Castles in Their Bones was provided to me in exchange for my honest opinion.

And honestly, I loved it!! This book had elements of two of my favorite novels. The court intrigue of The Other Boleyn Girl and the slightly supernatural of Red Queen. This book is not really like either of those though.

Triplet princesses Sophronia, Daphne, and Beatriz have been raised by their mother the Empress for only one objective- to marry into the royal families of neighboring countries and destroy the country from within, making it easier for the Empress to overthrow the royal families and enlarge her empire.

The princesses were quirky and charming. They were independent and strong young women. The subterfuge and sneakiness was delicious. It made sense for the world they live in. All in all, this was a fantastic book that I will be reading again.

Loved, loved, loved, LOVED this book. I want, I need more! The story of three women raised to take over kingdoms for their mother. They find out what they're made of in each of their new lives. And the twist...oh girl, it was a biggie. I couldn't put this book down.

As a mother, going to any lengths for your child seems a no brainer, we would do anything for them. However, training them to be assassins'? I am not sure even I would go that far. Castle in their Bones is a phenomenal book filled with strong leads, female determination, family bonds, and the one thing we all strive for, power...er I mean, love. The writing was great, if a little clunky in parts. I came for the concept, but stayed for Daphne, Bea, and Soph.

3.5 Stars
I am a big Laura Sebastian fan and have loved everything she has written, and even though CASTLES didn't quite meet my expectations, I still remain so. I enjoyed CASTLES a lot. We have a lot of trademark Sebastian here; smart writing, political intrigue, complex yet likeable female characters, and expansive world-building. I was fascinated by the towering figure of Empress Margaraux who lingers over this story like a dark cloud. This is a story about the complications that can occur in mother/daughter relationships when mothers are domineering and demanding and how that bond can impact all other relationships. It's also about sisters, three distinct and well-crafted heroines who are raised with one purpose: to bring back the Bessemian Empire, but all three find out that they nothing more than pawns in their mother's war games and that the cost of empire could very well mean their lives. Friendship and love prove to complicate each princess's path in satisfying ways. I particularly enjoyed Beatrix and Sophronia's stories and voices the most in this book, although I also liked Daphne. The world-building and magic predicated on stardust was very interesting, although the way magic worked in this world felt kind of vague at times to me. But each land--Friv, Bessemia, Temarin and Cellarin. Sebastian's writing remains exquisite and overall I thought this was a solid YA fantasy series starter. I will say that I struggled with the pacing as the book went on. It started out strong and fascinating as we see the sisters sent off to their betrothed and to do their mother's bidding, but the length of it just made it feel a little draggy to me. If some middle parts were shortened or refined the rating for this would be a lot higher for me. While I don't mind long books, the middle of an over 500 page book moving slow is a struggle for this reader. Again, let me say this was a good book! If you enjoyed Ash Princess, if you like a good story with strong female characters and lots of GOT feels, look no further. That ending certainly surprised me and I am intrigued to see more in this series and will be reading book 2.

*eARC provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Firstly, if you loved The Shadows Between Us, this book is for you! Or if you didn't love it (me), this book is even better. Three princesses- Sophronia (Sophie), Daphne, and Beatriz- are sent off to neighboring kingdoms to marry princes, cause chaos (discreetly) and start wars because their mother wants to regain her Bessemian Empire.

Sophie goes to Temarin to marry King Leopold, who she somewhat loves and doesn't want to betray. But Temarin is being ruled badly, so she knows she needs to bring them under her mother's benevolent rule.

Daphne goes to Friv to marry Prince Cellian and discovers that he has just died. Instead, she's engaged to the king's bastard, who is quickly legitimized and titled Prince Bairre. But Friv is fractured by rebellion and Daphne, as the loyal daughter, knows her duty to her mother.

Beatriz goes to Cellaria, the land without stardust, to marry Prince Pasquale. But the king there is mad and irrational, and Beatriz is learning new things about herself and her loyalties.

In this world, magic comes from the stars in the form of stardust and wishes. A few rare individuals known as empryeas can call down the stars to grant wishes. The resulting magic, collected as stardust, can be used to grant a variety of wishes. All countries, except for Cellaria, use stardust in their day to day lives. But stardust is illegal in Cellaria and possession, or rumored possession, will lead to execution.

