I loved the world-building. The structure and setting of Varenia, as well as all the women's preoccupation with beauty for the goal of being chosen as a princess, resonated with today's culture of holding women to some ridiculous, unattainable beauty standard, and for what? In the novel, the chosen girl is shipped off to land to become a princess, while the family is given money, never to see their daughter again. But no one knows what actually happens to the girls who get chosen, despite being told they become queens of the kingdom.

I loved all the intrigue and secrecy of the Ilaran court. Ceren, an awful, calculating, cruel excuse for a human being is betrothed to Nor, sent in her sister's place to become the kingdom's next princess. But Ceren has a dark agenda for his sickly father's kingdom and for Varenia, whose people are currently starving since the waters have been overfished and the price of the pearls they bring to market has gone down. Nor attempts to spy for her native Varenia, in hopes of freeing them from Ilara's oppression, but the one person who knows her secret from home is Ceren's brother, Prince Talin, who of course, she is attracted to. You would think a triangle with a beautiful, strong girl and two princes would be cliche, but in this story it's definitely not.

One of my favorite characters is one of the women Nor meets at court, an older Varenian woman who does her best to help Nor fight against the evil sure to come upon their people if Ceren has his way. At the end of the story, I would love to believe that what happened is a good thing, but somehow I doubt the truth of what everyone believes happened to a certain character. Ugh, cliffhangers! I will be anxiously awaiting the next book. I wish there had been more time to see Zadie and Nor's relationship, but I'm hoping we will get more of that in the next book. I hope Zadie becomes a stronger character, because for the most part I thought she was pretty pathetic in the beginning of the book. (That's me, being annoyed at the character; not me saying I didn't like how she was written). I think the author did a good job of showing the sisterly bond, but also what can happen when one is held to different standards, and what happens when love for a boy gets in the way.

Crown of Coral and Pearl is a rich YA fantasy novel, the first of a series. It is set in a world of myths, and legends, old hates and new loves. I thought it was richly imagined and really liked the key characters. The character development in the village that Nor and Zadie call home was especially good.

In this world, Varenia is an ocean village subject to the rule of Ilaria. When an Ilarian prince comes of age, the most beautiful girl on Varenia is offered/chosen to be his Queen. Don’t ask me what happen if they need a boy instead.

Either way, in this case (through some serious drama) Nor ends up being the one chosen to go to Ilara. She takes it upon herself to become a sort of spy and learn what she can about her rulers.

Ilara has many intrigues and even more characters to meet. Without giving away any spoilers, the plot end-to-end was good. My concern is that the story started strong, but sort of dwindled towards the end. It would be great to see the same consistency equally distributed in the next installment.

I give this a solid 3.5 stars.

I am so happy about this book. This was one of my most anticipated releases at the beginning of the year, and when I was able to snag an ARC of it I was thrilled. Let me tell you, it did not disappoint. It is SO unique, and as someone who reads a lot of YA Fantasy that is not something I can say a lot. The world-building is fantastic and really interesting and I am enamored with the whole concept of the story. I was fascinated by the oceanic world of Varenia, and its stark contrast to the ruling mountain kingdom of Ilara. The Varenian’s unrelenting focus on beauty and perfection created such an interesting atmosphere and added such depth to the characters. I loved watching Nor navigate the intricacies of this strange court intrigue, and the mystery surrounding the kingdom and how and why the relations between Varenia and Ilara were established. The plot moved quickly and I thought the overall pacing was really nice. I was fully engaged in the action throughout the story and it definitely kept me turning the page. I really connected with Nor’s character and her relationship with her family, her sister Zadie most of all. Nor’s relationships with her village were established so well in the beginning, that the new relationships she made in Ilara kind of felt a bit underdeveloped- including her relationship with her love interest. I do wish there would have been more instances to back it up, but they did have chemistry, and I can understand Nor falling for someone who wasn’t entirely focused on her outer appearances for the first time in her life. My only real and minor grievance with this book was the ending. It wasn’t bad, and I did enjoy the twist, but it felt a bit rushed like the author wasn’t sure if there would be another book so she had to quickly close the plot in a way that didn’t quite work for me. It seemed final, but there are still so many open-ended and not fully developed plot points and details that I am wondering about. I’m really excited that there is another book coming out that will hopefully solve this issue for me. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I can’t wait to get back to Varenia and see what is going to happen next.

Crown of Coral and Pearl is rich in political intrigue and highly atmospheric with a large cast of characters, at times it gives off a Game of Thrones vibe with a nice sweet candy coating.

