Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by cece_rants_raves_reviews
Black Crown by Kelly St. Clare, Raye Wagner
4.0
Remember all that stuff I loved from the second book??
it's here !!
Remember all that stuff I hated from the first book??
...it is also here
꧁The Characters꧂
Ryn our phaetyn Drae is back
Her possessiveness over treasure and hedonism was completely on par with how a narcissistic baby dragon would be. Don't even TRY to tell me that IF YOU SUDDENLY TURNED INTO A DRAGON that you wouldn't admire YOUR BEAUTIFUL SCALES and WANT A PILE OF TREASURE.
I am completely head-over-feels for the love interest Tyrrik
The second book highlighted the enemies to lovers trope with Ryn in complete denial over her feelings. This book continued their awesome dynamic as they shifted into the roles of power couple-- wanting to support each other through bad jokes and bodily harm as needed
They had their cute banter moments.
They had their ... disagreements
“You can’t protect me from everything, Tyrrik. That is not a burden I want you to carry. No one should have to.”
“It is who I am!” he roared. “I am a Drae. You are mine to protect. It is my privilege and my purpose”
And they made weird-ass squirrel jokes to keep calm before going into battle
“We’ll be okay, my love. I’ll make it okay. And there is some good news.
Yeah? You defeated the one-eyed squirrel as I slept? I quipped.
Tyrrik’s joy at my humor radiated through our bond.
No, he said solemnly. He still runs rampant, leading a life of debauchery. Worse, he’s inspiring others to join his band of nefarious villainy.
Did I think that one day I’d be flying next to Lord Nightmare listening to his jokes about squirrels? Not for a second. Obviously, it was the little things for him.
We’re heading the wrong way then. He’s the real enemy.”
It was just friggen hilarious reading as the two navigated to be a couple WHILE organizing kingdoms for a fight WHILE learning their different abilities. To be completely honest, I reread this series just for Tyrrik’s character arc that he undergoes. I would even read the first book that I have inexplicably stated I dislike JUST to fully see his development.
꧁Worldbuilding꧂
I honestly just adore this world and the writing style of the author. It brought a completely new twist to the shapeshifting, evil dragon king, heroine learning powers cliches.
“We have an emperor to kill, I said to Tyrrik conversationally as I cut through a potato and popped it into my mouth.
He swallowed his mouthful and poured more gravy onto his chicken. Yes, my love. We do.”
The plot picks up to show the ramifications after Ryn has visited all the kingdoms. Now they just all need to not kill each other work together in order to fight the invading emperor and heal their lands !
Teamworks makes the dream work
꧁Secondary Characters꧂
It was pretty great seeing Ryn interact with other major players in this world with Lani, Kamoi, and Prince Zarad.
While she does have some ✨chosen one vibes✨, she definitely isn't a battle general or kingdom leader. And I really liked that. One character does not have to be ALL the special things.
My M-word often said no to things, lots of things, really. I decided then and there to translate the word as yes from now on. I said to Lani, “Great, so when do we leave?”
Overall, I love this series for the creative world, the great characters and plot. But as a finale book, I have a couple critiques.
The stylistic choices for the MC's reverted personality to naivity with the nonstop jokes that came across as -- I don't care--. For a lotta people, the resurgence of Ryn's juvenile personality was inexcusable and they were unable to look past this. She says 'pancakes' as a curse word and refers to sex as 'dancing the maypole'
And I gotta admit that it did get lili annoying at times, it away from the intended danger and adventure elements. But I tried to just enjoy her inner dialogue as a hilarious element to narrate the dangerous situations because that is her coping mechanism
Also, remember that stupidly specific torture stuff from the first book that they were totally flexing on their torture knowledge
Its backkkkk
The side plot interactions with the emperor and the backstory of her mother, was frankly disturbing and awkward to read.
It felt unnecessary.
I really didn't need those details AT ALL and honestly have no idea what purpose that tangent was suppose to serve. It didn't humanize the emperor at all and only seemed to gear them up for a battle THAT THEY WERE ALREADY PLANNING ON DOING.
That choice really took away from this book as a finale that that time would've been better spent (1) power training (2) the kingdoms working together (3) looking for a secret weapon (4) organizing the rest of Drae to fight (5) literally anything else besides being stuck in hoping they will have sex so *wtf*
So would I recommend this series? Absolutely ! It's a really great dragon book. I get that this series is also pretty easy to hate on. There are clearly some issues with this series and you could spend the whole time critiquing it. But the fun characters, unique magic & worldbuilding kept me intrigued and re-reading this series almost yearly. And I don't say that about a lottta books.
it's here !!
