Back when I first discovered bookstagram, I discovered a book subscription box called Fairyloot. And in one of their boxes they were including TWO books – the book of the month, plus and ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) of a new book! Back then I had no idea what an ARC was, but I knew I wanted one. Luckily for me, the ARC was of Furyborn by Claire Legrand. And it had me hooked! So when I knew the second book in the series was coming out, I scrambled to find the Australian distributor. So massive thank you to New South Books for sending me the review copy of Kingsbane!
Title: Kingsbane: Book Two in the Empirium Trilogy
Author: Claire Legrand
Genre: Fantasy
Age Classification: YA
Publisher: Sourcebooks Inc
Publication Date: May 21, 2019
Blurb:
In this sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller Furyborn, two queens, separated by a thousand years, connected by secrets and lies, must continue their fight amid deadly plots and unthinkable betrayals that will test their strength–and their hearts.
Rielle Dardenne has been anointed Sun Queen, but her trials are far from over. The Gate keeping the angels at bay is falling. To repair it, Rielle must collect the seven hidden castings of the saints. Meanwhile, to help her prince and love Audric protect Celdaria, Rielle must spy on the angel Corien–but his promises of freedom and power may prove too tempting to resist.
Centuries later, Eliana Ferracora grapples with her new reality: She is the Sun Queen, humanity’s long-awaited savior. But fear of corruption–fear of becoming another Rielle–keeps Eliana’s power dangerous and unpredictable. Hunted by all, racing against time to save her dying friend Navi, Eliana must decide how to wear a crown she never wanted–by embracing her mother’s power, or rejecting it forever.
Thoughts:
As I mentioned, I loved Furyborn. It was one of my favourite reads of 2017 (when I got the ARC). I feel like this second book completely does justice to the first. It’s interesting, almost knowing the ending from the very first chapter of book one, but not knowing how the characters ended up there or how their lives change and twist to end up being as they are. But we saw MORE of the change in characters in this book, as expected in the second book in a trilogy.
In this book we see Rielle embrace her power even more, knowing and loving her power more than almost anything. To be completely honest, Rielle turns into a little bit of a snarky witch – to put it nicely! However, I think this is probably what Legrand has been aiming at. And to be fair to Rielle, I think most of us would probably get a big head and pretty puffed up in our own importance if we were the most powerful being.
Eliana on the other hand, still embraces her power, but much more tentatively. Well, tentatively to begin with. She doesn’t want this power though, and is almost scared of using it – which makes her the perfect foil to Rielle. We are able to watch Eliana grow more confident throughout the book, which is great, but we also have to watch her storm into situations she probably should have thought through before running in.
One particular aspect I really enjoyed with this story was the inclusion of chapters from other characters perspectives. At first, it was a little jarring, but eventually I really enjoyed and looked forward to the alternating perspective.
And finally – can we talk about that cliffhanger? I’m sorry, but WHAT?? Now how am I supposed to wait until the next book with THAT hanging over my head? Impossible, I tell you!
This gets 4.5 out of 5 stars from me. Legrand is a master, and I just adore her characters. Remember, you can buy a copy of Furyborn here, and get yourself a preorder of Kingsbane here 🙂
Happy readings,
-B x
Bec's Bookish Reads 