A good fantasy adventure novel needs a strong foundation, and this one simply didn't have it. From the character motivations to the worldbuilding, this one gave me very little to invest in, and it seems like another example of a book that has a strong aesthetic goal but no real story or vision behind it.

Thank You to NetGalley and the publisher who provided me with this ARC copy in exchange foe an honest review.

Raena is a young woman who has escaped the wrath of the Queen and is forced to live under the alias of Sir Rowan. While she plans her revenge, she meets Aven, a young Duchess, who shares her ambitions. As they join hands to take their revenge, they discover more about themselves and each other.

What initially drew me to the story was the plot, it was intriguing and I loved the queer representation in a high fantasy novel. For a debut novel, the storyline was interesting, and the characters were likable, and I'm sure the author will improve a lot more with time.

It's fairly easy to get attached to the main character and it's enjoyable to follow her in her journey. Similarly, I was captivated with the beautifully written love interest; she was powerful and intriguing.

Admittedly, I had a hard time getting through the first few chapters of the book; I found that certain were dragged out a bit longer than they should have and the excessive narration made it hard to stay focused at times. The second half of the book is evidently more enjoyable as it picks up in pace and there's a lot more plot points for the reader to enjoy.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed the romance in this novel. I am a huge fan of slow burn romances and Raean and Aven definitely tugged on my heart strings. :)

An aspect of the book that I didn’t particularly enjoy was the use of more “modern” slang within the world (“nah”, etc.) It threw me off a bit and felt strange at times, since the world seemed ancient in other aspects.

All in all, it was a fun read. :)

A woman disguised as a man, stealing the heart of a duchess? Consider me intrigued from the second I read this blurb, and when I read the book I was not disappointed. I loved the world building in this and how detail and history don’t overtake the writing and plot. I also loved the use of multiple POVs and how each of the characters interacted each other to build the overall plot. The ending has left me with so many questions that I need answers to, so I will be waiting impatiently for the next book in the series. I do hope some side characters are further fleshed out in the following books.

Traitors of the Black Crown is the first novel in the Black Crown series and follows three characters, Raena, Aven, and Zarena. After losing her family, Raena Schinen disguises herself as a boy and adopts a new identity as Sir Rowan, a knight of Hawk’s Keep. Together with her best friend and fellow knight, Sir Finley, they are on their way to participate in the Knight’s Trials of Candeo in Candor, one of the lands within Calamyta. Prince Zander, son of the late King Lyam and Queen Zarana, hosts the Trials in Candor. Each land, Candor, East Twin, West Twin, East Shore, and Ediva, all host their own Trials. The story starts right in the action of the trials where forty knights are competing. Unlike other years, this year’s Trials will use real weapons, which automatically creates additional tension in the writing. When Finn and Raena end up on the Prince’s bad side during the trial, the two friends are sent on separate missions. Finn will remain with the Prince’s guard and Raena is sent to serve House Colby.

The main plot is Raena and Finn starting with a mission to take revenge on the queen, but becomes more complex after Raena and Finn are separated with Raena being sent away from the palace. There is a lot of political intrigue in this story with many dangers at every turn. As Raena is disguising her identity as Rowan, there is added tension; although I wish there was more for this part of the story. Although situations do occur where there are obstacles regarding her disguise, I expected it to be a larger source of tension than it was presented. I enjoy how this element comes into play when Raena and Aven interact with their growing attraction to the other. Their developing romance was sweet and I enjoyed reading about the two of them getting to know each other. Their romance skews a little towards the insta-love side, but there is a nice connection between them that I did not mind it as much as I usually would.