Remember all that stuff I hated from the first book??
...it is also here
꧁The Characters꧂
Ryn our phaetyn Drae is back
Her possessiveness over treasure and hedonism was completely on par with how a narcissistic baby dragon would be. Don't even TRY to tell me that IF YOU SUDDENLY TURNED INTO A DRAGON that you wouldn't admire YOUR BEAUTIFUL SCALES and WANT A PILE OF TREASURE.
I am completely head-over-feels for the love interest Tyrrik
The second book highlighted the enemies to lovers trope with Ryn in complete denial over her feelings. This book continued their awesome dynamic as they shifted into the roles of power couple-- wanting to support each other through bad jokes and bodily harm as needed
They had their cute banter moments.
They had their ... disagreements
“You can’t protect me from everything, Tyrrik. That is not a burden I want you to carry. No one should have to.”
“It is who I am!” he roared. “I am a Drae. You are mine to protect. It is my privilege and my purpose”
And they made weird-ass squirrel jokes to keep calm before going into battle
“We’ll be okay, my love. I’ll make it okay. And there is some good news.
Yeah? You defeated the one-eyed squirrel as I slept? I quipped.
Tyrrik’s joy at my humor radiated through our bond.
No, he said solemnly. He still runs rampant, leading a life of debauchery. Worse, he’s inspiring others to join his band of nefarious villainy.
Did I think that one day I’d be flying next to Lord Nightmare listening to his jokes about squirrels? Not for a second. Obviously, it was the little things for him.
We’re heading the wrong way then. He’s the real enemy.”
It was just friggen hilarious reading as the two navigated to be a couple WHILE organizing kingdoms for a fight WHILE learning their different abilities. To be completely honest, I reread this series just for Tyrrik’s character arc that he undergoes. I would even read the first book that I have inexplicably stated I dislike JUST to fully see his development.
꧁Worldbuilding꧂
I honestly just adore this world and the writing style of the author. It brought a completely new twist to the shapeshifting, evil dragon king, heroine learning powers cliches.
“We have an emperor to kill, I said to Tyrrik conversationally as I cut through a potato and popped it into my mouth.
He swallowed his mouthful and poured more gravy onto his chicken. Yes, my love. We do.”
The plot picks up to show the ramifications after Ryn has visited all the kingdoms. Now they just all need to
Teamworks makes the dream work
꧁Secondary Characters꧂
It was pretty great seeing Ryn interact with other major players in this world with Lani, Kamoi, and Prince Zarad.
While she does have some ✨chosen one vibes✨, she definitely isn't a battle general or kingdom leader. And I really liked that. One character does not have to be ALL the special things.
My M-word often said no to things, lots of things, really. I decided then and there to translate the word as yes from now on. I said to Lani, “Great, so when do we leave?”
Overall, I love this series for the creative world, the great characters and plot. But as a finale book, I have a couple critiques.
The stylistic choices for the MC's reverted personality to naivity with the nonstop jokes that came across as -- I don't care--. For a lotta people, the resurgence of Ryn's juvenile personality was inexcusable and they were unable to look past this. She says 'pancakes' as a curse word and refers to sex as 'dancing the maypole'
And I gotta admit that it did get lili annoying at times, it away from the intended danger and adventure elements. But I tried to just enjoy her inner dialogue as a hilarious element to narrate the dangerous situations because that is her coping mechanism
Also, remember that stupidly specific torture stuff from the first book that they were totally flexing on their torture knowledge
Its backkkkk
The side plot interactions with the emperor and the backstory of her mother, was frankly disturbing and awkward to read.
It felt unnecessary.
I really didn't need those details AT ALL and honestly have no idea what purpose that tangent was suppose to serve. It didn't humanize the emperor at all and only seemed to gear them up for a battle THAT THEY WERE ALREADY PLANNING ON DOING.
That choice really took away from this book as a finale that that time would've been better spent (1) power training (2) the kingdoms working together (3) looking for a secret weapon (4) organizing the rest of Drae to fight (5) literally anything else besides being stuck in
Spoiler
his haremSpoiler
he can take their babySo would I recommend this series? Absolutely ! It's a really great dragon book. I get that this series is also pretty easy to hate on. There are clearly some issues with this series and you could spend the whole time critiquing it. But the fun characters, unique magic & worldbuilding kept me intrigued and re-reading this series almost yearly. And I don't say that about a lottta books.