I am thrilled to be the first stop on the book tour for The Crown's Fate by Evelyn Skye, hosted by Brittany's Book Rambles! I have a special tote design to unveil for you guys today and I hope you will like it!
Don't forget to enter the giveaway!
Genre: Publication.Date: May 16, 2017 Pages: 400 Published By: Harper Teen (Balzer+Bray) Website: Evelyn Skye The Crown's Fate on Goodreads My review copy:
Where to get:
The gorgeous and darkly compelling sequel to The Crown’s Game—perfect for fans of Red Queen and Shadow and Bone.
Magic is growing, shadows are rising, and the throne is at stake…
Russia is on the brink of great change. Pasha’s coronation approaches, and Vika is now the Imperial Enchanter, but the role she once coveted may be more difficult—and dangerous—than she ever expected.
Pasha is grappling with his own problems—his legitimacy is in doubt, the girl he loves loathes him, and he believes his best friend is dead. When a challenger to the throne emerges—and with the magic in Russia growing rapidly—Pasha must do whatever it takes to keep his position and protect his kingdom.
For Nikolai, the ending of the Crown’s Game stung deeply. Although he just managed to escape death, Nikolai remains alone, a shadow hidden in a not-quite-real world of his own creation. But when he’s given a second chance at life—tied to a dark price—Nikolai must decide just how far he’s willing to go to return to the world.
With revolution on the rise, dangerous new magic rearing up, and a tsardom up for the taking, Vika, Nikolai, and Pasha must fight—or face the destruction of not only their world but also themselves.
Magic is growing, shadows are rising, and the throne is at stake…
Russia is on the brink of great change. Pasha’s coronation approaches, and Vika is now the Imperial Enchanter, but the role she once coveted may be more difficult—and dangerous—than she ever expected.
Pasha is grappling with his own problems—his legitimacy is in doubt, the girl he loves loathes him, and he believes his best friend is dead. When a challenger to the throne emerges—and with the magic in Russia growing rapidly—Pasha must do whatever it takes to keep his position and protect his kingdom.
For Nikolai, the ending of the Crown’s Game stung deeply. Although he just managed to escape death, Nikolai remains alone, a shadow hidden in a not-quite-real world of his own creation. But when he’s given a second chance at life—tied to a dark price—Nikolai must decide just how far he’s willing to go to return to the world.
With revolution on the rise, dangerous new magic rearing up, and a tsardom up for the taking, Vika, Nikolai, and Pasha must fight—or face the destruction of not only their world but also themselves.
Pre-order Incentive: http://www.evelynskye.com/pre-order/
(Goodreads)
But what was greatness? Was it constantly accepting second place?
But hadn't they all changed? Life happened without permission, and it swept everyone along in its violent wake.
We are not defined by what we can do, but by what we actually do.
It's you that defines you. That's all the truth that there is.
The Crown's Fate, the follow-up to The Crown's Game, was a thrilling and extremely readable conclusion to Evelyn Skye's magical and highly entertaining duology. I was surprised how wonderful it felt to be back in the world of Nikolai, Vika, Pasha and Renata -- I missed those characters a lot and I just couldn't wait to see how this intrigue-filled fantasy would end. And I'm very happy to report that The Crown's Fate did not disappoint!
Now, if you haven't yet read The Crown's Game (and you're planning to), it's probably best to stop reading my review now, for there inevitably will be some spoilers!
The Crown's Fate picks up shortly after the Game ended. Vika is now the Imperial Enchanter, Pasha is about to become Tsar and Nikolai is gone.. though, not entirely. Nothing is as it should be, though. Pasha is torn and full of regrets --forcing the Game's end weighs heavily on his conscience. He blames himself for Nikolai's "death" and is having trouble coming to terms with his new reality. Vika isn't in a better place herself. Though winning the Game made her dream of becoming the Imperial Enchanter come true, she is now bound to serve Pasha, whom she despises (well, despises may be a strong word to describe how she feels, let's say she has a hard time forgiving him for forcing the Game's end). And to make matters worse, a bracelet appeared on her wrist that will burn her skin if she ever disobeys Tsarevich's orders.
On top of everything else, as it turns out, Nikolai isn't dead at all. He's stuck in an in-between world of his own creation - the Kazakh Steppe. While he isn't quite his old self and definitely lacks the power to escape the dream bench on his own, he is far from being dead and out of the picture. Aizhana, his monstrous mother, isn't gone either. Quite to the contrary, she's still there and ready to finish what she started in the previous book...
I don't want to give too much of the plot away, but let me just say this: I was surprised by some of the plot developments and quite shocked because of others. The Crown's Fate was much darker and murkier than the previous book. The Crown's Fate was filled to the brim with beautiful magic - the Game itself forcing the Enchanters to conjure stunning and wondrous things as they competed each other. And even though we did witness actual duels and the blood was spilled, the first book never got as dark and gloomy as the Crown's Fate. In fact, for the majority of the sequel I had this overwhelmingly bad feeling and I felt.. well, sad. And that's because we - the readers - see the whole picture and understand certain things the characters themselves don't realize until it's too late. We see them lost, confused and fighting their internal battles (and often losing them, too). And it's all quite tragic, to be honest.
I really liked the way the book was plotted, though. I couldn't put it down. Things were happening very fast, characters were being killed off left and right, and the story was getting more and more intense by the second, leading up to the breath-taking conclusion. Evelyn Skye did a marvelous job making the characters feel real and three-dimensional. Even Aizhana! I actually felt bad for her. I felt bad for all of them. They were all complex and with great back-stories, that made them feel very human, and made it hard for me to simply hate them for their bad, misguided decisions. There's not a single character that is simply bad, or evil. They're all tragic. Sure, they make bad decisions, they act on emotions, they are sometimes driven by all the wrong things (revenge, hurt, betrayal, jealousy), but we always see why they do the things they do, even if they don't yet see that themselves.
Overall, I really enjoyed this series as a whole and wish there was more. I am going to miss this world and these characters. I'm going to miss the stubborn and untameable Vika and the mysterious, charming Nikolai. At the same time, I wouldn't add anything more to this story, as it is perfect just the way it is.
About the author:
Evelyn Skye was once offered a job by the C.I.A., she not-so-secretly wishes she was on "So You Think You Can Dance," and if you challenge her to a pizza-eating contest, she guarantees she will win. When she isn't writing, Evelyn can be found chasing her daughter on the playground or sitting on the couch, immersed in a good book and eating way too many cookies. THE CROWN'S GAME is her first novel. Evelyn can be found online at www.evelynskye.com and on Twitter @EvelynSkyeYA.
Tour Schedule
Week 1
May 8th: Bookish Lifestyles - Review + Tote Design
May 9th: Brittany's Book Rambles - Interview
May 10th: Alexa Loves Books - Author Guest Post
May 11th: It Start at Midnight - Mini Review + Fancast
May 12th: The Book Buzz - Review
Week 2
May 15th: The YA Book Traveler - Trailer + Interview
May 16th: Lost in Literature - Review
May 17th: Stories and Sweeties - Recipe
May 18th: My Friends Are Fiction - Review + Author Guest Post
May 19th: Paper Fury - Review
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