Beautiful twins Nor and Zadie live in the ocean village of Varenia and due to tradition, and a heavy dose of not wanting to piss of the gods, every time a new Ilarian Prince comes of age he will take a Varenian wife as his queen. During "The Ceremony" in the village elders choose the most beautiful girl to send almost as tribute to become the Queen. The first few chapters were really reminding me of the build up in Uprooted, actually a lot of this book reminds me of other books.

After Zadie is chosen, beating Nor out by a hair because of Nor's scarred cheek, she's devastated because she's leaving her true love in the village. (This love went from zero to 60 in angst, but you can still feel the pain of them being forced apart.) In her anguish Zadie injures herself forcing another girl to go, this action tempting the wrath of the king because any other girl would likely be seen as not good enough. (A big yikes). The elders decided to send Nor instead and cover her scar up with a stain since Nor and Zadie are identical twins.

The book is slow to start and in the beginning the plan that Nor hatches to "spy" on Ilara is barely developed to the point of it being "Hey, I'm in position to do this thing. I will do this thing. We will rendezvous at this place every month." and when she actually gets to Ilara and meets her intended, Prince Ceren, he's basically Joffrey from A Game Of Thrones. He's pale with light blond hair and unbelievable cold and cruel including baking live animals (bats) into a pie in attempts to spook Nor. (Joffrey and Margaery anyone?)

There is a hidden prince and a bunch of dead queens, some from Varenia, and a kingdom at the edge of war.

I enjoyed the book, but I felt a lot of the plot was thin and the ending fell flat. I couldn't get over how much some of the aspects reminded me of other things, like Uprooted and Game of Thrones. I felt like it was so close to doing something special and unique, but at the last minute it Deus Ex Machina'd an ability for Nor. A lot of the story felt rich in history where as later on you're told important plot points in a matter of fact sort of way.

Still there's a lot of angst and a tug of war relationship, a cruel prince as it were, so I can see where this is going to hit the mark for a number of readers. It's still unique and as I said, highly atmospheric, I just felt there was more potential if the stakes, which were raised many times in the latter half of the book, actually gave way to some serious consequences.

Thanks to Netgalley and to the publisher for sending me an e-galley of this book!

A Crown of Coral and Pearl is a fun story about family, love, and fighting for what is right. We follow Nor as she defends these topics. Nor and her twin sister Zadie are known as the two most beautiful girls of Varenia, a city that resides on wooden stilts on top of the ocean and relies heavily on the salt water below. Zadie, being the most beautiful girl in Varenia, is chosen to be the future bride of the crown prince who lives in Ilara-a city on land-however when an accident befalls Zadie, Nor offers to go in her place and will pretend to be Zadie. But when Nor arrives, she discovers that life on land isn’t as great as she expected, and some of the people there are even worse. But then there is Talin, who is good and kind and the only person who finally sees Nor for who she really is. But Talin's is not her betrothed, crown prince Ceren is.

I really liked how this book tackled the idea of beauty and what the world expects from women. Because only the one most beautiful girl in Varenia is chosen to be the bride for the crown prince, all these girls are told their entire life that their beauty is the most important part of who they are, that it defines them. Though that idea is heightened, it is true to our society. Our main character knows that there is so much more to her than just her looks. I think that this book would create a great impression on a young female mind, that beauty is not what defines you.

I also truly adored this world, especially Varenia. All their houses there are built on stilts above water. The citizens of Varenia rely on the water and what resides inside of it; the pearls, coral, fish, salt, etc. They would boat or swim to each other's houses and for some reason that made me giddy. Maybe it's because I love the ocean? Who knows? In any case, I wish we had more time on Varenia because that city was way more intriguing than New Castle.

I related to and enjoyed the main character, Nor. She was smart and quick and was willing to risk her safety to save others. Even though she was willing to risk her life, I also felt like she was quite level-headed and rational. She was passionate and didn’t let anything get in her way. I truly admired that. Nor desired more from life, she wanted to experience the world rather than sit around and wait for things to happen. She was ambitious and shrewd.
I think she was a great protagonist to follow.
Also, you get a lot between her and her twin sister, Zadie, during the first 30% of the novel. But, Nor's love for Zadie expands throughout. I am someone who adores healthy sister relationships in novels. Nor and Zadie truly care for each other and will do whatever it takes to keep the other happy and healthy.

