This Cursed Crown

These Feathered Flames #2

by Alexandra Overy

Awakening to find herself trapped in a strange tower, Izaveta knows she must find her way back to the Tóurensi palace and claim the throne. But even with an unexpected ally’s help, she worries she might not be able to get news of her survival to her sister and escape this frozen land.

Back at home, Asya enlists Nikov’s help to prove Izaveta is still alive, even as she finds herself forced to navigate the political world she always sought to avoid to save her queendom, her loved ones, and herself.
 
But as the sisters work independently to reunite, a dangerous force lies in wait, trying to regain power in order to overthrow the monarchy…

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Lesbian, LGBT, Fiction, Young Adult Fantasy, High Fantasy

512 pages, Hardcover

First published December 6, 2022

About the author

Alexandra grew up in London and moved to Los Angeles to pursue her undergraduate degree in history at UCLA, followed by her MFA in screenwriting also at UCLA. She loves writing in all formats, from novels to screenplays to graphic novels, always centring on fierce women and morally grey characters, often with a bit of magic and murder. She is the author of the These Feathered Flames duology and the middle grade fantasy duology The Gingerbread Witch.
When she’s not writing, she can be found baking, fangirling over her favourite books, or cuddling her foster kittens.

Reviews

[Iris]

I need it I need it I need it I need it I'm literally gonna scream I need to know if my girls are okay PLEASE let them be okay please

[theresa]

#1: These Feathered Flames review

so excited to have the honour of revealing this gorgeous cover!! i mean, just look at it and tell me this isn't one of the prettiest fantasy duologies in existence!

[alaska]

this release date is a personal attack

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

May 2022 Udate!
I've read it again! I wept again. I loved it again. This book delivers everything. A perfect duology and such wonderful, lyrical, prose. 14/10 I can't wait until the rest of you join me in being emotionally wrecked by this book


UPDATED for 2022!!!
I have read the revised version and OMG. The ending was magnificent and satisfying and as usual, Ally's writing was lyrical and poignant and delivered all the feels. Definitely put this on your TBR and pre-order. One of the best duologies I've read. More bears, MORE BETRAYAL, more kisses, more everything.

2020:I have the privilege of leaving the first review for this HIGHLY anticipated sequel and I just finished reading it (early draft) and damn.
[redacted] made me scream. And then there was [redacted] that made me gasp in delight. Not to mention the [redacted] that made me swoon.
This sequel is so well crafted y'all. You're not ready for this emotional roller coaster of a sequel!!!

[Alexandra Overy]

"Perhaps this was just how it started. With all these good intentions, then one small step and you couldn’t stop yourself from falling."

I finished my copyedits, so I'm officially marking this as read!

This was a really hard book to write for so many reasons, but I'm happy that everyone will get to read the end to Asya and Iza's story - even if I'll really miss writing them <3

Content Warnings: (please let me know if I've missed anything!)
- on page death
- fantasy violence
- torture
- references to physical and emotional abuse
- moments of suicidal ideation

[Jos]

DNF 15%

I am not feeling a court diplomacy YA. There were some tropes introduced that I was not a fan of and I did not want to force it.

I will say that the writing and some of the limitations from These Feathered Flames did improve. If you are a fan of YA fantasy and do not mind some common YA fantasy tropes then this might be for you.

[keira · Rating 3 out of 5]

i’ve gotta say, despite the 3 star rating, this was a solid ending to the duology, and i liked quite a lot of it. the inclusion of characters from russian mythology, the relationships existing but not being the main focus, and the overall story were great.

my only issues that lowered my rating come from just how many times the characters were severely hurt and how often the characters were stopped in their tracks right before winning a fight or something similar. i really would’ve loved to see the ritual to give koschei his heart back and the deception that came with it work, rather than asya suddenly releasing the firebird from herself and *poof*, he’s gone.

[Sammm · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was decent, though I stand by with my complaint about short chapters. More of a 3.5~3.7. 4 for now.

