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A review by tani
The Fiery Crown by Jeffe Kennedy
4.0
I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Jeffe Kennedy continues to surprise me with the second book in the Forgotten Empires series. The story of The Fiery Crown picks up where the first book left off, with Con and Lia married and preparing to face the forthcoming wrath of Anure. Despite the prophecy, they're still facing a ton of uncertainty and an extremely precarious situation.
I think the biggest strength of this book was the development of the characters and relationships. Con and Lia have a lot of obstacles to face to their relationship, not least their own pasts and the issues that spring from them. However, I felt like Jeffe Kennedy did an amazing job of working with that. She makes sure that both of them have moments to shine and moments to grow, and it makes for a very compelling read. It's also wonderful for the romance, as I love when a couple is able to compensate for each other's weaknesses and grow together. The side characters also get some very wonderful moments to shine, which I very much appreciated, especially for Sondra.
This book also gets deeper into the magic and how that affects the world, which was very interesting. I loved learning more about Lia's nature and how that plays into everything, as well as getting more information on her past. I really enjoy this kind of gradual world-building, and Jeffe Kennedy handles it very well.
I also have to praise how drawn in this story made me feel. I read it in relatively few sittings, and I definitely stayed up late to finish it because I had to know what was going to happen, which isn't something that I do very often these days. I definitely found this installment very compelling.
If I have a complaint, it's that I felt that one element, which was very hyped, ended up being not a big deal. I do have hopes that it will come back up in the third book, but for this book, I did think that it messed up the tension of the book a bit. Still, plenty of the other events kept the tension rolling, so I can't complain too much. In all, I found this a very satisfying and enjoyable read. I'm looking forward to the next installment.
Jeffe Kennedy continues to surprise me with the second book in the Forgotten Empires series. The story of The Fiery Crown picks up where the first book left off, with Con and Lia married and preparing to face the forthcoming wrath of Anure. Despite the prophecy, they're still facing a ton of uncertainty and an extremely precarious situation.
I think the biggest strength of this book was the development of the characters and relationships. Con and Lia have a lot of obstacles to face to their relationship, not least their own pasts and the issues that spring from them. However, I felt like Jeffe Kennedy did an amazing job of working with that. She makes sure that both of them have moments to shine and moments to grow, and it makes for a very compelling read. It's also wonderful for the romance, as I love when a couple is able to compensate for each other's weaknesses and grow together. The side characters also get some very wonderful moments to shine, which I very much appreciated, especially for Sondra.
This book also gets deeper into the magic and how that affects the world, which was very interesting. I loved learning more about Lia's nature and how that plays into everything, as well as getting more information on her past. I really enjoy this kind of gradual world-building, and Jeffe Kennedy handles it very well.
I also have to praise how drawn in this story made me feel. I read it in relatively few sittings, and I definitely stayed up late to finish it because I had to know what was going to happen, which isn't something that I do very often these days. I definitely found this installment very compelling.
If I have a complaint, it's that I felt that one element, which was very hyped, ended up being not a big deal. I do have hopes that it will come back up in the third book, but for this book, I did think that it messed up the tension of the book a bit. Still, plenty of the other events kept the tension rolling, so I can't complain too much. In all, I found this a very satisfying and enjoyable read. I'm looking forward to the next installment.