In the floating ocean village of Varenia the most beautiful girls are chosen to forsake their families and move to the mainland to becomes princesses (and later queens) of Ilara. This year, the top contender is Zadie, but it's her identical twin Nor, not Zadie, who dreams of leaving Varenia -- and her small provincial life diving for pink pearls -- behind forever. Full of courtly drama and intrigue, romance and rebellion, secrets and betrayals, Crown of Coral and Pearl is the exciting first book in a brand-new fantasy series.

This book was an average fantasy to me. As soon as I found out that there were twins in the story, I instantly knew that they were going to swap places somehow. The romance in the story was poorly developed and a case of instant love. I found myself sympathizing with the villain of the story moreso than the protagonists. The main protagonists of the story were not unique and were pretty generic. I felt rushed towards the end of the story and it seemed poorly developed.

This is must read! I was enthralled with the plot. There is no shortage of action and adventure. It keeps you on the edge of your seat wondering what is going to happen next. I will be highly recommending this book in my library. Fantastic fiction at its best! I would love to see a second installment to see what happens next.

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Review:
Honestly, I wasn't sure about this one at first. There's a lot of world-building in the beginning and I tend to prefer books that get right into the story. But I'm glad I stuck with it. Once the book got going, it was non-stop action, romance, and suspense. I plowed through the second half because I couldn't wait to see what happened. It ended up being a really good book. I'd call this a light fantasy because there are magical elements, but no one has supernatural abilities.
Official Blurb:
For generations, the princes of Ilara have married the most beautiful maidens from the ocean village of Varenia. But though every girl longs to be chosen as the next princess, the cost of becoming royalty is higher than any of them could ever imagine…
Nor once dreamed of seeing the wondrous wealth and beauty of Ilara, the kingdom that’s ruled her village for as long as anyone can remember. But when a childhood accident left her with a permanent scar, it became clear that her identical twin sister, Zadie, would likely be chosen to marry the Crown Prince—while Nor remained behind, unable to ever set foot on land.
Then Zadie is gravely injured, and Nor is sent to Ilara in her place. To Nor’s dismay, her future husband, Prince Ceren, is as forbidding and cold as his home—a castle carved into a mountain and devoid of sunlight. And as she grows closer to Ceren’s brother, the charming Prince Talin, Nor uncovers startling truths about a failing royal bloodline, a murdered queen… and a plot to destroy the home she was once so eager to leave.
In order to save her people, Nor must learn to negotiate the treacherous protocols of a court where lies reign and obsession rules. But discovering her own formidable strength may be the one move that costs her everything: the crown, Varenia and Zadie.

I loved this book so much.
It was predictable though. There's a story they tell in the beginning and it kind of gives away what will happen. I feel like the ending was to good to be true and that something bad will happen in the second book.

Crown of Coral and Pearl by Mara Rutherford was an absolute adventure to read. I loved the sister bond that Nor and Zadie had. Although I don't have siblings, I loved how close they were. They were truly inseparable. When Nor finally arrived on land it was a bit slow and possibly a bit cliche with how fast she fell for Talin. I knew who she was going to end up with after their second encounter, and I feel like that could have been made a bit more of a question. Granted though, it did take a few twists I wasn't expecting for it to take. I also genuinely loved how much Mara thought out the kingdom rules and how Varenia was tied into everything. This book took me out of my reading slump, and genuinely helped me want to start reading again!

In Varenia beauty is everything. Beauty is honor, esteem, and escape. Or at least Nor believed it was for her entire childhood, until a series of unexpected events lead her to the land of Ilara to marry Prince Ceren.
In Crown of Coral and Pearl we are introduced to twin sisters Zadie and Nor, their entire lives have revolved around an archaic ceremony where the most beautiful girl in Varenia is chosen to be the wife of the Prince of Ilara. Nor, the main character, was left with a scar on her cheek due to an accident when she was younger leaving her identical twin sister to be chosen as the next Ilarean Princess, but tragedy strikes and Nor is forced to take Zadie's place in secret. But, there are secrets lurking below the surface of the Ilarean castle and Nor is determined to uncover them for the sake of the starving Varenian people.

