This was a sapphic fantasy novel which always earns points for me but it was also executed wonderfully. I did like the first half of the book a lot more than the second but I enjoyed all of it and was engrossed throughout.

The characters were interesting and complex and I like how Pearce wove in the narratives of the characters set up as the villains without it seeming forced or as a ploy to garner pity for those characters. I adored the character of Raena and Aven was sweet. My biggest complaint is the lack of Finn. I’m for sure going to read the sequel.

Thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When I first read the synopses for this book I was really intrigued. The premises sound so good and it was an lgbtq book so that was even more plus points.
I really enjoyed reading this book! I just loved reading the book from different perspectives. Especially because they were on different sides of the story as one of the perspectives was of the Queen the other two were “fighting”.
The chemistry the two main characters had was amazing. I loved reading about the evolution in their friendship. I always have a weakness for books with some romance on the side and this one did not disappoint.
The book overall had lots of twist and turns I did not see coming but did make sense. The story really pulled me in to keep reading. There were some parts that dragged on a bit long (especially the traveling scenes) but I did not mind it that much as I was invested in the characters. I’ll definitely be looking out for the sequel.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Traitors of the Black Crown was a miss for me right now. I did not finish it because I couldn't really connect with any of the characters through an ebook copy. I really wanted to finish it but I just could not in ebook format. I do want to give this book a try in a physical format!

I dnf'ed (for now) @ 25%. I really wanted to continue but I was going to get myself in a reading slump if I tried finishing it.

There is loads of LGBTQ representation in this book, so I really do want to give this book a try in physical format, because it seems right up my alley!!

The cover and the premise of this book wow I knew I wanted to read it. It didn’t live up to the hype at all. The romance just didn’t interest me and wow it was so slow it could of been shorter and could of been a quicker and more enjoyable read like that. Honestly this read like a man had read it trying to make women sound weak. I just didn’t enjoy this much at all

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the arc.

Sadly, I DNFed at 32%

I really wanted to love this book. The last queer fantasy I read turned out to be so disappointing, and my expectations for this one, based on blurb, weren’t super high (fantasy based on Medieval Europe isn’t my favorite), so I figured it would be hard for this book to disappoint. Also, I tend to not care much if a book has a tight plot, as long as I’m enthralled by the characters, authors can get away with a lot. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get into this.

There were so many long dialogues. At one point, I’m pretty sure the two main characters talked about the same things three times. People talk in circles so dialogue can clarify things about the world, and the exposition dump eventually exhausted me. I think I went four or five chapters with nothing much happening except people thinking about their predicaments and having inane, endless conversations, and at the end of it all, I hadn’t grasped who Raena and Avenna were any better.

I figured I would hold out until Zarana’s POV to see if the book became more engrossing, but sadly all three POVs were shallow and the world was too generic and uninteresting. Some of the more specific parts just felt like GoT fanfiction (especially the Prince), but even this familiarity didn’t help me make sense of the balance of power. A sick Queen and a Prince with no heirs and a people who hated both? Why not just kill both? They literally filled the Castle with warriors then abused them. The inciting incident didn’t make sense, and the rest of the first act added nothing to it, so I couldn’t justify sticking with it to the end.

I’m sorry for that, but hopefully this book will find readers who will appreciate it.

I loved how the book just thrust the reader into the action without it being too confusing or overwhelming.

The flirting between the two main characters was so cute and didn’t feel forced at all. I loved all of their scenes together and wish that there was more of them.

I felt like the book started off pretty fast paced but then ground to a halt at about the halfway point. I was really enjoying it but then started getting bored after the enemy reveal. It felt almost like a different book, which I didn’t enjoy as much as I did the book I started out with. I was very down with the politics and war but got bored once it started feeling more like an apocalypse book.

I liked the multiple POVs but wish they switched more often. We stay with the same character for far too long and I end up wondering what the other character is doing. Also I’m not sure how necessary it was to have the Queens POV in the story, she didn’t really add much.

The end of the book felt a little cheap, like it closed without really answering anything. I know that there is supposed to be a sequel but I’m not sure that there’s enough story left to tell, honestly if it had like two more chapters I feel like a sequel wouldn’t be necessary.

I really enjoyed this book for the most part but not sure if I’m going to be reading the sequel.

