Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber come together to write Twin Crowns, the first in a new series about twin sisters, witches, and adventure. 18 years ago, Wren and Rose were born. On that same day, both of their parents were murdered, The official story is that they were killed by the midwife who ran away before being able to kill their one child, Princess Rose. But that story doesn't explain the existence of Wren, raised and protected by the witches and trained to steal back the crown. Without Rose's knowledge or consent, the witches conduct a twin switch a month before the girls' 18th birthday and Rose's coronation. But Wren becomes distracted as she falls for a guard from a vicious kingdom and Rose can't help but notice how handsome her kidnapper, Shen Lo is. Both girls are fighting for the crown, but they might not be the only ones. This story is exciting, filled to the brim with adventure and betrayal, and has strong characters. Even Rose, who is a little clueless about the real world, has redeeming characteristics. The type of magic that Doyle and Webber have created is fun and the story is overall well written. I can't wait to see how Wren's and Rose's lives continue.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
Twin Crowns is pitched as a fantasy romcom, although whether that genre designation fits depends on your opinion of humor. Personally, while I did find it a lighter in tone than some of its comp titles in YA fantasy, calling it a romcom is a bit of a stretch, but hey, humor is subjective and reactions may vary.
The premise is a lot of fun, and I really liked the way Doyle and Webber played with the familiar concept of twins separated at birth and one meant to take the other’s throne. It does fall into the pitfall of many long fantasy books of promising something early on and taking forever building up to it, so you follow along with these two separate arcs waiting for them to meet up. While it’s not unimteresting in the meantime, the plot really accelerates upon their meeting, and it’s a shame it happens so late in the book.
I do really like each girl as characters though. Wren and Rose are so distinct, given the way each was raised, so it makes for an interesting dynamic for each of them to have to step outside what they know. Wren is a tad more prepared, as she has been trained to take her sister’s place, and her arc initially captured me more. However, Rose getting a taste for the world outside the palace through her kidnapping experience also intrigued me. Both have their share of naïveté that they approach their respective situations with, but both also ultimately prove themselves.
Both develop romances, although again, I’d hesitate to stress that as a part of the marketing of the book. The romances were ok, and pretty good by YA fantasy standards. But as someone who regularly reads romances, I can’t say that they’re what stood out to me, what with the complex sister dynamics and the elements of treachery in other aspects of the plot.
Despite the weird marketing choices, I enjoyed it and am curious how the second installment pans out. If you’re looking for a fun, tropey YA fantasy, you’ll enjoy this one.

Do you love a good sibling story, with magic, witches, intrigue, and romance thrown in? Twin Crowns fits this bill. Twin princesses, separated at birth, aim to fulfill their destiny and discover who they truly are. I liked the sibling angle and the development of the twins throughout the book. Although the story is set up for the sequel (with a mild cliffhanger), most of the key questions were answered in this book. Also, the romance was pretty mild. A great late middle grade, early teen read for a fantasy lover.

Thank you netgalley and the publishers for the free earc.

Three Dark Crowns meets Truthwtich? Sign me up!!
I binged this book in two days, it was so good! I loved the writing styles, the story building, and the character development. I haven't laughed so hard or felt so deeply towards a book in a long time. I can't wait to be able to sell this to people!

This is without a doubt my new favorite YA fantasy series, and I cannot wait to read the next book! This is really well written, and gives a reader everything she could want. There are long lost twin sisters separated at birth now finding each other, there is danger and battles, there are love stories and revenge plots, and witches, and curses, and leopards, and wolves, and bears! Oh my! A absolute must-read for any YA fantasy reader!

Twins were separated at birth. The parents murdered the same day.
One twin hidden and taken back to the group of witches her mother belonged to, the other left in the castle to be raised up as princess and future queen.
Wren, raised with the witches, is intent on taking over the throne to bring back peace between the people and the witches. Rose, raised in the castle as a princess, is waiting for her arranged wedding and coronation day.
Wrens scheme to become Queen leads to the discovery of who really murdered her parents that day, and meeting her sister for the first time, while they work together to make things right.
I enjoyed this book very much. The characters and plot were right up my alley and executed very well. Both sisters are extremely lovable, though they are complete opposites. Reading about how they come together to make things right in the end was great. Though I appreciate that not everyone single tiny detail was tied up with a pretty bow at the end, which can get boring after awhile. The ending was not a cliffhanger, but I do hope for a sequel to follow up on a few things that I’d love to hear more about!

