Total fantasy series. Let me be clear - I don't normally read fantasy but I saw this opportunity. to listen from Netgalley and thought it might be fun. It was.

This is the first book in a series and it is well thought out and executed. I will say that following all the characters, lands and their skillsets was challenging via audio but that did not stop me from listening on. The narration itself is excellent.

It is a long book. The narration was well done but if I pick up the second book I will likely read it. Just a personal preference in this type of book.

Thanks to #Netgalley and the publisher

I was enjoying the story but I feel like this book is something I would have to read myself to fully enjoy it. Since it has so many characters with different plots going on it was hard to keep track of who was who when listening to it. I also didn't care for the narrator that much. She was passionate but some of the accents made it hard to understand.

This was a really good book 📖 and it had a very good plot!! It got boring at times but it was pretty good and it’s a definite must read!

First things first thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to review this audiobook.

I would say that I didn’t enjoy the audiobook that much that also hindered me to enjoy the overall study.

With that being said, I did glimpse the well created world building so I probably would go for the book soon.

I just don't think this was the book for me at the stage that I'm at in fantasy literature. I wanted to branch out and read more complex adult high/epic fantasy. I definitely see why people compare it to Game of Thrones. However, the amount of characters I had to keep up with was hard for me to juggle at times, but I view this as more of a personal problem than an issue with the writing, world building, or character development. The story also felt very long, so if you're interested in this book, I would definitely give it a go, but be sure to buckle in!

TW: rape and sexual assault, domestic abuse, incest, murder/violence/brutality

👑This book was really good! The 𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘁 was unique and well thought out. Similar to Game of Thrones this was an adult fantasy. The oldest daughters of the ruling families in the kingdom are set to be sent to the King trussed up as his brides. The parents of the daughters acquiesce, as the only other option is war. But… the children have other plans in mind.
👑I LOVED LOVED LOVED the 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 in this novel. The setup of the 4 reaches and the holding where the magic users stay, plus so many more aspects, was set up flawlessly. The characters were also well developed and like-able, yet the aren’t perfect and the don’t just have victory and a happy life handed to them. Once again similar to Game of Thrones in the way that the characters go through some real hard shit.
👑One thing I didn’t like was the million point of views telling the story. Each chapter was told from another perspective and as the book went on, that made it extremely difficult for me to keep all the characters straight. It took away from the story for me. I wasn’t able to get as engrossed as I would have liked.
👑I’m still hooked though. I can’t wait to see wait happens next in this world and since the next book in this series Kingdom of the White Sea is already published, I won’t have to wait long! (I hope 😂)

Okay, I almost DNF this book, which would have been my first. It wasn't anything the author or narrator did, both were amazing. It was the way I was listening to the story. I don't usually read, high fantasy, which after this I seriously need to change, so when I listen to an audiobook, I am doing something else, such as cleaning or working out. This is usually fine for me, but with this story, I was getting so confused because the world building was a lot of detail. The audiobook is super long too, so it was getting frustrating. So, I told myself to take a break and come back to it, and that's what I did. I took a break and when I came back, I just focused on the story. I am so glad I did too, because while the world building is slow, it's so good. The narrator does a fantastic job voicing all the many characters, and I was utterly hooked on the story. The plot felt original to me, although it does have a Game of Thrones vibe to it, and I liked all the characters, even the horrible ones.

Now I did have to deduct points because the ending was so abrupt/cliffhanger-ish which I absolutely hate, but I get it. It's okay though, I am still going to get the rest of the series, although I might get the book instead of the audiobook.

3 5 ⭐⭐⭐

This book has been in my TBR for almost a year now and I finally get to read it. We follow several character views, but each of them belong to different families. It's about a promise that was given years ago to the king and who is now requesting it is only the problem that the 4 brides have disappeared. I was really excited about this book, but I imagined something else, even if I'm happy that it was Epic Fantasy, I still read it at the wrong time. I found the writing style good and easy to read. Because I clearly had problems getting into the story and also because different perspectives were pretty confusing, especially the first half of the book. Still, I have to say that I found the story interesting and how the world was built and everything leads to you. In particular, it gave me a lot of GOT vibes (I still haven't read it) which I found fascinated but sometimes also something that wasn't. The perspectives of the different families was interesting to see and special because everything I knew each other but also caused a lot of confusion because I sometimes did not come with them. But the Balckwoods in particular interested me the most and I shared the excitement. All in all it was a bit difficult to get in, even if it got better in the meantime, but I found that I read the story at the wrong time and therefore couldn't give it the attention it deserved. But overall it was still exciting and I definitely want to continue with the series in the future.

Just finished this one, and it has become one of my instant favorites. It has action, suspense and drama. I love how everything is always twisting and changing! It keeps the reader guessing what will come next, or how a certain scenario will play out.
All the characters were extremely smart, and capable, which are virtues that I really admire, and respect. Because on some books they just have one smart character that almost always is the one carrying the story, but in this one, all of them were complex and well written.
Overall, this book is one of the best I’ve ever read, and I’m surprised that I have never seen or heard of this series before. Will totally recommend to all of my friends and followers. This story is more suited to young adults and adults, due to some specific scenes that are definitely not PG13. If I could give this one 100/5 I will.

