Kingsbane by Claire Legrand is the 2nd book in her YA Fantasy Empirium series. When we left off in Furyborn, Reille Dardenne managed to come through her trials to prove that she is the Sun Queen, though we knew from the start that she was indeed the Blood Queen, and gave birth to a girl; a baby she handed off to Simon ( a young boy) to bring her to safety, away from the evil angel, Corien.

Eliana Ferracora is in fact, Reille’s daughter (1000 years after her death), and she is just learning about her powers and who her mother really was. In Kingsbane, we continue the story in the past about Rielle prior to her death, leading up to her being the Blood Queen. In the present, Eliana must learn to how to use her powers, as well as accept her destiny to save the world and be their savior as the Sun Queen.

To understand a bit better the theme of this series: Many years prior to Rielle’s time, there was a Prophecy that claims sometime in the future the evil angels locked away for centuries will return and wreck havoc across the world, and two women will rise; one made of Blood and the other of Light. A Queen of Blood and Destruction and a Queen of Light and Salvation; hence the Blood Queen and the Sun Queen. Kingsbane continues the two pov’s of the past with Rielle, and the present with Eliana.

Rielle continues her journey to prove to she is the Sun Queen, and in doing so must collect the castings of the saints. Wherever she goes, she has her love and the future king of Cedaria, Audric and her trusted friend (and secret angel), Ludivine traveling with her. I really liked them in Furyborn, as they are what holds Rielle together, to prevent the evil Corien from pulling her to his side. The evil Corien was very powerful, not only a voice in Rielle’s head, but also appearing to her in her dreams. I also adored her Dragon, Altheria. But Rielle has her issues controlling her anger, when she is faced with others not believing in her, causing more dissent.

Eliana continues to grow into her power, accepting with each passing day that though she has her mother’s powers, but she is not evil, and is indeed the true Sun Queen. I loved Eliana, even though she may have been stubborn, she eventually was ready to rise up and help all those she loved. In time, she was a tough and terrific heroine, and was willing to put her own life on the line to save others.

There were a wonderful cast of secondary characters for Eliana too; Simon, Remy, Zahra, Navi, Harkan, and those who began to believe in her. Kingsbane was an intense and wonderful continuation of this fabulous trilogy, with a major surprise twist at the end. This can be considered as a cliff hanger; making it a difficult long wait for the final book in this trilogy. Kingsbane was another excellently written book by Claire Legrand, with quite a few surprises that had us holding our breaths, as well as leaving us hanging. Now we wait impatiently to see if the Sun Queen will rise up and save them all.

😍😍😍 I don't think I have adequate words to describe the absolute awesomeness that is Kingsbane. I was nervous that it wouldn't live up to Furyborn, but it was all that AND a big fat bag of chips!

The writing style, jumping back and forth between two very powerful females (and a few other major players), keeps the excitement at a fever pitch. I found it hard to put down because there was never a lull.

I am so sad to have finished Kingsbane because that means I have to wait for book 3 and I'm just not sure my heart can handle that!

dnf i don't like i should request arcs of fantasty books any more because i never seem to enjoy them, i will try this again via audiobook at a later time, probably

Thank you to netgalley and sourcebooks fire for granting my wish for this wild ride of a book!

I really enjoyed Furyborn but I have to say I LOVED Kingsbane. I both wanted to savor each word and devour the book to see where she took the characters...and OMG where she took those characters.

Claire Legrand is absolutely amazing at character development, showing who they are, who they want to be and who they will become.

The hardest thing about this book is going to be waiting for the third book. The cliffhanger is so intense that I just kept turning the pages hoping for one more crumb.

I will say I was surprised to find these kind of sex scenes in a ya novel. I felt like they were well written and one of my favourite moments of the book was during one of these scenes.

I am always leery reading the second book in a series. The second book seems to talk about what happened in the first book. I am pleased to say that this book did not repeat that pattern. The two story lines of Rielle and Eliana were riveting. Without going into too much details and ruining the book,I will way that the twists and turns were truly surprising to me. I did not see it coming. Claire Legrand did a terrific job and I can hardly wait for the next book.

