Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book early!

I. Absolutely. Loved it.

The book definitely starts a little slow, with a lot of exposition but after 100 or so pages it is so worth the wait! I couldn’t help but feel for Ayleth as things get thrown at her but knowing who she becomes its hard not to just also root for her to descend into her dark queen role she’ll end up in!

I was a fan of Heather’s other book Malice with the Sleeping Beauty retelling, but I have to say I enjoyed this one even more!

The Crimson Crown by Heather Walter

442 Pages
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine Books, Del Rey
Release Date: August 27, 2024

Fiction, Sci Fi, Fantasy, Faerie Tale Retelling, Feminist, LGBTQIA+

Ayleth is ascending to be her mother, Cassandra’s, second. Ten years earlier, her sister, Rhea, ascended but tragedy came to Stonehaven Sanctum. Rhea died and Ayleth blamed herself. Her mother did too. Now the other High Witches are arriving to celebrate the occasion. Selene, another High Witch, presents Ayleth with a Witch’s mirror. When her Ascension begins, Ayleth has an out of body experience. She stops the ceremony and believes her future involves the blood stones which are believed to be in the White Palace.

She travels days before she reaches the city. The guards see her clothing and believe she is a Sister. She must play the part to gain access to the palace. She runs into an old acquaintance, Jacquetta. Together, they make their way into the palace and are assigned as maidens to the young princess, Blodwyn.

The book has a steady pace and has a quest theme. The characters are developed and it is written in the first person point of view. I enjoyed how the story was building towards the climax but thought the ending felt a bit rushed. If you like Gregory Maguire books, you may enjoy reading this one.

This was my first read by Heather Walter and I loved it! This dark origin story of Snow White's Evil Queen was so interesting and I couldn't put it down. There are definitely nods to the original Snow White tale which includes mirrors, the dwarves, the forest and its creatures, "fairest of them all" and more -- but with a twist.

I immediately started rooting for the FMC, Ayleth, the second we were introduced to her. Her story is devastating and I completely understood why she did the things she did throughout the book. There is a lot of betrayal and feelings all around. I would recommend this book to everyone.

Thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is an interesting book in a lot of ways. The main character is more of an anti-heroine. She is very self-critical and when the time comes to take action she does and then judges herself by the standards of others in her life rather than herself. It makes for a more interesting character [though she does whine a great deal]. The world is an interesting construct. There are many power bases and they are all pretty corrupt. The plot is fairly standard but contains some interesting divergences. The writing is well constructed. Overall worth a read!

3.5 - I enjoyed this more than I thought I would, but I am sadly not someone who tends to love fairy tell retellings. That said, it was still an enjoyable book that I think a lot of people are sure to love.

I really ended up loving this book! I had a great time with the premise, and I thought that overall the plot wrapped up very nicely and allowed for some #BadWitchEnergy. I think what I struggled with the most (though there was very little!) was the fact that I was a smidge annoyed with Ayleth throughout her journey. Some things just felt so blatantly obvious and she'd ignore them, and I'd be internally screaming. However, Heather Walter really outdid herself with the magic system! It was so much fun.

All in all, I totally recommend this book to any fans of:
- Women who take 0 smack
- Gay pining
- Even more gay pining
- Feminine Rage
- Animal familiars <3

Ayleth is a young witch, living in the forest with her coven. They do everything in secret now. They hide from the White King and his vendetta against the witches.

Only problem is Ayleth hasn’t come into her powers yet. And the threat to them all is very real.

At the White Palace, she finds the White King. His darkness is a very strong pull for her. And as she finds out more and more, she may have powers she doesn’t know about yet.

She will become a witch. A very, very wicked one.


A great re-telling of a fairy tale!