Crown of Coral and Pearl nails its characters. The good guys are people you want to root for and the bad guys will fill you with rage. I was particularly intrigued by the antagonists, specifically Nor's mother and Prince Ceren. Nor's mother hurt me to my core, her mother is so obsessed with the idea of her daughters being chosen that she dictates their entire lives and even goes so far as to call Nor damaged. One quote really got me, her mother tells her, "Without your beauty, you are nothing." I found that line to be so unforgivable that I just wanted the mom to die. Such a terrible thing to say to your own child. Mara Rutherford's character building is so convincing, I really hated the antagonists. Prince Ceren is also just the worst. He gets off on making people uncomfortable and is abusive in every way imaginable. I couldn't stand the idea of a character like him existing.

The world building is also enjoyable while relatively small scale. This is not Westeros, so it does not contain the overly complex map that you never want to look at, it's easy to follow and I liked that. While simple, it does not come off as under developed. The land is rich with a history to follow. The contrast of tropical Varenia and the Ilarean castle embedded in the mountain makes an interesting plot point. Nor's constant yearning to be by the ocean and in the sun really makes you feel for her. Watching her descent into an entirely different landscape is suffocating and you suffer alongside her.

The magical elements in this book are subtle. You will find magic used in very strategic ways, for me it was a pleasant surprise. Traditional aspects of fantasy are buried in this novel, such as monsters and special gifts, but they don't steal the spotlight from the storyline. The backseat approach to magic was a refreshing change in my opinion.

The book has a lot of good lessons tsteqch. It focuses on the beauty within and one section really embraces that idea, "I felt the eyes of every woman as I passed, and I reminded myself that I was doing this for them, and for every young girl in Varenia who would spend her life wondering if she was beautiful enough." This quote stuck with me, most girls go through a self conscious phase wondering if they are beautiful enough to be loved. This idea really added a layer to Nor that made her relatable, she is so different from the girls in our world, but still very much the same. Nor is tough and she fights for those who have been stepped all over, I love that about this character. She is rough in all the right places but she isn't annoyingly tough. She knows her strengths and limitation and will use them to make a difference in the world.

Another point that really hit home is that, above all else, family and love are what matter most in this world. "Home was not a house, or a village, or a sea. It was family, and love, and the space where your soul could roost, like a seabird safe from a storm."

If you ask me this book has a well rounded story and complexities to make it unique within th YA genre. It truly stood out to me and I think Crown of Coral and Pearl will make an impact on its readers. 5/5 stars for this one.

Crown of Coral and Pearl will be released on August 27th, 2019. Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Teen for allowing me access to this book.

Wow what a unique well thought out fantasy novel! I'm not a huge fantasy reader usually I'm pretty picky about what I'll read from this genre but I loved this one! The character of Nor really just made me fall for the book right from the start her completely relatable personality made me fall in love with her story. The well thought out world and amazing detail were fascinating! This story had some if everything fantasy, romance, royalty and mystery. The cold prince and his completely opposite brother and the idea of a castle and home with no light just made this story so interesting and unique I loved every minute of this story and I want more!!

Nor and Zadie, twin sisters, have spent their lives striving for perfection and physical beauty in the hopes of being chosen as the Crown Prince's next bride.
Nor, however, bearing a scar on her cheek, was able to be 'strong' and break free from the pressures of being 'the most beautiful girl in Varenia,' knowing she would never be chosen.

I think what I enjoyed most about [book:Crown of Coral and Pearl|37777083] was the romance with cardboard cut-out Prince Charming. Was it instalove? Yes. Did I still enjoy it? You bet.

This book was exceedingly derivative of almost every other contemporary YA Fantasy novel.
Not to mention, it was extremely predictable. Handsome Prince Charming with Eyes Like Sea Glass lives in a castle amongst a meadow of wildflowers, while Moody Prince Edward-Cullen lives in a dark, damp mountain where he tortures people and feeds them to a giant monster? Gee.

I found some of the characters grating. Sami annoyed me, Zadie was selfish, their mother was insufferable, and not a single character was well developed. The character with the most development was Ceren, the villain.

Some things were really overwrought, like the pressure to be beautiful, and Nor's tiny scar affecting her self esteem. "I knew better than most what it was like to be judged by one's appearance." From one tiny scar? Alright, then . . .
"Don't you see?" Mother said. "Without your beauty, you are nothing."
I get what they were trying to do, with some kind off societal-pressures-to-be-beautiful, but it was overdone.

