I grew up on Disney classics and Snow White was a definite favorite, she was the first Disney princes, after all. I also enjoy a good fairytale retelling so the blurb for this book piqued my interest. To be clear, this isn't exactly a Snow White retelling, but more a Snow White prequel from the witch's point of view. We get a glimpse of how an insecure young witch turned evil. From mommy issues of her own, betrayal by someone she loved, persecution, abuse from rich elites, and loosing people who actually cared for her, Ayleth got knocked down enough to make anyone turn dark. The Crimson Crown did a great job of painting the gothic fairytale world with witches and dwarves and kings and queens, and an even better job of creating a compelling character whom I wanted to like even though I knew who she would become (and that is surmounting a great deal of prejudice). I thoroughly enjoyed this story 'til the bitter end, and now, just hope the author and publisher decide to give us a sequel, the actual Snow White retelling from the witch's point of view.
I received advanced digital access to this book thru NetGalley (for which I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey) for an honest review. The opinion expressed here is my own.

One thing about me is I love a fairy tale re-telling. Couple that with witches and sapphics? The Crimson Crown had to have been written just for me.

I loved every second of this book. It’s one of those reads I’d give anything to read again for the first time. Ayleth’s decent from an insecure girl just trying to do what she thinks is best for her coven to The Evil Queen was artfully done.

If you love Marissa Meyer’s Heartless then you will adore The Crimson Crown!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.25/5

This was probably one of my more anticipated releases of this year, and I am happy to say it lived up to expectations.

It's a Tudor-inspired telling of the rise of the Evil Queen from Snow White. It's not quite a retelling of the tale of Snow White as the story takes place before any of the events of the original fairy tale.

The world-building of this book is one of its biggest strengths. It's richly detailed with its Tudor inspirations and brimming with witchy, fairy tale elements. The magic of this book was also very interesting and weaves in elements of the original fairy tale in cool ways.

The narrative of this book was the most impressive part for me. It's an intricate web that slowly unspools in unexpected ways despite the reader knowing who Ayleth is supposed to become and what she will likely do. The how of it is full of twists, a lot of which I didn't see coming, but realised were brilliantly foreshadowed in hindsight. Part 1 of this book is a bit slow-paced, with a fair bit of exposition. However, the rest of the book is really well-paced and covers a lot of ground.

The character work of this book is well done as well and the book is full of complicated, flawed people. I felt that the characters of Joan, Marion, and the Queen really shined in their limited page time and had a lot of parallels with the women of the Tudor court. The character journey of Ayleth is one of being pushed to the brink by the power structures around her, with most of the people she cares about plunging her further into the abyss. Despite all that, and despite urges and the voice in her head, I don't think Ayleth did anything truly wrong to anyone who didn't truly deserve it.

In terms of tone, this book is a fair bit more mature than Malice and has a slightly older protagonist (23) and overall cast.

While this book is a satisfying narrative about love, grief, expectations, betrayal, and the constraints put upon women as it is, it does leave threads open for a sequel and I think there's a sequel scheduled for 2025. I can't wait to see what Heather Walter goes with that.

If you love fairy tale retellings, witches, court drama, and flawed women, then picking up The Crimson Crown should be a no-brainer.