A Land of Magic, Blood, and Lies

Twin Crowns is a book that is exactly what you expect it to be after reading the synopsis. It’s a fast-paced journey from one side of the other of the magical land of Eana, told with wit and grace, through the alternating viewpoints of twins Rose Valhart and Wren Greenrock. The twins were separated at birth, following the murder of their parents, yet both were raised to expect to ascend to the Eanan throne, whether through right (Rose) or usurpation (Wren). Rose grows up thinking witches are to blame for the death of her parents, and that they should be hunted down and killed to protect the kingdom. Meanwhile Wren is raised to know the truth: that Eana has always belonged to the witches, and that she and her sister survived the murder of her parents thanks to the witches, not in spite of them.

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Twin Crowns focuses on the value of family, both the kind made through shared blood, and the kind born of deep friendship and loyalty. It brings to light the importance of leading with mercy and fairness, and of being kind to those of all walks of life, regardless of one’s own social status. The book even captures the theme of questioning the prejudices one is raised with, and searching to find the truth in history, despite widely accepted versions of a story. But those more serious themes are a backdrop for plenty of humor and sarcasm as the princesses explore love interests that are far from suitable for an heir to the crown. This naturally leads to crises of duty and honor vs. love and desire, that goes hand in hand with a wild cliff hanger of an ending to set the stage for the second book in the series.

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The princesses must ultimately work together to figure out how the kingdom can be home to the witches, and to the non-magical folk who have been fed a steady stream of lies by the book’s villain, the Kingsbreath, to make them fear those who can wield magic. They must figure out how to save Rose from a marriage to a brutal kingdom, and to end the Kingsbreath’s designs on their throne. And they must figure out how to love and honor each other as twins, after a lifetime apart and vastly different upbringings…and a centuries old curse regarding twin princesses. This book is a fun read, that I highly recommend for fans of YA fantasy.

This was an unexpectedly fun and dark book! It's action packed from the very beginning, full of dynamic intrigue and world building. I loved reading about the relationship between the two sisters and I can't wait to see where the rest of the story goes!

I’m such a sucker for the fantasy genre especially if it has magic in it. I really loved and enjoyed this book. It was quite fun and an engaging story. Also, I really loved the juxtaposition drawn between the two sisters. Along with that the romance was sweet and cute. And I smiled like a perfect Cheshire Cat at the ending. Henceforth, it’s a pretty perfect 5 stars read for me.

I didn't hate it, and I didn't love it. Romance/love interest, not surprising at all. Tor and Wren reminded me ALOT of Celaena and Chaol from TOG series (at least the first few books).

Rose and Shen were more enjoyable, personally, but nothing to write home about.

What I liked: the sisters didn't hold onto any hatred. They kinda liked finding each other and being sisters. I liked Rose feeling confident that she was meant to lead--she wasn't wishy washy over this.

What I didn't like: the meh-ness of it all. The general stupidity of everyone in that castle--from believing that Wren was Rose, when all she had was Rose's face and a handful of facts and names of people, to the # of times it was said that Wren or Rose was V. important to the situation, but one of them would leave for what seemed like an hour? I was totally cheering for the witches because the castle folk seemed incompetent. Then again, if Wren could fool them all with her constant enchantments and stupid comments, why HADN'T the witches come back in and taken over, or at least fought for their place?

Now, this was an arc, so maybe some of the story will get tightened up and polished. But for me, it was mainly bland, easy to read, and only mildly offensive.

Two and half stars.

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me an ARC.

I enjoyed this title. At times it seemed like there were gaps in the story, but it kind of made it funny because you'll be thinking what's happening with the other twin and then bam they show up, with littke explanation, and this happened two times in the whole story.

I like each twin and they both have their own personalities with some similarities. I liked that they both had their own adventure stepping into each other's shoes but I think the story got so much better when they come together. So I'm hoping in the sequel, I sure hope there will be one, we get to see the whole book with them together!

If you are looking for a book in between reads, I would definitely suggest picking this up!

This confirms that I'm really just not that much of a high fantasy person anymore. I'm sure there are people who will love it, though! Romance, comedy, and magic is a pretty great combination.

CW: kidnapping, past parental deaths, past child abuse, fantasy violence and injuries

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC.

This book is a lot of fun. It's about two princesses one taken at birth to be raised with her people (witches) the author stuck at the castle not knowing about her sister's existence. But the future of the witches is at stake. So Rose gets kidnapped and taken to the witches while her sister Wren takes her place. But murdering the Kingsbreath, taking the crown and getting out of a marriage to a cruel nation is more than Wren signed up for.

