DNF at 40%. I'm not super into action and this book had a lot of it. I could probably get through it if the romance was good though, but it just bored me to tears. I definitely think the idea behind it has a lot of potential but I just personally couldn't get into it, I really tried, but I just could not finish it. I could for sure get how some other people might enjoy this book, but it was very much just not my kind of thing.

Not for me! DNFed a few chapters in as I wasn't really captivated by the plot, nor the characters. Something about this just seemed off to me, but I think it was also because I noticed so many of the issues with it that I saw in early reviews.

Thank you NetGalley for an early copy for an honest review. I want to say that the cover is gorgeous and drew me to the book at first. For a debut book, I really enjoyed it. The pacing was very slow but then picks up. I also enjoyed the character development and also enjoyed the action.. I will be reading book two and can't wait.

“Three women will betray the black crown. A Knight. A Duchess. A Queen.”

The cover of the book drew me in. The synopsis intrigued me. But the book itself just didn’t meet expectations.

As I was reading I kept trying to think that maybe because this is the first in a series that things, mainly the world building and character development, will get fleshed out better in the future but it left a lot to be desired for the first novel.

I honestly didn’t care about any of the characters and probably couldn’t have told you the names of the main characters for the first half of the book (Raena, Aven, and Zarana) because they just didn’t matter to me. The pacing was very slow, and there wasn’t much of a plot, and by that I mean that there was a great idea set up but it wasn’t executed well. The F/F love story happened way too fast and I wasn’t quite sure why that was necessary and most of the time the relationship made me feel uncomfortable. At times it seemed like their relationship was forced into the book just because and then it didn’t push the story forward in any way.

When I look at the star ratings of other readers I can see that many people really enjoyed this book so if it seems appealing to you, give it a try.

eARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

i liked the backdrop of the story and the characters were loveable though i did feel that the writing was a little too much at times and the worldbuilding was getting messy.

I wanted to enjoy this so much as it sounded so good but unfortunately this book fell so flat for me. I did like the characters and the there was some good action at the start, but then nothing happened. The characters began to be one dimensional, there was no passion for the MC and given this is meant to be a story about revenge I’m thinking there should be a lot of emotion . The villain just felt like a cheap caricature, so unfortunately it’s a no for me.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I was intrigued by the concept of this book, but I just wasn't able to get through it. The writing wasn't interesting enough to keep me engaged; perhaps this comes from having read a lot of fantasy of various qualities, but it just read like generic fantasy to me, so much that I was not motivated to finish it. Good premise, but from what I made it through, it didn't deliver, at least for me.

I went back and forth on what I thought of this one. The writing style was compelling and I loved the sapphic relationship (sure, it's a bit instalovey but I'm not against that!). However, I didn't really feel the characterisations, especially in the second half. I didn't buy into the antagonist's motivation at all, especially alongside a reveal near the end. I found the time jumps quite disorientating. The book was very slow-paced, but the end felt rushed? I don't understand why the finale relied on a group of people who weren't at all relevant until that point.

There were so many things I liked about this book: a great cast of characters, rich world-building, witty dialogue, and so much more! But, I felt myself growing a little bored with the story. It seemed to drag in spots.

There was a lot happening in this book - which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I have no problem with sweeping storylines and rich plots. I had a harder time staying investing in this book, however, because the pacing seemed kind of uneven. Sometimes things moved so fast I wasn't sure I fully understood what was happening, other times the plot seemed to drag.

That being said, I still really enjoyed this book. The characters were all so fascinating and multifaceted. I loved how everyone had such strong backstories and the fact that there was genuine character growth throughout the story. even when the plot seemed to be a bit slow, I still kept reading because I enjoyed the characters so much.

If you like epic fantasy that's focused more on political intrigue and war than magic, I'd definitely recommend this book. It might take a bit to get through, but I think this book is totally worth reading!

I started this book, and quite quickly lost interest. Checking other reviews, this does seem to be a common theme, sadly I did dnf this book.

I throughly enjoyed this book. When I started reading the book I was hesitant as to if I would like it or not, but I ended up liking it. Somethings I really liked were the way the plot begins right at the beginning and the chemistry of the two love interests. Some things that I thought might have made the books slightly more enjoyable was a little more world building and if the characters emotions came across more strongly. Other than that I really enjoyed this!

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for this arc!

There were too many things going on in this book and it felt very convoluted. I read the entire thing because I did want to see what happened to the characters, but it was too far out there for me to really enjoy it and want to continue in the series. I have no desire to do that.

I wanted to love Traitors of the Black Crown so, so badly. It has such a great premise. A young woman hiding in plain sight as a knight, banished from the kingdom and sent to serve an outlying region, where she ends up falling in love with the duchess. There is so much potential in there, from Raena’s (aka Rowan) desire for vengeance, a royal secret that was worth wiping out an entire family to keep, and something mysterious happening behind the scenes. Unfortunately, for a book with so much promise, it was unbelievably boring.

Told in alternating points of view, Pearce tries to give an all-encompassing look at what’s happening in the kingdom. But while I award points for focusing on the women in the story, this actually limits the narrative substantially. Raena and Avenna (the duchess) are both given POV chapters but are together for much of the book, so I would rather have been in the head of someone elsewhere in the kingdom.

Also, despite the alternating perspectives, I was still confused. The world-building is not that great. I didn’t have a sense of geography or even really of culture, except for the fact that the kingdom is regressively patriarchal, and the duchy Avenna rules is more liberal and democratic. I do like the scene where Avenna gets Raena to realize that her opinions are largely shaped by the biased education she received, but that really doesn’t go anywhere.

very slow and lack of plot which was super disappointing because the premise sounded interesting. thanks to netgalley for the advanced copy of the book

this was a great start to the Black Crown series, it had a great premise and was a great universe. The characters were really well done and were interesting. I can't wait to read the next book in the series and whatever the author has next.

Thank you Netgalley and Publishet for this ARC.

Man, this one was really hard to get into. It was super predictable and slow. I probably wouldn't recommend this one unless you like predictable.

I really enjoyed this book! Highly recommend if you are interested in a fast paced fantasy with lgbt representation.

I found this book to be just ok but it isn't one I would read again in the future .
It was slow and predictable.

I did enjoy this book, I did not however love this book.
👉It has relatable characters and romance.
👉The plot was easy to follow and I enjoyed it. I did find however that at times the pace was a bit off, dragging here and racing forward there.
👉 I thought the world-building was amazing. I loved the way that it included history, but did not overwhelm us with it.
👉The ending left me wanting to continue right on to the next one. Can not wait for it to come out.

I’m going to go with “OK” for my reaction to this book. It’s OK. I’m not saying it’s only OK, but rather that it is OK. I’m not out here shouting from the rooftops how great it is. But I also was never tempted to DNF it and I won’t call it anything less than OK.

But it was slow, with a plot that spreads out like a flood plain. Never gone, but never starkly defined by a notable riverbank either. It’s wide and placid. But it is also full of some relatable characters (though the villains aren’t particularly nuanced, if I’m honestly), an interesting world, political intrigue, and nice writing.

I will complain, though, about the ‘could have been resolved with a conversation’ conflict. Granted, it’s on a national scale here, instead of a romantic relationship scale (which is where you normally see such things). But it’s still the underpinning friction of the whole novel.

All in all, I’d read another Pearce book, but I don’t think I’m in a hurry to get the sequel to Traitors of the Black Crown.