4.5 Stars

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for an ARC!

I really enjoyed this sequel and I cannot wait for a third! What a ride it was and that twist at the end was... mind blowing!

I love the story line as well as the world building. Monroe and Kai are my favorite!

I'd recommend this series to my friends.

I finished the first book and thank god had this one already approved to read next! Until tragedy struck and I could not read it due to a tech glitch, luckily Netgalley promptly fixed it!! Now to the actual review! This one started with a bang, which it had to after the ending of book one! I loved the trauma rep in this one, Monroe's flashbacks and coping with what happened during the Culling was really well done! I enjoyed this one and am still really looking forward to the next book but I did not like the direction the author went with Cohen and Monroe. I loved Cohen in book one and his not standing up to his mother or stopping the games made perfect sense to me, this guy is 18 and living in a super f*cked up situation, in a super f*cked up world. Like he wanted to change things in the only way he knew how and at the end he stepped up and killed his mother!!! At the end she realizes she loves him and this flip in book two was not it for me. I liked Kai well enough I guess but Cohen was just more for me. The ending was incredible and I am eagerly awaiting the final book!

I didn't read the first one, but trying to follow this story didn't seem to cause too much of an issue. This did come off as if there was a lot of filler in it rather than being as flushed out as it could have been. I felt like the story didn't really have much happening until the 4th part and even then stuff didn't really start clicking. The author is very engaging; I had a hard time stopping when I needed to. I liked the secondary characters. They seem fleshed out well, and we have more of their backstory.

The overall story was good, and there were some twists and turns. But the ending felt lackluster for a 500-page story.

“Because even on the darkest day here, in this goddess-forsaken place, I am alive. And if I were still in your beautiful palace, I would probably be dead —either because of your mother, or Larkin, or one of the trials. I can't regret choosing my life."

“It was fire.
It was ash.
It was smoke.”

"Please don't cry, Monroe. I don't know what to do when you cry. I can take the burning and the yelling and the cursing at me. I can handle you calling me names. I can take you not doing what I say. But the tears . .."

Well readers, it seems that we have a new obsession unlocked !!!
I remember being very intrigued and interested in the overall plot and story from book one of the Culled Crown series but this time the author brought this second instalment to a whole new level … and I loved it!!
Monroe is back, having to face everything that happened in book one. Back with old friends and some new ones. Back with her Prince, whom she has hurt a lot and has been hurt from. Back with a rebel commander who seems to be very brooding and hotheaded but at the same time can be quite sweet. Back with some wounds that need to be healed and secrets to be uncovered. Back with complicated feelings and powers that are not fully understood and battles to face. This book was basically a rollercoaster of emotions. With pain, suffering and insecurities but also friendship, strength and love and betrayal. It also has a one bed trope which … it always appreciated !!! I feel like this book brings you bad into the fantasy passion with a twist and an undeniable push. I needed that. I needed to be hooked and this is exactly how I felt since I couldn’t put the book down!! I’m so so glad I got to read it and after that cliffhanger and plot twist … I need book three !!!

"And you'll go to Hanevyr?" I asked. "When I go, you'll come with me.
Right?"
He stared at me for a long moment. His expression flickered with sadness as he turned to look out at his tent, stripped of the things hed loved so much.
"Where else would I be?"

"Careful there, darling. Playing with matches."

"Don't you dare hide yourself from me."
"Don't. I'm not afraid of you."

This book was a great second book in the series. It fleshes out the plot and the characters making it easier to understand the background to the tale. Roll on to the next one in the series.

The slow burn tension in this book is just perfection, and the one bed scene 👌🏻. I would have devoured this book had life not got in the way. I adore Briannas style of writing. I can't wait for book 3!

I have been looking forward to reading this book. The first in the series was a fun read. However, I read it over a year ago and my recollection was a bit foggy. It would have been nice to get a little brief brush up of what went down in the first book to jog my memory. This information was kind of there spread throughout the book but I still can’t remember exactly what happened in the trials and at the end of the book with the royals.
But that didn't stop me from enjoying this book. I appreciated the introduction of new characters and the transformation of previous/existing relationships. The twist at the end, while somewhat predictable, left me super curious to find out what happens from here!
I’m hopeful for more action and a good storyline in book 3.

Okay, this is the second in a series that really reminds me of The Selection or The Red Queen. Spoilers below if you haven't read the first book.

I liked this book but didn't love it. I felt it suffered from the curse of the second book. There was too much time meandering around in the plot. Monroe, Uriel, Nadia, etc. all spend months in a rebel encampment, and it feels like nothing happens. I get that they were training their powers and there were political things going on, but it just felt like there could have been more lore building or information revealed during this time period. Instead, there was an info dump in the last 25% of the book.