[Sandra (LadyGrey Reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

review coming soon

[Inkyard Press]

Young Adult Fairy Tales & Folklore, Young Adult Family, LGBTQ+, Young Adult Fantasy
Miniseries
These Feathered Flames (Book #

[Jennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

TL;DR: Folklore fantasy duology concludes solidly, with care for Asya and Iza's personal growth but a little less attention to their relationships
(eARC provided by Edelweiss)

This Cursed Crown feels like a very natural followup to book one, taking the characters and ideas further down the roads set up. Asya's and Izaveta's character arcs feel emotionally appropriate, and we also get some expansion of the world's mythology without feeling too extreme. It's just that these very logical narrative steps come with some prices: first and foremost, it requires our characters be separated (either geographically or in other ways) for so much of the book, which means the relationships that really shone in These Feathered Flames are a little sidelined in favour of individual journeys. And the climactic nature of this book also leads to a slightly repetitive series of setback after setback, which the short chapters actually make worse; I really just needed a slower, more personal bit injected in between betrayals and magical threats. This is still an enjoyable book, even if it didn't capture my love the way I wanted it to, and I think it comes together as a perfectly conceived and structured YA fantasy duology.

Rating breakdown
4.5 stars rounded down to 4

[Elizabeth Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

this wasn't quite as good as the first one but it had a interesting plot line I felt like some of the parts were really drawn out and then I only had a handful of pages left and it seem to wrap up the plot line extremely quickly. I felt like it could've been better balanced for sure. I didn't get the solid ending so I was hoping for with some characters which was a little bit disappointing but it did leave a little bit of expositions for a another book if need be.

[luciana · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved loved!!
it took me more than 10 days to finish but finally got here! lol

it was an incredible 2nd book and last one for this world, i am satisfied!

ps: i just had a bit of a problem with the pacing but other than that, it was good

[Uma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really really liked the first book, but this one just felt way too long. And yet somehow also didn’t really fully explain all the lore and backstory that I was hoping for? I liked it, but just liked the first one a lot more.

[anjalee · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[sunshinereads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an ARC from Harper360ya in exchange for an honest review.

Story 3/5
For quite some time I didn’t fully understand what was happening in the story. It slowly came together and I did not care for the fact that the sisters were separated. The concept was interesting but the buildup of the story was slow for me. It was multi POV, and I really liked that.

Characters 3/5
The characters were well built and written down good, it made it easier to get into the story.

Writing 3/5
It's slow and because of that it was not that easy to read for me, the writing style is fine, but it just wasn't for me.

[Lady Brainsample · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know what went wrong for me - loved the first book but just could not get into this one.

[Elizabeth P · Rating 1 out of 5]

It feels cruel to rate this one star, but I liked this less than the first one (which I rated two stars). I mean, maybe this is 1.5, but that is probably the highest I can give it.
The main problem I had with this book is that I just lost interest about 2/3 of the way through. It was too long and felt repetitive. And there were so many things that stretched believability for me (such as: somehow both Asya and Izaveta survive even though they both should have died. And Izaveta gets elected queen despite everything that happened. )
Like I said about the first book, maybe those who are interested in Russian folklore or books about sisters would like it.
I probably should have just DNF'd this one but since I was listening to it on audio I just stuck with it.

[Ellie J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 stars
Recommended for people who like: fairytales, courtly intrigue, dual POVs, magic, fantasy, The Bear and the Nightingale, sister stories, Russian folklore, morally gray characters

Big thanks to Netgalley, Inkyard Press, and the author for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

The book starts off focused on Asya as she navigates the political waters of court, searches for answers regarding Iza, and tries to find Yuliana. I definitely felt for Asya in the first book, but I really feel for her in this one. She hates the intricacies and machinations of the court, but desperately wants to find answers about her sister and ensure that the throne is still there for her when she (if she) returns. It was interesting to see Asya grow during the course of this novel. She carries so much guilt from what happened at the end of These Feathered Flames and is still resistant to cutting her human ties, as Tarya is still urging her to do, but at the same time she also grows to understand her sister and the Firebird a bit better. There aren't really any easy choices for her in this one, and a lot of her actions involve balancing what she believes with what she wants.

Iza is in an interesting boat, we don't get her POV until several chapters in and, as mentioned in the synopsis, she's trapped in a tower in some unidentified location. There's a part of her that struggles in realizing that she's still alive, that the end she thought was coming, thought was going to cleanse her conscious, did not in fact come. Iza grapples a lot with the choices she made in the last book, both on page and off, and a lot of her arc is trying to figure out who she wants to be, outside of what her mother expected and trained her to be. Iza is still manipulative, but she's also more willing to let people into her plans and trust other people (mainly Asya, but a couple others) to see their goals through, either Iza's way or a different way.

