The book was good. It was very interesting and kept my attention. Loved the concept and I can’t wait for it to be published so I can add a copy to my collection.

As someone who enjoyed Heather Walker's past two books, I was excited to read this.
The story follows Ayleth, a witch who is kind of bad at being a witch, as she tries to resurrect her sister. Along the way she runs into her ex love, has a lot of feelings about it, and morally descends into chaos while gaining political power. I support women's wrongs, so I enjoyed this book thoroughly.
The setting was giving Tudor England which I thought was a good choice. I loved the descriptions of the outfits and the castles. I also really enjoyed how Ayleth was going through it. When she wasn't thinking about her sister it was her mom, or her ex, or genocide, or court drama. She managed to do this without coming off as insufferable, which is hard to do.
After reading Malice and Misrule I was expecting a twist that made me wanna throw my phone across the room again and Heather delivered. I was shocked. I was mad. It was a good twist. She really got me.
My only bone to pick with this is I feel like if this is going to be a Snow White evil queen backstory it needs to be more Snow White. The apple motifs and magic mirrors were fun, but I don't feel like the vibe was fully there.
That being said, I still really enjoyed it and I think the girlies are gonna go crazy.
Thanks to netgalley for giving me an ARC!

Deliciously magical - like taking a bite out of crisp, crimson apple out of a dark, enchanted orchard. Fantastic world-building and exceptional characters, all interwoven into a suspenseful plot. Anyone who is fond of novels that are heavily inspired by well-known tales and fables should absolutely pick up this book.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House - Ballantine for the digital ARC!

WOW! This book was amazing! So many things I loved it about it! I haven’t read a lot of witch/coven themed novels before, nor have I read this authors other popular book, but I was blown away at the world building that was accomplished for this one book!! Watching Ayleth at the beginning of the book grow and change into who she becomes by the last chapter is just an absolute masterpiece! The ending line you realize is such a jab and honestly makes me think of all the movies about the witch so differently now! Also I want a cat more than anything after reading about Nettle her amazing companionship, she was the realest ally that’s for sure!
5 stars all around I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a wonderful spin on a classic story

Thankyou Netgalley for the chance to review this! That aside... Let's get into the meat.

I've loved Heather Walter as an Author and fell in love with her prose from the first time I read Malice. Nothing she writes ever is what you expect it to be. That's just beautiful
Secondly I have a HARDCORE obsession with the Tudor era and Anne Boleyn in particular since I was 14, so to have fairy tales, Anne Boleyn and Heather Walter come together in one book, I was ready but I wasn't ready.

This book like Malice/ Misrule takes you on a familiar journey and hit similar beats that you expect but over all isn't what you would think. I love how Heather Walter doesn't bow to the norms or expectations, I love she isn't afraid to make the characters embrace themselves and sometimes darkness. Her characters grow, learn, hurt, and rule the world.

I will always read anything she writes and I am blessed to have been allowed to read this wonderfully amazing piece of art.

Keep being you Heather and can't ait to see what else you do.

I’d never reach for a fairytale retelling on my own, but I have pleasantly unlocked a new genre for myself in the world of fantasy! And I will certainly be adding Heather Walter’s previous titles to my TBR.

The Crimson Crown is a dark villain origin story of the Witch Queen from the Snow White fairytale. I always say that I support women’s rights, but I vehemently support women’s wrongs and their revenge plots. Ayleth, our FMC, embarks on a journey to find purpose in her life beyond the confines of what she’s always known. During this journey she experiences extreme heartbreak and trepidations amid an enemy court. Walter carefully blurs the lines between “right” and “wrong” and by the conclusion you are left feeling conflicted as to why you might be cheering for a supposed villain.

4.5⭐️ for me! I loved it.

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.