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4 stars! This review will be spoiler-free for The Crown’s Fate, but there will be spoilers from The Crown’s Game!
Synopsis:
There's Pasha -- crowned Tsesarevich of Russia -- who is grappling with the recent death of his father, death of his mother, death of his best friend and now realized brother, and responsibilities of becoming the next Tsar. His legitimacy to the throne is insecure with the rumors of his mother's infidelity. Vika, his enchanter and the girl he loves, wants nothing to do with him as his actions brought about the end of the Crown's Game. And Russia is growing unsteady with the rapid growth of magic and unease the people have with the tsardom.
There's Nikolai -- stuck in a dream bench on Letiniy island -- who is trying to find his way back to the real world. Nikolai is only a shadow wrecked by grief of losing a brother and his best friend turning his back him at the end of the game. Having recently realized he was the son of the late Tsar and that his mother is still alive, he decides the lengths he is willing to go to have a second chance at life again.
There's Vika -- winner of the Crown's Game and new enchanter to the Tsardom -- who is hated for her magic, must find a way to bring the two brothers back together for the state of Russia might depend on it.
Initial thoughts:
This book is dark, it's complicated, it's vengeful, and it's MAGICAL. Emotion plays a driving role in this story. Lots of decisions are based on the character's feelings and I think that's why this book had taken such a dark turn as compared to The Crown's Game. I won’t lie when I say that this book had me unbelievably frustrated a ton of the time, but 100% sure that’s only because of the use of miscommunication as a plot driver, which tends to make me angry (in a frustratingly good way) most of the time. The rest of my gripes are minor compared to how much I genuinely enjoyed this story. I had so much fun with this duology and this book had everything that I expected and wanted from it. The magic was bigger and better. The romance was complex and twisted. The amount of death was staggering. All combined to make The Crown’s Fate the jewel it is.
Plot Part I (the things I liked):
It’s no secret that I love a book with magic. This book really took the simple, cute magic from book one and turn that puppy into a dragon in this book! Now that there’s more magic being pumped from Bulshebnoie Duplo, the enchanters have more to wield in their grasps. They’re enchantments and illusions are bigger, more elaborate, more complex, and definitely more detailed in their descriptions. You can get lost in how Skye describes the magic in this story. The magical realism in this so well intertwined into the reality, that it almost makes you forget the historical facts that are being inserted here and there. I’m not much into history and therefore am grateful that this duology didn’t turn into a history lesson as well as young adult fantasy.
I really liked the setting of this book. I have not read many books that take place in actual Russia and that definitely gave this duology some originality in my mind. I found that the names used, though with a Russian twist, were not difficulty to pronounce. I thought the places described in this book were contrasting and it worked well for the story. The palace and Nevsky Prospect and the Ovchinin were beautiful locations, then you had the dark and dingy places such as the bar and the place Nikolai and his mother lived in. Much of the scenery in this book was detailed and I liked how great of a 3D picture it created in my mind.
I also liked the multiple perspectives, not only from the 3 main characters. Supplemented by such BEAUTIFUL writing! Evelyn’s writing is almost poetic in a way. Evelyn also has a way of inserting cute moments that may not be necessary to move on the plot, but add a fullness to the lives of the characters. Like the FOOD. Oh my was the food always written to make me hungry. And Vika & Ludmila’s family moments and Pasha & Yuliana’s sibling moments. Those were adorable.
Though the “miscommunication as a plot point” can be detrimental to some stories for me, this was done in a way that didn’t drag it out too long. And also, the miscommunication was not necessarily completely wrong, but an overreaction. Either way, the story was very fast paced.
Lastly, the action. There was an appreciable amount of butt kicking action towards the end of the book! I kind of sort of expected what was going to happen in general, but was iffy on the details and the details made me happy. I had a basic idea of how the darkness would leave Nikolai and it happened in such a way that match my expectations and then exceeded it. I liked how the different transfers of magic were highlighted throughout the book to make sense of how the ending was wrapped up, but you don't realize it until the very end. Some people say it was only too convenient, but I thought it was well thought out. I only wish there was an epilogue kind of novella to supplement this final book!
Plot Part II (things I didn’t like so much): DON’T WORRY THERE’S NOT A LOT!
I didn’t really like Yuliana much in this one, I mean I didn’t really like her in the first book either because she’s not necessarily meant to be liked. In this book though, I felt like she was constantly undermining Pasha. Which also confused me because he never got mad at her for it, he just let it happen. Then she had this weird “change of heart” towards Vika right at the end of the book, unwarranted and unbelievable for me. Don’t get me wrong though, I am happy about it sorta. I just wish it didn’t feel so forced/random.
This rapid change of emotion did happen more than once though. Confusing moments where change of emotion was abrupt and unexplained, like Vika's feelings towards Nikolai (or it may just be the way it came off because it was a tad out of no where). Pasha's feelings about his sister. Nikolai's emotions about his mother. Kind of a back and forth thing on Nikolai and his mother.
Then there were some elements that were left unexplained, but I'm hoping they were left unexplained because there will be more to come (maybe not a sequel of course, but something?). It’s doubtful since she announced the new duology she’s working on, so I’m left still wondering what's going to happen with the extra magic rioting throughout Russia.
Characters:
NIKOLAI - Nikolai is almost a whole different person throughout this book and at first it made me upset because I didn’t like how he seem like a whole different character, but it started to make sense. You had to search for the old Nikolai under all the darkness. The old Nikolai is still the old Nikolai I knew and loved in the first book. The new Nikolai was daring and taunting! So I also liked him in his “dark mode.”
VIKA – She’s one of those characters that’s never afraid to show her true colors. She is always always fierce, but can be kind at the same time. She can be loving, but no matter who you are, she knows right from wrong and will tell you if you are in the wrong. She is just an amazing role model and enchanter and friend. Nikolai needs her wild spirit and strong personality to liven up his dreariness.
PASHA – I can’t say I wasn’t swayed to team Pasha by this adorable boy. The champion archer, the ever kind ruler, the elusive and forever gorgeous Pasha Romanov. He had his ways of being super super sweet, but I wish he was more assertive with himself as a ruler, he had his moments though. Especially when he was being confronted about the constitutional Russia and he declared he would never abolish the tsardom. That Pasha, is the ruling Pasha I like.
Overall:
NEED MORE EVELYN SKYE. I NEED MORE. Her writing is just amazing and her characters are wonderful. I'm super crazy excited for her new series to come!