Meanwhile, Rose is learning that she is a witch and meets her grandmother (the witch leader). She slowly learns that she has been growing up listening and believing lies. The Kingsbreath murdered her parents, the witches were in control of this land long before anyone wants to admit, and the witches aren't bad. She escaped the witches to return to the castle to take back her throne.

Anyway, while the book was fun to read it does have some flaws. It's very obvious that the POVs were written by different people. And honestly Wren's POV is much better than Rose. Wren is a stronger character, she's flawed in a realistic and believable way. She's snarky and funny and she's strong and determined. But even she makes some mistakes in the plot that doesn't make sense. She's been trained to do this her whole life but she's not very good at sneaking around (she's caught often) and she's easily distracted. She is supposed to be snooping, she knows there's someone locked in that tower and she doesn't even bother looking. She has magic sneaking around shouldn't be a problem.

Rose is really not a strong or likable character. She's full of hate, she's spoiled and her way of talking is stilted and stiff and not in a way a Princess would be stiff. Her relationship with Shen is so far fetched considering her up bringing and he would have no interest in her considering her personality and past. I'm not saying that they couldn't build up to a relationship but this mutual attraction thing happens way too fast for these two characters. Should have waited for book two.

Also I am uncertain as to why the Kingsbreath was made into this big bad guy if he's easily outmaneuvered and then killed at the end of this book. I mean he definitely was bad but I just don't see the point if he was going to be murdered and then the big bad guys become this other nation. It also doesn't make sense that the cruel King of this nation steals their grandmother. He says he wants a powerful witch, well he just saw what was up with Wren and Rose like he would obviously take one of them (which honestly would be really interesting and would have made for a cool book 2).

And then at the end we are thwacked with this old prophecy and the truth about two twin Queens and a curse, it felt like that was just pushed in there and honestly should have been shelved for book 2 or put in earlier in this book.

There is so much to enjoy about this fantasy adventure - two compelling sister protagonists, royal hijinks, conspiracies, false identities, and a healthy dose of magic. It reads like The Princess Bride meets The Prince and the Pauper, with all of the fun tropes of a life-switch comedy. This might be a fun one for a teen book club, as it raises a lot of good talking points about family, identity, and the assumptions we make about others. Rose and Wren are two exciting characters, and it was very fun to compare and contrast their points of view!

Something I would warn teen readers about is intensifying violence and sexual themes towards the end of the book. The story (which bills itself as a fantasy romcom) starts out relatively light, but the tone shifts to be more mature as romances and conflicts build. Cruelty, abuse, and bloody battles happen "onstage" in the second half of the book. Although there are no sexually explicit scenes, we do spend a lot of time on innuendo and various characters' desires (the phrase "naked desire" is used more than once). It's always odd to be an adult reading about these things in relation to underage characters, but this may not be a dealbreaker for older teens.

Several loose story threads at the end of this one, so I'll be interested to see if this will start a series. Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC!

4.25 ⭐️ This book is SO GOOD. It's a fun Princess Bride meets Frozen-esque tale that follows Wren and Rose, a pair of twins who were separated at birth when their father's advisor, Willem Rathborne, had him and his wife murdered. Wren was spirited away to live with the witches from her mother's side, while Rose remained behind, never knowing she had a sister. But that all changes when Wren returns to switch places with her in the night, sending Rose back to their family so she could pretend to be her.

I could marry this book. Not only do Doyle and Webber seamlessly blend their respective writing styles into a continuous (and well-crafted) narrative, the story itself barely falters, reading almost exactly like a movie. Everything about this book works. The writing, the plot, the tone, the romance — each of these things helps make Twin Crowns such an enjoyable and smooth read.

This book is definitely for those who enjoy witty, banter-filled fantasy romance stories because Twin Crowns is packed full of it. The twins' separate romances are both so good (though personally, I'm partial to Wren's) and the way the story develops these subplots is Immaculate. The endings for each had me crying screaming and throwing up (LIKE THAT SHOULD BE ILLEGAL???) but I can forgive it because it does it so damn well.

Anyways, all that to say I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun, light-hearted story that will feel reminiscent of a Disney movie but better! I haven't read anything like it and I wish the fantasy genre was filled with similar content right now because I'm officially Starved.

Twin sisters divided by a tragic fate and reunited by the same aspiration…becoming the queen of Eana. Rose’s 18th birthday is approaching and with it, her coronation. However, when she wakes up in the middle of the dessert with a stranger, she faces the challenge of embracing her own identity, her magic and her newly-discovered family of witches. Wren is raised with one goal in mind, swap places with her sister and pretend to be her until the crown of Eana is upon her head and then, she restores the witches to their rightful place. However, the road to the crown is filled with unexpected obstacles and playing the game of court politics proves to be more challenging then Wren anticipated. When the two sisters are reunited again, they have to overcome their personal obstacles and fight against their and the kingdoms true enemy, Willem Rathborne.

