this was so fun! it really brought me back to the exciting fantasy from middle grade novels without the stress and pressure of romance. definitely recommended to younger audiences!

I received a copy through NetGalley for review.

So overall I enjoyed this one. It's solidly YA, romance is light, violence is medium.
But I enjoyed both main characters.
Rose and Wren are both twins separated at birth. Father was King, mother a witch was the Queen.
Rose has been raised by a man she believes to be her savior, who rescued her from angry violent witches at birth. Wren has been raised hidden in isolation by the witches, protected by ancient magic, raised to eventually steal her sisters crown.

But everything goes sideways when they make the switch. And Wren realizes that the man who raised Rose has no intention of letting her take the crown when she turns 18, that he plans to marry her off, ship her to another country and usurp her throne.
Rose meeting the other hall of her family for the first time, has some great personal grown. Shaking off a lot of the meekness she was raised to be and learns the truth about herself and witches she was taught to fear.

The plot is fairly solid,I don't have any complaints other than it just didn't reach out to me the way other books do. But it was good.

I'd like to thank the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this book.

This a difficult book to really give a review on, so I apologize if my ramblings don't really come off clear - I can elaborate if need be. I think this book will divide people. Some will find it okay and some will find it amazing. It's not a bad book, since I think there will be an audience for it. but it depends on the audience of those who read the book and what they are looking for in terms of a book with:

- switched roles
- hidden destinies
- evil kings
- romance mixed with comedy

For me, why I didn't rate it so highly is that I felt nothing really happened and there was nothing from stopping the princess who was stolen from the kingdom from escaping and returning to her kingdom. It was so easy and clearly the authors made it so easy to give 'romance' between the kidnapper and that princess.

The other issue is that the girls work better together than apart. You had to wait until the 70% mark for them to finally meet up and that's when the plot got better and the stakes got higher. While there is an evil king and there is a threat to the witches, I still have NO IDEA what the evil king wants.

As I said, some people will find this a fun book but I just think that a lot doesn't happen and when something does happen it's more than half way until the book ends.

I don't think I'll read book two.

The premise of this is so intriguing and drew me in right away. Twins separated at birth, one raised to be a queen and one raised among witches. I'm already in, sign me up! Then Wren, the sister raised to be a witch, switches places with her sister so she can be crowned and let witches rule again. There's romance, magic, secret plots and twists and overall this was a really fun read.

The story is told in dual narration, alternating between Wren and Rose. Although I liked Wren more, I enjoyed both sisters' journeys and watching them learn the other's world. The romances were cute too, though I wanted a bit more magic and fighting than pining. Shen is funny and an awesome warrior witch, while Tor is stoic and kind. Both are great matches for the sisters.

I thought the plot to take the crown from evil Rathborne was a bit of a mess and wish it were cleaner and easier to follow. You'd think after eighteen years of planning, things would be executed better. I also thought at times the girls were a bit too naïve about things. Like just expecting things to work out or everyone to believe them without proof.

I'm definitely looking forward to this coming out, as well as the sequel after that ending!

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book and all opinions are my own. Thank you to Balzer + Bray and NetGalley for the copy.

I adored this book! Such a fast paced fantasy with dual perspectives. I loved wren and rose so much. I can’t wait for the sequel.

I was really looking forward to this one after seeing the cover reveal. It’s so nice! Unfortunately this just didn’t do anything for me. It may have been different if I had liked the writing but I couldn’t get into it and it felt more juvenile than the usual YA Fantasy I have read. So yeah. This may very well be an unpopular opinion and that’s okay. Take it as you will.

The book is told from two point-of-views, Wren and Rose. They are both raised away from each other and by two different groups of people. It’s an interesting take on the twin dynamic but I didn’t care for either sister. The things that they said felt very childish especially for someone who is around the age of eighteen. It was just very hard to take them seriously.

There are a lot of times that moments/plot twists should be a serious matter but it’s overshadowed, again, by the language and how quickly things escalate without a need for the dramatics. Not liking cinnamon was one thing that took a dramatic turn because she was supposed to be pretending to be her sister who didn’t like it.