It was an enjoyable read! It had so many twists and turns which really got me good and pumped! Sapphic romance and also badass characters!

What do I say about 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝐶𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑛?

I had high hopes, the cover is stunning... the premise drew me with it being a fantasy with LGBTQ+ representation...a Twelfth Night styled dress up to stay safe - truly so much good stuff that had made me jump for this book.

I should have been in Heaven but in reality? I had to keep stopping as my mind wandered as the story took so long to get going. I just couldn't get behind Raenna and whilst yes, I understood her need to hide as a man to stay alive? I found her disregard for women and seeing them as weak and unrelateable on the 'totally infuriating' side of the coin. Yes, she had to play a part but everyone where she has been a Knight and hidden away know she's not 'Sir Rowan' and I wanted to yell through the pages to tug that chip of her shoulder and move on.

There is blood and gore thanks to the Prince's immature way of showing he is worthy of the crown by belittling his subjects and those drawn to the capitol at his request. He reminded me of a certain George RR Martin boy-king who should have known arrogance and violence will lead to enemies (shame there wasn't poison available...) because our Prince deserves to be put in his place for his bloodthirsty cruelty. He's the epitome of villain, but he did grate on my nerves a lot.

The meet-cute of Raenna and Aven didn't live up to expectation and I found myself again distracted by things going on that took you away unnecessarily from the couple.

I wanted a fantastic sapphic love affair, some really good LGBTQ+ representation within a wonderful world. Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced copy of 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝐶𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑛 had delivered but sadly not for me.

Thank you to @netgalley and @hansenhousebooks for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Three women will betray the black crown. A Knight. A Duchess. A Queen.

Raena Schinen narrowly escaped when the Queen’s guard murdered her entire family. If Raena’s survival is exposed, she’ll be next. For fifteen years Raena has hidden as a male Knight, “Sir Rowan”, consumed by her vengeful desire to assassinate the Queen.

The moment Raena is close enough to exact her revenge, she is unexpectedly exiled to a foreign land. There she serves the common-born Duchess Aven Colby, whose suspicious kinship with the Queen further threatens Raena’s delicate secrets.

Just as they become united in a common goal to curb a looming invasion, unexpected heat and romance blossoms between “Sir Rowan” and Aven. The peril demands they set out on a journey to form clandestine political alliances, risking the Queen’s wrath, and drawing Raena and Aven closer together.

But no one in the kingdom could have imagined the sinister foe rising from below the surface. In order to save themselves and those they love, Raena, Aven, and the Queen must recognize who are the oppressors and who will unite against the Black Crown.

—

DNF at 40%.

I really wanted to enjoy this one. It seems like I’m forever searching for an amazing YA Fantasy that has LGBTQ+ characters. I’ve found a few, and I really thought this one would be up there.

The first couple of chapters were amazing and I really wanted it to continue. Unfortunately, it seemed after that point, nothing happened. I tried to carry on with this book and hope it picked up but I’m a slow reader, and it seemed like it dragged on forever.

Therefore, I made the decision to DNF. I hate DNF’ing books, but at this moment in time, that’s what’s best for me and I hope one day I can continue with this book and get through the slow stages to where it hopefully would pick up again.

I was given a free copy of the Traitors of the Black Crown by Cate Pearce (author), Hansen House (publisher), and Net Galley to provide an honest review.

This review will be spoiler free.

I would characterize Traitors of the Black Crown as epic fantasy with a splash of young love, but I do not think it would be YA because of some of the mature themes.

The world building is not unique and utilizes standard fantasy tropes. The setting is a medieval with an empire lead by a prince who expects to be a king and divided into different territories which are ruled by nobility.
The characters are somewhat familiar. The main character is the knight who is seeking vengeance and her character arc is fairly interesting. She is the most fully fleshed out and developed character. The side characters are not as nearly developed as the main character, and they are not interesting.

The plot is somewhat familiar. It is about a young woman who portrays herself as a knight and wants to seek vengeance against the nobles who were responsible for killing her family.

I found reading this novel to be somewhat of a chore because I felt some of the scenes and chapters could have been removed to make the story tighter and would flow more smoothly. The story would also be more compelling and engaging. I thought the beginning was long in setting up, there were some dead spots in the middle, the run up to the ending was too long, but Ms. Pearce stuck the ending.