The sisterly bond is still very strong in this book, with both Iza and Asya wanting to ensure the other is well and protected. Asya's decisions in this book mirror Iza's in the first one: Her desperate search for answers and her own questionable decisions in this book can be tied directly into her hope that Iza is still alive somewhere, much like how Iza's questionable actions in the first book were directly related to wanting to protect Asya from the anti-Firebird people at court. There is still some tension between the two of them, but I liked how it played out and I think Overy did a good job showing that kind of ride-or-die relationships siblings can have. Regardless of how they felt about how the other's actions, Iza and Asya were always willing to step up to defend one another.

Nikov is a recurring character here. It'd been a while since I read the first book, so I remembered there was something going on with him, but couldn't remember if we knew what it was (and if we did, what it was). He acts as a good friend to Asya and serves as someone she can share her hopes with. At the same time, Nikov has a lot going on himself and has some of his own machinations to account for.

Yuliana is also back in this one and as someone who's much more clearly on Asya's side. Yuliana regrets a lot of what occurred at the end of the last book, and kind of struggles to understand how Asya could have already forgiven her for all of that. Yuliana actually ends up playing an integral role in the book at multiple different points, and, more minorly, we get some more romance with her and Asya.

After the conclusion of the last book, I wasn't entirely sure what the main conflict would be. Iza being gone was clearly going to be an issue considering no one liked the Firebird still and the queen-to-be was gone. However, I wasn't anticipating the conflict/villain that showed up and was pleasantly surprised at how well it plays into the original firebird myth (as well as Russian folklore in general). I don't want to be spoilery, but I absolutely loved the villain, and not in a 'oh they're sexy' kind of way, but more in a 'this is a quality villain' way. There's underlying manipulations, there's betrayals, and there's lies, but then there's also outright aggression and fights and magic, and it all ties nicely into everything.

You can definitely feel the stakes of this book and I definitely had moments were I thought everything was going well and then saw how much of the book I had left and knew things were going to hit the fan. There were also multiple points where I wasn't sure if people were going to make it through, and honestly sometimes they didn't.

I will say that the ending was...a lot. There was a lot happening, a lot of hope and then hope getting ripped away, and then more conflict, etc. I think I would've liked an ending that was a little further from the edge of ruin, perhaps one that ended just a handful of pages before where it did. At the same time though, the way that it ended did right things, so the conflict probably resolved in the right place.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

See my full review here: https://www.yabookscentral.com/this-c...

THIS CURSED CROWN is an intriguing and ultimately satisfying conclusion to the THESE FEATHERED FLAMES duology. Picking up where the first book ended, we first follow Asya who is still reeling from the loss of her sister at her hands. With the Firebird, her wants/thoughts are sometimes in conflict with the role she must play, a fact that becomes clear as she performs the jobs she must to keep the balance. Meanwhile, she is also wondering about what happened to Izaveta and whether there is any chance of rescue.

Later in the story, as stated in the synopsis, we begin to also follow Izaveta, who did not expect to survive the balancing of the Firebird. She is trapped in a tower at the hands of someone she would never have suspected. However, things are even more complicated than they seem and Iza is racing against the clock and untold power to find her way back to the throne and Asya.

What I loved: While there are several themes, sisterhood remains a strong current of the story. Asya and Iza are two sides of the same coin. While they were raised for different roles, their connection and love for each other is a driving factor for both. Other themes of the story are around politics, complicated morality, power and socioeconomic disparity, betrayal, mind games, and the weight of emotions and love.

The Firebird is a tool of balance with rules that seem simple in terms of making sure everyone pays the price for the magic they cast. However, this is complicated by situations in which wealthy people force their servants (under threats of the jobs they cannot afford to lose) to finish casting their spells, so that the servants will pay the price. Asya is a tool of the system, and while she wishes that she had more of a role to play in changing things, she is powerless to evaluate the morality and fairness of these situations.

While the story is told from both Iza and Asya's perspectives, Asya really dominates the story. She has been understanding her role and relationship with the Firebird more. While this was particularly complicated in the first story, she is beginning to find her own way to embrace who she has become. At the same time, she is evaluating the connections she has to Yuliana and Iza, as these are potential weaknesses, but they are also drivers for her behavior. This conflict between love and duty is one that continues throughout this series.