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I truly liked this book! I read it in one sitting, but I think that was more to the fact that I had nothing better to do than anything else. It took me a while to immediately connect the countries, princesses, and princes/king to their proper places, and there is a lot of information and plotting to keep track of.

I guessed some of the big reveals, but not all. It really is a spider-web though!

It is a little long for the first book in a YA series, at over 500 pages, but the author does have to work through three points of view and their individual stories. I can see this being a duology, but not a trilogy, so I am curious to see how it turns out.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc.

I could not stand these characters. The premise reminded me of The Bridge Kingdom, but it didn’t deliver in my opinion. It follows the three sisters in their POVs. I did like that it switched one after another so you didn’t get too far away from a story. Unfortunately, all three drove me insane. Supposedly their marriages have been arranged their whole life. Literally. They learned the language of where they were going and has various lessons to prepare them for their roles. However, they seemed to blank on everything. [mild spoilers] One had a hard time following the language; one overdrank on her wedding night; and one wasn’t ready for the wedding night. I don’t know. It was just annoying since they’ve supposedly been preparing for 16 years. It wasn’t for me.

While a bit of a confusing and slow start with three sisters and three points of view, the story picks up and sends you straight into the action. It reminded me of Three Dark Crowns in a way, but only because it's three sisters and royal plots. However, instead of each of them trying to become queen, they instead are sent to three separate kingdoms to destroy them from the inside so their mother can rule all. Lots of intrigue and the character development as the plot moves along is good. While nothing is overly twisty or shocking, you still want to read on to see how all the pieces fit together. A solid beginning book to the trilogy.

Wow! That ending had me going "What the ......."! Fortunately I now know that this is the first book of a Trilogy, so I now understand why it ended leaving me hanging that way.

This book left me with so many different emotions, and I'm sure that's what Laura Sebastian was hoping to achieve. I will admit that having three separate stories (one for each of the triplet sisters) got me a bit confused at times, I was having trouble keeping so many characters straight in my head, but that never stopped me from delving deeper into the book and pushing on to the end. I, also, had to remind myself that these were really young women, only 16 years old and dealing with situations that would be difficult for much older women. Wow, that Empress, true evil!

I feel this book is one that is best reread, because I probably missed a lot the first time through. I can't wait for the next installment! 4-1/2 stars

Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC for my honest opinion.

I DNF’d this book at around 25% because the characters seemed flat and I wasn't into the plot. It didn’t feel very original.

This book is over 500 pages and I stayed up til the wee hours two days in a row to finish it. Castles follows Princesses Beatriz, Daphne and Sophronia. They are beautiful, cunning and have on mission to achieve-bringing down the monarchies they are sent by their mother Empress Margaraux to marry into. Each faces different complications when they arrive at their respective kingdoms-revolution, unexpected plots brewing, and even a reluctant prince or two. There is so much intrigue going on here and an ending that left me sitting here at 3 am going WHAT.JUST.HAPPENED?!! Loved this one. First 5 star read of 2022 for me. Can't wait for the 2nd book!

I loved Sebastian’s first series, but this one was harder to get through and after the ending, I’m not anxiously waiting the next one.
Spoiler- since Sophie was sacrificed by her Mom at the end of this one, I’m going to guess that the other 2 triplets will meet similar dates in the remaining two books only to be reconciled and possibly resurrected through Star magic at the end. The problem is that I don’t care enough about any of them to make me anxious to find out. Sophie’s death was a shock, but the entire book was built around each court lying to the others, so I never found anyone to really root for.
Too much betrayal and not enough true loyalty or goodness to make the betrayal feel truly unjust.

This book started a little slow for me, so it took a while to get into it, but once I was in it, it got really good. It's told from 3 different sisters' POV, and I really liked each sister's unique voice and personality. I liked the unique magic system in this story and the idea of pulling stars down to get wishes. This book has plenty of magic, espionage, political upheaval, and royal family drama that blend together well to make a great story. And that ending! I didn't expect to be surprised by the ending, but the author pulled out the plot twists and I'm still reeling a little over how it all ended. I definitely want to see where this story continues and wonder what the sequel will have in store. Definitely a good recommendation for YA fantasy lovers.

