Book Review: The Crimson Crown

The Crimson Crown
(Seven Realms #4)

Author: Cinda Williams Chima

Published By:  Hyperion Books
Publication Date:  October 23, 2012

Page Count:  598 pages

Buy it at:  Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound

Source: Book Purchased by Reviewer

Audience:  Young Adult Fantasy

My Reviews for

The Demon King #1 (here)

The Exiled Queen #2 (here)

The Gray Wolf Throne #3 (here)

WHOA!  I had a feeling that this was going to be an epic finale to an outstanding series but…WOW…was it ever!

This conclusion had it all…major loose ends tied up, most conflicts resolved and some got their happily ever afters.

I really had no idea how this series was going to unfold.  All I knew was that two of my very good friends loved these books so much, so there was no question I had to read them as well.  I did really enjoy the first three but this last book was EPIC!

So…what a journey this has been.  When I think back to the beginning, where a young princess heir had dreams of emulating her ancestor, Hanalea, The Great Warrior Queen, I knew Raisa had a lot of growing up to do to get there.  But over the course of these four books, she really came into her own…navigating tenuous political alliances within her Queendom, becoming the Queen she felt her people deserved while maintaining her integrity and friendships, and still desiring a marriage of love.  Raisa never really felt marrying for love was in the cards for her—she always knew that it was more likely she would have to marry another head of state to create a strategic relationship with for the good of her Queendom.  She found love in Han, but marrying him was all but impossible, so the best she could hope for would be that her eventual husband be decent to her and she might even—eventually—fall in love with him.  Thank goodness that Han had other ideas.

While I loved Raisa’s character and how she grew from a somewhat naïve princess to a strong Queen, I think Han’s character arc was extraordinary.  Always extremely resourceful—relying on his street-smarts and his determination to see that he gets what he wants—he made his way from a former gang leader to…well…you’ll have to see where he ends up.

Part of me knew that if anyone was going to get what he wanted in the end, it would be Han, but I also figured his climb to that goal would be very precarious and dangerous.  Several cruel twists of fate made me worry that our hero wasn’t going to make it to the end of the story.  You’ll just have to read this great series to see for yourself!

Raisa and Han’s relationship grew dramatically in this book as well.  I loved how their love story grew throughout this series…it was realistic and beautiful.  They had so much stacked against them; I often felt hopeless right along with Raisa.  And that HUGE twist at the very end still had me on the edge of my seat!  I SO did not see that coming!

One other character who I really came to appreciate was Micah.  He was not a black and white sort of character even though he was sort of physically described that way.  He came from a ruthless family, so it would not have been so surprising that his morals would have been compromised as well.  He definitely exhibited the influences of his evil father and sister earlier on—but I loved how he sort of broke free from their evil ways.  He wasn’t 100% good…but he was definitely not all bad either.

The villains in this story were richly constructed.  Some were blatantly evil, while others were more elusive till the moment was right for their true intentions to be revealed.  Brilliant!

And of course, the 'good guys', like Amon.  His protectiveness over Raisa was just amazing.  I know some of it was magically-based but you knew he was doing it because he loved her too.  Kat, Dancer, CROW...all memorable side characters!

And that is another element I loved about this story as a whole—even though we had an idea how things might turn out at the very end, the journey all these wonderful characters took was not always as I might have predicted.  And THAT kept me flipping the pages as quickly as I could.

These are books that are best read with no distractions—one right after the other—and admittedly, I did have to pause for other books in between.  But I did so enjoy coming back to this world.  Cinda Williams Chima wrote a complex, yet easy to follow EPIC story that would appeal to all ages!

Synopsis from Goodreads:

A thousand years ago, two young lovers were betrayed-Alger Waterlow to his death, and Hanalea, Queen of the Fells, to a life without love.

Now, once again, the Queendom of the Fells seems likely to shatter apart. For young queen Raisa ana'Marianna, maintaining peace even within her own castle walls is nearly impossible; tension between wizards and Clan has reached a fevered pitch. With surrounding kingdoms seeking to prey on the Fells' inner turmoil, Raisa's best hope is to unite her people against a common enemy. But that enemy might be the person with whom she's falling in love.

Through a complicated web of lies and unholy alliances, former streetlord Han Alister has become a member of the Wizard Council of the Fells. Navigating the cut-throat world of blue blood politics has never been more dangerous, and Han seems to inspire hostility among Clan and wizards alike. His only ally is the queen, and despite the perils involved, Han finds it impossible to ignore his feelings for Raisa. Before long, Han finds himself in possession of a secret believed to be lost to history, a discovery powerful enough to unite the people of the Fells. But will the secret die with him before he can use it?

A simple, devastating truth concealed by a thousand-year-old lie at last comes to light in this stunning conclusion to the Seven Realms series.