Finally, my last qualm was with the pacing and climactic moments. Every time something huge and exciting happened, it was over quickly and I found it hard to grasp the gravity of the situation. I think Rutherford could improve upon her writing when it comes to action scenes.

I would consider reading the sequel in the hopes that that author's writing improves.
Overall, I'd give this about 2.5 stars.

★★★

Source: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I really liked the idea of this book, it seemed like it was going to be right up my ally as a Ya fan but I am meh about this book, there is nothing really out of the ordinary that makes this book stand out. There is no WOW factor that makes me want to rave about it, but that being said it is not a horrible book. For fans of YA fantasy this will be right up your ally, the only problem is that it is predictable, and then there is the insta-love.
Sometimes it works for me and I can see it happening and even approve of it. Most of the time I don't. I actually fall out of love with stories when there is an insta love connection that starts to annoy me because I don't find it plausible.
I loved the exploration of the sisterly bond as twins. I have a set of twin in my immediate family and I can attest to how close their bond can be and how troublesome having someone you shared a womb with in your life.
Over all I think it is just a little rushed, I would have liked to see some more time put into development of the romance and the characters. Give me more depth so I relate more to them! lol.

Summary:
Long ago, Princess Ilara fell in love with a Prince from across the sea, Prince Laef of Kuven, who stole her heart. Although they loved one another, Ilara’s mother refused to approve their marriage as Prince Laefs Kingdom was no match for her Queendom. When the two lovers fled to be with one antoher, the Sea God Thalos saw how much joy their union would bring to the King of Kuven. For the sins of his father, Thalos vowed to take the one thing that meant the most to Laef, Ilara. They tragically perished in the sea. Their servants, loyal till death, refused to leave the place where they died, where Varenia now stands.
Vowing that no Varenian would set foot on land until a princess was born to replace the one they lost, they began to bring gifts from the sea to the Queendom which was now named after the lost Princess, Ilara. Years later, a plague swept through the Queendom killing thousands, and leaving many of the surviving woman barren. When the Queens sickly son turned of age, he fell in love with a Varenian woman who was bringing Varenian Pearls; revered for their beauty and healing properties, to the Queendom. They married, and so began the tradition of sending a beautiful Varenian woman to Ilara to marry the Prince, and hopefully produce a female heir to the Queendom.
***
In Varenia, where beauty is revered above all else, twin sisters were born – said to be the most beautiful babes to grace Varenia, one of the twins is destined to marry the crown Prince of Ilara.
“Nor and Zadie: coral and pearl. Both precious to our people, both beautiful enough to adorn the necks of queens. But whereas a pearl is prized for its luster, its shape, its lack of imperfections, coal is different. It grows twisted. In its natural form, it can hardly be considered beautiful at all.”
Crown of Coral and Pearl.
Nor and Zadie were born as equals in beauty, grace and wits, but when a tragic accident nearly takes Nors’ life, and scars her cheek, it is clear that Zadie would be chosen to go to Ilara and marry the Crown Prince Ceren; but when Zadie is gravely injured, Nor, unbeknownst to all of Ilara, is sent in her place in the guise of her sister.
Nor discovers that the world is much darker and crueler than she thought. The crown Prince Ceren is not who she thought. Alone, Nor must learn to traverse a world that is both new and dangerous, uncovering secrets that could tip the scales of life, and discovering who she is along the way.
Review:
Crown of Coral and Pearl was a great read. The story keeps you interested, with unique character and a unique story line, it transports you into a whole new world.
Mara Rutherford really created a unique world, I mean an island made of boats!? Love it. The Varenians are a strong people who have, in my opinion, some pretty inspiring morals; I mean aside from the whole “beauty is everything” thing. The relationship between Nor and Zadie is beautiful (this is the only way I can explain it – because it truly is)
One thing that confused me about this novel was the use of Sea and Ocean interchangeably, but it’s not too difficult to follow which is what matters.
The love interests were great, but I wish there was a bit more development between the two characters; that being said, I also wished for (and I know this isn’t a popular opinion) a love triangle.
The story is begins on a simple note, easy to follow and full of information. It then delves into a more intricate story line filled with murder, mystery, and intrigue.
I highly suggest this incredible debut novel, I will definitely be looking forward to the 2nd book, I need to know what happens!!

