DNF at 10%
I was really excited to see this one, but as I read, it just didn’t turn out to be for me. I love the premise (queer knights and political intrigue? Yes??), but I just didn’t end up getting pulled in by the opening in the way that I’d hoped—glad to see it getting so much praise from others!

This book was so good! The history is really interesting, and the world building was amazing! The plot is intriguing and I love the mix of fighting, action, politics and slow-paced romance. The fighting scenes were amazing and so well written. Overall, the pacing is good, it was a little slow at times but I didn’t mind.

What made me really love this book is the female characters! Raena and Aven are beautifully written and I fell in love with them right away! And the f/f romance was amazing, I love the way their relationship was written and developed!

And the ending. It was a little rushed (maybe a little overwhelming), and I wish we’d seen it from the others POVs too, but it was a great lead up for the next book! I will definitely be reading the next book!! I loved it!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Hansen House for the sending me a e-book!

I really enjoyed reading this book I liked the mix of fantasy with feminism, humour and seriousness.
The characters were interesting and we'll written. The story wasn't a heavy read as it didn't catch itself out or repeat itself which was a refreshing change for this style of book, overall I enjoyed it and would read more of this author's works in the future.

Overall, this book is a solid 3.5 for me. It has an intriguing plot, engaging characters, and quite a bit of action.

Raena Schinen has been in hiding and pretending to be a man for fifteen years, ever since Queen Zarana ordered the brutal execution of her entire family. Raena has spent the past fifteen years training to be a knight, becoming proficient in swordplay and archery, all in the hopes that she will one day get revenge for her family. An unimaginable twist results in Raena being sent exiled from her kingdom as the personal knight to Avenna, the ruling duchess of another country. What follows is an explosion of secrets and romance.

The characters are for the most part rather likeable. The book is told mostly through Raena and Avenna's point of view, and they both have very distinct voices. Raena and Avenna are really well developed, each with their own moral code, motivations, and relevant tragic backstory. I really enjoyed seeing the relationship between the two women develop. I was so happy it wasn't an instant love situation, rather, they got to know one another, spent time together, and eventually became overwhelmed by desire and affection. The two of them were so sweet and perfect with one another, so the romance really delivered.

The plot was intriguing and engaging. A lot of political maneuvering happened throughout the book, but the author gave great backstory and worldbuilding along the way, so that there wasn't really any confusion or info dumping. The pace was good overall, it got a little slow toward the middle and some of the end, and some events felt a little rushed and some issues too easily resolved.

The action did not disappoint. This book had some of the best fight scenes I've read, they weren't too dense, but detailed enough that I understood what was going on. I often feel lost during fight scenes and have trouble imagining them, but I really felt like I was in the thick of it.

A lot happened at once in the ending, which felt a little overwhelming, but still intriguing enough that I will most definitely be wanting to read the second book. I wasn't a big fan of how the ending was told through Queen Zarana's point of view, I would have rather had Raena's or Avenna's, but nonetheless, it was still rather shocking and a great lead up to the second book.

Loved this book and can't wait for the second one! It has intrigue, love and real characters who are not all only good or bad but human. The world building is great and I cannot wait for more information on Ediva and the Boens.
The main romance between Sir Rowan, the daughter of a man executed for treason against the crown and duchess Aven is sweet but not the main focus of this story. It adds an extra layer and I suspect some extra possibilities plotwise later on since the writer is hinting that Aven is also not all that she appears to be.

The only real critical note I have to leave is that the ending felt rushed. Everything was unfolded rather slowly and then all of a sudden all people come together for the final scenes. Yet I still flew through this story and had blast reading this.

***An ARC was provided by Netgalley in exchange for a honest review ***

The history in this story is quite heavy but I understand its needed for world building and I really enjoyed the theme of women leading.
Not my usual choice in reading.
Overall I really enjoyed it and I am looking forward to the second book

I honestly was worried about whether of not this book would hit the spot for me and I have mixed feelings! It certainly was unique enough with a well thought out plot. However I feel like things were a little disorganized and could’ve used a little more structure!

