Really enjoyed this fantasy about triplet princesses set on a mission by their mother to marry three princes and bring down their kingdoms so their mother can swoop in and take over. All three girls have their own storyline going on and the princes are interesting, to say the least. This book was a real page turner and I can't wait until the second in the trilogy is out!

Thank you so much to Delacorte Press and Netgalley for letting me read an eARC of Castles in Their Bones! This book was my first 5 star read of the year, which is a big deal since it was the 16th book I read this year! If you haven't already picked up Castles in Their Bones or put it on your TBR list, you NEED to do that!
Castles in Their Bones 5/5 Stars
Summary from Goodreads:
A spellbinding story of three princesses and the destiny they were born for: seduction, conquest, and the crown. Immerse yourself in the first book in a new fantasy trilogy from the author of the New York Times bestselling Ash Princess series.
Empress Margaraux has had plans for her daughters since the day they were born. Princesses Sophronia, Daphne, and Beatriz will be queens. And now, age sixteen, they each must leave their homeland and marry their princes.
Beautiful, smart, and demure, the triplets appear to be the perfect brides—because Margaraux knows there is one common truth: everyone underestimates a girl. Which is a grave mistake. Sophronia, Daphne, and Beatriz are no innocents. They have been trained since birth in the arts of deception, seduction, and violence with a singular goal—to bring down monarchies— and their marriages are merely the first stage of their mother’s grand vision: to one day reign over the entire continent of Vesteria.
The princesses have spent their lives preparing, and now they are ready, each with her own secret skill, and each with a single wish, pulled from the stars. Only, the stars have their own plans—and their mother hasn’t told them all of hers.
Life abroad is a test. Will their loyalties stay true? Or will they learn that they can’t trust anyone—not even each other?
Oh man y'all, I loved this book so much! I wasn't sure what to expect from Castles in Their Bones, because while the summary sounded amazing, I wasn't sure how I felt about Laura Sebastian's writing style (mainly because I wasn't a huge fan of the last book of her last trilogy), but man y'all, this book let me know that I really like her writing style! There was so much going on in Castles in Their Bones- and I loved it! We have our three princesses and each of them are so different, but so great in their own ways. And we have the kingdoms that they marry into, which are also so different and so interesting. And then there's the fact that their whole job is to create political discord so their mother can come in and take their new countries over- and that's what they've been trained for their entire lives. I loved the three points of view and how everything was so separate but things started coming together near the end and OMG that ending! I didn't see it coming at all. The last chapter completely threw me for a loop and now I'm even more excited for the next book and to see what happens with my new favorite princesses! Pacing wise, I thought that everything was super well paced and I couldn't put the book down! Y'all 100% need to go out and grab Castles in Their Bones now and read it and then come back and talk about that ending and that last chapter with me because OMG what?!

Laura Sebastian's Castles in Their Bones is the first installment in a new series by the same name. The story takes place in fictional lands of Bessemia, Teramin, Friv, and Caialona. The story revolves around three triplet sisters: Sophronia, Daphne, and Beatriz. They have been trained since birth in the arts of deception, seduction, and violence with a singular goal—to bring down monarchies— and their marriages are merely the first stage of their mother’s grand vision: to one day reign over the entire continent of Vesteria.

Princesses Sophronia, Daphne, and Beatriz were raised by their mother, Empress Margaraux, to one day be queens and now the time has come for them to begin to implement their mother’s plan. Now that the girls are sixteen they must each go to the lands chosen for them and wed the princes of those lands and hopefully reunite within a year when they turn seventeen. Beatriz ends up in Bessemia engaged to Prince Pasquale, Sophronia to Teramin where she's to marry King Leopold, and Daphne to Friv where she's supposed to marry Prince Cillian but there's a shock awaiting.