I will say the author is very engaging; I had a hard time putting this book down. I loved how conflicted Monroe was over her actions and how she just wanted to be left alone. The secondary characters were fleshed out really well, and we got more information about the backstory of some of the other goddess-touched girls. Also, whoever edited this book, shame on you. There were so many typos and grammatical errors. It drove me nuts!

The overall story was good, and there were some twists and turns. I don't think the ending paid off as well as it could have, but it will be interesting to see what the next book holds.

Thanks to NetGalley and Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group for the ARC; all opinions are my own.

Book 2 of the Cages and Crown series was just as good as the first one, and like the first one it ended on a cliffhanger.

This one picks up right where the first one left off, deep into the Revolution. Don’t want to say too much-but book two releases later this month and it is a good time to start book one.

I remembered Liking the first book but I didn’t take the time to reread it before starting this one. I would recommend that although it did seem like there were some major swerves as compared to book 1. This book is kind of slow; only a few things really happen despite continuing to read. The main baddie is a bit meh. I guess I will read the next one when it comes out. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Nothing is as it was before, leaving room for unknown dangers, growing mistrust, and intrigue beneath the intrigue.

After killing the King and Queen, Monroe and her 'friends' from the Culling find themselves with the rebels. Not only were the promises of an open armed invitation null and void, all of them find themselves teetering on a thin line just off of execution. A new fight for survival begins, one which is very different than the Trials. Wounds, inside and out, are tough to heal, especially when the difference between friends and foe is blurred all over again. Monroe's a constant breath's distance from death, and this time, her powers are the last thing that can save her.

First off, yay to having the second book releasing so quickly after book one! Not only does that keep disappointment after the first ending at bay, but the story is still fresh and anticipation high. So, extra kudos on that front.

This book doesn't start off where the last one ended...not exactly. (But this does need to be read as a series, since each book builds off the last.) We find Monroe captured by the rebels, separated from her group, in bad circumstances. While grabbing, I did stop reading twice to see if and where I'd missed part of the story. Instead, the happenings between the escape from the palace to Monroe's beginning in the prison occur in flashbacks over the next chapters. I'm not a huge fan of that approach.

Anyway, this book takes many surprising twists and turns, and flips everything on its head. It does a great job diving into the area of dealing with trauma and re-orientation. This was especially well done with the other two goddess-touched girls and Uri, and added quite a bit of character depth. Monroe's brother also returns, which adds a touch more on the sibling front. Monroe doesn't show much growth during this second book (unfortunately), since her head is busy more with the romance side of things and melding into the new circumstances. The action was notched down, too, thanks to the increased romance and building of a couple new characters. Instead, the threat from the palace and the growing war runs more in the background with a few high-tension moments tossed in here and there to remind that there's still a huge danger to deal with...although this does increase toward the end.

This book mostly hovers around Monroe's attempt to reorientate herself in the rebel camp and mentally deal with what she's gone through so far. Relationships formed during the Trial, both bad and good, are re-molded, and this takes time. The heaviest hitting of these is the one with Cohen as he slides into the background, at first, and a new character fills in the space to create the rift. The switching of gears is refreshing, in some ways, but unfortunately, not quite convincing to the reasons behind it, leaving the romance end with a slight sense of being off-balance. This also makes the end of this read hit a little weird, on that end. Monroe herself is more clumsy in this read, and while still to root for, doesn't come across with the same lovely strength as before.

There were many unexpected moments, exciting aspects, and grabbing twists, and it will be interesting to see how everything ties together in the last book. Because the third one in this series has the potential to be very good.

4.5⭐️ Excuse you, Miss Brianna Joy Crump for what you put me and these characters through.

So far I’ve really enjoyed this series. We started where we left off in the first book, Of Cages and Crowns. We were introduced to new characters with the Culled Rebels and we had some character developments from book 1–Nadia, Heidi, Uri and Hugo were more developed. One thing I didn’t like is Prince Cohen and his and Monroe’s friendship/relationship/situationship wasn’t as developed as I would’ve liked it to be during this book.

The ending left us on a cliff hanger with a plot twist, along with some trauma, but this was anticipated once Monroe found some old letters.

I can’t wait for the third book, but Brianna, I swear you better be working overtime to redeem yourself not only for the cliffhanger but the trauma’s us readers endured because of you.