Nor and Zadie are twin sisters from a settlement set in the middle of the Alathian sea named Varenia. Each generation the most beautiful girl from Varenia is chosen and sent to the Kingdom of Ilara to become the future Queen. Zadie is set to be chosen by the elders and sent to Ilara to become the future Queen as she is most beautiful. Nor has a scar on her cheek that has taken her out of the running to be chosen for this honor. However, Zadie is in love with someone else and doesn’t want to leave her home in Varenia. When Zadie is gravely injured, Nor is sent in Zadie’s place and pretends to be her at court. The Varenian’s do this out of fear of retaliation from the Ilaraians. The Ilaraians have an insatiable appetite for Varenian pearls, causing them to be overfished, driving the Varenians closer to starvation. Once Nor is at court she discovers the shocking truth about what happened to the other Varenian brides, the state of the Kings health and the cruelness of her future husband to be, Prince Ceren. But even in these dark moments, she finds light in the Prince’s half brother, Talin and possibly a way to save Varenians from extinction.


Nor and Zadie have a bond like no other. They spend their days in Varenia prepping to become future Queens, that is until Nor obtains a scar on her cheek when she saves her sister. Beauty is everything to the Varenians, have a blemish, a freckle or a crooked tooth and you are automatically deemed to be ugly. Nor and Zadie are best friends and sisters, but Nor has a very rocky relationship with her mother. Her mother has said on numerous occasions that she doesn’t like Nor and that Zadie is her favorite. This causes Nor to resent her mother and hold her sister closer.
Life in Varenia is struggle and poverty. The waters are overfished, the oysters and the pearls they catch are getting scarce (The pearls are a kind of currency to the Varenians) As a result the Varenians are close to starving to death. Fortunately for them, the water makes them strong and live longer than a typical Ilaraian. My favorite part of the book was Zadie's and Nor’s life in Varenia, it was simple yet beautiful. And easily the most interesting part of the book.

Once Nor is sent to court the entire tone of the novel begins to change. We are thrust into this medieval setting with a dying king and a cruel prince eating Varenian pearls trying to find life and vitality to create a strong Kingship. Nor has to learn everything from etiquette, to how to dress, and how to act. She learns that Prince Ceren is a creepy and dangerous individual to be engaged too, even more so when you're falling for his half brother, Prince Talin. Plenty of crazy things happen towards the end. Murder, duels, daring scientific experiments, espionage, and imprisonment.
I felt that this part of the book sort of fell flat for me, it wasn’t as enjoyable as when she was with her sister in Varenia. It’s dark, stuffy, lifeless, with Nor struggling to adjust to this environment and the many secrets that she uncovers about the future fate of the Varenian's.

Much of the story right from the get-go was explaining how this world works, these were placed between pieces of dialogue, which makes sense. Once Nor reaches the court this happens again as she is thrust into another world, in some ways I felt like I was beginning the book with these explanations. The world-building is solid and the info comes at the right time, but you’re learning about it constantly throughout the book, which can get a bit frustrating.

I like how the story ended and where it's going. I have a feeling things aren’t as easy as Nor thinks they are, plenty of things are going to happen in the next book. I’m excited to see more of Nor, Zadie, Sami, and Talin.

Overall, I liked the story, plotting, pacing, and character arcs. 3.75 stars. It’s a very enjoyable book and I’m looking forward to reading the next one.

This review will appear on the aGirlWithBookss YouTube Channel, Instagram and Goodreads page.
Video review will be uploaded on 21/08/19 - Link will be updated

Wow… I LOVED this book!
I loved the characters, the love interest, the writing… and I absolutely loved the setting. I got so lost in this new world that once I put the book down I didn’t want to read anything else. I can’t wait to read more from this author!

3.5 Stars

Steal the crown. Save the kingdom...I wouldn't say this book did that.

This story follows Nor, a girl from a small sea village where beauty is everything. The girls of this village are all taught that nothing is more important than being beautiful and any flaw ruins you. Really just a horrible message. The reason beauty is so important is that the most beautiful girl in the village is carted off to a crown prince when he is ready to marry. Nor has a small scar on her cheek from when she saved her twin sister, Zadie, from drowning. Therefore, she is flawed and unworthy according to her mother.

