Member Reviews
3.75⭐️ This book was so much fun and such an interesting reimagining on the typical Arthurian legend inspired book.
Veyka and Arran have such a steamy romance and the whole time reading I just wanted them to admit their feelings for each other and stop playing around- a true enemies to lovers slowburn. *chefs kiss*
The only downfall for me was the political system, sometimes I found myself questioning who each person in the council was and what their role was. I also wished we got to spend more time with Gawayn or see him protect Veyka more so when he ultimately turns on her it hits that much harder.
After that ending I can not wait to pick up the second book and I know it’s going to be even better than this one
Thank you to NetGalley, Emberly Ash, and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for an ARC copy of "Crown of Earth and Sky".
"Crown of Earth and Sky" by Emberly Ash is a spellbinding tale that weaves together elements of mythology, romance, and fantasy to create a captivating narrative that will leave readers enchanted.
At the heart of the story is Veyka Pendragon, a queen thrust into power under dubious circumstances. As she navigates the treacherous waters of her court, Veyka finds herself entangled in a web of betrayal and secrets.
Emberly Ash's "Crown of Earth and Sky" is a must-read for fans of mythology, fantasy, and romance. With its compelling characters, intricate plot, and lush world-building, it is sure to captivate readers from beginning to end. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a thrilling and immersive literary escape.
I enjoyed this story. It was a fun read from the beginning. The world building and character development was very good. I liked the murder mystery aspect of the book and found it well combined with the enemies to lovers MC’s. It was a page turner and it m looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
A different take on an old story that grabs you from the very beginning and does let go.
I. Ant fault this book and the cliffhanger has you hanging by the finger nails I loved all character especially the MFC and MMC and enjoyed watching the grow and piece together who they really are.
I can’t wait book two.
3.5⭐️
*Thanks to NetGalley for approving me as an ARC reader of this book in exchange for an honest review. It’s been my first ARC to read and I’ve been glad to have been given the opportunity and to have been trusted for this.*
“You can try to run, Princess, the best inside of me growled. But I will always find you.”
I’ve to admit I wasn’t convinced I was going to like it at the first half part of the book. It gave me the sensation of a book being too centred on the romance (in a s*xual way) rather than the fantasy plot itself and it made me feel it might be another shallow Romantasy book focused mainly on s*x scenes. Veyka, the main female character, gave the impression that she was behaving as a teenager in her worst growing phase, acting on whims without any logic and giving in to drugs, s*x and vengeance, which emphasised that general feeling of the book being as I described above. However, this changes in the last half of the book, where he see the real political plot unravel. And, let me tell you, the ending is just dhowndidlakdbi. I need to read the second one haha
One aspect I didn’t like is that I felt the author was over-objectifying the female main character by emphasising all the time how big her breasts were and describing her body type repeatedly in general, especially in the first half of the book. I mean, I don’t think it’s that important to know how characters look like physically, but descriptions of them are appreciated if they are not repeated. Just telling once or twice makes me already aware of it, there’s no need to be constantly conscious of it.
I also felt she, Veyka, had much more pressure than Arran (the male counterpart and king-to-be) to demonstrate she is qualified to be a queen. That’s just a reflection of the society they live in but I just felt sad to see all the time her being scrutinised for everything.
“I didn’t want it. I’d never wanted it. All I’d ever wanted, my entire life, was freedom. But I’d gone from one cage to another.”
I liked how Veyka evolves from being a childish girl seeking vengeance and wanting to scape from reality to a strong woman mentally ready to leave the past behind and face her responsibilities. I also find it beautiful to see how she doesn’t feel lonely anymore because she realise she has friends, members of the court willing to stand by her side.
“The darkness tried to consume me. But this time, I looked up and saw the stars.”
Overall, I enjoyed this book. I think the world-building was original and coherent. I liked the final part much more than the first one since it was more focused on the fantasy and political plot.
*Goodreads Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6122653091
*I end up reading the version on Kindle Unlimited and posted the review there as well (under Amazon 's agents' review right now)
*Eventually I will post it on my Instagram books account, which is https://www.instagram.com/_bungakushoujo_/
She was everything I'd suspected. And more. So much fucking more.
I pressed my lips to the back of his hand. I whispered against his skin. "I see you--all of you. And I am not afraid."
I'd kill anyone who tried to touch her and offer her their severed heads as a gift.
we find in this book :
Arranged Marriage
Forced Proximity
Enemies to Lovers
Arthurian Fae Fantasy Realm
Dual POV
Court Politics and Intrigue
Spicy Adult Scenes
MINE!
i love this book because we have a steamy,dark and fae fantasy read for adults and it is great.Veyka and Arran is in my heart especially your sexual tension ....it was so much intense .the fantasy world that we find in this book is absolutely wowwwwwwwwwwwww. .there is a cliffhanger ...i can t wait to read the sequel .thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the arc .My review is totally my thoughts.Anna
I wanted to love this one but sadly it was just not good. The writing style was fine I think it was just the story/plot and the characters. This one was just not for me at all. I do hope that it finds its readers.
