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A review by audreybee
Kingsbane by Claire Legrand
3.0
I think I liked this one more overall compared to Furyborn, though I can't put my finger on exactly why. It helped that Rielle's plot line in this is was less predictable. In Furyborn I found her story line a bit tiresome because it was mostly the story of her trials and her growing power, all of which we already knew what the outcome would be. In Kingsbane her story line is much more character driven. Rielle is a frustrating character, watching her make often self-indulgent and stupid choices, but as a study of a character giving into darker impulses and a steady slide into the dark side she's kind of fascinating, too.
Some of my worries about Simon's personality at the end of Furyborn were assuaged in this one - he seemed back to his snarky self and the fun, tense dynamic between him and Eliana was on full display. I really loved their journey to becoming a couple and the big twist at the end and all the implications portend some lovely angst is coming in the finale of this trilogy. I have my theories about what was going on there and all possibilities are interesting to me. I'm genuinely terrified for Eliana and what she might have to do.
I think this book suffered a bit from being the middle one, where everything's a bit more drawn out probably than it needs to be and there's no real resolution. As fascinating as Rielle's story is here I also found myself impatient with just wanting for her to get it over with and become the Blood Queen already lol. Especially since this is a long, long book.
Something else I wish this trilogy stopped doing was ending every chapter on a cliffhanger. For instance, I often found myself spending a whole a chapter getting really carried away with what's going on with Eliana only for the chapter to end abruptly when it's gotten to a really interesting point, and then I'm disoriented when I'm suddenly snapped into Rielle's pov. I then spend that chapter struggling to be invested with what's going on because my head is still in the previous Eliana chapter wondering what happens next. And vice versa. It's a pretty constant bit of whiplash from chapter to chapter.
Some of my worries about Simon's personality at the end of Furyborn were assuaged in this one - he seemed back to his snarky self and the fun, tense dynamic between him and Eliana was on full display. I really loved their journey to becoming a couple and the big twist at the end and all the implications portend some lovely angst is coming in the finale of this trilogy. I have my theories about what was going on there and all possibilities are interesting to me. I'm genuinely terrified for Eliana and what she might have to do.
I think this book suffered a bit from being the middle one, where everything's a bit more drawn out probably than it needs to be and there's no real resolution. As fascinating as Rielle's story is here I also found myself impatient with just wanting for her to get it over with and become the Blood Queen already lol. Especially since this is a long, long book.
Something else I wish this trilogy stopped doing was ending every chapter on a cliffhanger. For instance, I often found myself spending a whole a chapter getting really carried away with what's going on with Eliana only for the chapter to end abruptly when it's gotten to a really interesting point, and then I'm disoriented when I'm suddenly snapped into Rielle's pov. I then spend that chapter struggling to be invested with what's going on because my head is still in the previous Eliana chapter wondering what happens next. And vice versa. It's a pretty constant bit of whiplash from chapter to chapter.