Of Princes and Poisons by Brianna Joy Crump
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Web ID: 184970533 reviews
Wonderful sequel!
This book was hard to put down. Lots of twists and turns! Can’t wait for the next installment of Monroe’s story!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Not a Good Sequel
Actual Rating 1.5 I requested this one because I read the first book in the series a couple of years ago and enjoyed it, so I had high hopes for this one. But there were several things that didn’t work well for me. For one, the stakes just never felt high enough despite the predicament the characters found themselves in at the beginning of the work. There should have been tension and true grief/stress present rather than being focused on banter and the speedy beginnings of insta-love (why though). The characters were just not good. I remember liking Monroe as a protagonist and being impressed with how well balanced she was. In this book, Monroe read like a whiney, bratty, preteen with a silly crush. It was no good. The secondary characters weren’t enough to make up for this, either, though they were generally better written than Monroe. The romance suffered greatly due to the way the characters were written. Also, the author chose to completely about-face with one of the personalities/actions of a character from the previous book to manhandle him into the new role needed for this book. And then there was the antagonist who we’re repeatedly told is dangerous and evil but is neatly shoved aside when it becomes necessary. These conveniences were majorly dissatisfying. This book suffered from middle book syndrome. The first 25% of the book was generally just Monroe bantering with her new love interest and moaning about not being able to see her old love interest. There was also zero meaningful worldbuilding incorporated into the book, which was massively disappointing. Similarly, the setting wasn’t included well either, leaving the whole book feeling ungrounded. The book was still readable, so if you’re a diehard fan of the series you may enjoy this one. To me, it was nowhere near as good as the first book, and I don’t think I’ll be checking out book three. My thanks to NetGalley and Wattpad Books for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Grabbing read with new twists
Nothing is as it was before, leaving room for unknown dangers, growing mistrust, and intrigue beneath the intrigue. After killing the King and Queen, Monroe and her 'friends' from the Culling find themselves with the rebels. Not only were the promises of an open armed invitation null and void, all of them find themselves teetering on a thin line just off of execution. A new fight for survival begins, one which is very different than the Trials. Wounds, inside and out, are tough to heal, especially when the difference between friends and foe is blurred all over again. Monroe's a constant breath's distance from death, and this time, her powers are the last thing that can save her. First off, yay to having the second book releasing so quickly after book one! Not only does that keep disappointment after the first ending at bay, but the story is still fresh and anticipation high. So, extra kudos on that front. This book doesn't start off where the last one ended...not exactly. (But this does need to be read as a series, since each book builds off the last.) We find Monroe captured by the rebels, separated from her group, in bad circumstances. While grabbing, I did stop reading twice to see if and where I'd missed part of the story. Instead, the happenings between the escape from the palace to Monroe's beginning in the prison occur in flashbacks over the next chapters. I'm not a huge fan of that approach. Anyway, this book takes many surprising twists and turns, and flips everything on its head. It does a great job diving into the area of dealing with trauma and re-orientation. This was especially well done with the other two goddess-touched girls and Uri, and added quite a bit of character depth. Monroe's brother also returns, which adds a touch more on the sibling front. Monroe doesn't show much growth during this second book as her head is busy more with the romance side of things and melding into the new circumstances. The action was notched down, too, thanks to the increased romance and building of a couple new characters. This book mostly hovers around Monroe's attempt to reorientate herself in the rebel camp and mentally deal with what she's gone through so far. Relationships formed during the Trial, both bad and good, are re-molded, and this takes time. The heaviest hitting of these is the one with Cohen. The switching of gears is refreshing, in some ways, but unfortunately, not quite convincing to the reasons behind it, leaving the romance end with a slight sense of being off-balance. This also makes the end of this read hit a little weird, on that end. Monroe herself is more clumsy in this read, and while still to root for, doesn't come across with the same lovely strength as before. There were many unexpected moments, exciting aspects, and grabbing twists, and it will be interesting to see how everything ties together in the last book. Because the third one in this series has the potential to be very good.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com