Sophronia enjoys economics and code-breaking, Beatriz is best with flirtation, and Daphne works with poisons and archery. Each country has its own politics depending on the rule of the monarchies. In Teramin, executions happen on a regular occurrence. In Friv, it is bitter cold and dark. Daphne finds herself engaged to the bastard son of the King after Prince Cillian dies before she arrives. Sophronia’s the most romantic of the three sisters. She actually finds Leopold to be her equal in every way, but at every turn, they are blocked from doing what needs to be done by Dowager Queen Eugenia’s hand in the game.

The princesses have spent their lives preparing, and now they are ready, each with her own secret skill, and each with a single wish, pulled from the stars. Only, the stars have their own plans—and their mother hasn’t told them all of hers. Their tasks are to initiate their mother’s plan to drive the kingdoms to war with each other so that she can sweep in and take over. However, nothing goes according to plan, and as the princesses become more ingratiated in their new worlds, political intrigue, lies, betrayal, conflicting feelings, and harsh leaders and societies prove problematic.

It was a very unique world, and it flowed with the plot well. There was a background magic system orientated towards the stars, the ability to draw dust from the stars and it's uses. It wasn't overtly prominent but it was a convenient plot device. This book does on a brutal cliffhanger, but thankfully, readers only have to wait until later on this year to see what happens in the next installment.

This was such a brilliant fantasy read. The story revolves around triplet sisters, princesses trained since birth in the arts of deception, seduction, and violence with one goal in mind, to bring down other kingdoms as a part of their mother's grand vision. Each sister is sent to a different kingdom to marry a prince and ruin the kingdom.

This was such a ride and it took me by suprise by how well it was done, how engrossing and addictive it was. The sisters were layered characters so different from each other even though their goal is the same. The storyline flowed so smoothly and it wasn't hard to keep up with each sister, the different kingdoms, and the events occurring.

All the court intrigue, the twists and turns, the beautiful magic system, the brilliant world building, and the 3 different swoony romances developing in the middle of all the sisters' scheming made this fantasy so captivating. And I'm so ready for the next book in the series.

Believe me, if you like fantasy full of court intrigue, badass princesses, swoony romances, and lots of twists to keep you invested, this is it.

Three femme fatale princesses are sent by their mother into political marriages with a lifetime of training towards starting a war. Sophronia, Daphne, and Beatriz have all been given specific tasks to match their carefully crafted skillsets. If each completes her part of the plan, their mother will arrive in the aftermath of her neighbors' conflicts just in time to sweep over the whole continent and rule with impunity.

I was well entertained by this trilogy starter and for over 500 pages, too. The smooth storytelling shifts gears between the three sisters, keeping up a constant pressure with the tense situations entangling our protagonists. I was fully absorbed watching the girls decide if and how to fulfill their roles once off on their own, knowing the Empress is always watching and has the means to get the result she wants at any cost. No sister is safe in her new home, nobody has all the information about her role in the plan, and there are other forces and intrigues at play that none of them foresaw. And don't even get me started on the pesky intrusions of feelings and moral compasses messing with the plan.

All the sisters have potential romantic relationships (mostly instalove vibes bleh), but it's the platonic bonds they form after a lifetime of being isolated by their mother that I found most layered and compelling. The sisterhood is also complex, built on unconditional love but also differences of personality and opinion that run deep, causing fractures and divergences even as they complement one another. I am curious to see if and how these connections may grow as the series continues. The book ends on a mighty twist, not entirely shocking but still illuminating connections and undercurrents to the plots at hand. I was left with a lot of questions about where the story will go next, curious about how our characters will develop now that some truths are out in the open, others still waiting in the wings to strike.

My ultimate feeling is that this was a fun and easy to follow political fantasy. It's not a terribly deep or genre-altering tale, but I want to see where the series goes next and how the protagonists grow. Thanks to Delacorte for my copy to read and review!

"And then there is the matter of the princesses' eyes - not their mother's brown or their father's blue but the startouched silver that only graced those conceived with magic. Those with stardust running through their veins."

Best book of 2022? Only time will tell.

"Three daughters in the ground, three lands in your grasp."