This story expands a bit more on the mythology of this world and the magic. This is a particularly interesting element of the story with implications for religion and the way that fables are born from fact. History has its own twist from the people who tell it. Their religion is also not so smooth and clear-cut, with the ability to influence rituals and decisions. The plots around this world-building and related themes are strong throughout the duology.

What left me wanting more: This book felt like it meandered a lot, particularly in the early parts, which felt rather slow. The path was a bit windy, and it was tough to remember details from earlier needed later. This did get smoother later in the story as it really found its stride.

Final verdict: THIS CURSED CROWN is a satisfying and compelling conclusion to a YA fantasy duology about sisters, magic, and destiny.

Please note that I received an ARC. All opinions are my own.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Inkyard Press and NetGalley for the eARC to read in exchange for an honest review!

How do you fix something that has been broken for a long time? How do you atone for the sins of the past? What price are you willing to pay to do what’s right? And who will you choose to be at the end of the day in the face of losing everything, even yourself?

These questions I believe sum up the circumstances of this sequel and the crux of the duology as a whole. With so many long-kept secrets being unearthed, devious plots to foil, identities tested, and lies to unravel, there’s hardly any time for Asya and Izaveta to breathe. Let alone save the queendom whilst making sense of their splintered relationship and destined roles. It’s a heart wrenching and difficult journey for the two as individuals and as sisters.

Asya has never fully embraced what it means to be the Firebird despite the fear and hatred towards it. The balance of magic has always been essential above all else. Asya continues to fight to hold on to her humanity and good nature, so court politics and deceptions are a challenge to maneuver through.

Izaveta was trained by her mother (and her mother before her, etc.) in subterfuge in order to maintain control and power. But now, trapped in a tower far from her sister, for the first time ever Izaveta is at a loss, unsure of how to proceed forward after making so many grave mistakes.

This Cursed Crown is a reckoning. The carefully conducted chaos and cruelty is daunting. You and the twins are often left to wonder if good can truly triumph over evil. Because at the end of the day, change is inevitable, actions have consequences, and magic demands sacrifice. But what I like about Izaveta and Asya is that they never stop trying to do the right thing. Thus the story becomes an entrancing, emotional roller coaster.

I think this duology has always gone in the right direction for all of the characters with appropriately made choices indicative to each. This helped spur the story along through ups and downs and extensive character development. It further entangled conflicts as things escalated towards a bit surprising but suitable conclusion for the main characters.

Overall, This Cursed Crown was an exhilarating, high-stakes story.

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

With a doozy of a cliffhanger at the end of the first book, I was anxious to see what was next for these twin sisters/princesses.

Asya believes her sister Izaveta is dead, and she’s floundering without her. Izaveta understands court politics and manipulates people like a master chess player, but Asya is entirely out of her depth. As the Firebird, she’s required to collect payment from magic casters to maintain balance in the realm – the rules are clear-cut and something she understands. But because of her actions at the end of the first book, she’s now being cast as a criminal, and the girl she loves is missing. With Izaveta presumed dead, the throne sits empty, and someone must be crowned. Among power struggles, betrayals, lies, imprisonments, and dark magic, it’s unclear who will succeed.

I honestly didn’t know how these two would find their way back to each other, reclaim the throne, or even survive, and their circumstances look grim for most of the story. Selfish decisions and mistakes are made, and every time they gain ground, the twins are outsmarted by a very clever villain. When long-kept secrets are revealed, their paths become very murky.

I’m a fan of morally gray characters, but I had a love/hate relationship with Iza and Asya on and off throughout the book. Each makes unpopular choices at certain points, but there’s also admirable character growth in both of them throughout the course of the story. When the chips are down, their sister/twin bond only grows stronger, and they’ll always choose each other over everyone else.

These books are based on the Russian folktale The Firebird, so fans of fairy tales or folklore may find the series appealing. This Cursed Crown is a satisfying conclusion to an exciting duology filled with magic, power quests, and deception.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

[august hoang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not good, not bad, very in-between. I wanna like it, but during my reading of the book, I was very lukewarm about it.

Asya and Izaveta's character arcs felt appropriate, and the constant ping-ponging between love and hate between the two sisters was justified. It didn't feel out of place at all.

