Two Twisted Crowns
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Community Reviews
2/5
After the events of the previous book Elspeth's condition has now been revealed to all, forcing the Nightmare and Ravyn to work together to find the last card needed to lift the mist and cure everyone affected by magic. But the road is long and twisted and magic comes with a price. If only the author had stuck to this basic idea of the plot, perhaps we could have a decent ending to this series. I didn't like this, and I don't think it was good.
Here's the thing, I also don't consider the first book to be a fantastic piece of literature but at least it was readable, at least the plot made a certain amount of sense. In this one, we got a fractured pastiche of things the author wanted to see, things that weren't necessarily good for the plot. The world building of this series has been bad since the very beginning, this always felt to me like a vehicle for the romance between Ravyn and Elspeth, so why would you make book two all about the (badly explained) lore and not about them?? Not content with this, the author made the baffling decision to have not one, not two, but three points of view. Now if you were going to guess which characters served as one of the POVs would you ever, in your sane mind, pick Elm? ELM???
There are two plots in this book, the first one being Elspeth, Ravyn and company looking for the missing card in order to cure all the infected and save Elspeth's life. This is fine, it still wasn't particularly interesting or well plotted out but at least it made sense after the way book 1 ended. Once again, the setting needed to be more fleshed out for it to be compelling. The tests were too easy, and I didn't care for the sudden reveal of infected people who live in the mist, what even was the point of all that. I was only reading this plot for the Nightmare who is the best character in the whole series. But then you had the second plot with Elm and Ione at Stone, a plot that was dull and ruined the flow of the book. There would be a very tense scene from Ravyn's pov and when you turned the page there was Elm being horny on main. I was a fool for thinking Elspeth and Ravyn fell for each other too fast, Elm and Ione exchanged glances once and they were down to fuck right away. The only maybe interesting plot point was Ione's maiden card being missing, but 1) I already suspected that since the first book and 2) the resolution to that was so stupid.
I just don't understand what was the reason for these narrative choices. The book series went from being meh but serviceable to utter garbage. And then ending, wow. After everything the spirit in the woods did her price for the last card was incredibly low, plus something I had very much figured out the moment Bennett showed up in the flashbacks. Then there's the final scene which was carefully planned, yet everyone decided to let Ravyn take on Hauth on his own and then were shocked when he got mortally wounded
Here we are, my darling girl, he whispered to me. The end of all things. The last page of our story.
After the events of the previous book Elspeth's condition has now been revealed to all, forcing the Nightmare and Ravyn to work together to find the last card needed to lift the mist and cure everyone affected by magic. But the road is long and twisted and magic comes with a price. If only the author had stuck to this basic idea of the plot, perhaps we could have a decent ending to this series. I didn't like this, and I don't think it was good.
Here's the thing, I also don't consider the first book to be a fantastic piece of literature but at least it was readable, at least the plot made a certain amount of sense. In this one, we got a fractured pastiche of things the author wanted to see, things that weren't necessarily good for the plot. The world building of this series has been bad since the very beginning, this always felt to me like a vehicle for the romance between Ravyn and Elspeth, so why would you make book two all about the (badly explained) lore and not about them?? Not content with this, the author made the baffling decision to have not one, not two, but three points of view. Now if you were going to guess which characters served as one of the POVs would you ever, in your sane mind, pick Elm? ELM???
There are two plots in this book, the first one being Elspeth, Ravyn and company looking for the missing card in order to cure all the infected and save Elspeth's life. This is fine, it still wasn't particularly interesting or well plotted out but at least it made sense after the way book 1 ended. Once again, the setting needed to be more fleshed out for it to be compelling. The tests were too easy, and I didn't care for the sudden reveal of infected people who live in the mist, what even was the point of all that. I was only reading this plot for the Nightmare who is the best character in the whole series. But then you had the second plot with Elm and Ione at Stone, a plot that was dull and ruined the flow of the book. There would be a very tense scene from Ravyn's pov and when you turned the page there was Elm being horny on main. I was a fool for thinking Elspeth and Ravyn fell for each other too fast, Elm and Ione exchanged glances once and they were down to fuck right away. The only maybe interesting plot point was Ione's maiden card being missing, but 1) I already suspected that since the first book and 2) the resolution to that was so stupid.
I just don't understand what was the reason for these narrative choices. The book series went from being meh but serviceable to utter garbage. And then ending, wow. After everything the spirit in the woods did her price for the last card was incredibly low, plus something I had very much figured out the moment Bennett showed up in the flashbacks. Then there's the final scene which was carefully planned, yet everyone decided to let Ravyn take on Hauth on his own and then were shocked when he got mortally wounded
4.5, great way to wrap up the story, felt it was maybe a little longer than it needed to be but otherwise enjoyed it
Chefs kiss! So happy to have finally dug into this series - a fun magic system. A dark world and a sinister plot. It is engaging and interesting from page 1
To say I was so excited to be picked to read this book early in exchange for an honest review is an understatement. Thank you Orbit Books and Rachel Gillig!
I finished this book just last night and I'm still reeling. It was full of excitement, adventure, romance, and that dark twisty fantasy element I love so much. The backstory we get and how it is all unraveled for us readers was beautifully written. I fell more in love with these characters than I thought I would and may even like this book more than the first. I also loved how we could still get some banter between Elspeth and The Nightmare, and The Nightmare and Ravyn. Out of the two, I think I enjoyed the latter more, which surprised me. There was this sense of a bond you got with their banter though and it made it enjoyable to read and at times made me laugh.
The last 150 pages had me on the edge of my seat, heart pumping, and full of adrenaline. It was a fitting end for this duology and while I'm sad it is over, the journey was one I will never forget. These books have stolen my heart.
I finished this book just last night and I'm still reeling. It was full of excitement, adventure, romance, and that dark twisty fantasy element I love so much. The backstory we get and how it is all unraveled for us readers was beautifully written. I fell more in love with these characters than I thought I would and may even like this book more than the first. I also loved how we could still get some banter between Elspeth and The Nightmare, and The Nightmare and Ravyn. Out of the two, I think I enjoyed the latter more, which surprised me. There was this sense of a bond you got with their banter though and it made it enjoyable to read and at times made me laugh.
The last 150 pages had me on the edge of my seat, heart pumping, and full of adrenaline. It was a fitting end for this duology and while I'm sad it is over, the journey was one I will never forget. These books have stolen my heart.
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