Y’ALL BETTER DROP EVERYTHING AND GO BUY THIS BOOK ON FEBRUARY 1ST

I’m torn between 4.5 and 5 stars but went ahead and rounded up because HOLY CRAP - I’ve just been staring at the last page for like 5 minutes in shock because THAT ENDING

I cant give too much more away but the characters, the dynamics, and the overall plot is just *chef’s kiss* If I were you I’d go ahead and preorder this beauty because you won’t want to miss it

castles in their bones pintrest board - https://pin.it/4qLtrPw

{ thank you so much to NetGalley & Childrens Random House for the ARC }

The triplets have been raised since birth to marry, and use those marriages to orchastrate the downfall of the kingdoms. All so their mother can rule over it all. The book started off a bit slow for me, in the beginning we are getting alot of the girls arriving at their new homes, and putting the starts of their plans in motion. Sophie, Triz, and Daphne are learning how to navigate the new kingdoms. Even though they had been raised since birth to do what they are doing there were some surprising moments that happen early on that throw a wrench in some of the long term plans. Thankfully all of our sisters are resourceful and do what they can to roll with it.

I have to say I wasn't prepared to like all of their prospective husbands. I thought their would be at least one dud or horrible one in the mix, but I loved all three of them and hope that we get so much more of them in the next book.

This book was full of twist and turns and about at the 60 -70% mark things really take off. It becomes nonstop action and planning, also a whole lot of our main characters getting themselves in some seriously troubling situations. Then theres that ending... first we get the the last time we see the sisters, which was one jaw dropping cliff hanger. Then we get a chapter from their moms viewpoint, it explains a lot, but also not nearly enough. I am very excited to see where the next book is going to go, and how on earth Triz, Daphne, and Sophie are going to get out of their current circumstances and (finger crossed) all come together and figure out how to take down their mother.

3.5 stars
- The 3 sisters, Daphne, Beatriz, and Sophronia were all fleshed out. They were unique in the sense that they had distinct personalities seen in their unique motivations and conflicts. However, their voices sort of did blend at the start of the book which made it a bit difficult to differentiate the 3 POVs. Once I got to about the third-way mark, I was then able to tell them apart. This was the sort of thing where once you got into the book you could begin telling them apart and their voices started getting distinct. The side characters were also very lovable. By the end of this book, I was super attached to all the characters because their fun/engaging dynamics with each other were written very well.
- One of the huge aspects I loved about this book was the royal-life-politics part. Reading about the culture, individual values, and atmosphere of the Kingdoms, and how each sister adapted, was super immersive. The political intrigue, scheming, and plotting were all engaging as well. All of this did have a slow build-up but none of it failed to grab my attention.
- One of the main reasons I gave this book 3.5 stars and not 4 was the ending. I felt like with all the build-up and tension throughout this book, we readers deserved a satisfying end. Instead, it felt like the book was just cut right before the resolution in the name of a cliffhanger.
-Just to also note, the romance wasn't a huge part of this book and most of the main romances that do take place are mundane. I'm not complaining because this isn't supposed to be a huge romance book.

- Overall I had a really good time reading this book and I can't wait for a sequel!

All her mother has to do to convince Beatriz to jump off a cliff is to tell her not to do it.

It's three am, and I finished this book instead of sleeping and I have NO REGRETS.
Hands down to the the best book of 2022 even though this year just started, but honestly? I doubt anything can cross this.

This book was absolutely flawless.

The synopsis lead me to believe this is probably gonna be a typical YA fantasy about some princesses getting married mixed with some romance, a bit plot twist that we all will see coming and a little plot here and there. But boy, I was SO wrong.

Princess Sophorinia, Beatrize and Daphne are triplets. All are engaged to three princes from different countries. The three of them are trained to betray their future husbands so ultimately their mother can rule the whole continent. Except, when they actually got married to the three princes nothing seems as easy as they (or in this case, me.) thought.

I didn’t see any of the plot twist coming. Which is honestly surprising at this moment. There were,

- Multiple POV. (God I LOVE it!)
- Magic
- And betrayal
- very light romance that didn’t overshadow the plot.
- LOTS of politics.
- A mad king.
- rebels, assassins, and everything else.

Like I said, this book really had everything I hoped for and more.

Among the sisters, Sophie was my favourite.

“My mother likes to say that the stars played a cruel joke on her by giving her me"

But it's hard to choose just one of them. The villains, the love interest and of course the three protagonists all of them were SO well written. I loved how different Daphne, Sophie and Beatriz were from each other yet so similar when it comes to reading each other's thoughts.

I'm still screaming because god...I did not expect that ending. Waiting for another year is going to be the worst kind of torture.


Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the arc.

