Reviews

Crown of Darkness by Alison Ingleby

constant2m's review

5.0

Crown of Darkness tells the story of how Ciaran, prince of the unseelie court and son of a human mother, chose who he would be. It's in many ways a coming of age story. After the death of his mother, Ciaran spent much of his life in the Deep Earth Court in training to become the next unseelie high king after his father. However, the last thing he remembers his mother saying to him is "Never forget who you are." Does he really want to be the next unseelie high king? Or what his mother wish for him to return to the world of mortals? To further complicate things, there was a prophecy made at Ciaran's birth and war is coming.

I'm not usually into stories of courtly intrigue and dark fae, but this one drew me in from the start and made me very excited to see where the story will go.

I recieved a free ARC and have reviewed it willingly.

half_bloodreader's review

Written in 1st person, present tense.
Prequel to a series not yet out

Ciaran is the half-human son of the High King of the Unseelie Court, who is also t king of the Deep Earth Court. Imagine the elemental courts are states, and the High King is the President. His job is to take care of the unseelie realm and its people, and as such he is connected to the magic of the land. That is Ciaran's future.

But Ciaran feels divided. He has utopian memories of the mortal world, doesn't like the court's scheming untrustworthy ways, and is struggling against keeping his human side or finally using his magical potential and allowing the realm's crown to connect him to the land's magic. I know it says "crown of darkness", but it isn't something ominous. He's just a drama king in my opinion, and an idiot at that.

The idea is interesting, but I couldn't help being annoyed by how he's always saying he can't fully trust even in his "friends", and then he still is taken by surprise many times at twists.