Reviews with content warning for Murder - Castles in Their Bones

Triplet princesses who are trained from birth to marry into other royal families and take over so their mother, the Empress, can rule all of them.

That sounds incredibly interesting and it was for the most part, but I wasn't really wowed by the book. It was a fine read and if you like court fantasies then this is probably a book you would like. I'm interested enough to continue the series but I don't know, I was kind of underwhelmed.

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wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes

3.25

The premise of this book centers around political intrigue told in multiple POV.

While I'm not a big fan of multiple POV, especially when it's more than two, I did enjoy this book.

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faefires's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

if nothing else, this book is gutsy. three separate but interwoven storylines with three princesses and three princes and a shit ton of kings and side characters and political entanglement AND magic…it’s quite the undertaking.
there are things to enjoy about this book. the political intrigue is well, intriguing, the stakes are high, there’s a lot going on. despite that, there’s also nothing going on. chapters are spent describing tea parties and cakes and dresses that do not matter, and despite the importance of the four main countries, only one is fully fleshed out. for most of the book, daphne, who is meant to be the most clever, does literally nothing. the magic system is similarly underdeveloped, and is pretty much used as a get out of jail free card for the characters when they need to get around a plot issue.

twists abound, but after the third major reveal it gets tiring and no longer is unexpected. in a book like this, you expect everyone to betray everyone—so when the characters get betrayed for the sixth consecutive time, you’re hardly surprised, and end up slightly annoyed. the author clearly can write an engaging PLOT, but the characters have less going for them. they are hardly ever physically described with anything other than vague terms “pretty, handsome, soft, harsh, or beautiful”, which makes it difficult to picture them, and makes them all blend together in the mind. you can tell the author wrote lines to be “ya marketable,” the type of lines used in trailers and edits and promotional materials, rather than trying to make them not be cringey or overdramatic.

this book was almost good. but it was a bit too long, a bit underdeveloped, and a bit too mass market appeal YA fiction. the book succeeds in setting up an interesting premise for a series and it’s future sequels, but shoots itself in the foot by

killing its most likable and well developed character,

leaving me with little motivation to await the releases.

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kenziewol's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This was so good!! I really enjoyed the unique world/magic system & the plot — it’s full of deception, betrayals, complicated relationships and political intrigue. I loved each of the sisters and really liked the multiple pov aspect so you followed each sisters story! I need the next book ASAP!!

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truthaurdare's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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astralbooks's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

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