There are three points-of-view in this novel, Raena, Aven, and Zarena. With Raena and Aven spending a lot of time together, the events are similar, but just given from two different sets of eyes. When they did not interact, however, I enjoyed Aven’s side of the story as it added some new insight. I loved Finn at the beginning of the story and wish he was present more throughout, although he could be a larger presence in future novels in some capacity. His interactions with Raena were one of my favorite elements of the novel, so I wish there were more. With Zarena’s story, her character grew on me a lot and I found myself more invested as I kept reading. I also enjoyed Zarena’s part of the story as it gave some understanding into Zander’s character. For me, I understood that he was the villain, but I wanted to get more into his head and figure out his motivations and thought process. There is still a lot of potential with the characters as more secrets are revealed, new secrets are created, and plots alter based on circumstances.

Overall, the novel starts very strong with the Knight’s Trial and then slows down a bit thought the middle before picking up again towards the end. It is a roller coaster of pacing, which is on par for most series and definitely increases anticipation for the sequel. The novel does end with the reader having a lot of questions as the story sets itself up to lead into the future sequel. All in all, this novel provides an excellent opening to the series and I am curious to continue and read the second novel, Defenders of the Black Crown.

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Hansen House, for the opportunity to read this enjoyable novel. The opinions expressed are completely my own.**

Rowan and Finn came to participate in a knight tournament, but it turned out to be a bloody scene for the prince's amusement. Rowan finished first but the prince wasn't happy with how he won, so he exiled him. Rowan finds himself in a beautiful place where everyone is a part of a big inviting family. He falls for the duchess and she for him, but she doesn't know yet that Rowan is a woman posing as a knight to protect her own life. There is a constant threat from the neighboring wild tribes, that turn into a terrible war with an unknown enemy.

I enjoyed the characters and the writing, it was good for a debut novel!
I felt it was a bit kitschy and cringey at times. It felt highly inspired by game of thrones.

Spoilers ahead:
I was waiting for a big conflict between Rowan and Aven and it just resolved way too easily.
I feel that the queen's illness wasn't explained well, it looked like she had amnesia at one point (although the guard might be messing with her) but she was fine by the end of the book. It just wasn't represented well

Note to publisher - the ebook wasn't formatted well, where sometimes there were breaks between paragraphs and in other times there weren't

Traitors of the Black Crown is a beautifully written adult epic fantasy with a strong and steamy romance subplot that reminded me of a sapphic Game of Thrones. Intrigue, romance, power struggles, and fascinating worldbuilding made this book so satisfying and an absolute pleasure to read. If you love getting sucked into another world, this one is for you! I can't wait for book 2!

I struggled to get into this book at first but I did really enjoy the main character. The relationship in this book unsettled me a little as the love interest became sexually involved with the main character without knowing her true gender or identity. When this became known to the love interest I enjoyed the relationship a lot more.

The love interest was very interesting and was a very powerful character in the plot. She quickly became the best character in the book. I did struggle with the middle of the book but it really picked up towards the end. I did enjoy the book a decent amount however I can't say I would pick up the second book.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Haspen House for making that happen.

I really wanted to like this book. The story sounded so interesting from the synopsis and I love medieval fantasy books. However, this one felt really flat for me. I struggled to get into the story and the pacing felt really slow in places and then all over the place in others. I couldn't identify with Raena at all. There were a lot of side characters that I couldn't keep track of and didn't know if they were important or not.

Overall, I wasn't as engaged as I wanted to be and I'm really bummed out about that. Wish it could have been a stronger story.

This book was an okay read, but not a great read for me. I really loved the premise of it.

This book was so slow at times that I put it down for days (if not weeks!) before I felt the want to finish it. A lot of the details and conversations didn’t only feel pointless, but they also were a little annoying. With this being said, there were several parts that I was excited to read and couldn’t put the book down for.

3.50 Stars. I had fun with this one. I believe it is a debut novel, and as the first novel in a high fantasy series, it is a tall task for any newer author. I think Cate Pearce handled it pretty well. For now, it feels like the more magical elements are a little muted, with the exception of the race of beings called the Boens. They seem to have enhanced physical abilities, like night-site and strength. Other than that, it is more about the fall of one of the stronger countries due to the monarchy's cruel and inept rule.

