Wow, just wow!! Absolutely amazing book, can’t recommend this one enough!! It was so good. This book is about our heroine Monroe who is blessed with the ability to control fire. She is forced to complete against 9 other magically gifted girls for a Prince and a Crown! Last one living gets it all. Total Hunger Game energy and I was so there for it! Just pick it up and read it, you won’t regret it.

These quotes from our main girl Monroe are too good!! 😍

"I wasn't the girl who ended up with the prince. I was the girl who burned it all down or died trying."

"I'm a damsel that has to fight a dragon all alone in the middle of an arena. And, if I win ... If I win, there's a possibility that I might become a dragon myself."

“Girls like me had two choices: kill or be killed. Die or be queen... No one had ever escaped it...Until now."

The book was so well written, I felt like I was there and the author did such a good job of world building! The characters had so much personality and the chemistry was there between Monroe and the Prince!

This book has it all and you should definitely see for yourself, until then here is a small list:
👑 Die or become Queen
🙌 High Stakes
🃏 Hunger Games energy
🦸‍♀️ Supernatural abilities
🪩 Glittering ballrooms & bloody arenas
👯‍♀️ Female friendships
🦴 Shadow and Bone vibes
❤️ First love
🧜‍♀️ Young adult fantasy

Thank you to the author Brianna Joy Crump and NetGalley for the electronic advanced copy of the book

DON’T SLEEP ON THIS BOOK!!

Wowow. This is the kind of book that will have you up late at night and reading into the wee hours of the morning; I did not want to put this down. It was so addicting; Ms. BJC, you have written a masterpiece!
It gave major Hunger Games vibes but with powers. Basically 10 girls across the land are gods blessed and have a power and they all differ. They are expected to battle against each other in The Culling, and the winner becomes Queen, with the prince her King. No one but the winner survives.
Monroe takes a liking to the Prince, Cohen, and vice versa. He wants her to win and be his queen. Problem is she would have to kill the other 9 to get there, and Monroe isn’t that type of person. But a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.
This one had two surprising antagonists to me, which become more prevalent as the uprising takes center stage. The way the book ends makes me want to immediately dive into the next book.

Thank you Wattpad Books for this INCREDIBLE read!! Definitely one of my top favorites for the year.

We are currently reading this one for a pop up book club with the author herself and in partnership with Wattpad Books and having so much fun!!!

Of Cages and Crowns is book one in The Culled Crown series by Brianna Joy Crump.
This fantastic YA fantasy was so well written.
The world building was unbelievably fun. The way the book is written is so amazing.
The story was fast-paced, held me captive the entire time, and wrapped up nicely.
The characters are truly captivating.
This was such a fun story and I’m so excited for the next one.

Thank You NetGalley and Wattpad Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I rated this book 4 stars. The cover is gorgeous but the story line seemed predictable but it was good.

I simply loved this one! While the pacing occasionally got slow for me in the middle sections, the excitement never waned, and my love for the book remain high until the final page. Fans of fantasy and adventure will fall in love with Monroe! can't wait to read more from this author!

3.5* Rounded Up

This is an interesting mix between The Hunger Games and The Selection and I enjoyed this fight to be queen with magic powers. It had some pacing issues and the romance overtook the plot a bit in the middle which made it a bit slow. The fast paced action parts in beginning and end were so exciting and the overall themes and magic system were interesting. While it had some flaws and was predictable at times it was an entertaining and fun read.

This book had me in it's frigging grip and would not let go!!! The world building was fantastic but super easy to follow, I loved the opening "creation" story so much and hope she dives into it more in the next books! Monroe was a great FMC, I've seen a lot of reviews calling her weak and honestly could not agree with that even a little. I don't think she was cowardly for not wanting to participate in the trials or wanting to survive! I really loved her relationship with her trainers, Uri, and Nadia! But of course, the romance was my fave! Cohen is just so sweet and swoon-worthy, I loved their blooming relationship and the end just broke me!!! This is definitely a brutal story, the evil queen is insane and brutal, and she was not the only horrible one! I like that the author didn't hold back on the cruelty of some of these ladies!

Holy moly, was I invested in this book! Monroe is one of my favorite characters of the year. She was tough, smart, and just generally badass. She is one of ten Goddess touched girls to be rounded up and sent to the capital to take part in a fight to the death to see who will be the next queen of the kingdom. It is a wild ride through the entire process and I could not put it down! It was almost Hunger Games-esque, with people being required to, (and some excited to) watch the girls as they were forced to kill each other in the arena. There is so much drama and action in this book that will keep you hooked for the entire book. I cannot recommend it more, you must read it!

If you love Hunger Games, you'll love this book! The storyline is unique and captivating from the very first sentence. The author manages to play on your emotions every single chapter.

The book resonates with "The Selection," but with a twist—instead of girls being sent home, they are randomly chosen to compete in an arena until only one survives. Ten goddess-touched girls must battle to the death, vying for the chance to marry the prince and become queen.

However, amidst the competition, there are hidden secrets, a formidable queen reluctant to surrender her throne, and whispers of rebellion in the background. The only downside is the cliffhanger ending, leaving readers eagerly awaiting the next installment. Nonetheless, it's a captivating read that shouldn't be missed.

Ever wondered what The Selection would be like if it was mixed with The Hunger Games? Well girlies, now we have it! Add in some magical abilities and this is the book for you. I devoured this book! There was so much action, betrayals and twists. And that ending!!! Pick this one up… you will not be disappointed!

This was an amazing book that I wished that I could give a 5 plus to. The main characters and the plot fascinated me. It reminds me of the book Selection but it still had it's unique spin that made it an intriguing and exciting book to read. I love competition books and I highly recommend this book.