I enjoyed Talin a lot, but I also feel like we barely got to know him. Nor wasn’t able to spend too much time with him and every time they did, they talked about her past. Yes, they did talk about Talin's mother and whatnot but never enough about Talin, himself. Talin will obviously be a character who plays a huge role in the future of the series and I’m sure we will know him quite well in the upcoming installments.
From what I could tell, Talin was confident, so I liked that. I definitely felt myself starting to really like him and I see myself fully on board as long as we get more story and development from him.
Also, he sounds pretty cute, so I'm down for that.

It’s weird because it felt so fast paced and fun, but then when I got to 25% of the way through and the big change(for lack of a better word) was just barely underway, I was quite shocked. How could it be so fast paced but also slow moving? It doesn’t make sense!
...and that’s because it wasn’t fully true. I slowly started to realize that there were definitely parts in the first 30% of the book that felt unnecessary. I truly think some things could’ve been left out or shortened and the reader still would’ve understood the story in full.

Either way, it is a terribly quick and fun read!

I felt like it was definitely a case of insta-love. I’m sure the depth of it will progress later on but I was hoping for a bit more of it in this first book. That being said, I believe the strong bones are there. I do think they have a lot of chemistry, I just feel like it wasn't developed enough just yet(that could be because they weren't able to spend enough time together yet).
That being said, I did enjoy it because it felt quite crucial to the plot. It didn't overwhelm the true plot of the book. Instead, it complimented it beautifully. And I rather enjoyed the moments of interactions we got between the two characters.

All in all, I did overall enjoy this novel! I read it pretty fast because it kept my attention the whole way, and that is no easy feat!

I definitely think this is worth and read and I am quite chuffed to see where this series goes in the future!


**I was provided a kindle edition advanced readers copy from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for my honest review. Everything I have stated is my own opinion. Thank you to Harlequin Teen publishing!**

This book was a delight to read! It kept me guessing the whole way through. I thought the world building was wonderful, and had some aspects that were super unique to this story. I'm always a sucker for some good romances as well. I'm very interested to see how the second book will play out.

I read this book with immense pleasure. It was intriguing, well writen, the characters were likable. I completly devoured it. The only thing i tought was missing , was a little bit of building up in the romance situation. I felt nor and talin fell in love way too suddenly... without even knowing what they love about one another!

I give the book 3 1/2 stars. I enjoyed the characters and the world the author created. I just thought the pacing was off. I felt the beginning of the book was slow and the ending of the book felted rushed. Certain secondary characters fates were not clearly finished. I am one of those people who like detail endings and a bit of afterwords to the story. I will still recommend the book.

This is an interesting story. Twins live in an impoverished settlement, kept poor and farming pearls for the wealthy to pay a century-old debt. The most beautiful girl is chosen each time the kingdom’s price is old enough to marry. For many this is considered an honor, especially Zadie and Nor’s mother, who groomed the girls since birth to always protect their beauty. That dream ends for Nor when an accident leaves her with a scar on her face.

Although the village elders choose Zadie to marry the prince, Nor must go in her place, disguising her scar as best she can.

The story had a little bit of everything, action, intrigue, myths and legends and bit romance. It also did an interesting job of showing how different cultures are taught to understand legends and how the powers that be dictate the belief systems in communities. And how the environments can play a role in people’s abilities – natural and mystical.

If not for certain sections involving romance and violence, this book would be best suited for the middle grades.

Crown of Coral and Pearl is a unique blend of fantasy and intrigue that young adults will love. Mara Rutherford has created a fantasy world steeped in myth and tradition. Nor and Zadie are twins raised on the floating village of Varenia. The Varenians make their living diving for oysters, then selling the rare pink pearls to the Ilarians who live on land. The only problem is that the oysters are disappearing, the area is over-fished and there's nothing the Varenians can do about, being under the rule of Ilaria. The princes of Ilaria have been taking a Varenian wife for generations, dating back to stories of ancient debts, vendettas and magic. Nor and Zadie have been raised to be beautiful, hoping to be chosen and reap the benefits of being the family of the future queen. A childhood accident leaves Nor slightly scarred, placing all their hopes on Zadie. But Zadie loves Sami, a friend of the twins since birth. A series of events leaves Nor heading to the kingdom posing as Zadie, carefully covering up the scar that marked her beautiful face. Nor soon finds out that life in Illaria is not as she dreamed and she becomes caught up in a tangle of greed, cruelty and subterfuge. Fortunately her trials as the not-as-pretty sister have made her strong and independent and she's just not having it.