I do have to point out that there are a lot of parallels between this novel and A Song of Ice and Fire with regards to archetypes. The Boens are very reminiscent of the White Walkers to a point. They are a horde that people in the other kingdoms don't want to mess with, but most believe the Boens' abilities to be a myth. Zander just screams Geoffry, almost to the point of his temper tantrums and terrible need to prove his masculinity. Queen Zarana feels like a Cersei, but older, and with the weight of her cruelty draining her. Even MC Reana Schinen feels a lot like Brienne of Tarth in that she is almost noble to a fault, and tries her best to follow the code of chivalry of in this world. Now that doesn't mean that this rips off Song, but it feels pretty influenced by it. This is a very queer interpretation of a typical high fantasy setting, and it isn't quite as hung up on being dark and gritty, which I am fine with.

I loved almost all the characters, and found them mostly interesting, but I didn't like the choice to have Queen Zarana have a narrative role, mostly because it feels like her parts are just there to pass the time, while Reana and Duchess Avenna do more interesting things off screen. Her narration shows up mostly near the ending of the book, which makes the last half of the book less enjoyable for me. But I loved the relationship between Reana and Avenna and I hope we get to see how their dynamic changes once the big reveal is actually revealed.

I liked this book for the most part, and enjoyed that it got gritty on occasion but didn't revel in it. I also thing Avenna and Reana are good leads, and hope we can see them carry more of the story in the second book. Solid debut by this author.

*I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review

I really really struggled with this book. I found it far too dense, very predictable and disappointing. I thought the concept and characters were going to be awesome but sadly it lacked originality which quickly lost my interest.

Good characters, good story, good writing. I liked it. I'm excited with the story.
The representation of the queer community. Love it. But the book for me was not easy to read.
Coming soon review on my blog.

Unfortunately, this wasn't for me. I really enjoyed the premise, and was very excited at the idea of the queer love story to unfold, but the writing felt a little flat to me. I will certainly continue to keep an eye on the author and their work, because I think their ideas are brilliant, and I'm sure the craft will improve with each new story, but this one just needed a bit more for me. I liked the way we are thrown straight into the action, and I like the politics, but the characters needed something extra to become more believable in their actions and motivations. I'm sure many people will enjoy this, and I'll certainly recommend it if I think someone is after this kind of book.

Overall, I really loved this book. With that being said, I almost DNF’d this not even halfway through. The beginning is soooooo slow that it was almost unbearable. I picked this book to read for the strong female characters and the LGBTQ representation, and it gave me everything I wanted on those levels. The storyline/plot was almost as weak as the characters and world building were strong.

I received an advanced reader's copy of this novel via Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 rounded up to 4 because the novel DID grow on me towards the end.

I'm so d*mn conflicted about this book. It's a slow burn, the first half being nearly plot-less, only tolerable due to the genuinely interesting main characters. HOWEVER, the second half of the novel was much more engaging. For perspective, it took me over a month and a half to drag myself to the 60% mark, but only 2 days to finish reading from there.

My guess is that this novel desperately wishes to be a less-depressing version of The Traitor Baru Cormorant , but falls flat on the attempted political intrigue, though eventually hits the mark on the more traditional adventure-driven arc.

If I were Ms. Pearce's editor, I would suggest major revisions to the first half of the novel before publication, though at this point it is a bit too late.

3.5 stars
I loved the premise, the queer representation and the world building but the book felt like it was largely relationship based, which would have worked for a slow burn type read, but because the characters got together so quickly, it just didn’t work for me.

A bit long, but definitely worth it

When the Queen ordered her entire family to be killed, Raena survived. However, she had to hide her identity under the alias of Sir Rowan, a knight, planning her revenge. But when the Queen is finally within her reach, she meets Aven, a Duchess. And as their common goal unites them, the two women will find themselves in a strange situation.