Rielle is the anointed Sun Queen, tasked with proving to the people she is unequivocally loyal to the crown. While she tries to maintain a public façade, she also attempts to secretly close the gate to the angels... and avoid the devious angel Corien, who haunts her dreams. But as Rielle's power grows, so does the people's distrust-they call her Kingsbane. Soon, she's have to choose between the people she's beholden to, or the distrustful angel who says he believes in her.In the future, Eliana has accepted that she is the daughter of Rielle, the Blood Queen. Together with those loyal to her she must figure out how to bring down the empire. But as she continues on her quest, she soon discovers truths about the past and the angels that will lead her down a dark and devastating path... perhaps to the Blood Queen herself.

I found book 2 to be elating... Mesmerizing and captivating. Switching between both Eliana and Rielle again... We follow both ladies down their paths to their destinies. A complex magical system, return of some fave characters, and a better look into Rielle and Elianas futures. I loved the amount of detail in each page making the lines jump off the page. And thos epic battle scenes make a perfect epic story!!! Thank you to the publisher, Netgalley and of course Claire herself for making arc wishes come true!!!

Well I must say it is no secret that I love this series. Since the first novel Furyborn, I went back and have read Claire Legrand's other books. Let me say if you haven't read this author's material go and do so. What a talented writer she is to read. Now having said that I knew that #Kingsbane would be a great sequel, well written, and well plotted. Bonus! It is a great read with non-stop adventure. The characters get more flushed out and overall it is better than Furyborn in my opinion. It is fast-paced with a "shocker" (this is a joke) cliffhanger ending. We know there has to be a book three! I will commend Ms. Legrand this second book is not a "filler" book just to make money. It is the real deal in this series and I love that we have an author who delivers a wonderful series with books that support and add to the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Source Fire books for the E-arc copy of #Kingsbane.

First of all I am grateful to Sourcebooks Fire for giving me the opportunity to read this much awaited sequel!

I absolutely adored Furyborn and I could not wait to read Kingsbane!
When Kingsbane landed on my Kindle I think I screamed so loud that I awoke my neighbors.

Sadly I struggled with that story. As it gets many good reviews, I guess it’s a case of “it’s not you, it’s me” . I hope to help you decide if the book still could be your jam and will go with my likes and dislikes

Let’s begin with the positive:

The world building is still excellent. You have fantastic beasts, angels, magic etc. Claire Legrand knows how to write to make you see this fictional world.



The plot is strong with twists you won't see coming. There is action, you move nearly all the time, meet new people, have threats to avoid and quests to fulfill be it get ancient artifacts from the Saints or find a cure or ….



We get to read about the back story of the characters and about what happened to the angels. Believe me, the humans were not flawless here and they did trick the angels!



I never saw that ending coming! As this is a trilogy it ends on a cliffhanger so you’ve been warned.

BUT



Here come my dislikes

I really disliked the characters.
Of course in book one we know that Rielle was the bad guy. But I rooted for her and really loved her as kickass girl! I wanted her to have excuses.
Here...
Here she changed so much and I could not stand her. In that Claire Legrand did really a fantastic job depicting a villain. Power was so tempting. But I had problems with the grasp Corien had on Rielle. Why was she attracted to him like that? She just seemed kind of selfish in her search for power. I would say she became power drunk and accumulated bad decisions.

On a side note, if I did not like Eliana at all in book one I warmed up to her character in this sequel. She is trying her best but she is also a very conflicted charactersand not easy to like either. She is stubborn and decided to do things her way. That led to mistakes…

As I love above all else character's driven stories it was really difficult to feel concerned with their ordeals.



What bothered me deeply too were the numerous sex scenes. I am a romance reader so I am used to hot scenes but not in YA books. This CAN'T qualify as a YA!
The way these scenes happened and how Rielle wanted it made me feel uneasy. I did not like how she seemed to use Audric and ... well you got it for as much as I loved her before I disliked her here.