Very suddenly, Veyka (the FMC) finds herself the Faerie Queen of the Kingdom of Annwyn. To keep the peace between the two different factions of Fae, Veyka must marry 7 foot tall and nothing but muscle, Brutal Prince (aka Arran, the MMC).
Right away, Veyka and Arran are DTF, and do so quite often😍 Which is what *I'm* here for, but Veyka is projecting some "Runaway Bride" vibes and poor Arran might be left behind..
On top of this, Veyka has some revenge to seek, fae are dying, humans are showing up asking for help against these demon shadow people - the list goes on, but it was all great. I didn't feel like anything was just heaped on-top of each other, and everything flowed well.
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
✨ Dual POVs
✨ Fae magic 💫
✨ Enemies to lovers 💞
✨ Found Family
✨ Stabby FMC
Veyka suffers a very personal loss in the beginning of the book, and I felt the author not only acknowledges Veyka's grief but actually lets her feel said grief. Sometimes authors tend to sweep these types of themes in order to push the story along, but this grief was very much Veyka's experience and shapes a lot of her personality throughout the book.
The book ends in a 🔥🔥 cliffhanger and I immediately jumped into book 2!
Also, if you sign up for the author's newsletter you can access some bonus content!
* Thank you to NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for my honest review *
5 stars - 5 stars - 5 stars.
Pick up this book and read it as soon as you can! Don't love chapter 1? KEEP READING.
Amazing story, amazing characters and oh the spice was divine!
1. Did you find the story interesting, and did it hold your interest?
Yes, the story was a retelling of Arthurian legend involving humans and Fae characters with different powers. It was the kind of book you pick up and don't want to put down even though you have responsibilities to get on with.
So you stay up to 3am and then you buy the next book in series without sleeping....
2. Did the writing, plot, and characterizations flow?
Both - the main characters were amazing (likeable in that - you annoy me with your decisions - way). I really enjoyed how the story flowed - it made sense throughout.
3. Did you enjoy the characters? Did you find yourself rooting for the "good guys", and hoping the "bad guys" get their come-up pence?
Yes! Give me more! It was great having a plus size character - i do think the chest descrptions every 20 pages or so could of been omitted - we got it she has a beautiful pair haha.
4. Overall, did you enjoy the read, or not, and would you recommend it your friends?
Yes, would recommend it and always have.
Went and bought the next book in the series to read immediately.
5 Stars!
I was uncertain about whether or not I would like this read based on the "dark romantasy" description and trigger warnings at the beginning, but I'm glad that I took a chance on it! I thought the take on the Arthur tale and the world-building was well-thought-out and carefully designed. One thing that I greatly appreciated was that Vekya was not your typical waif of a main character - instead, she's described as a curvy and strong leading lady throughout the book... and she doesn't apologize for it! There were some spicy scenes, but they flowed easily within the context of the story and enhanced the plot and character development. I definitely plan to read the next book book, Throne of Air and Darkness! I'm thankful to NetGalley and the independent publisher for getting the chance to read the first book in The Secrets of the Faerie Crown trilogy. An absolute recommend to my fellow romantasy readers!
This is the first book in the series, and what a start! It's a 4.5 stars for me.
This dark romantasy is an arthurian-fae retelling with an arranged marriage and enemies to lovers.
Veyka and Arran story is passionate with political issues.
Can't wait to read the second book.
- Thank you NetGalley for giving me a free copy in exchange of an honest review -
*Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review*
This is a pretty spicy romantasy retelling of the arthurian legend. Veyka Pendragon ascends the throne after her twin brother arthur was murdered. Never having imagined to lose her brother or to one day be Queen, Veyka falls into a deep depression all while planning to avenge her brother.
The story starts off strong with the brother murder and the heroine subsequently adapting self destroying behavior. She is forced to be faced with this and reflect on it when she is to wed Arran in an arranged marriage to unite their fae kingdoms. He is first disappointed by her apathy towards ruling the fae realm but tries to understand her and help her execute her revenge plans later on.
This was very spicy, action ridden and with a big fat mean cliffhanger at the end, so obviously I immediately started reading the second book.
The heroine is real and flawed, as is the hero. The world building may not be overly complicated, but it's exactly the type of fantasy story line I like. The cast of characters is vast and I hope to see more of them in the next installment.
