An absolute must-read for fans of Shadow and Bone… merchant, Cassandra is betrothed to Marcus, the most eligible bachelor in the city.
But then she meets Devyn, the boy with the strange midnight eyes searching for a girl with magic in her blood.
A boy who will make her believe in soulmates…
When a mysterious sickness starts to leech the life from citizens with Celtic power lying dormant in their veins, the imperial council sets their schemes in motion. And so Cassandra must make a choice: the Code or Chaos, science or sorcery, Marcus or Devyn?
Panem meets the Grishaverse in this explosive new YA trilogy perfect for readers of Sarah J Maas, Holly Black, and Cassandra Clare.
Praise for The Once and Future Queen Series:
‘OH MY HEART AND SOUL … I am still reeling … seriously I would put this series up with the big ones, like Throne of Glass and The Cruel Prince’ Richelle, 5* NetGalley review
‘OMG. I will forever be in love with this series … this author has me as a fan for life’ Penelope, 5* NetGalley review
‘Beautifully written and one of the best dystopian novels I’ve read … an epic journey you won’t forget. I would love to see this made into a film’ Zoe, 5* NetGalley review
‘I couldn’t put it down. There were times when I gasped, when I cried and when I felt my jaw drop. The world Clara O’Connor has woven together is so intricate and real and the storytelling is flawless. Absolutely my favourite series I have read this year’ Jessica, 5* NetGalley review
‘If you want to immerse yourself in an Arthurian-inspired fantasy world, you need to look no further than this immersive, emotional, and wondrous one’ Tessa, 5* NetGalley review
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The book in general was an okay read. However, I found this book to be really confusing with an over complicated world. I tried really hard to get to connect with the main character but I found them to be very immature. It was almost like the character didn’t belong in the world described. Really disappointing.
I’m a bit torn. I might have expected something different and I don’t know why. Is there magic? yes. Is there a dystopian world? Yes. Is there romance? Hell yes. But still I wasn’t sattisfied after finishing the book. Maybe this, even though unwilling, Cass’s change of heart made me feel cringy and angry more often than I wanted. Or maybe I’m not actually into dystopian stories as much as I thought I was.
Well, I’m not gonna decide right here and now. It was an interesting story and weirdly enough I might read the sequel. 🙂
I received an arc via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.
Secrets of the Starcrossed takes place in an alternate timeline where the Romans regained control of Londinium and the Britons remained in the ‘English’ countryside. This book mixes Celtic folklore, Arthurian legend, magic, and alternative history – all things I love, so I was excited to pick up this book. I feel that it both delivered and didn’t deliver what I expected at the same time. I’ll break the pros and cons down.
Pros:
World building – I thought the world building in this was great – definitely one of the novel’s strengths. I was able to pick up the ‘feeling’ of Londinium pretty quickly, with its unique rules and regulations. As a lover of history, I loved seeing how this timeline played out – seeing what did and did not happen and how that affected things down the line.
Characters – I enjoyed reading about these characters and their lives. HOWEVER, I didn’t much care for the male lead, Devyn. I much preferred Marcus as he seemed the more interesting character. I loved meeting people from the different ‘worlds.’
Magic system/Rules – The ‘rules’ of this society are well thought out and very interesting. While we don’t get tons of magic in this first book, there are a lot of rules about magic. Not to mention well thought out rules of the Roman’s technology which is their version of magic – without leading into spoilers.
Cons:
Slow start – It took a while for me to get into this book. The start was slow. I felt a number of things could have been edited out to get the reader engaged faster while still communicating the information.
The first conflict – Something about this was unbelievable. Cassandra has known this classmate for as long as she remembers, and now she decides that she has to help him. It seemed out of nowhere. I would have liked to have seen either their relationship start differently or have some type of build up.
The ending – While there isn’t anything inherently wrong with the ending, it seemed rather abrupt. And personally when reading a series, I prefer each book to wrap with some of the story while setting up the next and leading into the next conflict. This book ended on a total cliffhanger with nothing being really wrapped up. Again, this isn’t something that’s wrong with the book; it’s a personal preference.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book after I got past the slow start. The marrying of the different cultures with the alternative history was intriguing and well thought out. I will definitely being finishing the series as the next books come out.