Neverthess, I believe this is Ms. Pearce’s first novel and there is the foundation of an engaging story due to the ending which sets up nicely for the second story. I think if Ms. Pearce excises chapters that do not propel the story forward and use the page space to develop the main character and the side characters, then the second novel could be very engaging and compelling.

I rate Traitors of the Black Crown 3 stars.

I would like to thank Cate Pearce, Hansen House, and Netgalley for the free arc.

The premise sounded interesting but sadly that didn't translate to an enjoyable read. It was very slow moving and the plot was not gripping at all. The characters were flat and so I couldn't get invested in any of the personal relationships or feel emotionally attached to them in any way.

First of all, I would like to thank Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Goodreads doesn't allow me to give half of a star, but I would rate this book at a 3.5/5 stars.

Traitors of the Black Crown, by Cate Pearce, is a difficult book to describe. It is the story of a kingdom that has fallen apart, told from 3 different perspectives. We follow Raena (known as Rowen, as she is in hiding and disguised as a knight), Aven (a Dutchess who is common born), and Zarana (the Queen).

I will admit, this book was a bit difficult to fall into at first, it took me maybe a chapter or two to really get into the swing of the story. There is such in-depth world building, and it can, at times, feel a bit as if you're dropped right in the middle of it. The history and politics of the world in this novel are fascinating, however, it did take me a little bit to understand what was happening.

The middle chunk of the book was amazing. Once I understood the politics of the story, I was able to really focus on the characters and who they are. There is an amazing romance between Raena and Aven, and I loved every minute of it. There were times that I was just screaming at the book, because they weren't communicating and they were being stupid, in the best possible way - both in love, but too afraid to say anything.

There was also some great conflict coming from the Queen's son - Zander. There were many moments where it felt like it was a race to beat him, to stay one step ahead, and that was very interesting to read.

Unfortunately, I found myself disappointed by the ending. It ended in a cliffhanger, however, it felt more like a cut off than anything. There is a sequel coming, but I didn't feel like the ending was satisfying. It was an attempt at a cliffhanger, except you knew exactly what was going to happen - it just wasn't said in the book.

Overall, I am glad I read this, I found the characters very enjoyable, and it was a very interesting world to explore.

This was a really great fantasy story with excellent world building and a sweet and well written sapphic romance at the heart. The characters were likeable and varied, with chapters written from several of perspectives, each with their own distinctive voice.

I am usually drawn to more of a sci-fi / space setting when it comes to fictional worlds but I thoroughly enjoyed the fantasy/historical setting of this story, with castles, knights, nobles and horseback travel between different kingdoms and lands. In fact, after reading this story and enjoying it so much, I will definitely be seeking out other stories in this theme and am greatly looking forward to the next book in this series!

The sapphic romance is both sweet and hot and at the same time and is enough of a slow burn that it felt believable for these characters to develop a relationship, but it also moved quickly enough that the pacing felt engaging. The romance is a central element of the book but also only one element of a wider and intriguing plot which covers the interactions between different kingdoms, politics, royalty bloodlines and contains strong found family themes.

The writing was very detailed and descriptive and may be a little too detailed for some as it does mean the pacing of the story is slower to start with to allow for very descriptive worldbuilding, but for me personally, I found the story engaging throughout and the pacing was steady enough for me in return for the excellent worldbuilding.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review!

This is the kind of book that you simply cannot put down. Once the plot gets going, there are so many twists and turns that made me keep telling myself "just one more chapter".

The world building is intricate and fascinating. I kind of wish I had a map to track where the characters were, since they move around a considerable amount, and hopefully the published edition will have one. I never felt like the information being provided about the history and lore of the world was dragging down the plot, and Pearce was able to paint a detailed backdrop for the story without taking away from the forward movement of the story.

I ended up really enjoying the romance between Raenna and Aven, even though I typically disliked insta-attraction and wasn't on board with their sudden desire for each other. Despite this, I think Pearce wrote their relationship beautifully, and I while they were separated I was desperate to see them reunited.

One of my favorite elements of this novel was the presence of dire consequences. We were shown again and again that characters could very much be killed or maimed, and this made moments like Aven and Bell racing into the underground passages of the keep to rescue a sick man after everyone had escaped the invading Boens even more exciting. The constant threat of a largely inescapable underground force followed the characters throughout their journey to safety, and the previously established risks and consequences made it an edge of your seat read.