Castles in Their Bones is a story about three women born to an empress that one day wants to rule all of the lands. The girls are betrothed to the three surrounding lands at a young age, taught how to become women, flirt, deceive, all while learning the customs of each of the lands, only to one day bring them under the control of their mother.

"We're three stars of the same constellation. Distance won't change that."

However, what the girls have been taught since they were young doesn't appear to be the truth and the girls start to question if their intentions are the right ones.

"I'm here because I want to be. Because you are lightning - terrifying and beautiful and dangerous and bright all at once. And I wouldn't wish you were anything else."

"I tried so hard to keep my heart closed to you. In the beginning, you even made it easy...But when it came down to it, I chose Temarin. I chose you. I love you. That's the truth."

Castles in Their Bones was a testament to the love found between sisters, ethic reliability, and the truth in good overcoming evil. Readers who love a slow-burn romance, sisterly love, and deceiving babes will love this novel.

This was a fun read, Beatriz, Sophronia and Daphne, princess triplets raised to help their mother take over all of the continent, by marrying into three differnt kingdoms, and to betray them. This book has some great plot twists and the author really did a great job of keeping the girls personalities different. The growth of the characters and the ending were (chefs kiss!).

REVIEW: castles in their Bones is a fast paced high fantasy that follows the story of three triplets sent by their mother, the Empress, to marry into neighboring monarchies in order to bring forth their destruction, and the biggest destruction of all was my sleep schedule. The characters were interesting, relatable, and I felt connections to even the most minor characters. The scenery was gorgeous, and the descriptions were so detailed I honestly felt like I could teleport there if I tried hard enough. All together it was a stunning novel that I'm so grateful I got to read.
I only have two critiques with this book and they're very mild. The first is, the shift between three perspectives when the three mains begin with the same motive ended up messing with my brain a lot to the point where even halfway through the book I'd have to backtrack as I was confused about what happened to which, but then again it was like 2am so that may be a me problem. Number two, the ending. Just yeah. The ending. Good luck y'all. Stay safe and get some tissues.

**Thanks Netgalley and to the publisher for this ARC!**

After reading and loving the Ash Princess series, I was SO excited to see another trilogy coming out by Laura Sebastian! I love how she write villains, and the political intrigue. She's a master at this! I loved each of these princesses, and seeing their stories. With how this one ended, I can't wait for more.

Castles in Their Bones is an intense new fantasy debut by Laura Sebastian. The book follows triplet princesses, Beatriz, Sophronia, and Daphne, as they turn 16 and must leave home and each marry a different prince in a neighboring kingdom. Unbeknownst to anyone, these three have been trained since birth in the arts of deception, seduction, and violence with a singular goal - to bring down other monarchies so their mother can reign over a unified continent.

I was really pleasantly surprised by this book. I think I went in with this certain expectation of the direction it would take and how it all would end, and then when things got turned on it's head, I was taken completely off guard. This book did not play it safe. There was so much that happened in this book, it was great! And that ending!!

I'm a sucker for political intrigue and this book had so much of it. I felt the tension in each triplet's story and was anxious to get further in them all.

A couple notes of things that slightly detracted for me:
- There were some moments that had a much more YA feel than others. I prefer the more mature end of the YA genre and most of the novel was great in that regard, but there were a few points that felt younger.
- This book is heavy on plot development (which is amazing) but light on character development. I would love to see more character development in future books and be sucked in by both the characters and the plot. As it is now, I don't feel overly invested in the princesses.

All that said, I loved the first book and will be anxiously awaiting future installments of the series!

4.5 stars

This is the newest release from Laura Sabastion, who wrote the Ash princess series. This book was excellent. It is the first in a new YA Fantasy series. Tt follows three fraternal sisters, who also happen to be princesses, born to a queen using star magic. On their sixteenth birthday they are each sent to neighboring kingdoms, to marry and form alliances. But each is sent with an additional task, which they have been training for their whole lives. This is a multi-perspective following each of the sisters.
This story was written in a complex interwoven way, well organized and kept you on your toes. It is very politically focused, and character driven so at times it is slower paced. There is a type of magic using stars which I would have liked to have more information on, so hopefully we will get that with the next book. Romance does not play a big part in the book, but there is still a hint of it. I loved each of the sisters, they are each different, smart, cunning and soft hearted in their own way. The twists and surprises were amazing, and it is going to be an agonizing wait for the second book in these series. I would highly recommend reading this book!
I received this advanced ebook, via Netgalley. This review is my own honest opinion.