I wanted to like this more than I ultimately did. Laura Sebastian's first fantasy series was fun and frothy, a fast-paced adventure with romance and somewhat thin world building. That said, it was a fun read and very quick.

The premise of this book is fun, three princesses raised by their empress mother to be the wives of kings and to tear apart their kingdoms, is similarly fun, but it just took so long for anything to happen! For a good 50% of the book, each chapter is just skipping to a different sister essentially walking around her palace and figuring out the politics of her country. I didn't necessarily come in with huge expectations for the worldbuilding, but because this book essentially revolves around politics, the fact that it does feel somewhat thin doesn't help. There's not enough romance and action to distract from it.

It does start to pick up later, but it's slow enough that I'm just not sure if I see myself continuing the series.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for approving my request for an arc of this book.

Let me tell y’all… you guys are not ready for this book. Trust me.

Excitement knew no bounds when my arc request was approved. The only things I am sad about are that nearly no one’s read this book yet so I can know how other people feel about that ending (😵‍💫) and that there’s no announced second book yet. I’ll have to wait forever :(

This book has shockingly become one of my favorite reads of 2021. Even me, a person who so avidly hated Ash Princess. But Castles in Their Bones brings something very different to the table.

Castles in Their Bones follows three triplet princesses: Daphne, Sophronia, and Beatriz, on their 16th birthday as they each get married to princes (i.e. future kings) of the neighboring nations around their country, in a seemingly diplomatic series of events to secure their country’s relations.

But it’s much more complicated under the surface. The girls have been trained from their birth by their mother to be beautiful, intelligent in all things regarding their country by marriage, and ruthless. The reason? They’re spies sent to ruin those kingdoms so that their mother can sweep in and take over, uniting the continent under her own rule.

But when they arrive, things aren’t as simple as they seem, for any of them. They all live out their own stories, seemingly further and further from what they came to do.

Assassin princesses? Count me IN.

characters -

I found this book to be much more plot oriented rather than character oriented. We focused on character arcs, yes, but it was all in contribution to the main plot. That may have affected how well developed the characters of this book were (there were A LOT)

Daphne- arguably the titular character of the book, I liked Daphne the most. She was the most boring and basic of the princesses. Loyal to a fault, stubborn, and good at pretty much everything? Thinks she deserves everything? Been there, done that. Slightly overused, to tell you the truth.

Beatriz- My favorite of the three princesses (though I love Sophronia just as much), I loved Beatriz’s character. I didn’t see as much character growth for her, but her character arc! Her personality! Her story!

Sophronia- Another one of my favorites. I related the most to Sophronia, indefinitely, and her character arc and growth was by far the best of the three sisters and POV. Her character developing throughout the story with her personality was one of my favorite parts of the book to read.

Margaraux- amazingly written. That last chapter! Very excited to see where her character goes in upcoming books. She’s interesting to read about, because we don’t see as unique of a character as her in this book.

(for context: i don’t have as much of an opinion on these characters 😃 so a few words would be enough to describe them)

Leopold- boring for the most part, but his character growth with Sophronia’s was lovely. i’m especially curious to see what his character does in the next book.

Violie- 😐 i know her position at the end of the book, but she still seems a little suspicious….

Bairre- also boring. Think Bastien in season 2 of Reign when he was given the crown for a couple of weeks there. I hope he gets a better character arc in the second book, especially since his ending was great and made his character so much more interesting.

Pasquale- a sweetheart <3 this man deserves the world. Best husband to be honest 🤷‍♀️ it’s very ironic, too.

Nico- one of my favorite characters! his and Beatriz’s dynamic in the next book is going to be SO good… words can’t explain my excitement.

Gigi- we’re anti-Gigi in this household. Just that.

Ambrose- sweetheart ❤️❤️ no complaints, also deserves the world

Cliona- also anti-Cliona. I get where she comes from but i find her annoying.

I told you, there are A LOT of characters in this book 💀💀

plot -

In this book, we have three stories occurring at the same time, in three different places, simultaneously. Sometimes interconnected, but mostly separate.

Sophronia’s story- definitely the least “exciting”, because it had more to do with politics and the court than the other two, but i found it very fun to read.

Beatriz’s story- easily my favorite of all of them. This had more to do with character relationships, but I liked the cast
of characters in this one more than the other two, and the dynamics in this one are very different than the other two.

Daphne’s story- funnily enough, the most exciting but my least favorite. it felt predictable despite the ending, and nothing really interested me. the rebellion will be nice to see in how it plays out, but i wish Daphne’s story was less cliche, especially since the other stories are quite unique from the normal formula.