For a good half of this book, I planned on giving it only stars. Why? Because it was really long and the beginning was a bit slow, I'm not going to lie about this. But please, trust me and keep reading, because it is worth it! Let me tell you why you should read this. First, sapphic fantasy book. Do you need more? I don't, but let's keep going. Second, heavy political intrigue. Again, the beginning can feel slow and blurry, but as the story unfolds, it gets more intense and everything starts to make sense, which is simply AMAZING. Third, THE SEXUAL TENSION! It is gloriously put and I was here for it! I loved how their relationship developped and the two of them in general. Reana.... I love her! Fourth, the world, which was quite interesting. I really liked how the author scattered the information through the book just when we needed it. It felt really light and breathy in that way, which constrasted perfectly with the deep politics of it all. The action scenes were really well described and intense. The characters were really touching and lovable each in their own way and some lines of dialogue had me laughing, or gasping and I loved it. All in all, it was a surprising, heated, deep and fascinating story that I would really recommend.

If you're into heavy political fantasy with a hot sapphic romance... Well don't hesitate, this is for you!

"The beast that you feed is the beast that grows."

Black crown

I received an e ARC of this novel.

Overall I enjoyed this book. I’ve never read a midsummer’s night (shocking I know) but I’m glad that I haven’t so that I wasn’t constantly comparing the two given that this book is advertised as a retelling. I enjoyed most of the character, the povs, romance, and world. Maybe because it’s an arc there wasn’t a map. Needs a map! With so many locations mentioned and journeyed to, a map would be nice. I liked the beginning action and thought the description of fighting etc. was well done, and I didn’t mind that we spent a lot of time in the action before it finally got to the heart of the issue with what the rest of the story would be about. Some spoilers ahead.

I enjoyed the multiple povs (3 in total) although the Queen’s perspective didn’t add a lot to the story until the end. I wish the book blurb didn’t tell us that three women would betray the crown as I was constantly waiting and searching for the third. And when the Queen’s POV entered I guessed it was her but... the story never says how she’s is betraying the crown and I’m left at the end of the book wondering if she did. And I would argue that the second POV didn’t really betray the crown either, as she repeatedly says she’s taking action that she hopes would not violate their treaty. So I don’t know that she’s consciously making a decision to betray the crown. Still the plot was intriguing with a fair amount of secrets slowly revealed.

I enjoyed the lead character, especially hiding as a convincing knight. The second POV and love interest I connected less with. The romance between the two was enjoyable and believable - yes love at first sight can happen (I’ve seen a few reviewers complain about that but I think it’s just a reflection of reality and some people do fall fast). However, at one point the characters are in a position that they need to be quiet and stick to a plan or be slaughtered and these two are laughing and trying to turn each other on.

I still don’t know what the black crown is. Why is it black? Is there another symbolic reason why it was called that? While some of the world history and previous wars are mentioned, I didn’t feel like I understand the backstory of the world and why some of the territories were at odds with one another (might be my own reading issue). For the Duchies I wish more was sprinkled throughout the story to understand why this political intrigue mattered.

It was still enjoyable and I will be reading the second just to see where the surprise from the ending goes or doesn’t go within the story of the characters. And I’m definitely looking forward to understanding more about the pale race/creatures that the lead character may be connected to (I’m interested to see how closely connected she is).

DNF 32%

I really wanted to love this book. The plot sounded right up my alley.

Girl poses as a knight in order to get revenge against the queen who killed her family. Gets sent away as a knight to a duchess and they fall in love. I’m like sounds good, sign me up.

The book fell so flat though. It started off pretty good. I liked the characters and the Trial. Good action. After that nothing happened. I’m all for political intrigue in books but I felt it was dragging the story down. Characters were flat. To me a story about revenge should be intense. It should ignite strong emotions in the reader to want to see revenge as much as the characters. I just didn’t care. I liked Avenna but she wasn’t enough for me to keep reading. Prince Zander is basically Joffrey from Game of Thrones. The cruel villain who is cruel because he can be. *Rolls eyes*

I skimmed the ending which was disappointing. The characters and plot was bland, I don’t think the romance would have saved this book. I don’t feel the need to stick around to find out. Sad to say but it’s a no for me.

*Received via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*