So the overall message from this village is really horrible, but there is one saving grace. The story between these two sisters is very beautiful. You can really feel the love between Nor and Zadie. Nor and Zadie are tested when Zadie is chosen to be the bride for this unknown prince in a different land. I will try not to spoil too much but Nor ends up taking Zadie's place as the bride. This is the first half of the book and I really enjoyed this part.

Once Nor starts her journey to the mountain the book becomes a little flat. This is were that steal the crown part is inaccurate. Not once does that thought cross Nor's mind. I feel like 99% of the time she's just trying to figure out were her place is on land. She has never seen trees or horses or mountains before.

There will be a second book and while this one was somewhat lacking, I do think I will read the next one. I'm interested to see what happens next.

Crown of Coral and Pearl is Mara Rutherford’s debut YA Fantasy novel, published by Inkyard Press. I received an eARC of the book for review through Netgalley.

Note: At the time I requested the eARC, this book was listed as a standalone novel. After I finished reading, I found out that a sequel had been announced, but after a few weeks of consideration I’ve realized that the announcement does not change my feelings for Crown of Coral and Pearl itself. It does offer the author a chance to satisfy readers who felt the story was not best concluded in a single novel.

My true rating for this book is 3.5-3.75 Stars. Crown of Coral and Pearl is a solid first foray into fiction writing, and I devoured it in just a few days during my downtime at work. I loved the relationship between the sisters, heroine Nor’s childhood experiences provided the perfect foundation for her actions throughout the plot, and the settings were fantastic and uncommon. The world and cultures were lush and beautifully detailed, and the folklorish background that set the basis for the traditions and politics between countries was beautiful and added extra flavor to the world building. I was very pleased to find out that Mara Rutherford is a follower of the famed true crime podcast “My Favorite Murder”. This obviously influenced the development of the extremely creepy, psychopathic Prince Ceren to stand opposite Nor, and I enjoyed him immensely. I always adore villains I can enjoy hating, and Ceren was very fun to hate.

There are a couple things that stopped this from being a 4 or 5 star read for me. First- the “incident” that causes the sisters to have to switch places is not an accident or sabotage as I assumed when reading the synopsis. It was an act of assisted self-mutilation. I will avoid spoilers regarding the how and why, but I feel that the publisher should be issuing trigger warnings to readers that not only is there a scene where a character deliberately injures themselves, but also manipulates a loved one into assisting. For me, this scene was amazingly done. I was completely creeped out and uncomfortable in an enjoyable, psychological horror film-esque kind of way, but I can see how it could be troubling for some readers. This is a case of “viewer discretion advised” and should be labeled appropriately.

The next gripe I have is not exclusively the fault of the author, but a case of publishing trends clashing with good storytelling. It is common knowledge in publishing that debut authors are recommended to write standalone novels with the potential to be sequeled. I myself have been warned by agents I’ve spoken to that I should not hold anything back, and to put in everything I want to see in a story just in case it doesn’t do well enough to be given the greenlight for a follow up. I assume Mara Rutherford was given similar advice, because the plot of this book is absolutely packed. Sadly, this is to the detriment of the story.

Over 100 pages of the book are dedicated to Nor’s life in her home village of Varenia and the events that lead up to her replacing her sister (Zadie) as the betrothed of Prince Ceren. We get a beautiful, detailed look at her home life, culture, and place in her childhood community. However, I felt like the all-consuming unhealthy obsession with beauty was overstated to the point of redundancy. By the time we leave Varenia, I found I had shifted from being sympathetic towards the characters for their twisted upbringing, to just plain annoyed and resentful at the idea of having to read one more thought from Nor about beauty. (My request to authors who chose to write in 1st person: Please be careful that you’re not using the character’s thoughts to repeat things ad nauseum.)

The amount of time spent in Varenia left too little real estate to really develop the kind of twisted thriller I was looking forward to once Nor reached Ceren’s mountain stronghold in Ilara. Nor’s struggle to outwit Ceren, stop his twisted plans, and save her unsuspecting village felt very cramped and rushed. The relationship between Nor and Talen felt equally underdeveloped to the point of being forced because the synopsis said it was supposed to be there. Lastly, Nor’s limited exposure to anything outside Ceren’s direct control forced a massive info dump at the very end of the book, courtesy of Prince Talen. Even with Nor’s limited access to locations and people, more time spent in Ilara rather than Varenia would have given Mara Rutherford room to place breadcrumbs leading up to Nor discovering or at least suspecting the information that Talen later confirms.