We got a fair amount of knowledge and background about the world's lore in this book. Compared to the first book, the lore in this one is much more expansive and detailed, but it still managed to be interesting and intriguing. It wasn't overwhelming at all.

I enjoyed the plot twists in this book. There were two major plot twists, and both of them were good, and delivered answers to questions that I didn't think much about.

The writing was fine, it isn't much to talk about.

The ending was solid, but the way Koschei died left me blank. There was no triumph, it was just very flat and forgettable.

I was not very immersed in this book. There were a few parts that definitely caught my attention and held onto it, but the moment those parts ended, I would go back to running my eyes over the words and sorta skimmed over the paragraphs. This book could have been much shorter, and it would not have changed anything plot-wise.

This book was running around in circles a lot. So many things could have been resolved much more quickly, but the circumstances keep evading Asya and Izaveta's odds, so they end up having to run around Tourin, finding ways to fix the problem and defeat the bad guy.

Overall, a good ending to a duology, really isn't anything to rave about.

[Sifa Poulton · Rating 3 out of 5]

THIS CURSED CROWN is a magic-filled sequel to THESE FEATHERED FLAMES, a book I really loved. This sequel just didn't quite work out for me.

The book dives into the magic of the world and why there is a queen and a firebird demanding a cost to magic. I enjoyed the explanation of how unpredictable magic was and the secrets behind its current state. This set up also lets the book introduce another towering figure in Russian folklore, which was such a fun reveal, and then the way those elements played out in the book.

I think the reason this book didn't quite work for me is twofold: the first is that this book is not as much about political intrigue as the first. I love intrigue, love schemes and characters outsmarting one another. This book had very little of it, and the first had set up that expectation. It didn't help that the person most attempting it was so clearly lying through his teeth the entire time and Asya felt so naïve for falling for it.

The second reason is that I found Izaveta's chapters for the first half very confusing. I could not work out where she was or why she was alive. I didn't ever quite work out why she hadn't died from the firebird's magic. Likewise, I wasn't sure if she was in the real world or a magical realm cut off from ours. It made her chapters hard to follow or care about. Once she was back with Asya, things became a lot easier to follow - and enjoy.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley, Inkyard Press, and Alexandra Overy for the opportunity to read This Cursed Crown in exchange for an honest review.

This is the final book in the These Feathered Flames duology. Similar to what I reviewed with the first novel, this one felt too long for what it is and just felt like a drag to read through, though on the same token it is a well-written and enjoyable novel. It just didn't need to be 500+ pages necessarily.

This book takes place right where the first book left off, with Asya miserable about the loss of her sister. But the Firebird must have its price when a spell is cast.

What Asya doesn't know is that Izaveta is till alive. It was not her life that was taken to pay the price of magic, but something else...

Asya's storyline revolves around stopping the wrong people from trying to take the crown while Izaveta is presumed dead. Meanwhile, Izaveta is working on escaping from the place she is held prisoner. She believes her captor to be someone of mal intent, though the person turns out to be a malicious sorcerer set on revenge against the Firebird and the crown.

Together, Asya and Izaveta, with the return of Nikov and Yuliana, must try to quell this evil before it takes total control. There must be a way to end this cursed crown! 

Despite the length of the novel, it is really a great ending to the duology. It does what it needs to do, and a duology is the perfect length for this series.

[Life Fox · Rating 1 out of 5]

I will admit I had to stop once I was about 60% through and just skip to the last few chapters. My problems with the book (and book one to a lesser extent) are fairly simple. First, the protagonists cause, in whole or in part, almost every issue they have to face through their own stupidity. Second, there never seems to be a consolidated story, as every event feels like a blind turn (not a mystery where you don't know what will happen, just chaotic). This is partially because of my biggest issue, the protagonists never really succeed. Sometimes they manage at least part of their objective (successfully stealing the book, for example, or of course, the final victories in killing the big bads in each book). But we never get to actually feel good or revel in their success AT ALL. They are outplayed at almost every turn, and manage to grab some semblance of success largely by luck while their enemy controls the board. Whatever successes they achieve are always overshadowed by greater failure. All this despite their being set up as some of, if not the most powerful people in the entire queendom.

PS: also, the absolute travesty that is the way the lesbian romance was handled.

