Cruel Crown is the collection of two prequel novellas to Red Queen. The first novella is Queen Song where we get the backstory of Cal’s mother and what really happened to her. The other is Steel Scars that follows Farley as she leads the Scarlet Guard into Norta. They both were pretty good. Giving more insight into world the books take place. Since Red Queen is told from Mare’s point of view, things like how the silver hierarchy is set up and how the Scarlet Guard works isn’t give much detail because Mare doesn’t know these things in much detail. That’s what kind of great but these little novella’s. I’ve written in the past about how it’s trendy for YA authors to write novellas or short stories that take place in between books or prequels. Sometimes they are just filler but other times they serve the purpose of filling in wholes that didn’t have time to get to in the narratives. They also usually focus on supporting or minor characters instead of the protagonists in attempt to flesh out the world a little bit but usually they are of little importance. If readers don’t read them, it’s no big deal. They will still be able to the novels without missing anything.
Of the two stories I liked Queen Song the best. It follows Queen Corianne before she became queen. She’s the only daughter of a once great house that is down on their luck. She catches the eye of Prince Tiberius, Cal’s and Maven’s father. It follows their courtship, their short marriage and her eventual death. She’s a feisty and curious girl, who is interested in mechanics and how things work but in a world where her only role is to be married off her dreams will never happen. When she meets Prince Tiberius things start to open up for her. She finds an equally lonely person to commiserate and love but never really gets over the feeling of being weak and useless. Among those helping her feel that way is rival Elara, who would become Tiberius’s second wife and Maven’s mother. She’s a powerful mind reader but the extant of her power is not truly revealed until the end. Over the course of the story Corianne falls deeper and deeper into paranoia and sadness. She’s been accused of tricking the Prince into marrying her. She suffers many miscarriages until Cal is born. She believes that Elara is behind it and ultimately she is right but no way to prove it. It’s really quite sad. From the very beginning there is a sense of foreboding since we know from Red Queen that she is dead and is believed by suicide. I kept hoping that there would be some kind of happy ending but knowing there would not.
In Steel Scars we get to know more about Farley and her motivations for not only for the Scarlet Guard but also for Mare. We know in Red Queen that the Scarlet Guard is a resistance movement against the silver leadership but I assumed only in Norta. I guess I’m going to have to go back and read it again. Farley is from the Lakelands and comes to Norta to start the Scarlet Guards operations there. While there she meets Shade Barrow, Mare’s brother, who becomes a spy for them. Mare believes Shade to be dead until the end when it’s revealed of his involvement but also that he is like Mare. Red blood with Silver powers. We really don’t get much else from the story then that and why Farley is keen to recruit Mare. Also, i think we are seeing the budding relationship between Farley and Shade. There might be other hints for Glass Sword, the next book in the series but we will have to wait and find out.
As I read this book, I go back and forth being enthralled and “why am I reading this again?” I’m interested enough in the story to keep reading to find out how it’s going to end but some of the cutesy words is well eye rolling. I know that it takes place under the sea and they are mermaids but I find it annoying. They call each other merls instead of girls but why don’t they call boys, moys or something like it? It’s a small thing. The other thing that bothers me is that there are six mermaids who must come together to stop the evil Orfeo but only Sera, Astrid and Becca seem to get the limelight. Ling (who is on the cover) Neela and Ava are little more then afterthoughts. I realized there are a lot of characters and not easy to give all them equal time but Marissa Meyer did a wonderful job of doing just that in the Lunar Chronicles so it is possible. I want to know more about the other mermaids. I was excited when I saw the cover and Ling on it. The last time we saw the merl (god I hate that) she was captured by the big bad guy on her way to find her piece. You would think that would be center stage but we don’t even get to Ling until 50-60 pages into the book. The little we get from her is exciting as she tries to escape from Orfeo, find her piece and also escape from the work camp she is sent too. At least she got a couple of chapters. Ava got one and Neela none, which is weird since she was a big part of the last book. Maybe that means we will get more of them in the final book coming out later this year but I have a feeling it’s going to be more of Sera and Astrid. Not that I don’t like them but I want to know about the others.