Overall, I thought all the chaos of the three individual stories, and all the side plots and inter-tangling between the three was amazingly done. They all felt different from one another and all interesting (despite my dislike about Daphne’s lol) to read. They all felt equally balanced and easy to switch between, while seeing the counter effects of one story on the other two.

There wasn’t an overpowering or favoritism of one POV over the other two. I’m really impressed with the plots of all three, as it was much more exciting and well-written than I expected.

writing -

the descriptions of the magic system was probably my favorite. It was stunningly written, particularly regarding the three very different settings. All were described so differently, yet all beautifully. Sebastian did a great job with the writing in this book.

It wasn’t hard to understand what was going on in the three POVs and again, it was easy to switch between the three, even as we were left with cliffhangers at the end of each chapter and having to wait until the next book in that POV (even though by that time you want to know what happens in the other POV 😃😃😃 simultaneously best and worst feeling ever)

Going back to the magic system, the stardust and stars felt so magical. All the incorporations of the magic system into all the kingdom politics was perfect. I felt a perfect balance between the magic and the politics, though in this book the politics were given slightly more preference to introduce the world and settings.

Overall, a huge improvement from Ash Princess from what I can tell, as it’s apparent in the writing. I’m so excited that I gave this one a try and loved it 🥰

world-building -

Easily one of my favorite things about this book. I loved how all three of the settings were so different, and even the setting of the princesses’ home country.

It was so unique from one another: the glittering magic of their home country, the wooded darkness of Friz, the magic-less wine of Cellaria, and the poofy ballrooms of Temarin. All the rebellions and politics, and just about everything.

It was confusing in the beginning, yes, but the author created not one, but three different worlds for each of the stories to take place. The world building very much supports the plot and keeps it going. These settings could have become three different books, for all that they were described as.

I loved the stardust and star-type magic system. It wasn’t the most unique, but (using this word for the 100th time bc i am unoriginal and have a slightly limited vocab) beautiful magic. It was magical (yes, pun intended).

I wish we would have gotten more world building on the magic side, though, and I hope we get more in the next book. I understand why the author had to focus on putting the settings together and prioritize it over the magic, but the magic had something lacking. I don’t know what, but there is something.

overall -

I won’t do a romance section because it contains many spoilers, but can I just say how much I loved the romance, too? Three different romances, three different stories and couples, and their dynamics will be interesting to read in the second book.

First of all, THAT ENDING??!!??! Is it real? Is it not real? What is life? Laura Sebastian, PLEASE release the second book as soon as possible. I need it.

Such a great book. I am more than pleasantly surprised and I am so glad I got this arc to read. I recommend to all YA fantasy lovers, especially those who love unique, well built worlds with wild stories.

Going to wallow in the fact that I have yet another book which does not have a second book confirmation yet 😭😭😭

5 stars!

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have come to the bummer of a conclusion that despite having interesting premises, Laura Sebastian's books just don't work for me. I've tried to read a couple now and ended up either DNF'ing or having to push through.

Personal taste aside, I think this book read a little young on the YA side given the content but will very much appeal to fans of works like Danielle L Benson's The Bridge Kingdom.

As a fan of Laura Sebastian I went into this with High Expectations. and she did NOT disappoint.

I was quickly invested in the lives of these Triplets and wondering what their plans to overtake their respective new-homes would look like. I loved how unique each sisters voice was, and how alive, immersive and diverse their towns were. Sebastian did a great job of creating 3 unique worlds and voices that never felt too busy or contrived.

I was shocked by the plot twists - despite knowing I shouldn't trust anyone it still hurt to be betrayed.

the second to last chapter took my breath away and I wish it had actually been the end. Ultimately the very last chapter I think may have been overkill - While I did enjoy getting that information i do not feel it was narratively necessary to set up the sequel - I think ending on that previous scene would have been enough to keep me questioning things and coming back for more.

Ultimately i can't wait to see where this series will take us, and learning more about Bessemia and the overarching plot to take over. I love that we are following morally gray characters. Learning who we can and can't trust, right along side the triplets was so much fun. I loved trying to make decisions with them about what was right and wrong, and ultimately IS Margaux right?

Fans of Sebastian will love this next adventure - and if you've never read her works before - what are you waiting for? Ash Princesses was one of the best YA dystopias i've ever read and Castles is my next new favorite YA series.

I will always rate a book high when it makes me feel things, and I still feel a lot of emotions after finishing this book.

Three sisters, raised to bring Kingdoms down, set off into the world, apart for the first time. Trained in weaponry, poisons, codes, and more, they assume they can handle anything that comes into their paths...

Obviously, they were wrong. 😂

This book is the making of a new series that you won't be able to put down. The magic, the characters, the places, the politics, the mysteries.. you have to see it through to the end.