All of the plot elements are fascinating and wonderful, but they’re too numerous for one book. It feels like everything and the kitchen sink was thrown into one story, and the consequence is that the plot is not nearly as fleshed out as the worldbuilding. I wish that Inkyard Press had purchased this manuscript as a planned duology or trilogy from the start. It would have facilitated better pacing and less plot-cramming. Even with a sequel having been announced, it won’t change the fact that this installment is just too cluttered to earn more than a 3-star rating from me.

Despite my issues with the over-crowded plot, I did immensely enjoy myself. I look forward to future books from Mara Rutherford, and do plan to read Kingdom of Sea and Stone, the sequel to Crown of Coral and Pearl.

(2.5 stars)

I received this book as an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Even the tagline of this book is at war with it's concept: Steal the crown, save the kingdom. Dramatic, bold, and entirely unrelated to both the pitch and actual plot.

This was a book I asked for and was semi-surprised I'd received. It sounded interesting and the cover was gorgeous, but I didn't know what I was stepping into. The pitch is fantastic, and at first I thought I was getting into a solid 5, or 4.5, star book: the first 100 pages are slow moving, but also have fantastic writing, emotional beats, and story elements. Then the rest of the book happens.



In a small pearl-diving village, the most beautiful girl each generation is sent away to marry a far-off prince, never to return to her ocean-top home again. Zadie and Nor are twins and considered the most beautiful, but a childhood accident marks Nor with a small scar, so it is accepted Zadie will be the one chosen. Then, Zadie is maimed, and Nor goes in her place, disguising her scar to pass as her sister. She steps foot on land for the first time, meets her betrothed (a children's cartoon villain) falls in love with someone else. There's also some plots and schemes going on that would hurt Nor's home town, but these are too tied up in the over-the-top ness of the villain to feel real.

Essentially, this book is in two parts: Nor and Zadie in the leading up to being chosen, and their bond as sisters in this ocean-top town... and Nor in the castle, being harassed by her betrothed Prince Ceren and his comical villainy. When I was reading the village portion I wished it would speed up a bit and get to the exciting part- meeting this cold prince Ceren, this love-interest prince Talin, and the promised court where "lies reign and obsession rules". While her adventures on land start as promising as the compelling first section of the novel, around the time you meet Ceren you realize you need to drastically lower your expectations.

Similarly, a lot of the themes presented earlier on- how the society Nor is from values a girl's beauty above all else, Nor's other-ness for her small scar, the change between the sisters based on the scar... do not matter in the latter half. If the point made early on is the cruelty of raising daughters up purely for beauty in order to send them away forever, and how beauty is a pursuit different from goodness... well, the good Talin is breathtakingly beautiful, and the evil Ceren is a pale cave-dweller. If Nor's mother was right and beauty was power... well, Nor never uses her beauty to manipulate anyone, and when she tries Ceren immediately sees through it.

Even the verse children's song used to lampshade some plot details bears nothing to the story. It's called 'Beware the Lionfish', and Ceren uses it mockingly to try and get Nor to avoid the flashier Talin, since like a lionfish he is deadly. Nor also notes the next line of the song is 'beware the Stonefish', a comparison to the unreadable Ceren who is just as deadly. However, for a song about how creatures are not what they seem, and being cautious about appearances, Talin is just as perfect as when we first meet him, and Ceren is just as evil. Ceren is not a stonefish, lying in wait- he's hated fairly openly by commoners, nobles, servants, and his family. Talin is not a lionfish, bright but deadly- he's loved by everyone, nice, an advocate for social change, strong, and beautiful.

Romance
I say this almost every time I write a review, but I'm not a romance person, and it's hard to convince me of romance in YA or nearly any media for that matter. Still, Nor and Talin fell extremely flat for me as a couple. It's not a good sign when the most I can say about a character is 'at least he's not abusive'. Talin is Ceren's younger half-brother, and from the moment he sees Nor he pretty much loves her. She sees him and is struck by how he's the most attractive man she's ever seen, the only one to notices her separate from her sister, how they have some instant 'connection'... None of this is false, either. Talin, who barely speaks with her when they cross paths once before Nor and Zadie swap places, knows immediately how to tell the two apart because there's just 'something about her'.