Well I am <b>shocked</b>.
What a kicker of an ending.

This is a well-written, plot-driven, political espionage drama. I think that's what I'm going with for category.

I was impressed with the author's ability to juggle so many points of view, and I was truly captivated by each individual storyline. Just as each triplet had her own personality and identity, each country, court, and intrigue had its own flavor. And as much as I hated to leave Beatriz or Daphne in peril at the end of a chapter, I would be immediately swept up in what was going on with Sophronia; I hate when I don't care what happens for three chapters because I'm too busy thinking about what's going on with this other character 30 pages ago -- that did *not* happen with this book. I was turning, turning, turning pages, gasping and scoffing and sighing all the while.

The Empress conceived three daughters with the help of a wish on a star; as such, the girls are marked as different by their silver eyes -- and destined for greatness, thanks to the ambition of their mother.
Trained to be deadly in all areas of life, wielding smiles like blades and counteracting plots by staying a step ahead of everyone around them at all times, the princesses embark on convoluted, interwoven missions destined to change the political landscape of their entire continent.

Thanks to NetGalley for an eARC of the book, and to Laura Sebastian for writing it! I can't wait to see what happens next with these clever girls.
Available on Feb 1

This story is a fun story full of sisterhood and political intrigue and romance. I loved the world and the magic system. My main complaint is that the sisters did not feel distinct from one another. Each POV read extremely similarly. The only differences in character were explained explicitly to you, but their tone and voice were largely the same; so much so that I often forgot that the POV had shifted to someone else until a certain side character or element of the setting would pop up and remind me.

Overall it is twisty and fun and an entertaining read that will keep you guessing what everyone's plotting.

3.5 stars

This YA fantasy is a fun read. The magic system is really cool as it is based on the stars. Literally. They crush up fallen stars and use the stardust for their magic. Even though the sisters are raised from birth to fulfill their mother’s conniving wishes (seriously, their mother is awful), it’s interesting seeing them blossom in their new kingdoms. Be aware that this is a politics heavy book, and it does end on a huge cliffhanger. I’m looking forward to reading the sequel to see how things resolve.

Thank you to NetGalley & Random House Children’s for this advanced reader copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This was a great start to a new series. I really enjoyed Sebastian's Ash Princess series and wasn't disappointed by her next attempt. There are some shades of Three Dark Queens in here, but I liked these characters a lot more than those. There are a lot of great side characters, though it can be somewhat difficult to keep track of all the players and storylines. However, it was still very enjoyable and am curious to see if some of the events at the end of the book "stick" or if there's more to be revealed. I'll be looking forward either way.

I absolutely adored this book! I loved the intrigue, the relationships, the scheming, the sisters, just everything! I will admit that the first 10% or so is a little info dumpy and while the story is told in the three perspectives of the sisters, I found it hard sometimes to remember which sister was where, and married to who and what their exact motivations were, which is why I knocked a star down. I liked how each sister had their own personality, as sometimes when reading duel perspective its hard to tell the characters apart. I loved Triz and Pas' relationship and how you could tell how Sophie really did care for the people she was fighting for, even if others thought she was too soft. I really did enjoy this one though and I can't wait to see what happens next in the story

This book was absolutely fantastic! I truly enjoyed getting to know all the characters and the world building was great. There are so many twists and turns in this book and I loved every second of it. There were characters that I didn’t favor in the beginning but ended up loving in the end. I loved the description of this book and it delivered on that promise. I’m so happy to have received and early copy of it to read and can’t wait to own a physical copy of the book! And to read it again! When is book 2 coming? I need it like now!

Overall this book was enjoyable. It took me about 20% of the book to get into it and want to read it. After that point the book was a lot faster to get through. I enjoyed reading from all the sisters POV. I was worried at first that I would mix up the sisters, but they all have there own voice. I will definitely be getting the sequel when it comes up.

Yall better go read this book as soon as it's out! Holy plot twists. You get it all, action, adventure, magic, assassins you name it! Very well written.