Kingsbane

 Author: Claire Legrand

 Release Date: May 21, 2019

 Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Format: ARC

Source: Raincoast Books

 Summary:

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. (Goodreads)

Review:

*I received an advance copy of this book from Raincoast Books for this blog tour in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion.*

If you were here around this time last year, you may remember that I kind of sort of liked Furyborn (note: this is me massively downplaying it. I was mildly obsessed).

Kingsbane continues with a lot of what I loved from the first book and still does it amazingly well. The POV and timeline switches now feel like the norm and really helped to advance the story so I that I got a little bit of each character all the time. The story itself is exciting and left me with my mouth hanging open at a few points (no spoilers) and went by shockingly quickly for a 600ish-paged book. 

As with the first book, I loved the two leading ladies and all the badassery they bring to the table. They are both ~deeply~ flawed but still so strong and sure of themselves in their own way. There was a lot of growth and added depth in both women this time around as well. I loved seeing Eliana come to terms with her new reality, powers, and truths of what happened in the past. She was hit with A LOT and dealt with it definitely better than I would have. I of course also loved the secondary characters that were just as rich as before. Somehow Corien actually managed to haunt my mind even when he wasn’t in scenes because of his uncanny way of just inserting himself into situations. I never knew when it was going to happen so he was always there…just in the back of my mind. 

In a book where all the things happen I’m terrified to spoil anything for anyone. I will say this though, be prepared to be completely uprepared for what Claire is throwing at you. Also if you liked how steamy things got in Furyborn you are in luck. There are moments just as red hot as the cover colour. Some may say sex doesn’t belong in YA but let’s not fool ourselves, teens are having sex more and more frequently. With that in mind, I’m here for the steamy bits as they are a) consensual which is great to be putting into fiction for teens to see as the norm and b) they focuse on the woman’s pleasure because HEY! we have feelings and are important too. 

Final Verdict:

This was a chunky one but I loved every second. If you were a fan of Furyborn then Kingsbane definitely will not disappoint. It’s just as full of magic, badass women, and excitement as the first installment!