Although the story line wasn't particularly unique, fans of YA fantasy, especially the Selection series will enjoy this story. I appreciated that the book didn't end on a complete cliff hanger!

This was spectacular! I loved every second of it and I can't wait for the second book. That ending 😩 don't do that to mee. It's paced pretty well, the plot is great, the characters are easy to get attached too. I don't want to say too much and give away anything! I like going in to books blind.

Thank you to NetGalley for the e-arc.

<b><i>The Selection</i> but make it stabby</b>

I would definitely recommend this for fans of <i>The Selection</i> because a lot of the elements are the same: a competition to marry a prince, rebels who want to take down the monarchy; the main character is very much an underdog, etc. The big difference is that this is has a violent aspect that was missing with the selection. Basically, there are 10 girls vying to marry the prince, but they need to defeat each other in a series of one on one battles and the last survivor marries the prince.

I really enjoyed the fighting aspects. It was unexpectedly violent in spots which definitely made the story more interesting and made the stakes feel much higher.


However, I didn’t like the romance as much as the fighting aspects. I appreciated that the book made it seem like there was no instalove (at least on his end) but I still found myself enjoying the fighting sequences more.


The writing was pretty good and the story was pretty quick and easy to read. While not a favorite fantasy of mine, I still enjoyed it quite a bit.


And that cover is absolutely stunning! I love the color scheme!!!

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

With aspects reminiscing of The Hunger Games and The Selection, this read dives into an exciting world, where magic and royalty mix with death and blood.

Monroe was born as a goddess-touched, meaning she might be one of the ten possible heirs to the throne. Like the other nine girls, she carries a magical ability, and is required to take part in a competition called the Culling to see who will marry the crowned prince to become the next queen. Gifted with the ability to command fire, Monroe's chances at winning aren't bad...if she wanted to compete. Not only is she uninterested in the throne, but she doesn't see any good in killing nine other girls to get there. In an attempt to keep her alive and away from the trials, her family has always claimed her as a son and have let her rarely be seen even in their small town on the outskirts of the kingdom. But the Culling has come, and the kingdom is in unrest thanks to starvation and a threatening war. While Monroe hopes to escape, fate has other plans...and it will take a miracle for her to survive. Not only are the other girls powerful and dangerous, but the palace harbors secrets more deadly than any of them.

While this read take a definite dystopian direction, the world holds some unique twists. There are armies with swords, palaces with secret passageways, magic, and ballrooms, which give a midieval, fantasy flair, but at the same time, there are cars (although only for the elite) and guns, which by no means make it 'modern' but add an odd embrace. The world building is never heavy but adds enough to set it up as the action takes over. It's a faster paced with plenty of fight scenes, more than a few deadly moments, some gore, quite a bit of tension, and more than a little dark intrigue.

The characters are easy to like or hate. Monroe and her friends are given depth and purpose. Their decisions are, for the most part, understandable, and the emotional moments hit enough to keep the pages turning. The enemies could use a bit more substance, but there are quite a few characters in this book, and their lack of background doesn't make the tale less entertaining. It's just a lighter, more entertaining read. There is romance, which was nicely paced, although it took over the plot more than needed, at times, as YA tends to do. But the pair is one to root for.

I did read this in one sitting, and while there were sections I found myself quick-skimming over (I'm an action girl and get bored quickly), never did I have the urge to lay it down. There are some open questions concerning the war and the Culling's purpose, which never were addressed, and there are other untied ends, which should be finding their answers in the upcoming books. This one does end on a 'to be continued' note, but book two's release isn't far off, so the wait is short. I am looking forward to diving into the second book because I do want to see what happens next.

If you are a fan of the Hunger Games, I highly recommend this book! Hunger Games is one of my favorite series and this book gave me some of those same feelings.

The story is really good and I loved the world building. This book is full of action, romance, and political intrigued and it had me hooked from the beginning! Monroe was my favorite but I do wish we got to see more of her powers. Cant wait to see where the story goes in book 2!

Brianna was a brand new author to me and I was really excited to jump into this. This was reminiscent of early 2010 YA novels with a dystopian vibe to me. There were some pretty obvious references such as Hunger Games and The Selection being two of the main ones. I thought this was a fun and easy read, but this ultimately didn't really bring anything new to the YA genre. I think a lot of people will like this, but I was hoping for more originality overall.

I would like to preface that I read this book all in one go because it was just that enjoyable for me. This book is described by reviews as The Selection meets the Hunger Games and they are not lying. It's a perfect mix of those 2 books and ends up getting you glued to your seat because you just have to know how it ends. The story deals with Monroe, one of the goddess-touched girls and her destiny is to pretty much participate in the Culling, a competition to determine the next queen of Erydia. She's gone under the radar for seventeen years, no one knowing that she has the power of fire. But circumstances lead to her deciding she no longer wants to hide and that she’ll enter the culling. There's 10 girls and if she wants to survive she has to outlive them all since it is a fight to the death. She also meets the dreamy sounding prince Cohen ( who I love so much ) and his sister Uri who is such an amazing character.
Monroe’s development throughout this book was slow at first but once she was in the castle was perfect. The only thing I wish we got to see more was her powers develop. I feel that was left out a lot since she was so used to hiding her powers but I do hope that's something we get to see in book two. I also enjoyed the romance between Monroe and Cohen. It does seem to go a little fast and then abruptly stop due to circumstances but I loved every second of it and I’m excited to see where they go. I wasn’t expecting the plot twists that were presented to me in this book either, I mean for half of the book I was trying to figure out who could be poisoning the girls and the twist of who it was was AMAZING. And all that bloodshed at the end was totally unexpected. I’m excited for book two.
Thank you to Netgalley and Wattpad WEBTOON book Group for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.