I guess one thing I learned while reading this one is that anything labeled fantasy rom-com is not for me. I don’t think the two meshed very well together. At least, not for me.

Overall, this didn’t work for me. I couldn’t find anything to be interested in because of the writing. I’m not sure if it is because its written by two people or not. I haven’t read either of these authors separately so I can’t say anything based on that. If you think this book sounds good, give it a try. What doesn’t work for me may work for you!

Twin Crowns was absolutely one of my favorite reads of the year. It actually reminded me of the Barbie Princess and the Pauper movie, one of my childhood favorites, but with witches, magic, and murder. I loved both Wren and Rose, and their respective love interests. One thing that really stood out to me was that while I usually prefer one POV over another, I was equally interested in both Wren's and Rose's chapters. I also liked that when the twins finally met, they became friends instead of enemies. I am so excited for the next book, and I'm especially excited to see more of Eana.

This book was a very great read! I really enjoyed all of the action and adventure that the characters went through. The author did a great job with keeping the plot going where I was never bored.

I absolutely loved this book. I wouldn’t really call it a fantasy romcom like in the pitch, but I definitely want more books like this.
The characters were so likable and their banter especially was amazing. There wasn’t a single character that I was supposed to like and didn’t, and they were all so fun to watch! Rose is a very classic spoiled princess and Wren a typical “you’ll never get me to wear a dress” rebel, but they both have so much depth and character development. If there’s one thing these authors did the best, it’s the character relationships and how they evolve.
The plot was also insanely captivating. When you hear about it, the plot sounds SO stereotypical modern royalty romcom, but it’s absolutely amazing. I wouldn’t call this book unpredictable, but it’s spectacular.
I’d totally recommend this to people who like innovative books from classic YA fantasy plots. This book was a great experience and I’d absolutely read a sequel and more from these two!

𝐈’𝐦 𝐬𝐨 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞. 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮.” 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐧. “𝐍𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐌𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝.”

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What do you get when you blend a classic Disney Princess fairytale with an assassin’s twist on The Prince and the Pauper? Twin Crowns!

Wren and Rose are twin sisters separated immediately after birth following the brutal murder of their parents which is reported to be at the hands of witches. Rose, who has been raised by her parents’ most trusted advisor, is engaged to be married to a prince from another kingdom and is approaching her 18th birthday upon which she will be crowned queen. Wren, who was whisked away to Ortha, the home of the witches where her mother was from, has been raised by her maternal grandmother with a sole purpose: to impersonate her sister long enough to be crowned queen and once again return the throne to the control of the witches.

The book follows the points of view of both Wren and Rose. The story starts out quickly in the first few chapters as Wren and her companion Shen successfully kidnap Rose from the castle so that Wren can assume her place. The pace slows down drastically from here until about roughly halfway through the book. I struggled to engage with both of the main characters throughout the book for various reasons and the storyline during the first part of the book mainly laid the foundation for the second half of the book, making it a very slow moving read. The second half of the book MUCH improved on this.

Overall as a story it was engaging and magical, playing off of the most beloved classic fairytale tropes (mistaken identity, princess’ coming of age/coronation, switching lives/impersonation, forbidden love, hidden powers, interrupted wedding, betrayal, love conquers all ala Frozen). I found myself connecting the most with the side characters (Shen and Tor who are both equally thirst traps, and Celeste and Thea who were just THE BEST) and of course the goodest girl in Eana: the mythical wolf Elske, who has my heart forever.

Watching the relationship between the sisters heal and grow was a beautiful high point. There were also a few twists at the end of the book that left quite a few unresolved storylines open for a possible sequel.

Overall, I wish the POV writing had been a little more fluid to keep the story going from chapter to chapter until the story itself picked up speed. The sisters were distinctly different, however the shift in their voices made for a bit of a disconnect/jolt from chapter to chapter which kept derailing my focus from the development of the story. At the end of the day it was a good read with all the right ingredients to make it a new, appropriate classic for the young adult audience!