[ ARC Review ] Kingdom of Stolen Crowns

First Thoughts

I have had really good luck with ARCs so far, so I had high hopes for this one. The description seemed like something I would enjoy. Unfortunately, it fell pretty flat for me personally. I might have liked it much more when I was younger, a teenager maybe. The writing was a bit too juvenile for me. I haven’t read anything by this author previously, but I noticed one reviewer referenced another series that is related to this one that I have not read. That could contribute to my being unable to fully get into this one. I would say perhaps this book could be marketed more toward a young teenage audience, but it does have plenty of sexual themes. It was difficult to keep going, but I did finish since it was an ARC, and I wanted to leave a complete, honest review after I had the whole picture. It was at times entertaining, and the plot was interesting enough, so I’m giving it three stars.

I furrowed my brow. “Is this the part where we insult each other’s mothers? Apologies, as I am yet unfamiliar with the customs here.”

Minor Spoilers

Runa Starborn is a thief, doing her best to protect her village from the evil “false king”, who happens to be married to her sister. She, along with her adoptive brothers, lose an artifact needed to pay the king’s taxes, so their seer “mother” sends them to intercept a vampire, Victor Custodis, coming through a portal from another realm because, according to the “fates”, he is supposed to set them on a path to freedom. I like the idea of this, but the execution wasn’t quite there.

The Characters

First of all, the brothers. They had so much potential, but most of the time I couldn’t even remember which was which. The character descriptions and development just were not there. All we really know about them is that they are very, sometimes cartoonishly, protective of Runa. Same for Yaga, the woman who apparently raised them. We know she is a seer and that’s about it – until the final chapter when you get a slight hint at what is to come for her.

Runa is not the worst FMC, but there’s not a whole lot interesting about her. Her magic could be extremely interesting, but it is not shown enough in this book to really tell. We read that she has slipped into someone’s mind for information, but that’s it. We just know that she did it. It’s not described, and we don’t get any specific thoughts or anything. Her illusion magic is the most helpful, but wasn’t used enough in my opinion. Then we have the portal magic, which is conveniently specific to the women in her family. Runa can fight, and she has some brains. The problem is she acts like a complete child. When I read anything she said or thought, I couldn’t help but picture a petulant 12-year-old and it really took me out of the love story, especially when the spicy stuff started.

“Bula-hole!” I stomped my foot, jerking the offending fabric off my head. Seriously, what the hell? The vampire was as bad as my brothers. Maybe worse.

Victor very very quickly became one of my least favorite MMCs to date. He is pompous, arrogant, snobby, and selfish. Pretty much everything I hate in an MMC. I could have gotten past that if he had started to change his ways early on, but all he really did was become less selfish with her. And I do mean less, since he still continues to be selfish even with her life until very late in the book.

Other than Idris, I’d never met a more self-serving bastard. Custodis was just another corrupt leader, faking concern to fulfill his own agenda.

He does eventually figure out that the life he wanted to get back to was not what was best for him, but he still really only cares about her, and nobody else. He even makes a reference during the final battle that there are civilians and he can’t risk their lives – but only because those people are important to Runa. He had very few redeeming qualities.

Given my superior intellect, it was only a matter of time before I escaped.

“Sad. Yes,” I agreed, not that I had much sympathy for peasants and commoners.

The Relationships

There is a clear animosity between Runa and her sister. One of my grievances with this book is that the author did not do enough to explain why. She explains how her sister chose to side with the false King to save herself, but there is way too much hostility for it to be only that. Is her sister just severely mentally ill? Has the magic darkened her soul? Did they hate each other as kids? What exactly led up to that level of hatred?

To my delight, her smirk faded, replaced by an ugly snarl. When we were younger, Momma used to warn us our faces would freeze like that. I only wish it were true.

Okay, back to the brothers. Runa often refers to their looks in a way that made me cringe so hard, it was difficult not to put the book away. She was supposedly raised with them and considers them brothers, but routinely talks about their appearances in a way a young girl might talk about an older boy she had a major crush on would. It was uncomfortable.

“That’s right, ladies. Cheer for your favorite.” Beside me, Drazen flexed his spectacular muscles, turning in a circle.

The Plot

The world-building, or lack thereof, made it difficult to even care much about what was happening. Runa is trying to survive, mainly, and protect her brothers. Vincent is trying to get back to his realm. They get caught early on in a cheap knock off Hunger Games for criminals that takes up way too much of the book. Then they do what they can to take out the false King. That’s about it.

The Romance

I always look forward to the romance more than anything. Unfortunately, with a male main character who is so selfish and arrogant, we mainly just get the insta-lust that is common with authors who are jumping on the smut bandwagon. The two main characters didn’t have much chemistry at all, and the chemistry they did have I attribute to them being fated mates. Side note – I LOVE fated mates. But I more appreciate it when the characters are truly right for each other and complete each other. I didn’t get the vibe that was the case here. Victor is instantly possessive of her, but pretty easily convinces himself he doesn’t need her. It just didn’t work for me.

Spice? Yes

The spice is pretty well done. Not the best or worst I’ve read, but I didn’t have any problem with it. It does not overwhelm the story, which is definitely a plus.

Recommend? No

Unfortunately, it was not for me. Maybe a younger audience would appreciate it more. The writing and characters were just too immature for my taste.

I received this eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this review are my own, honest opinions.