Thank you to NetGalley, Wattpad Webtoon Publishing Group and Brianna Joy Crump for providing an ARC for me to read and review.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. (via Netgalley)

4.5 stars. DANG THAT ENDING AND I'M SUPPOSED TO JUST WAIT FOR THE NEXT ONE??? I had a theory about one of the plot points and while I was *technically* correct I did not expect the end to unravel quite the way it did. I need the next one please!

I really, really liked Of Cages and Crowns. I recommend it to basically any of my kids looking for a new fix after they come off their Hunger Games binge. However, Of Princes and Poisons didn't have that same charm I really liked in the first book. I really like Monroe's guts and how she wanted to fight against the system in the first book, so I felt that it was a bit of a character turn for her in the 2nd book. Crump does an excellent job of wading through the trauma, and setting up a second male love interest. I will definitely continue loving this series, but I hope the 3rd book is the shining star I know it can be after this one.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

4 girls left touched by the Goddess survived. With the king and queen gone things are a mess.
Monroe has a new love interest , Kai.
Though the ending was so sad and devastating so hopefully the next book brings the story full circle.
If you like fantasies this series so far is a good one. I don’t want to give away too much but there is a lot of adventure and action and things will make sense.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

The instant flips in emotions had me confused and left me wanting but I kept reading. There were a lot of flashbacks, and with it a lot of trauma explaining so many details. It does have a big twist I didn't see coming though and has left me eager for book three.

I felt like this book was a lot slower than the first one in regards to how the story and plot moved along. I will say that I have found these books to be so addicting to read and I had a hard time putting it down. The writing, world building, and plot is phenomenal and I cannot recommend this series enough.

Thank you to Brianna Hoy Crump, Wattpad, and Netgalley for this e-ARC! If Princes and Poison is an excellent follow up to Of Cages and Crowns, continuing Monroe’s story.

Any YA romantasy lover would be a fan of this story. It continues the competition games style story while having an interesting magic system and messy politics.

I look forward to whatever comes next!

“I wanted something real. Something I could trust. Something that would stay with me.”

“Of Princes and Poisons,” by Brianna Joy Crump

Ten girls are born with magic and marked with it on their skin, these girls battle to find the next queen when the time comes. When Monroe is born with fire magic, her mother intended to keep her safe by hiding her away her entire life. But when time for the Culling happens, she cannot run from what she must do. She is captured and brought to the palace to fight and defeat the other girls in arenas to become the next queen. Cohen, the prince, cannot fight the tradition of the Culling, no matter if he believes in it or not.

I loved this series so much. This is book two of the Culled Crown series, and it was so good. I didn’t think I could love this one more than the first, but I did. I loved the love interest dynamic so much; I wasn’t expecting it at all. I seriously cannot wait for the next book! In this book I got to see more of the world instead of mostly the castle area and I ate up every second. I loved the rebellion aspect, and the characters were so good, even better than book one. 5 out of 5 stars!!!

-Magic
-Political Intrigue
-Marriage Selection
-Royalty
-Rebellion

Thank you for the ARC, Netgalley.

Overall, I still enjoyed this book and where this series is going, but there were some issues that stuck out to me while reading. It felt like this version had been through a major rewrite and there were areas that hadn't been fixed and it was unclear on a few names or some jolting transitions between scenes. If there's time to do one last sweep of edits, I think the book would benefit.

That being said, this is a second book in the trilogy and that comes with it's own messy pros and cons.

Pros: I really love this world and the idea behind the goddess touched girls. Monroe's character developed well throughout this iteration and has a good protectory of where she can go next. Exciting twist at the end to help with the title. Last few chapters were fast-paced and leave readers wanting to know what happens next.

Cons: There was a lot of build-up for a certain character to be the bad guy and a twist at the end that ignored all the questions about her, so I wish there was more resolution for the sudden drop-off. The rising action seemed a little tedious at times as it was moving from book 1 to the potential of book 3 but there was not a lot of gains or needs fulfilled within the book itself. I prefer when Book 2s have it's own purpose even if it is smaller scale. How this one is acts more as a stepping stone to some place but isn't a destination on its own. I wish there was more development between Monroe, Nadia, and Heidi. There is potential to write some strong female relationships here but instead they are still catty with each other and not reliable as friends. I would have loved to see more of their relationship instead of Kai and Monroe only.

A very Hunger Games-inspired series, there were a few things a little too on the nose for me especially in a Uri/Peeta based scene. The world and the ideas are fun and inspiring, but it is time for Crump to develop on her own.

Again, overall I still love these books and am looking forward to seeing the last book, especially since I'm confident it will make some of my questions from Book 2 make more sense in context.