For his part, if you cannot tell, Talin is perfect. He's the most attractive guy. He's the nicest guy. He's strong, and leads the king's guard. He treats his brother with any amount of respect despite his brother being evil. He cares about Nor's home and wants to learn more about it. He constantly is looking out for Nor and protecting her. He saves Nor's life more than once... Talin is perfect. He's also just too perfect. There's some hope early on that Ceren, despite being weird in how evil he is, might be on to something with his 'Lionfish' remark. But he's just wrong (and evil): Talin does not mislead, lie, or have any other motivations besides the purest, most perfect ones. And he loves Nor immediately, too.

Nor also loves him immediately, and they are instantly in love.

It's... well, it's boring. But also he's boring. I don't want love interests to be scumbags, but I came to dislike Talin for what little personality he had. He didn't really seem to have much character, no defining traits and little in terms of quirks or hobbies. What little we know is some of his backstory, which coincides with Ceren. Ceren's mother died in childbirth, and the king immediately remarried Talin's mother. Ceren was mostly raised by nursemaids and ignored by his stepmother, while Talin was showered with attention and love. Talin went out to villages with his family while Ceren was left behind.

Is it really then so surprising Ceren became bitter and over the top? Talin spares one or two thoughts about Ceren as his brother, no matter how bad he is, but I still felt like Talin was a jerk at points. Rather than give Ceren any chance to grow up healthy, he just was fine with the fact his older brother was hated by his mother and consistently ignored. At this point Ceren is 'too far gone' to be able to be redeemed, but on hearing Talin talk about his childhood, I was bothered he was just as complicit in making Ceren who he was- and goading him on in the present.

I'll put Ceren here in the romance section, because why not. Ceren is the one interesting character in this. Alright, Nor/Zadie was great, and so is the rest of their village, but that might as well be a separate book. Palace wise, Ceren is the only character with depth. At times he is practically made of plastic for how evil and bizarre his actions are (casual chat of murder, batting no eyes at child death, for some reason he's a steampunk inventor, filling a pie with live bats), but he also has a properly interesting backstory. Raised by a stepmother who promptly ignored him his entire life, Ceren is also incredibly sickly and obsessed with his own health, and the health of the dwindling kingdom. His father is dying, and Ceren is developing the same consuming illness. At the south, multiple enemies are planning to invade. Ceren rightly knows he, as the heir, has a responsibility to his people to appear healthy, and continue the bloodline.

However, he also has bad habits of pushing people, needing to test their loyalty, and never trusting people. This makes sense when you consider his own family left him to be raised by maids and purposefully left him out of trips to the countryside, trapping him in a windowless castle. He's aggressive and aims to shock, probably because he didn't get enough attention as a child, and even as an adult his attractive, perfect, loved younger brother gets all the attention. Even if he's pretty callous to tell Nor she's really just there to birth a heir and provide a strong bloodline, that's after she, first night of meeting him, spends all night dancing close with his brother Talin. I'd be kind of jealous too, even if it's a political marriage, if my gets-everything-I-ever-wanted brother ALSO got my future wife!

The flipside of these complexities is his actual behavior, which again I can only call cartoon-ish. Ceren immediately is creepy. He flatly talks about killing people, including children. He enjoys torture. He builds machines, which he tests on children, who then sometimes die. He's mean, controlling, physical, and leering. Again, a counter to the too-perfect Talin is the too-evil Ceren, though at least Ceren has some backstory going on.

The interesting parts are when Ceren shows moments of feeling. Nor saves his life at some point, when everyone else is resigned to let him die. He's shocked at the gesture, aware he is despised, even by Nor. Still, there's a short moment where he's clearly confused by the notion of someone doing something for him that he didn't have to threaten to achieve. That's a story arc I'd be interested in it, with Ceren as the hero and Talin the villain, how beauty doesn't equal good and someone who is obviously bright can be hiding venom.

But no, pretty much from the moment we meet Ceren he's too evil to be redeemed. There's no ambiguity about it, which sucks, and that really brings the book down.