I think if this book would have been labelled as adult I would have been prepared and probably not bothered by these scenes.

I like my relationships to be focused and exclusive but that was not the case. I loved Audric and each time Corien happened felt like a deep betrayal. The relationship between Ludvine, Rielle and Audric was also …peculiar and probably not fitting for a YA story again.



Would I recommend this book?

If you have read and loved Furyborn I would say read it and make your own opinion.

I know that I will read other books by Claire Legrand as I loved not only Furyborn but also Sawkill Girls (unique story).
I guess you can't love all books from an author...

I read Furyborn last summer and I adored it, I fell in love with the characters, the universe, it was beautiful. So of course I was overly excited for Kingsbane, I expected a lot from it, and it still managed to exceed all my expectations.

I don’t even know where to start because I loved everything about this book.

Where in Furyborn I was more involved with Rielle storyline, Kingsbane made me fall in love with Eliana completely. After the events at the end of Furyborn she’s slowly trying to understand her powers and to accept who she really is, and Claire wrote this journey so beautifully. On the other side Rielle is becoming more powerful than ever but she's struggling between her love for Audric and her loyalty to Celdaria and her thirst for freedom that only Corien can grant her.

The characters are definitely my favourite part of this book. I love character driven books in general. And I love well written relationships so this book was everything I could ever wish for. Claire Legrand writes the most beautiful and passionate relationships ever, both romantic and platonic. I found myself crying and melting numerous times throughout the book because I couldn't handle the tenderness and sweetness between the characters. I love how she made the characters so tactile, I love how they hug and cuddle so much, I love how they show their affection, I love all the sweet names they call each other. I have annoted so many I particularly adore the relationships between Rielle and Ludivine, and Eliana and Navi. My girls make my heart melt, they're the purest and I love them so much.

And on top of having the most wonderful characters this book also has a fantastic plot that I was more eager to discover with each page. Each chapter put me on edge and I couldn’t get enough of this book. There were no length, no boring chapters. The more I read Kingsbane the more amaze I was at how perfect this book is.

If you liked Furyborn, I can assure you you are going to adore Kingsbane. You are so not ready for this book.

I have been looking forward to Kingsbane since I finished Furyborn. Every book in this trilogy, I finish and end up wanting more. But I don't even mind the wait, because it makes diving back into the Empirium Trilogy even more delightful. The world building is expansive, with Kingsbane adding even more layers, considerations, and ethical dilemmas. Not to mention that Legrand's characters are some of the most complex I've read. They make choices they know they shouldn't and to follow their heart.

But I think what struck me the most about Kingsbane is how Eliana and Rielle both struggle in this book with self-acceptance. In a variety of ways, both of them feel a tad monstrous - whether that be Eliana's fear of her powers, or the way the people treat Rielle - and so Kingsbane becomes about their journey grappling with this. Can they figure out how to accept themselves, even if no one else will? Or can they learn to accept that their power can be used for both terrible good and evil - if such a dichotomy exists?

This is my honest review from an arc I received from net gallery.

Omg


This book is amazing - a must read for everyone.

There isn’t just the two characters point over view eliana and rielle but also Simon, Corine and a few others.

It’s slow at first but so picks up, with some fast paced action, in more then one way.

There is more then a few shocks in this book that I didn’t see coming but opens the door to what the hell is coming next for the two main characters.

It fills in some of the questions from the book, like where did it really all begin with the angels?

It ends on a cliffhanger where I’m hoping the next book begins at full throttle

AMAZING book and I couldn’t put it down and I’m not a big fantasy reader but I’ve fallen in love with both characters eliana and rielle. Even tho most with have taken a disliking to rielle from the first book, you might just feel for her and see her more human then before.

