A high-stakes fantasy rom-com about twin princesses separated at birth―one raised as the crown princess, and the other taken as an infant and raised to kidnap her sister, steal the crown, and avenge the parents' murders―the first novel in a new YA duology from bestselling UK authors Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber. Perfect for fans of The Selection, My Lady Jane , and Caraval. Maybe that’s why I like Rose more now, as I had the chance to just read instead of trying to figure out all the plotlines.

Even the secondary characters were bland (except maybe Celeste), and seemed to have no purpose besides supporting the main characters, or being introduced as obvious love interests that we are supposed to like I guess, even though we know nothing about them, and they don’t have much personality. One of the two love interests was SO BLAND, he literally has no personality traits, not one, but that’s okay because he’s handsome and strong. 🙄 Three Dark Crowns بود. اما خب، همچین چیزی اتفاق نیفتاد و به نحوی قصه به نقطه تعادلی مملو از آرامش رسید تا در جلد بعد ادامه پیدا کنه. شاید برای اولین بار بود که واقعا دلم یه کلیف هنگر می خواست تا برای جلد دوم تشنه ترم کنه... I was hoping to enjoy this as silly, tropey fun, and initially it met those expectations: it’s the written equivalent of a Disney movie, complete with spunky adventuring princesses, cute romances, and a paper-thin setting. Unfortunately, the fun wore off as the book insisted upon good-vs-evil morality while the actual portrayal is anything but. Pro tip: it’s helpful in a goofy fantasy novel if the “good” guys value human life beyond their own, and aren’t simply out to crush the rest of society under their thumb.Twin sisters separated at birth and raised into entirely different worlds are about to get to know each other’s lives a whole lot better… Unpopular opinion coming in. It’s not a bad book, but it’s nothing out of the ordinary or memorable, and nothing we haven’t seen before in YA. It’s just overall okay. Because the book is told though their alternating POVs, you end up jumping from one parallel plotline to the other. The plot in this was actually so much fun. I will be using the word "fun" many times throughout this review. There was a lot going on, but it never really felt like there was high-stakes, despite the fact that Wren was in some very difficult situations. It just felt really lighthearted and cozy which is exactly what I wanted.

With Wren, I really did enjoy her story-line, navigating everything and all that, so I guess there's that. But nothing really intriguing was happening there, except for all the lies and deception that she was doing (which I love her for) And then there's also her romance, but we'll talk about that later. An irresistible fantasy romantic comedy from two YA superstars – perfect for fans of Stephanie Garber, Sarah J Maas and Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander. I’ve heard them compared to the Duarte sisters, and while that may be a little true...it’s also not.

Customer reviews

The book describes the conflict between sisterly bonds and fighting for the crown. As the story progresses, the sisters must decide what is more important: the crown or their sister. There is also a surprise twist towards the end that kept me on the edge of my seat. And Rose? It took longer. She’s definitely a little spoilt, but she’s also the most heartfelt and sweet human ever. I liked the lore in this! I liked how witches were at the core of the earth, the world & the magic (obviously). I feel like there's more to learn, but what we got in this was cool. I also really enjoyed Wren's character too; I loved her sarcastic, not-a-care attitude, and her snarky personality. She's stronger and fiercer than I could ever be, and her loyalty is very admirable. I sound so stiff when I say all of that compared to Rose's; that's how you know when I have nothing more to say 🤭