I also liked how the plot kept me guessing. I was never sure was going on with Zarana, and kept on modifying my predictions for the inevitable bit twist (which I still got wrong, but I was sort of close). My main criticism is that it does take a bit for the plot to get going, although I think plenty still happens in the first half to keep readers entertained. The competition at the beginning is a great set up to the tone of the novel, and a little after half way through the book the story becomes incredibly action-packed. I wouldn't criticize the intervening period however, as it is still interesting and crucial to setting up the later section.

Now, as is always the case whenever I read an ARC I love, I have to go through the torturous period of waiting for the second book to come when the first one hasn't even been released yet :(

3.75 stars. This is the type of story I like. I read some mixed reviews about this book, so I went in without high expectations, but I can only say I was positively surprised, especially considering that this is a debut novel. So, did I like it? Yes. Was it perfect? No. Do I look forward to reading the second book? Absolutely!

The author states that this book is a light retelling of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. I’m not familiar with that tale, but the book actually reminded me of Game of Thrones (sans dragons). There are all kinds of different kingdoms, duchy’s, republics (sort of), all with their own traditions and cultures. Most of the storylines are in some way connected to Candor, a kingdom ruled by tyrannical Queen Zarana and her son Zander, who’s soon to be the king. Remember King Joffrey? Well Zander could be his twin. He is an arrogant, sadistic little shit, with far too much power. The political tension is extremely high in the kingdom, noble families are disgruntled, but fear their leaders, there are intrigues, executions and just plain slaughters and wars. The story features many characters, but luckily there are only three POVs (in 3rd person), those of Reana, Aven and Queen Zarana. I like that there were not too many POVs as constant changes in POV tend to pull me out of a story.

Reana’s entire family has been executed by the queen and she has one goal, to kill the queen, followed by her son. In my opinion this is the major storyline of the book. Reana has been living in hiding, disguised as Sir Rowan, building and preparing for her moment of revenge, but almost immediately at the start of the book her plans are disturbed as she is exiled to a duchy ruled by Duchess Aven where a romance between Reana and Aven develops. Before I continue I would like to manage expectations on the romance, the romance is not the main focus of this book (imo) and Reana and Aven are separated during large parts of the book. So, if you are solely in it for a romance with a valiant knight wooing a noble lady you might be disappointed. The romance is a bit fast, but I enjoyed it anyway.

This is an elaborate book, but I’ll try to keep things short.
Worldbuilding: I found that I had some trouble at the start of the book with visualization of the first couple of locations (like the capitol and the castle?) and I also would have appreciated a map at the start of the book. Nevertheless, the worldbuilding improved as the story continued, it was as if the author grew more comfortable with the story and I’m hoping this will continue in the next book(s).
Intrigue: This was the best part of the book for me; politics and secrets that slowly unravel. All the time you feel there is something underlying certain decisions, but you don’t know exactly what. Also, the way the storylines of the various characters are interwoven was very well done.
Characters: There are many characters, some more developed than others. I liked Reana and Aven and there was decent character development, although there could be more, at a certain point the focus shifted towards the action scenes. I hope the characters will continue to grow in the second book and I also wish for some rough edges to their personalities, at times the mains seemed too good to be true. The prince is an over the top villain, but one you can hate with fervor. The queen is a different story, she is more complex and in time you get insights in her reasoning and I liked how this was done. Can you hate a person and feel sorry for them at the same time?
Writing and Pace: I noticed some small inconsistencies in the storyline, like injuries that seemed to be forgotten / miraculously healed, and the pace was fluctuating from time to time. As with a lot of epic fantasy books this book requires patience. Time is needed for worldbuilding and to explain all the relations, but in the end, it payed off.

In summary, this book is not without some (debut) flaws, but I really enjoyed reading it and I recommend reading this book if you like this type of story.

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley #netgalley

So exciting. I was generally surprised how much I enjoyed this stuff I lost quite a few hours of sleep over it LOL but I'm definitely happy about it thank you netgalley. The spot was definitely cutting edge and have many twists.