Another great addition to the Empirium series. This one picks up right where the first book leaves off, so if (like me) its been a bit since you read book 1, you might feel a little out of sorts jumping back into the story. I typically don't like a huge backstory in sequels, but sometimes its nice to have at least a reminder of where our protaganists left off before jumping back in. Once I dove back into the story, I didn't want to put the book down and I enjoyed all the twists and turns throughout. In many places, this series reminds me of a combination of The Queen of the Tearling and A Darker Shade of Magic, which are two of the best fantasy series I've read. I'm seriously itching for book 3 already to see how everything wraps up with our two Queens.

Thank you to the publisher for providing this ARC through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

I love this series. The story continues where Furyborn left off. As Eliana's story continued, I fell in love with her. She is kind and courageous and an amazing heroine. Rielle, on the other hand, I came to really dislike. She is self-centered and has an over-inflated self-worth. Sometimes, I started to feel sorry for her, but then she would talk about how people should adore her and she got annoying again. The end of the story really had me floored. What a cliffhanger!

I am 100% biased I love Claire Legrand, I love furyborn so I was never not going to love this. It’s amazing, so brilliant, well written, the same characters I loved I love even more and no spoilers but how am I going to make it without book 3 , I have to wait how long ! It’s so good it’s unfair and torture to wait for the next.

Book: Kingsbane | The Empirium Trilogy (Book 2)
Author: Claire Legrand
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Date : May 21, 2019 (Canada)
Pages: 519
Format: Ebook | Netgalley
Rating: 4.8/5

Review:

How curious the life of young Simon thrown into something he barely understood, away from everything he knows, in a time he doesn’t recognize, and it’s snowing on top of that. It really made me think of how we met him in Furyborn. He was sure and true. Clever. Admittedly kind of a jerk. This makes my heart break because he’s only that way as a result of how he arrived and how a tiny child clutching a ripped blanket had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Having the book start with such a fragile moment just threw open my heart. But then, I was shoved over completely and well starting chapter one with a period is extremely badass. There was no going back after that. Not that I tried very hard to resist.

I’d forgotten how well written Furyborn was and I’m extremely happy for it. It made reading Kingsbane very unexpected, though the clever quick paced dialogue from book one continues in book two as everything I wanted and more.

“We should tell them the truth.”

“Ah, that an angel took over the minds of their fellow citizens? That the angels are returning?That the Gate is weakening? Yes, that sounds like a splendid idea.” - Ludivine.

Under the charming dialogue however, like with Simon, each character holds secrets and regrets that come through time and time again as a snagging reminder that yes these characters are wounded but healing. And no, none of the pain is over.

I was wish I had reread Furyborn before diving into Kingsbane, I felt I missed some of the impact in the first few chapters. There was little background with some character like Hob or Patrick. I couldn’t remember characters or their histories. I couldn’t remember names or place save for Remy (that wonderful boy). With some characters being introduced again or not at all, I was lost for the most part during the beginning chapters. Though that character reveal at the end needed no introduction at all!

The book was action packed from the start but after Corien’s chapter the book seemed to explode in twists and leaps. It was a snowball effect of everything Claire Legrand built and promised. Finishing chapter ten changed the book. It became kill or be killed, learn or die, concur and adapt or die… fate of the word stuff. The good stuff.

This book is incredibly deep and painful. Dark but filled with so much light and rare moments of hard forged victories both small and large. I go from smiling to tearing up and the thought of throwing it across the room (in joy and frustration) is a frequent occurrence. And that ending!

In hindsight, you could see it coming. If you look closely and collect all the right clues it's staring you in the face but of course I didn't put two and two together.

I can feel the pain days after finishing this amazing beautiful book.

The open relationship between Lu, Rielle and Audric. The triangle of Simon and Eliana and they're own guilt for each other and those around them. Eliana’s character development is superb. She's is so undeniably human and the pain she feels is tangible. Every emotion she felt I was right there with her.