PPS: to get in front of the "the negatives add realism" or "author's perogative" I will admit that the endings of the books not being unmitigated success is a solid choice, and having failures occur is good. The problem is that everything goes wrong, all the time.

[natalia · Rating 3 out of 5]

writing my thoughts as they come. this isn’t organized.

this book could’ve been shorter, surely. the first hundred pages were awesome, i didn’t want to put the book down, but as i read more, it started to feel like a chore. i’m a sucker for happy endings, so i’m grateful for that, but the journey to getting to said ending was 💤💤💤. (it also got wrapped up fairly quickly, like the firebird’s released and the sorcerer just dies, no build up or anything…and to mention my wife yuliana, there’s no talk of all her injuries she sustained afterwards. and she also just disappeared after she shot the heart then came back to be sad about asya. we see her in the epilogue and she seems perfectly fine??? was she not stabbed with fire?)

also not a fan at all how yuliana was handled in this book. she’s there for like a chapter and oh no, she’s captured again.

tarya’s death also was just there and i didn’t care. maybe it’s because i read the first book so long ago, but i didn’t have any connection with her. she basically died so yuliana wouldn’t. then she’s basically not mentioned again until the epilogue, like was her body just left there??


i did love the short chapters though, but not when asya’s chapter are a page, and then we go straight back to izaveta for like three or more pages.

justice for asya and yuliana AND their relationship!!!

regardless, the authors writing style is great, i have to give her her props.

[Charlotte McConnell-Pearce · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the first book in this duology, The feathered flames. So I was very disappointed when I did not like this book at all. This authors writing is still lyrical and beautiful But lost it's addictive touch Because the story just didn't work. Keeping the twins separate for most of the book was a great mistake There relationship was the beating heart of the first book. And the majority of what they went through felt either repetitive or just plain annoying and unneeded. There are a few good revelations the twins had but it did not save the book. One of my favourite aspects of the first book was the wlw romantic relationship that was given hardly any time in this book, and when it was given time it was mostly a villan using Asya's love to keep the firbird in check. This book could have been the continuation of an amazing love story, However they hardly continued it at all.
The ending felt pointless and it just wasn't good it felt repetitive and too easy. But I still think the first book in this series is amazing, and the author's writing is amazing. I simply suggest only reading the first Book and not reading the second book. Even though it ends in a cliff hanger because it's just not worth it in my opinion.

[the.sapphic.library · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

This book was even better than the first!!! The plot is excellent and I died at each plot twist! I loved how I thought back on moments from the first book and suddenly understood why one character had acted like this. It honestly felt like I was reading a thriller sometimes but one happening in a land of legends.
There are even more references to more Slavic fairytales, and I loved that that's precisely among those that Izaveta and Asya find answers to their problems.

As a lesbian myself, it honestly says a lot about my love for those characters, but I was even more into Izaveta and Nikov's relationship than into Asya and Yuliana's ! Nikov was such an interesting character in this book and I loved that he got to get close to Asya too, they had a really sweet friendship!! I already loved that in the first book but Yuliana's great with the sisters too, I like how she values Asya's love for Izaveta and never tries to reason with Asya even when Iza was hurting her. She really listens and knows how to step back to get the sisters some alone time. I really think of them like a small family in my head, like the two sisters and their partners and friends (maybe we add Dima too and Tarya). It would have been fun to have some Nikov and Yuliana scenes too. I just love them.

[Vervada · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

The descriptions in this book are fantastic. I read it during the first week of a very warm October and yet I could picture the icy landscape and feel the cold wind without any problems. The characters are well done as well, though I wish they spent more time together, like Asya and Izaveta or Asya and Yuliana. These two relationships were so intriguing and I wanted to see even more of them. I also loved seeing the two sisters step out of their comfort zones and seeing how much more capable they became because of it. Nikov's secret was quite the plot twist! I was very surprised, pleasantly so. The interesting thing about the plot was that it managed to be both pretty simple and quite filled with betrayals and treachery at the same time.

The reason that I'm giving this book four and not five stars is that there were a few times where I found it too easy to put the book down. Probably because there was too much tension and barely any calmer scenes to let the characters (and me) relax a little. It became a bit draining after a while.

A solid conclusion to a gorgeous, icy and treacherous duology.