(Crown of Shards #3)
Publication
Date: March 17, 2020
Paperback, 416 pages, Harper Voyager
Genres:
Adult, Fantasy
Queen Everleigh Blair of Bellona
has survived the mass murder of the royal family, become a fearsome warrior
trained by an elite gladiator troupe, and unleashed her ability to destroy
magic. After surviving yet another assassination attempt orchestrated by the
conniving king of Morta, Evie has had enough. It’s time to turn the tables and
take the fight to her enemies.
There is no better opportunity to
strike than during the Regalia Games, a time when warriors, nobles, and royals
from all the kingdoms come together to compete in various sporting events. With
the help of her loyal friends, Evie goes on the attack at the Regalia, but
things don’t turn out the way she hopes. Soon, she is facing a terrifying new
threat, and she will have to dig deep and learn even more about her growing
magic if she has any chance of defeating her foes.
Because to secure her throne and
ensure her kingdom’s survival, Evie must think like a true Bellonan: she must
outsmart and outwit her enemies . . . and crush the king.
My Review
So I claimed that Kill the Queen and Protect the
Prince are like a mix of Ella Enchanted, Red Queen, and Reign
(the CW show). For Crush the King, I’d say it’s still like all three of
those, but I’m also going to add in some Spartacus. Not a lot. Just a
little. It’s not bloody enough to be a lot like Spartacus.
Crush the King is
a decent finale to a good series. I wasn’t expecting this series to wow me away
with its ending, and I kind of knew going in that it would be a little fun, a
little fluffy, and not as in-depth as I’d like it to be for a fantasy conclusion.
Once again, I was left wishing the side characters had more page-time,
ESPECIALLY Lucas Sullivan. I swear, he had like five lines in this entire book, despite
being the love interest of our main character. Additionally, I noticed Estep
has a tendency to have Everleigh speak first in conversations, which is totally
fine, but sometimes it just didn’t make sense: Why would she lead the
conversation when three other rulers are more experienced than she is?
There were more flashback scenes in this sequel, which I don’t
really think were necessary. I mean, I could take them or leave them. They didn’t
really accomplish anything, but they were semi-interesting at times. I would
say the same for book two’s flashback scenes as well. Oh, and the same could be
said of the dancing scenes. I kind of understand why they’re in the book, but
at times, they’re just super awkward. But, good news is, there are more magical
creatures in this one! I really enjoyed that about Protect the Prince,
so I was excited more showed up for the finale.
For some reason, I had a harder time reading this book than
the previous two. I think it was over my frustration with the lack of side-character
content, but I’m still glad I finished the trilogy. It’s a good series overall,
and I hope there are other books out there like Estep’s that can give me some
fluffy fantasy worlds.
*Note: I purchased
a copy of this book myself. This in no way affected my opinion/review.
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