DNF - 30%

I was really looking forward to listening to The Kingless Crown after being approved to review it; however, it was a bumpy ride. While I initially thought the story would be exciting, giving me A Song of Ice and Fire vibes, I quickly got confused with all of the characters and plots that were being introduced. It was like every chapter had a new story and, without the help of the narrator changing her voice to show who was speaking, I felt it impossible to keep up. Nevertheless, I decided to trek on in hopes that things would start to become clearer as the characters and I got acquainted.

While I’m amazed I lasted for as long as I did, I couldn’t find the drive to keep going. Though the story was starting to get interesting (after 7 hours), I wasn’t excited enough to find out what happened next. With such anti-climatic plots, I had no desire to see if the characters achieved their quests or if war broke out. I wish things were different, but there was just no way I was going to spend another 14 hours listening to the narrator completely butcher the Scottish accent. Publishers, if you’re reading this and preparing to record an audiobook, please make sure that when a narrator says they can do a Scottish accent, that it’s genuine and not some ear-bleeding nonsense that insults my father’s homeland!

*Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with a pre-release copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.*

This is based solely on the audiobook. I had a hard time following along and keeping the characters straight. When the narrator gave them an accent, she did a good job in distinguishing between people but I had a hard time understanding some of them. This is a book better read physically and not listened to for me. The detail was good but I need to read it myself to keep everyone straight.

This book was very intense, just as the summary promises!
I think if you're a fan of political dramas/fantastical plots such as in GOT, this may be a great book to check out.

I personally enjoyed the narrator and recommend it in audiobook format.

Some may be thrown by the writing style, though I personally think that's up to preference.

I had to DNR this at 13%. I can't even explain why I disliked this so much. I really did not connect with this at all and did not enjoy the audio narration at all.

First, I want to say that this review is for the audiobook version provided via NetGalley (thank you!). With that said, this is NOT the format for this story. Halfway through, I was still trying to figure out who was who. By 2/3, I gave up caring. Yet, this is exactly the genre I love and the story, itself, is compelling. There is a young spoiled king who demands that his high-born subjects give their daughters, of which four will be wed to him. If they refuse, it is treason, but the children, some of whom are possessed by magic, run away heading to the Hinterlands out of the reach of the king. The story follows their various journeys, the horrible circumstances they encounter along their way, and their parent anguish. There are so many characters…..too many characters. I will read the printed version when it comes out.

I have to confess that I was slightly more than confused when I began reading this book; however, I thought it amazingly clever of Sarah Cradit to provide the best cheat sheet at the beginning of the entire thing. This really helped me keep everyone in line and I found myself flipping back and forth.

This book, WOW! What can I really say? This is a masterpiece. The way in which the author paints not one or two scenes but a MULTITUDE of interlocking in-a-twisted-kind-of-way storylines just blew me away.

This epic tale has magic, shapeshifting sorcerers, betrayal, deception, secrets, sacrifice, love, loss, and cliffhanging plot twists that make for an amazing adventure. Bad news is that you will more than likely get so tangled within this web, you will lose sleep to finish it. Good news is there are 2 more books in the series! Definitely a must read!

I called it quits on this audiobook with only four hours left into it. While the premise sounded like it would be full of adventure (this sort of happened), strong female characters (there definitely were some awesome, strong female characters), and a fight for a crown, there were plot points the author chose that I just couldn't take any more.

There is a huge cast of characters in this story and nearly all of them get their own point of view featured, which bogged down the storyline and made it hard to keep track of who was connected to what. Some of those side characters who didn't get their own points of view were subjected to rapes that added absolutely nothing to the story and were treated almost casually by the author. I threw in the hat when one of the only male characters who held a positive view of women was on his way to being killed. In my mind, he will forever be alive because I just couldn't handle any more of the negativity aimed toward women.

One of the highlights of this audiobook, however, is the phenomenal performance by the narrator, Kimberly M. Wetherell. She had clear, distinct voices for each character - and there were a lot of them - and the accents definitely gave it a Scottish vibe. If the book hadn't bothered me so much I would have continued with it just to hear more of Wetherell's performance. It was so impressive and the reason why I gave this book three stars.

This was a very good fantasy book and I think the only one I read this year. This would have been way better if it had fewer POVs since there are so many that it confuses you. It is also written in third person so it is even harder to understand who’s talking. I did not understand everything that happened because of this, but I did very enjoy the plot

I received the audiobook via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The narrator was amazing. There are so many characters and she was able to give each one their own voice.

Before I finished the audiobook, I already ordered the next book. This is an epic fantasy with rich characters and backstory.

Trigger warnings: sexual assault, attempted assault, violence, incest, domestic violence, child abuse

The Kingless Crown is a high fantasy narrating the journey about a noble family. It narrates the process of the journey while giving us an insight of the characters and the history about the lands and noble generations. I specifically enjoyed Sarah’s writing. It was magical in every sense. While it was a high fantasy it was easy to understand because the world building was communicated through the characters.

However, the characters weren’t memorable. There were so many characters it was difficult, as a reader, to follow through everyone’s personality and struggles. After sometime, it was easier to catch up but it would have been better if they weren’t so many characters to start with.

I received an audiobook, so it was my first experience listening a narration. The narrator was incredible. The way the voice and the accents changed with every character made the story telling unique.

I would recommend the book to readers that enjoy epic journeys with the magic fantasy gives us. Although, I felt it was mostly slow paced.

I loved it. The narration was very well done and the story kept you invested the whole way through. It is very comparable to Game of Thrones except we can actually finish the series in our lifetime! I can't wait to read the next two books.