F/F romance in a fantasy setting—I had great expectations from this book, and certainly didn't expect a DNF. However, the meandering plot and somewhat contrived nature of the relationship between the two women made it lose its lustre. I might pick this up at a later date, who knows.

(Review copy from NetGalley)

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Raena Schinen has been living disguised as Sir Rowan for the last decade. She spent all these years training and hiding from the crown with one goal in mind: getting revenge. Reana wants to kill the queen and the prince to avenge her own family who was slaughtered on the order of the queen. However, Raena's plans get disrupted when she is punished and sent into the service of Duchess Avenna Colby, far away from the capital.

The plot is simple but still intriguing. It gives a mix of politics, history, and action while entwining a romance within it all. The world-building and history are interesting and well presented. The author does a great job of providing us with background information without relying on info-dumping.
The burgeoning romance between two protagonists is truly lovely to witness and it's great to see LGBTQIA representation and written so well at that. There was something so soft and heartfelt about this slow-burn romance and I can't convey enough how enjoyable it was to read.

The multiple POVS added to the book perfectly and tied very well with the plot.

This book was amazing, I can’t wait for the next one!

Love the representation and the trope. Not really typically into fantasy medieval types but this was actually good! Hoping there is a part two to this series. The author is one that I have to keep my eyes out for.

If you are looking for a F/F romance, strong and very well developed characters and a rich plot, you don’t need to search any longer.

Traitors of the Black Crown is an extremely interesting and very well constructed book with wonderfully well developed characters. Our mcs are very lovable and relatable and I loved how every character was very well built and their flaws were not hidden.
Even the bad characters, the ones you are supposed to not like, are very well written and developed.

My favourite things about this book is certainly the women characters and how they fight to break boundaries set by their patriarchal society. The women in this novel are powerful and they are not scared of showing it.
As well, I loved the fighting scenes and how exquisitely they were written. They kept me on the edge of my seat, fully immersed in this epic book.

I really liked the pace of this book too, it was not too slow and not too fast. As well, world building was good and constant and I loved every part of it.
I loved every twist and every secret, the author really did amazing in keeping us always entertained.
The multiple POVS added to the book perfectly and tied very well with the plot. I really like when there is more than one POV in the books I read. I loved to see how different characters reacted to certain things and get their own perspective.

Traitors of the Black Crown is an epic, wonderful and rich read and you will not regret picking this up. Raena and Aven are so strong and so beautifully written and developed, you will love them straight away. Plus, the F/F romance is sweet and exciting, everything about it is just perfect.
This book was amazing, I can’t wait for the next one.
4.5*

this was such a unique fantasy novel! it had some really interesting concepts i feel we don't see too often, so this was really refreshing. all of the characters felt well developed and were so easy to root for. also, seeing the main relationship play out was so fun, i loved them!
i loved so many aspects of this book, but the reason this isn't a five star read for me was the pacing. it could get slightly boring at certain parts, but it wasn't a huge issue.
overall, i think any fantasy lover would thoroughly enjoy Traitors of the Black Crown, there's so much to love about it! 4 stars!! :)

This is one of the few books that I've come across that has ended up in the DNF pile. I brute forced my way through to 14%, and unfortunately decided that this book was not for me.

The world building was a little lackluster, and the themes of the novel were difficult to rationalize against the maturity level of the main character's internal voice. To be blunt, the writing felt like the main character was aged around 12-13.

Thank you to NetGalley and Cate Pearce for a free eARC copy to review!

This book earned a 4.5 stars for me! I loved it, and want it as a centerpiece on my bookshelf this exact second!

When the book first started, I was immediately in love with “Sir Rowan”. Raena is by far my favorite character in the series, from her small struggle with her sexuality in the beginning, to her love for everyone around her and her loyalty. On top of it, she is a badass knight who can wield a sword and woo women? Her moral compass and bravery was just so enrapturing, that I had a hard time putting this book down.