I'm hoping this is setting up another great fantasy series. The setting, especially alternating between land and ocean, is unique and very engaging. The politics are just this side of Game of Thrones (PG rated!), and the science and magic involved is fascinating. I read this as an ARC - I plan to purchase it for the school library - I can already thing of tons of students who will love it!

Crown of Coral and Pearl by Mara Rutherford, 432 pages.
Inkyard Press, 2019. $14.
Language: PG (7 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG13
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Nor and Zadie have been prepared their entire lives for one of them to be chosen as the most beautiful girl in Varenia and the future queen of Ilara. As the day of the choosing ceremony gets closer, Nor tries to ignore her desire to leave, knowing that she will never be chosen, and Zadie has to accept everything that leaving her world behind will mean, knowing that she will probably be chosen. But, after the ceremony, when their fates are sealed, these two stubborn sisters find a way to take hold of their own fates despite being raised to be biddable beauties.
While I think the story got a little slow in the middle, the rest of Nor’s story was exciting to follow. I was eager to see how her future unraveled, especially when she and her sister, Zadie, made decisions to change everything that was expected of them -- something I wish I was brave enough to do more often in my own life. However, the resolutions near the end included enemies being taken care of too easily, so I’m both curious and wary as to where the sequel will take this story.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

I enjoyed the experience of reading this book, I found myself staying up late to read because it was what I consider to be a true YA, easy concepts to read and digest. I found it to mostly be interesting, not too predictable, (DON’T READ THE BLURB ON GOODREADS!! Spoilers!). I enjoyed the world that was built, the significance of the title and I liked the twin aspects.

After reading the summary of this book, I thought I knew exactly what I was in for. Admittedly I’m a complete sucker for the commoner-turned-royalty trope, which is why I requested to read this book anyway and now I’m so happy I did. Somehow this ended up being both exactly what I hoped it would be and nothing like I expected, all at the same time.

Wanna know what that means? Me too! Let’s figure it out.

Several aspects of this book played out exactly like I thought they would. The choosing ceremony, the love interests, some of the political intrigue—all things I saw coming from miles away, but I definitely don’t mean that as a negative. I enjoyed knowing them ahead of time and had fun guessing how they would happen. Plus, everything else went so far beyond my expectations that it was a nice balance.

One of those things was the world building, which I really loved! Everything was so rich and all of the different lands were so interesting to read about. Also, the characters! Nor was such a strong female protagonist and I really enjoyed reading from her perspective. Her relationship with her sister Zadie was so sweet and seeing their strong family bond showcased like this was amazing! And maybe I’m alone in this, but I also really really loved Ceren??? He made such an excellent, cunning creeper and I had fun trying to guess what he would do next.

And by the way, I don’t trust the ending of this book AT ALL. Something about it makes me think nothing is as it seems, which means I’m DEFINITELY on board for book two. I just gotta know what happens and see how this all plays out. I can’t wait!

*FINAL WORD*
This book took old tropes and twisted them into something brand new that I had a ton of fun reading. Mix in some strong sisterly bonds and you’ve got a winner.

*harm to individuals warning: this book contains some individuals harming themselves or others harming them, graphic at times

*Big thanks to Harlequin Teen for this eARC from Netgalley.

I am going to start out this review by saying that it might actually be better for the reader to not read the synopsis for this book. I myself forgot the synopsis and I decided to not reread the synopsis before beginning. I will try to be as vague as possible in my introduction before I get in to my review.

Twin sisters Nor and Zadie have always been close even through the competing nature of the girls in Verenia to become the next queen of the nearby kingdom of Ilara. Nor knows that Zadie is favored to be chosen as the next queen, due to Nor’s own scarring that disrupts her clear complexion.

I was very interested in the beginning of this novel. The idea of a city built on the ocean was fascinating. I thought that these scenes were very atmospheric and mostly well-written. Verenia captured my interest with its history, survival tactics, and customs. I will say that I often wondered why they did not escape the situation they found themselves in, and as I read further on this confirmed my thoughts.

Overall I genuinely enjoyed all of the scenes in Verenia. However, after the book transitions into leaving Verenia, I began to lose all interest in the plot. I found the rest of the novel to be very predictable and repetitive. There seemed to be little-to-no character growth for the remainder of the novel. The characters repeatedly made horrible, poorly planned decisions. The love interest was very poorly written as well. This novel includes basic insta-love. I found the love interest to be quite awful. He basically never helped the main character or supported her publicly. I found him to be rather toxic in a way. I never supported or enjoyed their relationship.

