Monroe has spent her entire life hiding. Her fire magic means she's marked for the Culling - a death match to crown the next queen. When the prince comes of age and the announcement is made, she tries to flee into a neighboring kingdom only to march into the arms of the crown. Can Monroe reconcile who she is and who she needs to be to survive?

I have mixed feelings about this one. I like Monroe and some of the other characters, but prince Cohen didn't work for me. The villains were over the top - clearly sociopaths and prone to violence - yet Monroe's actions are seen as a "betrayal" The book has pretty good pacing and the ending leaves most of the plot shattered. Other than some suspicious character choices, this is a decent hunger-games style fantasy adventure.

<b>Your choice is to die running from it or die fighting for it.</b>

This was a wild ride packed full of secrets, plotting, revenge and perseverance.

Our FMC, Monroe, is a goddess-touched (meaning she holds supernatural powers), that was called to participate in a Culling (cue Hunger Games vibes), to determine the next Queen of Erydia. Each goddess-touched girl is expected to fight with their power and strength until there is only one left standing.

Monroe, spending her life hiding her gifts, gets caught trying to escape with one of her brothers, and is thrown into the palace to compete in the Culling. There she meets Rebels, the Culled, who need her help to overthrow the Kingdom and right the Kingdom’s wrongs all over the world, once and for all. There’s a major problem though, she meets the prince, Cohen, and her growing affection towards him presents a challenge in trying to free Erydia of their terrible ruling.

The first book in the series—it features solid world building and character development. Even the side characters I have grown to either adore or hate simply by the writing provoking emotions.

This book contains friendships, deceits, betrayals…all in the name of freedom from the world suffering under the current rulers. It’s a wild ride, that I will tell you, and I don’t want to give too much away so just pick the darn book up.

Off to venture into book 2!

Thank you to NetGalley, Wattpad Publishing and author Brianna Crump for the ARC copy to read and review. I absolutely devoured it.

This book was absolutely phenomenal and completely took me by surprise. Set in a dystopian country, ten girls grow up across the nation with special powers, thought of as “goddess touched.” When the prince of Erydia comes of age, the girls are sent to compete in “The Culling,” a series of trials where they must fight to the death (a bit reminiscent of The Hunter Games and The Selection). Main character Monroe Benson grew up in the outskirts hiding her power of fire, but is caught trying to escape as the trials are beginning and forced to compete. She forms an unlikely relationship with Prince Cohen, his sister Uri, another goddess touched girl, and her trainers, amidst lots of palace politics and the impending trials.

This sucked me in completely. The world building was spot on: not too complicated to understand and just intriguing enough to keep the pages turning. I was on the edge of my seat every step of the way. The pacing for the first half was a little bit slow as weeks took place between trials, but it allowed for more development of all the relationships. There were also only a select few actual trials. By 70% of the book, I believe only two had taken place (and some girls kept mysteriously dying) and I wished there had been a bit more time spent in the arena, or at the very least emphasis on each girl’s respective gift. Other than that, I truly loved Monroe’s empathy and tenacity. I felt like I was truly experiencing everything along with her. I loved how her relationship with Cohen progressed and her internal turmoil between her feelings for him and her urges to fight for the rebellion. She was an incredible main character.

I can’t wait to read the second book and eventually the third - I’m officially hooked! I hope this series gets the recognition it deserves.

Fans of the Hunger Games? This one is for you. Don't even question it, just pick it up and give it a go. It's unputdownable. When I tell you this book had me glued to my seat for hours, captivated by the world Brianna created for us I am not kidding. I loved the world-building, the storyline, and the romance. There’s so much action and political intrigue, and it’s a pretty intense read. I can see why others have compared it to The Hunger Games and The Selection.

“You can die unloved and sheltered- or you can lean into whatever this is and live for as long as you can.”

“Of Cages and Crowns,” 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 one of the Culled Crown series, and it was so good. It reminded me of The Hunger Games but a marriage selection situation. The characters are good, but the main character was perfect. I loved her fire, I loved her menacing ways, I loved how she cared a lot about her family, I liked the inner turmoil of her feelings of being loved by a boy in fight with her feelings of not wanting to kill a bunch of girls to get it. The plot and world were super interesting. Loved every second, 5 out of 5 stars.