I am not always a fan of books with multiple points of view, as I sometimes have trouble following the POV jumps. Castles in Their Bones, however, had so many elements I adore - royalty, secrets, wishes, sinister assassination and coup plots - that I knew I wanted to try it anyway and I’m so glad I did. Laura Sebastian has a talent for writing unhappy and displaced royals and she deftly wrote the alternating perspectives, keeping each triplet individualized. I was impressed with the way that not only was each sister so unique, with her own personality, strengths and weaknesses, but that each country location felt different and the scenarios they found themselves in unique enough that I always know where the action was taking place and whom I as the reader was following.

This book is full of so many secrets, twists, turns, and betrayals I was on the edge of my seat for almost the entirety. Even though the Princesses had been raised to go forth and betray their respected counterparts, I still felt so badly for each of them as their situations unfolded and they grew into the strong, independent women they could be without their mother’s iron grip and still sound themselves wholly manipulated by her from afar. The revelations in the final chapters? I am more than ready for the story to continue in book two!!

This author’s newly released romance fantasy tells the story of three sisters, triplets to be in fact who have been groomed from birth by their “wonderful” mother to essentially help her take over the world.

I’m almost halfway through this book and it’s already majorly insane.. three sisters meant to infiltrate three different monarchies through a marriage alliance in order to help their mother take over & rule as the empress of all four places..

Despite the Empress’s careful plans and grooming of her daughters…she didn’t account for the friendships that her
daughters would make, the romantic connections and most surprising of all, them learning to think for themselves once they are out of their mother’s grasp.

This fantasy was one surprise after another and don’t even get me started on the insane cliffhanger and ending!

Special thanks to @tbrbeyondtours & @lauraksebastien for allowing me to be a part of this tour! You can find the complete tour schedule by visiting the link in my bio.

CHARACTERS
We follow three sisters who have been trained to take over their kingdoms in various ways. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed the multiple POVs and the writing of these characters is amazing! Each sister is unique and different, yet a strong bond between them all is done in such a great way!

PLOT - PACING
The plot was a lot! This kept me turning the page faster and faster and the ending was just superb!! I did NOT see that ending coming!

WORLD-BUILDING
Each kingdom was easily written in a unique way from their cultures, magic and landscapes. I loved each of these places for their own differences and it was very easy to keep them apart.

FINAL THOUGHTS
While I own Ash Princess, I haven’t yet read it or any other books by this author but I can tell you that is definitely going to change! The writing is easy to digest and done perfectly for my tastes!! I absolutely loved this book and cannot wait to continue this series!!
If you are a lover of YA Fantasy, his is DEFINITELY one you are going to want to pick up….and soon!

Three sisters born on the same day destined to become rulers in separate lands at the age of 16, what could go wrong?. Empress Maugaraux has raised her daughters to win at all costs and her plan is for the girls to marry with the ultimate goal of giving her the land they are to rule over. Told in alternating chapters, I really enjoyed the stories of each sister and the royal families that they are betrothed to. This book has lots of intrigue, deception, magic, and lies, Will the sisters stay loyal to their mother the Empress or will they embark on their own life? Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is amazing. Often when there are multiple POV's I find one more intriguing than the rest but this book was so outstanding that I loved all three POV's and each one help my interest just as much as the other ones. Each sister has their own unique skills and personality and each has an immense amount of depth and a great arc in the story. I loved the magic system in these books, so unique! There is so much in this book and I can not wait until the next book!!

