2blueshoes's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Sometimes in order to write convincing character development, your characters have to be very unlikable at the beginning of your book. For me, this was the case here. I almost stopped reading about a third of the way through, BUT I’m glad I didn’t. About half way through the book, Wren and Rose become much more thoughtful and less juvenile and their dialogue becomes much more witty and engaging.
There is some romance in this story, but it is not the main focus, and the “heroes” are very much secondary characters. (Albeit very charming ones). Spiciness is fairly tame - it’s mostly longing looks.
Overall a fun read, with increasingly like-able characters. (Low key obsessed with Celeste.) Not life changing - I did not want to stay up all night reading this book, but I’ll definitely read the next one in the series.
There is some romance in this story, but it is not the main focus, and the “heroes” are very much secondary characters. (Albeit very charming ones). Spiciness is fairly tame - it’s mostly longing looks.
Overall a fun read, with increasingly like-able characters. (Low key obsessed with Celeste.) Not life changing - I did not want to stay up all night reading this book, but I’ll definitely read the next one in the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol and Gaslighting
Moderate: Kidnapping, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, and Murder
Minor: War, Confinement, Vomit, Sexual content, Death of parent, Animal death, and Sexual harassment
takarakei's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Princess and the Pauper retelling, kind of. A bit too long especially cause it's a duology. I felt like they could've cut at least 100 pages. Plotline was a bit predictable for regular ya fantasy readers. I likely won't continue with book two as I feel like I know what's gonna happen and I'm not moved to read another 500 pages.
2/5 🌶️ basically some hot and heavy kissing
2/5 🌶️ basically some hot and heavy kissing
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Violence, and Alcohol
Moderate: War, Blood, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Gaslighting
Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death, and Sexual content
bzliz's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Rose and Wren are twin sisters separated at birth to protect them from their parent’s murderer. Wren grew up in a colony of witches with her maternal grandmother Banba after being hurried away from the attack on her mother by a witch midwife. She’s spent her whole life preparing to help take back the country from the man who killed her parents and controls her sister. Rose grew up in the castle, raised and protected by the Kingsbreath and fully indoctrinated into his anti-witch world and unaware that she has living family until the day finally comes that Wren takes her place and she’s spirited away to the witch colony and learns that she’s been lied to and manipulated her whole life.
This is a really solid YA story. It’s kind of Prince and the Pauper-y with a magical spin. The twins are both interesting and their respective love interests make sense with their arcs. Some of the background characters are kind of one dimensional and single use (one witch is there to spill secrets to Rose before Shen has told her the truth, another is there to represent the animosity some witches have against the crown and to show Rose’s kindness, etc).
The beginning was a little slow with Wren trying to integrate herself into the castle and Rose being kidnapped and going on her first journey outside of her gilded prison. It picked up once Rose gained some confidence but it also got a little confusing because there seems to be some time passing but it wasn’t really clear how much skipping around there was. You could tell me the twins had swapped places for two weeks or 4 months and I’d believe either. I also wish we’d gotten to see more interactions between the sisters. A few scenes of them plotting and scheming were boiled down to “we spent the whole night talking”. I think some of it is meant to show their innate twin connection but it would have been nice to see them actually get to know each other.
Content warnings:
Blood, injury, violence (on page):
Child abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse (flashbacks):
Death (on page):
Death of parent (off page):
Kidnapping (on page):
This is a really solid YA story. It’s kind of Prince and the Pauper-y with a magical spin. The twins are both interesting and their respective love interests make sense with their arcs. Some of the background characters are kind of one dimensional and single use (one witch is there to spill secrets to Rose before Shen has told her the truth, another is there to represent the animosity some witches have against the crown and to show Rose’s kindness, etc).
The beginning was a little slow with Wren trying to integrate herself into the castle and Rose being kidnapped and going on her first journey outside of her gilded prison. It picked up once Rose gained some confidence but it also got a little confusing because there seems to be some time passing but it wasn’t really clear how much skipping around there was. You could tell me the twins had swapped places for two weeks or 4 months and I’d believe either. I also wish we’d gotten to see more interactions between the sisters. A few scenes of them plotting and scheming were boiled down to “we spent the whole night talking”. I think some of it is meant to show their innate twin connection but it would have been nice to see them actually get to know each other.
Content warnings:
Blood, injury, violence (on page):
Spoiler
Shen is injured in the desert which is his Rose learns she’s a healer witch. Big fight at the wedding.Child abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse (flashbacks):
Spoiler
Described in chapter 12. Rose was tested by the Kingsbreath for witchcraft as a child, which she described in her thoughts as him making her crawl through mud, pushing her face into it and forcing her hands closed around it until her fingernails cracked. This happened monthly until she was twelve. He continued to manipulate her as his puppet to present day. Rose does not voice these thoughts.Death (on page):
Spoiler
During the climax at the wedding, the Kingsbreath hurls a dagger at Wren but Tor pushes her out of the way which causes the dagger to strike and kill Ansel instead. Rose tries to save him but Alarik pulls her off his body.Death of parent (off page):
Spoiler
The Kingsbreath poisoned the twin’s father and then slit their mother’s throat moments after she gave birth to Rose. This is mentioned a few times as it is essential to why the twins were separated. Rose spent most of her life believing a witch was responsible for their deaths and learns the truth about halfway into the book.Kidnapping (on page):
Spoiler
Rose is kidnapped so Wren can take her place. She is protected by Shen and ends up being pretty chill about the whole thing in a way only a YA protagonist could be.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Child abuse, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Kidnapping
taryn_g's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Confinement
Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Kidnapping
Minor: Alcohol and Animal death
katvou's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Kidnapping, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, War, and Animal death
Minor: Alcohol and Sexual content
kbairbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Wow!!! That was so fun! That was SO FUN! What a blast! The magic, the political intrigue, the long lost twin, the surprise, the emotion! Wow this was great! I will say there really wasn’t any diversity in this book at all so for that I’m dropping it half a star but the plot was fun and the characters were really well fleshed out and I loved the two narrators for the different princesses!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Violence, War, Confinement, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Gore, Alcohol, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
bookish_paws's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Grief
Minor: Kidnapping, Animal death, Blood, Death, and Death of parent
emmiej's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, and War
kaziaroo's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This was fun to read, with likeable characters and quite an predictable yet enjoyable plot. I recommend it to fans of the Lunar Chronicles as it has a similar style, and The Priory of the Orange Tree for the theme of re-examining history (and another queer-normative world!). The clichés and unoriginality made for quite a relaxing read, although I wasn't always a fan of the romance (why did the characters' attraction to each other make them forget everything important and throw caution to the wind?) – I suspect that's a case of me no longer being in the target age range, however :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Alcohol, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: War and Death of parent
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia, Sexual content, and Torture
birdyqueen_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I really enjoyed this book !
The first half was a bit slow but i’d say necessary? And then everything fell back in place in the 2nd half of the story.
2 love relationships, very different from each other. I loved both !
And the few end chapters wrecked me !
A great reading !
The first half was a bit slow but i’d say necessary? And then everything fell back in place in the 2nd half of the story.
2 love relationships, very different from each other. I loved both !
And the few end chapters wrecked me !
Spoiler
The separation between Wren and Tor was heartbreaking. And Elske running to save her but abandoning her master 😭A great reading !
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Animal death