The villains in the book were also written beautifully. The Prince was someone who I immediately hated and wanted nothing more than to have him perish, while the Queen was someone who’s story is further developed and some humanity and drive is give to her in a semi endearing way.

Aven was another phenomenally written character, in the sense that she didn’t just fulfill her duties as a lover interest for Raena, but also was her own strong and courageous self. She was obviously a standout for me and i looked forward to every chapter she was narrating.

The book itself, although wordy, was incredibly written and had a thrilling plot. I have to admit that at times I was overwhelmed with the world building, but it made the story that much better and encapsulating.

Overall, I recommend this book to anyone who wishes to read a thrilling tail of plots, schemes, battle, love, and bravery.

I would like to acknowledge that I was given an advance copy of the book, in exchange for an honest/unbiased review.

I really wanted to love this book. All the right ingredients were there. Great sapphic love story, intriguing fantasy world, and an excellent female lead who is hiding in plain sight. But I ended up feeling slightly disappointed.

My problems with this book stem from the plot and the pacing. The beginning of this book DRAGGED for me. It took me a good hundred pages to get into the novel. That being said, I am excited to see where the story goes from here and would purchase a sequel.

All in all, this book was average. I put a 4 start rating, but if this was storygraph this book would get a 3.5

I wanted to like this book so badly, but it just wasn't for me.

The premise was promising: I love that Raena is a woman hiding in plain sight as a skillfull knight named Rowan, and she has prepared all her life to seek revenge against the queen who pillaged her childhood home. I love that, as her plans get derailed, she is sent to serve Duchess Avena, promising a blooming romance to ensue. The building blocks of this story is killer exciting! And that's just it-- for me, it feels like building blocks hinged together.

Maybe I'm just not a fan of heavy dialogue, but a lot of the conversations read as information dumps where one character at a time will blurt out paragraphs describing the world and politics, whereas, I'm more intuned with stories that weave this sort of information in as information the MC already knows and fills us in through inner monologues at the correct moments (when the information is needed). Frankly, it's easy to get lost in the sauce and easier to zone out.

Then as for the character's themselves, I love how Raena has a wonderful dynamic with people like her fellow knight, Finn, joking and messing around, but the contrasts begin to wither as more characters are introduced, these dynamics feel repeated and it's as if I'm reading only two sets of characters. And then Zander, the clearly cruel and terrible prince, might just be too terrible for my tastes. A bit more subtle terror would enrapture me rather than someone who is so obviously one sidedly disgusting.

I'm sure this book will find its audience and fanbase. Sadly, I'm not it.

Traitors of the Black Crown was wonderfully refreshing approach to knightly fantasy without the reliance on magic and mythical mystique used so commonly to move the story forward. The impending doom of Sir Rowan and his secret is a constant driving force to read just one more page, just one more chapter as he seeks revenge for the slaughter of his family at the order of a queen the Black Crown.

Hopefully this will be the first book in what will be a large and expansive world. As a well paced, can't put it down read I enjoyed the use of foreshadowing, plot weaving, and emotionally driven decisions. The character development is kept to natural feeling pace with events driving shifts in the character's emotions. The feeling of character growth helps shape the mood while following three paths from three different world views cooping with has been, what is, and must come to be.

Absolutely FANTASTIC. Reana is powerful, relatable and captivating. Zander is a brat, wicked and cruel. Aven is kind, understanding and tenacious. The Calamites are up against the a mysterious force after 300 years of rest.

I cannot recommend this book enough. I tore through it so fast. I cannot wait for the second installment!

This book absolutely delivered on its central premise: I really loved the relationship between "Rowan" and Avenna, was incredibly invested right from their first awkward meeting. The author's created a loveable cast of characters that it's a delight to spend time with (even if some of them, you love to hate) and I adored the slow escalation of the political stakes. Very excited to see where this series goes!

I loved this book. A tale of revenge, love, wicked rulers and a fight for the crown. I was rooting for Rowan and Aven throughout, nice to see LGBTQ+ represented without it being a big deal in the story. Excellent world building too.