Though I did enjoy this book, it was sort of hard to get through. There were many errors that the editor missed, which was annoying. I have up annotating them after a while. You can still understand what's happening, but it's distracting. I felt like the two main characters' intense hate for each other was...well, too intense. Why they hated each other so much doesn't make sense to me (even after having just finished the second book) and just seemed extremely misplaced. On top of that, the hate sex was also out of place and not good. I just wanted them to get it over with and move on.
With all of that being said, the story is very good. I love fantasy, magic, fairies, etc. and this was a fresh take on all of that with a new world to explore. I'm not big into the Knights of the Round Table thing, but I like the way that is incorporated into the book. The main character, Veyka, has been through some horrible things but comes out strong in spite of it, rather than play the victim. She's also plus sized, which is amazing. Love that representation. Veyka and the other main characters definitely grow during this book, which is something I always look for in series like this. Having just finished the second book, I can say that they continue to grow and face tons of more interesting situations in book two.
Despite some issues, this was a good book and the second was even better. I totally recommend. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.
3.5 stars! Overall this was an enjoyable read with a nice amount of spice. I am definitely planning to continue the series.
Liked:
Arthur 😍- pretty sure he sets the record for characters I've fallen in love with and then had my heart broken by.
The gradual opening up of the FMC to the MMC while simultaneously allowing herself to start feeling and caring again was fantastically done.
Disliked:
The transition from the FMC hating the MMC to lusting after him felt very sudden this may be because of the altering POVs but I would've like to have seen a slower build.
Pace can seem to drag a little at some points.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This room took a lot longer then I thought it would to finish
I read the reviews prior to starting and I really thought I’d enjoy this one.
I found it really difficult to connect with both the main characters I felt like they lacked depth.
I didn’t like the spice I thought it was really forced with no chemistry and no build up.
I think the plot was a great idea just the characters that let it down for me sorry
*This book was gifted by netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!*
You can’t go wrong with a Fae romance 👀✨🤷🏻♀️ I just gotta start off by saying the dedication page TOOK.ME.OUT! Sobbing man sobbing. This book had me wanting to cry left and right. The sibling love, the devastation and grief, the companionship and found family, the frustration, anger and sadness felt on behalf of Veyka. This book was a wild ride and I loved every second.
I was ready to throw hands with everyone for Veyka. That girl went through hell and lost her brother and yall just waltz in expecting her to be okay. I’d fight Arran even man I swear LIKE SHIFT I DARE YOU! Freaking you don’t deserve that woman. All “everyone would be better off if she was dead” one second to “hot mama let me protect you and get between them legs” the next. Better grow up in the next book big man 🤺
Towards the end of the book I swear I think I stopped breathing. The last like 7 or 6 chapters had me feeling like I was gonna throw up. All I can say is Parys at the end and every event with Cyara had me screaming at the screen.
Side note…the spice was 🌶️spicing🌶️ twas delectable ate up every bit of it left nooooooo crumbs. 10/10
ooh, another one of King Arthur's retelling.
I just loved this one. good writing good story and an awesome vibe.
A detailed review is coming :)
Crown of Earth and Sky by Emberly Ash is an enchanting opening for a series that I will certainly be following into book two.
What Worked for me
-Excellent pacing
-good use of dialogue and scene transition
-well rounded character development
what didn't work for me as well
-By the nature of this book being the first in a series it does lack a certain catharsis to completing my read through.
*Special note*
This book will be excellent for readers who love Arthurian fantasy and want a story that feed their fae obsession at the same time.
The writing flowed seemlessly. I found myself flipping through the pages with ease and really getting lost in this world that the author created. There was quite a lot of repetition when it came to the dialogue. I felt as if our characters were constantly saying the same thing over and over again.
I loved how this story was inspired by King Arthur and I enjoyed the way the author bent the classic tale to create her lush fae world filled with interesting characters and heart racing events. There were a lot of in between action moments that allowed us to get to know the characters better but still enough action to keep readers turning the pages.
I did feel as though a lot of the characters motivitions were hidden from the readers and while the overall branching theme of revenge was there, I was we were privy to some of the more finer details when it came the plan.
I really enjoyed reading about these characters. Our fmc is stubborn but heroic and able to stand her ground and I felt like our MMC was actually just a bit cinnamon roll. This book has some smut scenes so be warned! I wouldve loved for the romantic relationship between the two main characters to be more explored. I think a lot of fell between the trope of ""there is a fine line between love and hate".
That being said, I liked the side characters and eagerly look forward to seeing their characters grow!
ARC reader for NetGalley
Absolutely loved this story! And that ending… wham! It may carry names from Arthurian legend, but it is its own adventure entirely. Perfect amount of spice 🌶🌶🌶 I can’t wait to see what the next volume brings.