Kingsbane (The Empirium #2) by Claire Legrand

Kingsbane by Claire Legrand is the sequel to Furyborn in the bestselling YA Fantasy series!

“In this sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller Furyborn, two queens, separated by a thousand years, connected by secrets and lies, must continue their fight amid deadly plots and unthinkable betrayals that will test their strength—and their hearts.

Rielle Dardenne has been anointed Sun Queen, but her trials are far from over. The Gate keeping the angels at bay is falling. To repair it, Rielle must collect the seven hidden castings of the saints. Meanwhile, to help her prince and love Audric protect Celdaria, Rielle must spy on the angel Corien—but his promises of freedom and power may prove too tempting to resist.

Centuries later, Eliana Ferracora grapples with her new reality: She is the Sun Queen, humanity’s long-awaited savior. But fear of corruption—fear of becoming another Rielle—keeps Eliana’s power dangerous and unpredictable. Hunted by all, racing against time to save her dying friend Navi, Eliana must decide how to wear a crown she never wanted—by embracing her mother’s power, or rejecting it forever.”

If you’ve seen my review for Furyborn, you may know that this series started out a little on the iffy side for me.

I wasn’t blown away by the characters and the writing style as I had hoped with all the hype surrounding this world. And I don’t think this sequel redeemed those thoughts.

I still really enjoyed the plot and all the fantastic world building. The magic and creatures were really fun to explore through such a twisted plot.

There is a cliffhanger ending that sets up Book 3 rather nicely, and it would be fun to see how this series will end.

When it comes to the characters, I wouldn’t say that I was as confused and stranded as I felt in the first book. We get to dive deeper into the two, strong female characters, but I just wish there was a way to distinguish their voices a smudge more.

Compared to Furyborn, there is also ALOT of steamier scenes, so if you love romance, you will go crazy with Kingsbane.

I gave this one 3 out of 5 stars. It took me only a day to get through, but I had to push myself a few times to keep going. Overall, I think this series is more on the meh side for me. It still has great storytelling elements, but with all the ups-and-downs I felt, I just wasn’t blown away.

Published: 21 May 2019

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Pages: 501

How I Read It: eARC from NetGalley

*Disclaimer: I requested this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All my reviews contain my honest opinions only and are not influenced in any way*

Stay tuned for more book reviews every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday! You can subscribe below for instant links to each of my posts and help share the love of YA!