Raena's family are all killed by the Queen so she goes to live with Lord Sylar. She takes on the appearance of a man and is renamed Sir Rowan. But she always seeks revenge on the Queen and Prince Zander. After a series of trials she is exiled by Prince Zandar to serve under Duchess Avenna.
I really wanted to enjoy this book but I found it really hard going,
Many thanks to Netgalley and Hansen House publishers for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC.

I had high expectations for this book from reading the summary, but I feel like those expectations were a bit too high. I have read quite a bit of wlw fantasy, so that is where my expectations come from.

The story follows Raena who goes undercover as a male knight named Rowan. She wants to kill the queen who is responsible for the murder of her family. She gets exiled and meets Dutchess Avenna (whose name is very close to the word for oats). The main romance is between Raena and Avenna.

The plot of the book seemed excellent in theory, but in practice, it fell short. The characters were dull and the worldbuilding felt like it needed to be fleshed out a bit more. Neither Raena nor Avenna felt developed enough to be compelling. The side characters even more so. I feel like this could be a great book if it was in development a bit longer. The bones of it are good, but the execution was poor.

I really wanted to love this book, and it has a lot of greatelements but unfortunately it missed the mark for me. The emotions and character development felt shallow. However, I loved the romance and world building.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW. I tried to not get into the plot points too much but there was so many good things I couldn't help but gush my feelings about a little.

First of all, thank you to netgalley and the publishing team for allowing me the chance to read this debute novel and give my honest review for it!

I am giving this book: 3.5 STARS

I have to say, I almost lost with this book in the first 30% of it. The pacing was very .. very slow. To the point it took me over a month to actually hit the 30% mark. After that, I thought to myself; Do I even continue with this? Is it going to be worth pushing through another 700+ pages just for the sapphic romance that is promised?

Yes. Yes it was worth it. At least to me.

I am so happy that I pushes myself to not dnf after 30% because after that point, it was like I was reading a completely different book. The pacing was so much better, the author managed to give great detail of the world building without taking away from the main plot. The highlight for me had to be, well of course the sapphic romance.

Although I'm not a fan of the whole "instalove" kind of trope, I felt like it wasn't too much hitting you right on the nose in this book. It was believable to me that Avenna had gotten herself wrapped up in the world of our beloved disguised knight "Sir Rowan" after he picked her out of everyone to try and charm during the tournament. I'm sure her being .. common born .. wink wink for that discussion later, was a big reason for her being so curious by the knight suddenly placed into her care after exile.

I loved the fact that this book had multiple point of views from the three main women characters. We had Rhaena, also known as Sir Rowan, who we got the insight into her bloodthirst for revenge on the crown after they slaughtered her entire family for treason and sent her into hiding as a man. We also had the Duchess, Lady Avenna, who is a delightly light read compared to the other pov characters. She's just a woman who lost her husband and now has a Duchy to look after until one of the male relatives can marry, have a heir and take over. You get from her pov that she cares about her people, to the point that she's willing to go against the crown after many promises of protection that never seemed to come. You also got insight into her relationship with the Queen, who raised her in the castle alongside her horrendous son who reminded me a lot of Joffrey from a Song of Ice and ‪Fire/Game of Thrones. And finally you got the pov of the Queen herself, who in my opinion, was a definite highlight because her hatred for her own son and pettiness to not allow herself to die of the illness she's slowly dying with, because she doesn't want him to take the crown, is hilarious. She's one of those characters who you know you shouldn't root for .. but then you end up rooting for. Because she's just a bitter old hag who ends up doing the right thing after doing the wrong things.

The action scenes were another highlight, always really gripping and full of gore and everything else you could want in a fight scene. The plottwist at the end? Finding out the real reason that Queen Zarana had killed Rhaena's father, Henry, for supposed treason? Amazing. Truly such a great ending to the first book and had me sweating to know if Avenna would ever find out the truth. I was very delighted that the book ended the way it did and left some of the plot points open for a sequel to take place that instantly would have my attention and wouldn't have to create a whole new plot and feel like a whole new story just with the same characters.

Again, I'm glad I pushed myself past the 30% mark to read the rest of this book, because although the 30% really did drag a little too much for me, and the length of the overall book can be a bit intimidating at first, it was worth it and I thought it was a pretty great book for a debute.