Ultimately this novel was disappointing. The novel was fairly strong in the beginning, but it fell totally flat as it progressed. The ending could have been better, but it basically had an easy-transition ending to avoid writing more action and intrigue. I cannot say that I would recommend this to everyone, but it is a fairly quick read and may interest some.

I was sucked into this story from the first chapter and I didn’t want to put the book down. The characters were great, and the world building was unique. I wasn’t ready to for the book to end without knowing what becomes of Nor, Talin, Zadie, Sami, and their kingdom/queendom in the future so I’m happy to see they decided to make a sequel.

I would like to Harlequin/Inkyard Press for allowing me to read a copy of this book through Netgalley for an honest response.

Thank you to Inkyard Press (formerly Harlequin TEEN) and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own.

So for a summary, it is impossible to do better than the blurb of the book. I actually kind of feel that the summary took away from the book, because what could have been a major plot twist was revealed, leaving literally nothing to the imagination for the first half of the book. It was nice to read about the legends and lore surrounding Varenia. I thought the world was built fairly well but really to have the first plot twist is given away had me relatively bored for the first half of the book.

Nor and Zadie have a wonderful relationship, I enjoyed reading about their exploits as kids and hearing the expectations and training of the young women of Varenia. The mother...oh man the mother, is she a special case or what? She kind of infuriated me, which I bring up because it was the only real emotion that I felt at any point throughout the book.

Once Nor leaves for Ilara, the pacing picks up as we meet Talin and Ceren, and my personal favorite character Melina. Or maybe the giant cave salamander, I liked him too. Anyway, Talin obviously had some honor and good intentions towards Varenia but he was so one dimensional, there was never anything that made me ship his relationship with Nor. Oh, and the description also spoiled him as a love interest, ruining another potential plot twist. Honestly the blurb needs to be edited so we have some surprises left. It was a case of insta-love with just not enough back ground behind it, I did like his horse a lot though

Which brings me to Ceren … he was probably the most fleshed out character in the book besides Nor. He still wasn't brought to his full potential but I could never decide if he wanted to be good or bad, until he was brought out as just a malcontent evil prick. I was a little bit shocked at the length he went to to get what he wanted, and the only plot twists left seemed to revolve around his character. No spoilers.

The end did set us up for book two, not so much in a cliffhanger type way but I will still go ahead and read the next novel, which is why I am giving this three stars.

I just kind of overally feel that for a 400+ page book, the pacing could have been a little more even and if all the plot twists are going to be spoiled, it could have been a much shorter book. I am giving it 3 stars for lack of surprises and my general lack of emotion towards it. I would recommend to fans of fantasy with dark schemes

will come back and post direct blog link on 8/20, one week out seems about right!

I received this book from net galley to provide an honest review.

I really loved the world building in this book. Off the bat that was my favorite thing, I felt I was living in this story. I loved the city and the fact they had to trade pearls to get by. Now that pearls are harder to come by there is more risk involved.

The next part felt a little like The Selection which is a compliment because I love it. There is a price that can make the family comfortable but he is not true love.

I absolutely adore this book and the cover is just as beautiful as the writing.

“Nor and Zadie. Coral and Pearl.
Powerful and beautiful because of each other, not in spite of each other.”

In the ocean village of Varenia, beauty is everything. After all, the most beautiful girl of each generation is chosen to marry the Crown Prince of Ilara, bringing fortune to her family, to leave the village and see the world, something forbidden to other Varenians. It has long been expected that Zadie will be the chosen girl, but in a twist of events, it is her twin sister Nor who finds herself journeying to Ilara – pretending to be Zadie. But neither Ilara nor Prince Ceren are quite what Nor expected, and she finds herself adrift in a dangerous royal court where she must watch every step she takes.

Now, while the first part, set in Varenia, dragged on longer than it should have, I enjoyed it much more than the second half. The world-building is fantastic and it is very intriguing to learn about the people of Varenia who are under the control of the oppressive mainland kingdom, and their ways of life. Moving from the open ocean village to the dark and forbidding mountain fortress, every aspect of the setting is wonderfully easy to visualize and really brings the world together.

The characters are also very well developed. In particular, the bond between the sisters is so beautifully portrayed, opposites in so many ways but always supportive of each other – even though I found Zadie to be quite selfish, if brave in her own way. The twins’ mother was abominable, to put it mildly, treating Nor as lesser because of her scar and I disliked her right from the beginning, though perhaps her portrayal was a little extreme?