NetGalley/ Random House/ Del Rey August 27, 2024

A villain origin story where I feel seen! A young witch, Ayleth, struggles with her own destiny as a future leader in a coven that is in hiding. After seeing her dead sister beyond the veil at her ceremony, she sets out on a quest to get her sister back. Running into a long lost (FEMALE!!!) love, a Nevenwolf from beyond, and a helpful dwarf at the palace, will she be able to get her sister back before her own secret is out? Or will the evil inside her win first? I thoroughly enjoyed this book from beginning to end. I just wanted Ayleth to have it all. I wanted her to be that Queen, evil or not. I loved the incorporation of crows and mirrors and the well-know phrase: "fairest of them all." I'll be looking forward to additional works by this author!

I was greatly intrigued by this Snow White re-telling - I love the idea of re-tellings, but they don't always hit the mark. Not the case with this book! I loved the rendition of the story this author wrote - the story doesn't play out like one would anticipate, and that made it all the more fun! I loved the romantic element this story embraced, and the pathway the characters took - it created such a rich atmosphere and such intense chemistry. Lots of unexpected twists and storylines here, and oh so much fun!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine/Del Ray for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Special thanks to NetGalley and DelRey for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Rep: animal companions, lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers-to-enemies, sister bonds

Thoughts
Neutral thoughts:

This was soooooo gooooood y'all. Heather Walter knows how to write a good villain origin story where you can't help but root for the MC to go bad. This did not disappoint at all!
Ayleth goes through so much and is betrayed by those around so much that you can't help but feel bad for her, especially when she is doing NOTHING wrong. But with all of the BS that Ayleth goes thru, she becomes a bad beach at the end of this book that I loved 😈😈😈 I literally cannot WAIT for book 2!!!

This book has a slow start, you really get to understand Ayleth as a person and the circumstances that she finds herself in at the start of the book. But the plot picks by the 100 page mark and you will become invested.

The romance is angsty my friends. There is tension, miscommunication, a lot of things unsaid, and hurt between Ayleth and her ex-partner and I was living for it. So be prepared.

I really loved this. It was slow to start as we were introduced to Ayleth’s life but once she ran away on the quest to prove herself things really picked up. And the last 30% had me in a chokehold. I was weirdly very into Anne Boleyn when I was growing up and that has certainly carried into adulthood. I loved seeing the parallels to that in this story, but Walters does a great job of building the tension between Ayleth and the king so you don’t need to be familiar with the historical inspiration to enjoy this.
I loved Ayleth as a character - she’s complicated and layered and full of a rage that is completely justified so that by the time we get to the end i was honestly rooting for her as she began to make choices and walk the path of the Evil Queen.
My only complaint is that there was so much tension between Jacquetta and Ayleth that didn’t feel like it built, it felt very one note to me for so much of the book. It would have made the inevitable betrayal stronger if some of their tension had built or if they’d given into that tension earlier maybe.
Overall I really loved this and I’m looking forward to buying this in August!!

Read if you like
* Wicked/Retellings
* Morally Grey Lesbians
* Angry FMC
* The Tudors but with Magic

I am a sucker for villain origin stories, and The Crimson Crown does not disappoint!

This "Evil Queen" story has wonderful world building and great characters. Walter is skilled at character growth and making the birth of a villain so believable.

Highly recommend The Crimson Crown and all of Heather Walter's work to any fairy tale/twisted tale lovers.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for an early copy to review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me access to the e-Arc.

4.75 stars

I knew that the summary for this book sounded good. But I was not expecting it to be all-consuming. This is an incredible tale of women being suppressed and wronged. I loved that it also has a wlw characters in it as well. This story was nothing like I had ever read before. I felt like I was watching a movie. It was that good to me. I loved it. I want more of the story like now.

I highly recommend it!

*Thank you to Heather Walter, the Publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an E-arc of "The Crimson Crown" in exchange for an honest review*

I loved this. If you want a fresh, unique, gay take on The Evil Queen from Snow White, "The Crimsion Crown" is sure to become a favorite.

Everything by this author is just so incredibly good! I devoured this book! Once u started it I couldn’t put it down!