*Spoilers*
If you are on the internet and you follow fashion, especially celebrity fashion then you probably know Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan or as their known, the Fug Girls. Their fashion blog, 
*Spoilers Ahead*
There is so many things to love about this book and this series in general. It’s beyond funny. Sophornia is in finishing school but it’s not just any Victorian age finishing school. Yes, Miss Geraldine’s teaches her girls how to behave like a lady and how to land a good husband but also how to kill them too. Miss Geraldine’s develops the best lady intelligencer’s in the majesty’s realm. Sophronia and her friends may still be students but they are all that stands in the way from the evil Picklemen taking over the realm and keeping peace with the vampires and werewolves. So don’t take these girls lightly. They may have all the charm and manners of a lady of quality but that only makes them more deadly. If there was one downside to this and that it needs more Soap. Soap is Sophronia’s one true love. In a world where social class is important, they are a forbidden match. Sophronia doesn’t come from most wealthiest of families but she is expected to marry a certain class of gentlemen and a black sootie is not that class. At the end of the last book he is turned werewolf to save his life. In this Steampunk London, supernaturals are granted equal footing with the upper class but he’s still the wrong race and well now the wrong species. His role is a little lesser then in past books since he is no longer at the floating school. He is not really given much to do but he does make the most of the time he does have. All and all it was a good ending to a great series. I’m going to have to read Gail’s other series that take place in the same world because if these are any indication, they will be a hoot.
When I Rainbow Rowell announced that her next book would be Carry On the entire internet let out a huge SQUEEEE!! For those who may not be familiar with her work (which really you should) in her 2013 novel, Fangirl, she introduced us to Simon Snow, a Harry Potteresque “chosen one” and his nemesis/roommate Baz. In Fangirl, Simon and Baz are characters in a beloved fantasy series that Cath was writing a fan-fiction for. We got a few snippets of Simon and Baz through Cath’s writing, in which she took the characters from enemies to lovers. Cath spends Fangirl trying onto finish her fan-fiction before the author of Simon Snow series, Gemma T. Leslie publishes the final book. Carry On is the final book of the Simon Snow series but it’s not Cath’s story or Gemma T. Leslie’s story it’s Rainbow’s story. I guess that’s sort of meta. Rainbow isn’t really writing her own fan-fiction. How can an author write a fan-fiction of her own work? I guess this is more canon then anything else since she is the original creator. Cath and Gemma, don’t actually exist. I would say it’s in it’s own unique category. The other thing that makes this different from Rainbow’s other book is that it’s a full fledged fantasy novel. Her other books have all been contemporary novels though Landline does have the fantastical element of having a magical phone that allows Georgie to talk to her husband Neal from the past. So this is new territory for her but she passes with flying colors. In a way, Carry On is much a love letter to the fantasy novels of her life. Obviously, Harry Potter is a huge influence but so is Chronicles of Narnia and a little Twilight among others. She’s able to give little winks and even a little commentary on other franchises while still remaining it’s own thing.
If you loved Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha series and you love crime capers then you are going to love Six of Crows. Set after the events of her last series but this time in Kerch, a country not far from Ravka, six criminals are tasked with a suicide mission that has little to no chance of being accomplished but the pay out is good. Kaz, Inej, Jesper, Nina, Matthias and Wylan are all flawed and interesting characters with varying degrees of criminal presents or pasts. Each bring their own set of skills that are vital to the mission. Inej, aka the Wraith, is a trained trapeze artist who can scale walls and quietly gather information. Jesper is a sharpshooter with a gambling problem, Nina is a Heartrender, who can kill you without even touching you. Matthias is a convict who is part of a religious society that hunts down Grisha. Wylan is the son of a rich merchant who likes to blow things up and Kaz is their mysterious leader. He worked his way up in the Barrel to rule but it’s all to get revenge on the man he blames for the death of his brother.
Not a Drop to Drink is very good, I’ll say that. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting it to be but it’s not what I got. It was pretty straight forward and unapologetic. Lynn has lived with her Mother spending every day struggling to survive and protecting their pond. Water has become scarce all over the world and clean water even rarer. Lynn’s pond in many ways is keeping them alive and most be protected at all times. Lynn’s mother is hard. She has taught Lynn from a young age how to use a rifle and to shoot if anyone gets to close. After a tragic accident that kills her mother, Lynn is on her own. She decides to make an alliance with her neighbor, Stebbs. Together they work to protect her pond and check out possible threats to them. This leads them to Lucy, Eli and Neva. They have escaped the city but are unprepared for living in the wild. Lynn takes Lucy home as both Eli and Neva are unable to care for the five year old. Before this the only people that Lynn knew was her mother and Stebbs. She was taught that everyone else was their enemy out to get their pond. Over the course she learns that not everyone is as ruthless and that helping someone is not weakness but also can be a strength. When far more ruthless men build a camp not that far from them, Lynn will do whatever it takes to save her new “family”
2 Women, So Many Books 