-Magic
-Political Intrigue
-Marriage Selection
-Royalty

Thank you for the ARC, Netgalley.

The Hunger Games meets The Selection with a lot of twists that keep you turning the pages and wondering why the world building is the way that it is. Some of it is interesting, but some of it isn't believable either. There's an interesting balance to that to keep you reading if you can look past some of the unbelievable moments though.

This was a very interesting read. Takes place in a Dystopian period which I think those are pretty cool. Something like the Hunger Games but (in my opinion) better. I could not put this one down I actually read it in one day. It has everything you would like to see in a story. Romance, Action, betrayal, lies, emotion and etc. It's about a young girl named Monroe Benson who is a "Goddess Touched" girl with powers that her create flames at her fingertips. Imagine having that power in the palm of you hand. There are 9 other girls with the same powers and they are are going to battle to be a queen. Except Monroe doesn't want that and so the journey begins. Eyrdia was ruled by an evil Queen it's up to Monroe to make Erdyia a better place.
The world building was phenomenal and it drew me in from the start. Very well Written and easy to follow. Would love to read more of her. Hoping there will be more to this book in the form of a series

Rate: 5. Read: 04/04/24. Format: E-Book. Recommend: All Ages.

I truly felt like this book had a lot of potential. It had some very great moments that left you flying in your seat and being so ready for the next part. For me, however, I felt that the writing style was there and then it would just disappear. Truthfully, as far as this being my first fantasy type book - I truly did enjoy it and would definitely read it again. I think that you just have to go into this feeling and understanding that this feels very fan fic like in writing - and since I’m an OG wattpad girly - I’m fine with that.

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

The map of Erydia. Monroe Benson is destined for the throne. She only has to fight nine girls to secure royal status. A crowned queen. If she loses, and someone else dawns the glittering headpiece, that meant she was dead. And Monroe refuses to die.

Marked and goddess-touched, Monroe is one of 10 heirs that are born to take to the Erydian throne and their place in the Royal court. The Culling is announced.

A deadly competition. Talk of war and rebellion. The girls are supposed to drop one by one inside the trials, a fair fight. Except, the girls are suddenly going missing and turning up dead outside of the Culling trials.

Depending on her affinity for fire, Monroe weilds a powerful skill against her unseen enemy. And Cohen, the queen's son, is beginning to make her feel affection -- perhaps even love, making it difficult to betray him.

Monroe is a little unique to most heroines. She doesn't wait for a prince, or anyone, to save her and set her free. She's the damsel who must fight the dragon herself and in so winning, becomes the dragon herself. 🌟🌟🌟🌟/5 Stars!

As everyone has told me, this is the Hunger Games meets the Selection… sign me up! This was a fun story!! I don’t know if I will continue on with it or not but I enjoyed what I have read so far!

"I was the girl who burned it all down or died trying"

If I could give this book infinity stars I would. Just as I thought I'd guessed the direction, bam Brianna switched it up. I adored Monroe and Cohen, and there character development. The pacing of the story - there was never a dull moment. I adored Briannas style of writing, she just grips you from the start and has a way with words. This book will never leave me.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for giving me access to this ARC.

I was originally drawn in by the cover, but the writing really pulled me in and I enjoyed the book overall. I wish the pacing was a little better the second half of the book, but that’s about it!

This one I just loved. Read it in a day. I couldn’t put it down. The writing was amazing. 10/10. I will definitely be recommending this

Holy shit! I did not expect to enjoy this book as much as I did, but I could not put this down. This book was like a combination of the selection and the hunger games. There were so many twists, turns, and betrayals that my head was spinning. I can honestly say that some of the plot twists were hard to see coming and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The romance between Monroe and Cohen was so well written and planned out that nothing felt forced and I loved all the little tie backs to things mentioned in flashbacks. Everything in this book truly had a purpose and I can’t believe how good the world building was throughout the book. There weren’t many moments where it felt like a huge world history dump, everything was blended seamlessly and this book was so well written and engaging that I never wanted it to end! I would highly recommend this book and would suggest anyone to read this immediately when it releases!

Thank you NetGalley, author, and publisher for this ARC!