Ultimately, this is a really well-written story which elaborately combines fantasy, romance, suspense and court politics and captivates the reader’s interest from beginning to end. Furthermore, the double perspective is excellently written and while reading through Rose’s and Wren’s perspectives, you are left with the impression that these are two well-rounded and balanced main characters and I particularly enjoyed Rose’s personal growth through the book. Not only she discovered her magic but more importantly, she discovered the strength and determination of her character, which she was forced to keep in while growing up. However, as far as the magic aspect of the story is concerned, I would prefer a little more detail concerning the whole magic system and how it works and also, the abilities of five different types of magic wielders to be explored more extensively. Finally, the escalation of the plot was really interesting and the closer we got to the final confrontation the bigger the suspense grew and even though the book’s finale was satisfying, it also made us look forward to the next one.

All in all, even though the young adult genre is not one of my top preferences, this book was a solid 4 out of 5 stars read for me and I would like to read the next one for sure!

SO GOOD! I automatically gravitate towards books that are usually focused on familial and sibling relationships. I loved this. It was super entertaining and I loved the contrasts between the two sisters. I laughed several times reading this book and the romances? PERFECT! I cannot wait to see where Doyle and Webber take the next book after that ending. I always loved the slow progression between the sisters. It was entertaining and yet so joyous to read. 5/5 very happy stars!

4.5 stars rounded down!

This was so fun! I really enjoyed how we get the perspective of both twins. Wren and Rose are so different from one another, yet both likable. The plot in this worked really well, with plenty of action and romance to go around.

The world-building was done efficiently but in a way that still preserves the political complexities at play. I loved the presence of witches in this story, and the ways in which their magic worked, as well as seeing Rose's beliefs about witches challenged and eventually changed.

I rooted for both of the romances in this story, though I have to say that I was a little more into Rose and Shen's relationship. Wren and Tor had more of a slow-burn, and I look forward to seeing it (hopefully) progress in the next book.

One thing I noted was that, at times, the dialogue in this was a little juvenile. Given that this is YA, I did somewhat expect that but the rest of the story and writing did not come off the same way, so the moments where it felt a bit too 'young' stood out.

In any case, this was a fun, action-filled fantasy story that ended in a way that makes me anticipate the next book in the series. Are there aspects of this that were predictable? Yes, but I got exactly what I wanted from the story; a good time!

I really enjoyed this novel. I am a sucker for magic and court politics so I was expecting this story to be right up my alley anyway. I liked both of the twins, Rose & Wren, and enjoyed their how their relationship to each other blossomed. I also liked both love interests and felt that they fit well with each twin but didn't outshine themor the plot of the story. I am interested to see where this story leads in the second book!

What can I say but WOW? Because this book was *chef’s kiss* amazing. At first I was a bit nervous on how this plot was going to go, but I LOVED it. I loved every inch of this book. And THAT ENDING. I need book two in my hands ASAP. I’m not going to survive until I know what happens next.

This book is full of action, suspense and drama. The POV alternates between Wren and Rose, two sisters who are separated at birth. I have several characters in this book I really loved. Actually, most of them I liked. (Except the villains. I don’t like them.)

One thing that this book did well was it had layered plots. Sometimes the different plots can make a book difficult or hard to read; but in this case, the book did it very well. We have Rose’s plot, Wren’s plot and then the two romance subplots along with two larger plots. Juggling all those plots was no doubt difficult. Then, we get a third subplot at the very end. I am CONVINCED that this is not going to go my way.

Anyways, this book has witches and it is GREAT. I love witch-y reads and this one is high fantasy. In some ways I think it is similar to Serpent & Dove. Not to say it’s exactly like it, but that’s the feeling I get from it.

The romance subplots were so fun. Tor is my favorite of them all. I love Wren and Rose equally, and I love how they have such different personalities. It made reading the book a joy. I also love Shen and his humor because it made me laugh out loud.

This book was so full of action and suspenseful that I literally could not put it down. I had to know what was going to happen to these characters next. And the DRAMA.

That cliffhanger was so brutal, especially for me. I was all NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Anyways, I can’t say too much without spoiling all of the book. It’s best read with as little knowledge as possible so you get to enjoy all aspects of the book.

I am eagerly awaiting book two, and I can’t wait to get myself a copy of this book!