I loved this book! Sophronia, Beatriz, and Daphne were all such great characters! It was a little confusing sometimes to remember which country each sister was in and what their specific task was, but once I got further in, I could recognize each sister’s voice. It’s difficult to write three points of view well, but Laura Sebastian accomplished this perfectly. I loved the differences between the four countries the book is set in, and the twist at the end shocked me. I’m so excited to read the next in the series!

Oh my gosh!! I love, love, loved the politics, scheming, and rebelling in this book! In the start, it was a bit difficult to remember who is who but I quickly understood and loved this rare book! It was thrilling to read about the different kingdoms along with their customs, traditions, and culture, the author did an amazing job! I expected this book to be light and fun but as I wrote before it was a bit too dark in the end. I hate Empress Margaraux so much, it's unbelievable! Just like Seline said this wasn't love!! I was also infuriated at her daughters for doing everything their cruel mother wanted them to do but then again we all want to be loved even if it means disregarding your opinions especially when you have a single parent. The betrayals were unexpected!! And also, the sisterhood in this book is a goal! All in all, read this book!!

The only thing I would have liked is more romance—I am ALL for a slow burn, but for a story about three couples, we get very little chemistry. But I guess that’s what books 2 and 3 are for, right?

I do have to say Daphne was my least favorite POV to read about. Each sister has their own POV and in the beginning, it was difficult to tell them apart but as the story went on it became easier to separate them. I like Leopold and Bairre and had a hard time liking Pasquale, but he redeemed himself more towards the end.

REALLY looking forward to reading the rest of this series!

Title: Castles in Their Bones
Author: Laura Sebastian
Publisher: Random House Children’s, Delacorte Press

Review to be posted to retail sites such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble and Goodreads upon publication date on February 1, 2022.

This eARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Princesses Sophronia, Daphne, and Beatrix have been trained from the day they were born to be weapons by their mother, Empress Margaraux. The girls are sent to be the brides of princes and kings in the neighboring kingdoms in order to conquer the countries from within. They know how to mold themselves to be whatever is needed to complete their plan and failing their mother is not an option.

I’m not sure there are words to express how much I love this book. At the beginning, I was worried that the girls would blend together and I would have trouble keeping them and what countries they were being sent to straight. That problem quickly resolved as they showed their own personalities and each country came to life in vivid detail. Sebastian’s ability to create interesting and diverse countries with characters that invoke strong feelings, both good and bad, is a gift. I feel like I know the characters and places as if I was transported into the book myself and that is one of the highest achievements an author can reach.

The plot of this story is captivating and I could not put this book down. It rotates between the three different sisters as they navigate their tasks in their new counties. The pacing of the story is perfect between the three sisters and I never felt like one of their stories lagged behind the others. It was beautiful to watch them flourish into their personalities and grow into stronger women. The plot twists were crazy and I could not predict how any of their stories would unfold. I cannot wait for the next book, especially since that ending killed me in the best way.

This book was a solid four stars.

I thought it was paced well and was interesting. The characters were well developed and I enjoyed watching the parallel storylines play out individually. Daphne, Sophronia, and Beatriz had distinct personalities which helped move the plot forward and made the book more interesting. The depiction of a classic medieval-style court was done nicely, and I thought it was more accurate and realistic than others I have read about. I really felt for most of the characters and enjoyed the respective plot twists.

The only things this book could have improved on were:

- Ability to distinguish character voice between Beatriz, Sophronia, and Daphne
- Could have gone more into depth on the magic system, there were some parts I didn't understand
- The ending felt a bit rushed

Overall, it was a good book! Entertaining and fun to read. I still can't believe they really went through with what happened at the end. I respect the author for not taking it back somehow.

My favorite book by Laura Sebastian so far! I love a good fantasy book about schemes, lies and court politics. It did take me a little bit to get used to each sister's voice. Speciafically Sophronia and Beatriz. It took about halfway through the story for their voices to be more distinct from each other. Around the halfway point in the story I was completely hooked and can't wait for the next book. Sebastian did a great job with slowly building up the world in this story. I especially loved the magic and use of stardust.

Also that ending... Cruel, but makes me excited to see where this series ends up going.

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.