To begin with, the issues that jumped out of me that hurt the book the most was the plot and pacing while reading. The first 20% was very interesting and I was really liking it. After that, I felt that the plot and pacing was all over the place. It took over 50% to get to the first trial. There was a lot of mention of training and etiquette class, but you barely had any of that. It seemed like a lot of internal thought and struggle filler that didn't push the plot forward. The trials were brief and there was too much time in between for the anticipation of seeing the trials happen. Many battle royal type novels tend to get compared to The Hunger Games, it definitely pulls some elements like the kill to win, being on TV, and training. It also seemed similar to The Selection, which is one of my least favorite novels, but that is a personal opinion. The plot did have some originality, but pulled too much from mainstream tropes and ideas from other similar novels. There was little interaction of the other girls with Monroe or getting to know them.

The characters were weak beside Uri. Monroe had a lot of potential but her extent to her abilities didn't seem like it was consistent as to what she could or couldn't do. I felt that she complained a lot throughout the novel and there wasn't much character development as the plot progressed. I wish she grew and was confident in herself. Cohen's character was flat and I wish we saw more of him, or had a POV of him. The relationship between the two didn't have much chemistry as it was more of an insta-love. Even their interactions didn't feel too natural and a little forced. I hope to see more of Uri and Hugo. The sisters had very little interaction, but hopefully they'll be more present in the second book.

The writing was good, but there were a couple of grammatical errors. In chapter 7, Imellia Station, Gazda Sacrit, there is a sentence that says "matteblack pumps I'd strapped on earlier", the error of "matteblack" should be separate. The same with "stick-in-themud" in Chapter 12 The West Garden Sacrit, three days before Sanctus Halletta. Seems to be a hyphen missing between "the" and "mud"

Just a few mentions… There are accents being mentioned, but since there's no comparison to what we know in the real world. Unless I missed it, I am picturing it to be about the 40’s/50’s era of the 1900’s based on descriptions. I personally like to know around the time period novels are set in, especially if it seems more modern day. Most fantasy novels tend to be in the medieval time/ maybe 1700’s time, so this being different is refreshing. It’s interesting to see fantasy in more modern times. In the beginning of each chapter, there were many terms for describing the religious sacred days that were a timeline for the trials that were confusing. It would be helpful to have a section in the front or back with definitions and some explanations. I was confused also as to why after the queen was killed that Cohen didn’t just take over the throne and tried to work with the rebels or banishing the sister.
Overall, the first book of this series fell flat and lacked character development. Some ideas were too similar too other novels. I found myself skimming at certain parts where it seemed like filler and the plot was slow. I’m hoping that the second novel has more plot for the story to progress with the Rebels.

Wow! I absolutely devoured this book. I loved the writing and the story and I was hooked from the start. If you enjoy fantasy with a little twist of The Hunger Games, this is for you! There’s action with political intrigue, a little romance, found family, strong friendships, and so much more. With amazing world building and character development, you can’t help but lean in and dive head first in to this fast paced, suspenseful story of magic, battle between good and evil, with twists and turns until the end. Book 1 ended on a bit of a cliffhanger so I am so ready for book 2! Thank you NetGalley and Wattpad books for this eARC!

This is everything that a dystopian YA book should be... and simply put, I enjoyed every single minute of it. The main character was born with abilities and a mark that require her to complete in a contest-to-the-death for the prince's hand in marriage. There is betrayal, there is romance, there is suspense, there is murder, and there are so many secrets. I loved this book and would absolutely recommend it.

Absolutely the Selection meets Hunger Games so if you enjoyed those, you will enjoy this as well. This was a 'I had fun, passed the time well' book. Not memorable, but just what I needed at the time. There's great attention to detail and the plot moves quickly, pulling you in from the start. A intriguing fantasy world, but if you're looking for something new, this won't be it. But since I enjoy the genre and storylines like this, I enjoyed myself while reading.

LOVE this book. I read it when it first came out but I knew I had to read it again and when this opportunity came up, I jumped on it. I just hate the cover, it’s giving AI generated

Thank you Wattpad Webtoon Publishing and Netgalley.

This is an interesting book. It's an introduction to a fantasy world. To say that this book is amazing or terrible is unfair. As setting up the world is important however this book managed to hook me in.