to Kadra—because despite his growing hold on her heart, his voice matches the only memory she has of her assailant.
crownprincessofbooks started reading...
2w
This Monster of Mine
Shalini Abeysekara
This dazzling Ancient Rome-inspired romantasy is a bloodbath of manipulation, deception, and forbidden love. “With sizzling romantic tension, intricate world-building, and an irresistible mystery at its core, this book is an absolute feast for the senses. A dazzling and deliciously dark debut” ―Keshe Chow, author of The Girl With No Reflection She knows the taste of death. He’ll stoke her hunger for it. Sarai doesn’t know why someone tried to kill her four years ago, but she does know that her case was closed without justice. Hellbent on vengeance, she returns to the scene of the crime as a Petitor, a prosecutor who can magically detect lies, and is assigned to work with Tetrarch Kadra. Ice-cold and perennially sadistic, Kadra is the most vicious of the four judges who rule the land—and the prime suspect in a string of deaths identical to Sarai’s attempted murder. Certain of his guilt, Sarai begins a double life: solving cases with Kadra by day and plotting his ruin by night. But Kadra is charming and there’s something alluring about the wrath he wields against the city’s corruption. So when the evidence she finds embroils her in a deadly political battle, Sarai must also fight against her attraction to Kadra—because despite his growing hold on her heart, his voice matches the only memory she has of her assailant.
dnf at 72% and skimmed the rest
i wanted to like this bc vampires and a book similar to alchemised sounds like fun on paper….or i guess not even on paper since after a certain point nothing really happened in this book. there’s some things that happened at the end, but barely any time was dedicated to it from what i could tell in my skimming. i’m still counting this toward my reading goal bc i am already behind and i’m not letting this trash heap deviate me from that further.
this book had so many typos, repeated sentences, and missing words that i seriously doubt there was an editor, especially when i checked the acknowledgements and the author said there was a “ghost editor” which just sounds like code for “i didn’t bother editing this bc i hate editing.” i hate editing too, babes, but even then i still do it, and even taking that into account, i still am a MUCH better writer without the editing first than this author is.
i skimmed the reviews before reading and found out that this is a pretty common critique, but i was still willing to give this thing a shot. my mistake lmao. it still gets two stars bc the beginning was compelling enough to keep me reading even after i didn’t want to anymore, but not much further bc good lord. i just could not do it anymore after a certain point.
if the author sees this: PLEASE go over your books more than once/not at all. i guarantee your ratings will go up. until then, HARD pass on anything else she’s written.
crownprincessofbooks finished a book
2w
The Lesser Gods - Exclusive Edition
Heather Dubree
In a world ravaged by a 200 year war pitting humankind against the immortal vampire, Emmeline rises as a symbol of hope for her kind. As a scholar determined to help defeat the ancient immortal forces, as finds herself an unwitting sacrifice after a long, brutal battle. Taken to Aeternalis, the ancient castle deep in the heart of the vampire city, she becomes the reluctant bride to their prince, Euclid. Peace for both people hangs in the balance as Emmeline tries to adapt to the court of the vampires, a group she had been brought up to hate. In his tale of love and sacrifice, Emmeline embarks on a journey to find is true love can really bridge even the darkest of divides. Will she find happiness and peace in the arms of her mortal enemy, or face an immortal life full of despair?Trigger warnings from the wartime, gore, death of parents, explicit sexual content, strong language.