Talin is a very interesting character, but I felt there was a bit of an insta-love situation there, casting Ceren into the antagonist’s role almost immediately. To be fair though, Ceren’s character is equally well thought out, and I found myself sympathizing more than once (conflicted villains are my favourite). Nor is still quite naive, and not nearly as sneaky as she thinks she is being, but it was fun to watch her navigate Ceren’s weird moods, not always successfully.

And as for that ending, well, it was pretty intense and I’m nearly certain that is not the end of it. Not to mention, there are just so many ways things could (and probably will) go wrong for Nor as it sounds like the situation in Varenia has drastically changed since she left. Crown of Coral and Pearl was a book I was looking forward to reading all year. While I felt several aspects were familiar from other fantasies, there was always something unexpected popping up, with some lovely plot twists too. Overall, this was an excellent and unique read. I would definitely recommend this, and I’m already looking forward to reading the sequel!

I’m going to pay Crown of Coral and Pearl the highest compliment I have to offer: Quite simply, I never wanted the story to end. I was immediately transported to a watery, simple world and met a character that grabbed my heart with her spunk, wit, and penchant for defiance when she felt a wrong needed righting. I was with her in mind and spirit as she learned the truth about Ilara, rode a horse for the first time, and found herself saving someone who was most likely going to kill her. I agonized with her as she made hard choices in her determination to protect the people of Varenia – her people. I rediscovered the magic that only love can bring to your life. And I was so sad when I realized that there were no more pages to read.
 
Specifically, what I liked:
 
The setting is alive and vibrant, like a Monet landscape. Starting with page 1, the reader is whisked away to Varenia and later Ilara, an unknown world that soon becomes as familiar as the world outside your windows. The people of Varenia live in simple homes on the water. They are not allowed to even go on land, while the citizens of Ilara live primarily in a massive dark structure built in a mountain for safety. One is full of natural sunlight and fresh air, while the other is dank, dark, and cold. The settings represent the potential of the different cultures, and the reader quickly discovers that the oppression of the Varenians by the Ilareans has been progressing ever so slowly and insidiously, as darkness tries to snuff out the light.
 
The main characters/heroes – Nor, Sami, and Prince Talin – are made of toughness and love. They reflect goodness but still have flaws and weaknesses that let the reader know they are complex and multi-dimensional. I always admire female characters that cannot hold their tongue when confronted with injustice, and Nor does not disappoint. She is a character that does what is right even when it is not easy even when it could mean her own death.
 
The theme of women empowerment is a great message for today’s young adults. Ilara prospered when ruled by women, but when things changed, and only boy children thrived, Ilara began to falter. The ruling men of Ilara were greedy and in poor health, ruled by fear of their own actions coming back on them. Ilareans are holding out for the day that their country will be once again ruled by women.
 
What I Wish
 
I wish the story did not need to come to an end. I didn’t want to put the book down once I picked it up and was sad when I reached the last page.
 
To Read or Not to Read
Read it!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Beware the lionfish, my dear,
Beware the fish that's made of stone.
Beware sweet nothing's in your ear,
And the heart as hollow as a bone.

For Varenian's, beauty is everything when it comes to the young ladies of the island, for the prince of Ilara will only take the most beautiful girl as his bride. Becoming the princess of Ilara is the only way off the island, and for Nor, that's really all that matters. But, when an accident mars her once beautiful face, it's obvious that the chance to leave the island will go to her twin sister, Zadie.

The first half takes place on the island of Varenia, a land that depends entirely on the mainland kingdom of Ilara for the entirety of their goods, including fresh water. The Varenian's only have their rare pink pearls to trade, and the value of their precious commodity is barely enough to keep food on the table even though demand is higher than ever.

Nor knows that things on her precious island will never change unless someone stands up to the king of Ilara. After the actions of her twin end up sending Nor in her place to be princess, Nor decides it is she who will change the way her people are treated, even if it's the last thing she does.

What Nor doesn't except is a dying king, a young prince with a heart of a stone, and a handsome young man that takes her breath away. Life in Ilara is not what she expected, and neither is her betrothed. Old mysteries unravel as Nor pretends to be Zadie, leaving her wondering if beauty is the only thing that defines her.

Crown of Coral and Pearl is an amazing read and, with the announcement of a second book, I can't wait to see what comes next for Nor (and Talin. I love Talin. That is all.)