Rielle’s slow descent into her own madness felt like another side of a coin. She didn’t know what to feel and in the small moments it seemed she had a hold on something she either lost it or was told she was doing something wrong. The guilt and her love over Audric made her so incredibly vulnerable. The sweet coaxing from Corien added so much to this story and to Rielle. I'm not sure who the villain is anymore.

The world building (and destroying) is the work of a master storyteller. Claire Legrand is a genius and I can't wait to see how all of this comes to a conclusion.

Oh, the bitter sweet epic that is Kingsbane!

My heart hurts and I want to scream and I wish I could talk to someone about it so they could soothe me but then I remember I was granted an ARC and I can’t reveal anything more about the ending.
It took me awhile to read this probably because I was dreading getting closer and closer to the end, but it was so good.
Claire why do you feel the need to flay your characters’ souls apart (and subsequently your readers)!!!!
All of the characters are so intricate and multi-faceted, the world is carefully thought out as well as the magic system and the religion and the history, the time jump is also cool to see how Rielle’s time is basically regarded at mythology in Eliana’s time, and I know anything can happen but the shock, the surprise! The betrayals I didn’t expect!
This hasn’t even been published yet and I want to go to Claire’s house and demand the copy of the third book.

I hope everyone is ready to cry a bucket of tears over this victorious and vengeful sequel. As Rielle grows into her power and out of her humanity, her relationship with Audric and Ludvine is changed irrevocably, and she realizes she may not be the queen she thought she was. Meanwhile, Eliana's power blossoms despite her inherent fears and her self-realizations give her a power that her mother could not possess. Legrand's writing has never been so fierce and frenetic and Kingsbane moves at a breakneck pace that left me breathless. I wanted to stay in this world forever and I'll be heartbroken when the trilogy ends.

How will I ever survive waiting for book three? This second book killed me beyond words. I do not know how I will write this review of mine. I'm not sure I have any feelings left, haha. Kingsbane is all kinds of long, and it took me so many days to read it, but I did not mind one bit. Because I loved every word of this lovely book.

I have struggled all day long with writing this review. As I did not know how to begin. I still do not. As this book killed me. In good ways, and bad ways. Gave me so much heartbreak. Completely ruined me. Yet it healed me too. Okay, not too much healing, ha. I hope there will be more of that in book three. Just. Oh my gosh.

I have read Kingsbane. Which is a book I have waited so so long for. A book I have been dying to read for ages and ages. A book I have been so jealous to see everyone reading but me. And now I have gotten to read it too. Sigh. And I am not sure my heart will ever recover from it, haha. I'm not sure I want it to? Hmm. Claire is the most amazing author and person. I love her beyond words. I have been a fan of her since her first book came out, and have read and loved everything by her since then. She is the kindest person. But my gosh, how I'm angry with her right now, haha. Because this sequel to Furyborn ruined me in all the ways. Everything going wrong. There was so much heartbreak and grief. And so much romance. All of it so rude. But so very perfect too.

There is so much that I want to share about this book. But I will not. I will not be sharing spoilers, at least nothing big. Because, gosh, there are so many things I could spoil about this book. But they are all things you must read for yourself. Kingsbane was full of surprises and twists. Most of them bad, haha. But a few happy surprises too, that I loved so very much. As always, the writing was perfection. I had no trouble at all with connecting to the story or the characters. I might have connected a bit too much to everything, ha.

As with the first book, this was told from the point of view of Rielle and Eliana. With a very few other point of views later on in the book. Nothing big, but needed, at least for me. I loved getting inside of their heads too. This book is filled with amazing characters and they were all awesome to read about. Although I love my Rielle and Audric and Eliana the most. Remy is still beyond precious. I'm still the most worried for him. How rude. He was truly adorable in this second book, though, and I simply love him so. Best little brother.

Rielle was my most precious one in book one. In this one she really tested my love for her. I still love her to pieces. But I am so angry with this girl as well. She was so different in this book. The same person, yet different. She is always angry. And cruel too. And way too rash about everything. Yet she is the sweetest toward Audric. And I loved that the very most. But yes. Rielle was an angry creature in this book. And I'm so mad at her. I'm so worried for her, because of how I fear there was a reason for how she behaved. Oh.