Will the girls do as their mother planned or find their own way forward?

I loved the magic and suspense and world building. I loved the sisters and their fight bond. I was rooting for the sisters to be together again .

Wonderful plot twists, one I did not see coming! The characters are well written and show a very good sense of learning about yourself and manifesting your own destiny, sometimes to your own loss. Heart felt and a reminder to follow your path wisely.

I thoroughly enjoyed. The author adapts at darker fantasy tellings and makes such a unique telling. The characters are real. She gives space for world building. This will absolutely have you gripping til the end.

It took me a while to get into this book but I am so glad I did. Three daughters, sent to strange lands the second they come of age realize the power they have when out from their mothers grasp. This book had it all, magic, love, self discovery, betrayal! I can’t wait to read the next one!

What a wild ride! And that ending!!! Took me completely by surprise. This was a quick and easy read full of political intrigue, deception and betrayal!

Everyone underestimates a girl. Triplet princesses Sophronia, Daphne & Beatriz has been raised for one goal: marry into rival Monarchies and bring them down. Raised to be seductive and cunning, married off into opposing nations as children, the triplets have always know their marriages would be of political gain, not love. Now 16, the time has come for the girls to begin their mission. But not everything is what it seems and the stakes are higher than they realized.

When I saw Laura Sebastian’s Tik Tok introducing this book several weeks ago, I knew I had to read it as soon as possible. The premise is captivating: three sisters raised to take down entire kingdoms for their mother’s dream to reign over all of Vesteria. Sebastian weaves together a truly fantastical world, with twists and turns to keep the reader engaged along the way. The downside to the way this story is told, in the three perspectives of the sisters, is the sheer number of characters and side characters. It was incredibly confusing to keep them all straight and tied to the right princess/queen and I wanted to draw out a map to keep myself oriented.

This book could have benefited from more buildup of characters and settings, as both really lacked their full potential. I enjoyed this book quite a bit and am certainly curious to see where it goes from here.

Thank you so very much to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me an ARC of this book. I was so excited to read it! The title caught my attention and when I read the preview I knew I had to read it and I was not disappointed. Each of the three princesses are raised to destroy three kingdoms and recreate an empire that their Empress mother rules currently in name. Three separate stories woven together to create lots of excitement and action. A great read for all young adults and adults like me (age 60).

I think I may have to admit that Laura Sebastian just isn't for me. This book had some great potential but just never lived up to anything. This book kind of wants to be Three Dark Crowns, but just doesn't get there in the end.

The main problem, at least to me, is when you have three protagonists is that you always end up liking one protagonist more than the others. This is especially true when the book is written in alternating chapters. And, in the case of this book, while the author tried to show how each of the sisters were different, in the end, two of them just felt very similar to me. So, I did as any reader tends to do when shit gets boring, I started skipping chapters. It's especially easy to do to this when the chapters kind of blend together; you have the same event happening in multiple chapters and, even more interestingly and confusing, happening out of order.

Unfortunately, things got interesting right at the very end, but it was too late to save an otherwise "meh" book. I mean. I get it. You want to hook readers in at the end and make them "have to" read the next one. But in this case, at least for me, it was too little too late.

Wow! This book was a good one! It had a nice YA dystopian/fantasy feel and follow 3 triplet sisters was an interesting tale as well. There were definitely some great twists and elements that separate it from similar books of this genre. I didn't love all of the characters and I kind of hated the end (hoping there is a twist the reader is not aware of yet), but I really enjoyed most of the book. I thought the sisters all had distinct personalities so I didn't have any issues with confusing them. I also really enjoyed watching their personalities evolve throughout the book as they finally had some freedom to learn who they were, away from their mother. I'm excited to see what the second book holds, but goodness, please fix that ending! 😩 It has to be a trick!

I absolutely am in love with Sebastian's way of storytelling. Her world building is magic you can envision and sense each page. While characters are relatable with their own flaws and fears. The three sisters of this story know their path, they're trained and studied the lives they were told they were to expect then when they arrive, ready to each do their part in mother's grand plan, nothing is as it seems and they each struggle in a way that brings new light to everything they know. It was an incredible journey and I really enjoyed every page! This opinion is of mine own, but thank you Netgaey for allowing me to read this book!

This is the story of triplets who, at the direction of their mother, are to undermine the three other kingdoms. Once they have done that, their mother, the Empress, will come into these weakened kingdoms and take them over.

This plot sounds pretty simple and basic. It is anything but! None of the 4, the triplets and their mother, behave as expected. The twists and turns of the plot kept my head spinning from moment to moment. The ending .... oh, the ending destroyed me, but there really wasn't another way for it to end. I am impatiently waiting for the second book!