Ending
I'm not going to spoil the ending, but there's a few things going on that need to be addressed. For one, Nor. I had a good sense of her character in the first part of the book, but castle Nor is different. She feels like a nice, good enough character who has been infected by the YA trend of 'cold, calculating killers'. These days a lot of YA has girls who kill without feeling, or are power-hungry, or basically calculating power-players. Nor doesn't feel like one of them at any point, and yet look at the tagline: Steal the crown, save the kingdom. Nor at no point is trying to steal the crown or even wants to willfully deceive people, she's more interested in surviving and trying to help her village. Yet early on Nor is given a knife of insta-death, and we all know what that means: she'll be using it.

Yes, Nor seems in no way violent, but like a check-mark had to be ticked for YA trends, she gets to kill. It didn't feel like an appropriate development for her as opposed to something that tied in more with the proposed themes of the book, or even using (like how I thought at first) trickery rather than brute force.

I heard this book was originally sold as a standalone, which is head-scratching considering the ending. It is a series now, but it ends with sequel set up, more sequel set up, and even more sequel set up. Rather than follow much of a story arc, we have a bunch of new information that doesn't seem secret yet has never been discussed until now, some plot convenience, and the book ends. It's really a disappointing end, and doesn't make me at all want to pick up the second book. I already can see what'll happen, and it just seems boring.

There's one other aspect of this book I want to cover, and that's that Nor has super healing powers, and that isn't really explained or important for most of the book. This isn't a fantasy story, but she has mutant magical healing powers, and that for some reason bothered me.

Conclusion
While the beginning was phenomenally promising as a well written story of sisterhood and how things are not always what they seem, the second part of this book fell to pieces with flat romance and characters, leading to an underwhelming end.

Quite possibly one of the most anticipated reads on my summer list.

Crown of Coral and Pearl is set in a high fantasy world in which beautiful maidens from Varenia, an isolated ocean village, are chosen to marry the Crown Prince of Illaria, due to an ancient custom, with the prospects of wealth and power. The MC, Nor longs to leave Varenia and see the world but due to a childhood incident that scars her face, she knows her identical twin sister, Zadie, will leave the island and be betrothed to the Prince. However, Zadie has no interests in marrying the Prince and injures herself so she can be the boy she loves, Nor is sent in Zadie's place where she's pulled into a court of deception and uncovers a conspiracy to destroy Varenia.

I liked Nor well enough. She was a worthy heroine and I liked her cleverness and independent spirit. However, once she meets Prince Talin, it's insta-love and she makes the absolute worst decisions that I'm tempted to slap her silly. She just gets sooooo flustered looking into those gorgeous "sea blue eyes" and loses it. Talin doesn't really have much going characterwise and it seems as if Nor is more captivated with his beauty which I find quite ironic considering that Nor despises Varenia's idolization of beauty but somehow loves a guy because of his looks? All in all, she's way better when she isn't flirting with Talin.

Also, while we're on the topic of Prince Talin, let's discuss his brother Crown Prince of Illaria, Ceren. So technically, Nor is supposed to marry Ceren but instead, she falls in love with his brother, Talin. But that's OK because Ceren is made out to be a terrible human and the unofficial villain for plot-device purposes. I wish Ceren was more fleshed out because he genuinely had a lot going for him. Was he a jerk? Heck yeah! While his motives were the generic bad guy thing but I think there's more to him and wish this aspect was more developed.

I really liked the world-building in this though. While I had trouble following the plot at times, I liked the descriptions of Varenia and Illaria. Also, I enjoyed the sister relationship between Zadie and Nor. Whilst I wasn't the biggest fan of Zadie, I still found her compelling to read about and their bond reminded me vaguely of Frozen (or is that just me?)

Although this is marketed as a standalone novel, I'm hoping for a sequel because Crown of Coral and Pearl ends so abruptly and quite a few loose ends to be tied up for some much-needed resolution.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin TEEN publishers for providing a free ARC

Imagine living in a remote colony in the middle of the sea where a woman's worth is based on beauty and perfection. This is where the story of Nor begins. Nor is strong and loyal and easy to root for. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it left me wanting more.

Difficult format to follow, completely unoriginal and not interesting. I really tried to read this but I couldn't make it past the first 60 pages. Appreciative to the publisher for the book but I will not be finishing.

I absolutely loved this book. there was literally nothing about this book that I disliked. I was sucked in from the first page and it only got better. Every character was amazing and I want to know more!!!!