The Crimson Crown by Heather Walter was a great read and i enjoyed the backstory to the evil queen from snow white. With twists, loss, LGBTQ betrayal and consequences of having power that others seek I was kept entertained until the very end. Well written and overall 4.5 I will look for more of the authors works in the future.

As with all of Walter's other works I was hooked instantly on this one. I absolutely love getting to see the other side of these traditional tales and getting a look into the lives of the villians. This may be one of my new favorite stories.

after seeing malice EVERYWHERE i was lucky to have received this arc and couldn’t wait to read it! i thoroughly enjoyed the writing in particular, as it truly captivated me and was so well done. completely immersive and dark and exactly what i was looking forward in this snow white retelling (which is less of a retelling and more so inspired by, if i do say so myself).

Thank you to Del Rey and NetGalley for the ARC.
I personally adored Malice and was so excited to see what Heather Walter would do with Snow White. It should be made very clear that this book takes place before the events of the fairy tale and tells the story of what made the Evil Queen who she is.

Ayleth is a witch who is bad at magic, while still grieving the lost of her sister she embarks on a quest to bring her back. Along the way she ignites an old flame and begins to be pursued by the mad king.
Ayleth reminds me of Regina from once upon a time a woman scorned who with a broken heart becomes the very thing she swore to never be. Including the habit of collecting human hearts to maintain power over her enemies and allies alike.
Walter also pulls from the story of Anne Boleyn; a consort who becomes the Queen only to be see as a witch.

Over all I loved this book but wished I could have gotten the story of Snow White not just the prologue of how the Evil Queen came to be. Fingers crossed that Walter writes a short story.
*The twist made me almost throw my phone

The Crimson Crown is a twist on the story of how the Evil Queen in Snow White came to be, with twisting in elements of the Tutors. To be completely honest, I had forgotten about all of that as I read the story, and was absolutely shooketh at the ending!! The main character, Ayleth, is a witch living under the judging eye of her mother. Life for the witches is much different after the White King and his court spun lies to make the witches the enemy. However, is that the only lie? Even amongst the witches, outliers are judged and seen as outcasts and wrong. Meanwhile, Ayleth doesn’t seem to have any real powers she can feel, yet she isn’t going to let that stop her to head out on a perilous journey to the White Palace.

Once arriving in the White Kindgom, Ayleth comes face to face with Jacquetta. A witch that once held her heart, but betrayed her. It’s difficult to forget that betrayal. It’s also difficult to remember their time together, how she smelled, and how it felt to be in her arms. It’s a battle she must fight. The focus has to be on not being discovered. Otherwise, she will burn.

Ayleth quickly discovers something is wrong in the White Palace. Things do not feel right, and honestly, neither does she. The darkness does not only seem to peek from around every corner, but what if it is coming from inside her? She digs for the truth, but it seems someone is always one step ahead of her to keep her from finding the truth. Things are not always as they seem, though.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall. Who’s the fairest of them all? You will find out at the end of the book that takes you on twists and turns. It is a reminder that you may not fully know your power, but it’s there. You also don’t have to follow the rules of how you were told was the only way to discover it. Sometimes you have to look within, and embrace what you find.

I truly enjoyed this book. I give it 4.5 (it will show as 4 here), as there are parts where it dragged a bit for me, but the ending blew me away. I also love seeing the LGBTQIA+/sapphic representation. There is a small level of spicy, but not much. If you love reading books that are reimagining of elements of fairy tales, witchy books, and/or the aspects reflecting the Tutors court, then you will enjoy reading The Crimson Crown. Publishing date will be August 27, 2024. Be sure to pre-order from your local indie bookstore, or from where you prefer to purchase books.

Thank you to Random House Publishing - Ballentine/Del Ray, NetGalley, and Heather Walter for the eARC to review in exchange for an honest opinion. I also share on GoodReads, Instagram, various FB reader groups (especially bi and sapphic fiction groups), and TikTok.