This whole book worried me. So many bad things happened. And much worse is yet to come. I'm so not sure how I will survive reading it all, considering I'm still dead after having read this one. Rielle is making me so worried. I love this precious girl so much and I want her to have a happy ending. But I do not know how this will happen. She has done so many bad things now. Then there is Corien. He is there, still awful, but not in this book as much as I had feared. Book three will be worse. My poor heart might not survive it.

Then there was my precious Audric. He is in this book a whole lot. He is still the light of everything. He is always there for Rielle, even when she is doing all the stupid things. He is there and loving her and taking care of her. Their romance is all kinds of intense. And also so lovely. And I ship them beyond words. And I worry for them even more. Audric is my love. My life. And he deserves the whole world. Hmph. There are scenes with the gorgeous godsbeast too, and I loved her to pieces. So truly adorable and cute and fierce.

There was so much of Ludivine too, and she is so complicated, and Rielle treats her so badly in this book, and it just ruined my heart. Okay, I was kind of angry with Ludivine at times, but I still loved her a lot. And she deserved better from Rielle. Hmph. And then there was Simon. I still do not fully love this man, haha. There are too many things we still do not know about him. But he's there, a lot. There is romance. Maybe. And it was written really well. But oh, I want my Eliana with someone else, still, haha. Still. They are cute.

And Simon was written well. And I did like reading about him, truly. I just. I want him as a friend, haha. Yet he was not all bad. But too mysterious. Anyway. Eliana was all kinds of fierce in this second book as well. I loved her inner struggle and such. I loved how she tried her best to save Navi. I loved her friendship with Zahra. I very much loved how she was working with her powers, struggling to understand it all. Trying her best to cope with being the Sun Queen. It was awesome. And I simply adored Eliana. So fierce and cute.

So much is going on in this book. In the past and in the future. There are wars. There are deaths. A whole bunch of stunningly written smut. Amazing friendships and romances. I will not share much about the plot only that it was stunning and so much happened. And I am so curious and so worried and I loved it all so. This whole book ruined me. Beyond words. And I could not help but love it so much. I need the third book more than anything. I fear it will ruin me forever. I cannot wait for it, haha. It will be the best one, I'm sure.

Kingsbane was everything I had wanted it to be and more. Full of danger and adventures and romance. Such stunning relationships and so many plot secrets. It ruined my heart at all moments. And I could not help but love this even more because of that. This second book have made me even more worried about how everything will end. I am so unsure about my happy ending. I don't know how it will happen. I want it to. I need it to. But I am also beyond positive that the third book will hurt me the most of them all first. Ah.

Huge thank you to the publisher, Sourcebooks Fire, for letting me read this most gorgeous book early via Netgalley. I'm so thrilled that I had the chance to read this one early. And oh gosh, I'm getting a print ARC in the mail too, for my collection, and I could not be happier. Sigh. I cannot wait to own all of the finished copies when Kingsbane come out in May. If you have read Furyborn, you truly must read Kingsbane too. It was such a perfect second book. Full of pain. Full of heartbreak. Treasured every moment of reading it.

I need to give myself a few moments to gather my thoughts. I love Furyborn, so I had high expectations going into its sequel. It did not disappoint. Rielle and Eliana are as fierce as ever. Corien really stepped up the game with his sinister ambitions. The stakes are high, and the enjoyment is higher. Thank you so much, Sourcebook Fire, for granting my wish. I cannot stop thinking about how hauntingly good Claire writes. She weaves so many twists into this beast of a book.

I want to thank Netgalley for providing me an Arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book.
My hopes were high because furyborn was one of my favourite reads last year but overall I was seriously impressed.
One thing that really stuck out to me were the plot twists my mind is honestly blown.
I loved our main characters and felt their journey has so be read.
Overall I couldn’t recommend this book more and gave it 5 stars.