Book Review: The Ring and the Crown by Melissa de la Cruz

Hello reader family!

I've been gone for a bit, but I have read four books since my last post. 

The first was If Not for You by Debbie Macomber. I don't have enough to say about it to write a full review, but it was good. It was your typical fluffy romance. You don't have to concentrate to hard to get through it. It was just an all around enjoyable, de-stressing read.

The next two were cozy mysteries by Rita Mae Brown. The first was Outfoxed, which was fabulous! The animals talked amongst each other and helped the humans solve a murder. It was so different from any other cozy I've read and I loved it!
The next was called Wish You Were Here and I HIGHLY recommend this one. I was so fascinated with the story and I didn't figure out who the murderer was until close to the end. I didn't find that it was too predictable at all, which is a struggle that many cozies have.
If you love cozy mysteries I definitely suggest that you pick these two up :)

The fourth and final book, which is book number 9 out of 50 completed for my Goodreads challenge, is The Ring and the Crown by Melissa de la Cruz. It has been on my TBR list for a VERY long time, so I am so glad I finally got to it. 

Here we go!!!

Goodreads Summary: 

"Princess Marie-Victoria, heir to the Lily Throne, and Aelwyn Myrddn, bastard daughter of the Mage of England, grew up together. But who will rule, and who will serve? 

Quiet and gentle, Marie has never lived up to the ambitions of her mother, Queen Eleanor the Second, Supreme Ruler of the Franco-British Empire. With the help of her Head Merlin, Emrys, Eleanor has maintained her stranglehold on the world's only source of magic. She rules the most powerful empire the world has ever seen. 

But even with the aid of Emrys' magic, Eleanor's extended lifespan is nearing its end. The princess must marry and produce an heir or the Empire will be vulnerable to its greatest enemy, Prussia. The two kingdoms must unite to end the war, and the only solution is a match between Marie and Prince Leopold VII, heir to the Prussian throne. But Marie has always loved Gill, her childhood friend and soldier of the Queen's Guard. 

Together, Marie and Aelwyn, a powerful magician in her own right, come up with a plan. Aelwyn will take on Marie's face, allowing the princess to escape with Gill and live the quiet life she's always wanted. And Aelwyn will get what she's always dreamed of--the chance to rule. But the court intrigue and hunger for power in Lenoran England run deeper than anyone could imagine. In the end, there is only rule that matters in Eleanor's court: trust no one."

My Rating:

3 Stars!!

My Thoughts:

Well....quite frankly, I'm pretty disa-freakin-pointed.....
I was so enthralled for the first 3/4 of this book. So when the last 1/4 utterly devastated me, I was pretty dang angry. 

I did enjoy the setting of the book. The time period was wonderful and I liked that it was an alternate reality for the world. The relationships were really fun to read until the last 1/4, so there is that. I also liked the magical aspect of the story, even though the role it played wasn't necessarily key for most of the book.

As I said, I did enjoy the majority of the book, so I can safely say I would recommend it to some, but not to others (these theres being the people like myself). It was good, but not good enough to be a new favorite. 

I can't say more without spoiling you, so you'll find all of those spoilery thoughts below. 

3 stars for the 3/4 that were actually good. :l 

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!

LAST CHANCE....

OK HERE WE GO!!! 

 So basically, when I picked up this book, I expected a fantasy similar to falling kingdoms, but with less magic and way more romance. I got that right. Most of the book was based on love. Not magic. So that was good. 

I found my favorite characters immediately. They were Ronan and Wolf. I also liked pretty well Gill when he showed up. Marie was close to being a favorite, but not quite. I hated Leo. I didn't like Isabelle at first.

Isabelle:

Where Isabelle is concerned, I realized why she acted the way she did after a while and I understood. I would be a bitch too if I had been treated the way she had been by men. Leo took advantage of her and used her to get the "Pandora's Box" that contained the evil sorceress. He also basically raped her.....It was awful. Hugh did the same. He took advantage of her. Isabelle lived in a time when women were to remain pure until marriage, and if they did not they would be a disgrace to society and to their families, so she remained quite. I ended up really liking her in the end for being so strong. (Sidebar: She gave birth to Leo's child, which is cool, but I hope none of the evil witch lady is in him.)

 Isabelle finally finds her true love, Louis, who was raised with her in her home. At a garden party he hears men talking about how Isabelle is a harlot and how Leo had his way with her whenever he pleased. Louis was infuriated and challenged Leo to a duel. (He threw a glove down and Leo sassily picked it up and put it in his collar....I died laughing because of the sass. It was ridiculous.) Louis wins the duel with the help of Aelwyn (we'll get to her later). 

 Isabelle's future gets ruined when they try to leave stupid Hugh and make a life together. Hugh hires men to have Louis killed and to bring Isabelle back to him. Hugh is a disgusting human being and I hate him. 

Isabelle attacks him in the end of the book to get away. She leaves with her son and makes a life for them in the country. Unfortunately, Hugh the dickhead doesn't die from his injuries. I mean jeeze. 

Marie and Gill:
Marie Victoria and Gill were adorable. I wanted that to work, but of course Marie realized she had duties that she couldn't shove off to someone else, so she left him. When Gill and Marie met again, and Gill cried, I cried because he was so obviously heartbroken. It was sad. 

Aelwyn:

Aelwyn is the daughter of the Merlin and is to be the future Morgaine of the kingdom. She has a thing for Leo, but finds out what a bastard he is at the duel between he and Louis. She realized Leo has a protection spell at the duel and she tries to break it. Leo/Jeanne of Arkk (the evil sorceress that has taken over his body) is distracted by her and Louis is able to shoot Leo in the heart and win the duel. 

Aelwynn is also the one who kills Leo/Jeanne of Arkk at the end of the book when he tries to light the whole castle and part of the city on fire and kill the royal family. 

WOOOO Aelwyn!! 

Wolf and Ronan:
I LOVED Wolf with Ronan. Wolf is my favorite character in the book by far and I just knew he would be with Ronan. He tells her they are going to be together and then Leo had to go off and be possessed by an evil sorceress and ruin it all. If Leo had not have had to be killed for the good of the country, Wolf and Ronan could have married. But NOOOOO Wolf is the heir to the Prussian throne now and according to some dumb ass treaty that doesn't even need to exist anymore, Wolf had to take Leo's place and marry Marie. They don't love each other!!!!! -___-

The ending:
I am truly unhappy with the ending of this book as far as Ronan, Wolf, Marie, Gill AND Isabelle go. Marie and Wolf are friends and Wolf is honestly sad that he can't marry Ronan. He loves her. Marie doesn't love Gill as much as Wolf loves Ronan. 
And then Ronan is at the freaking wedding and it was torture to read. 

All I know, is that when I pick up a romance, I need a happy ending. Not one that makes me feel like I could get stuck in a relationship with someone I don't love. (Yes that's slightly dramatic, but still!) 

Basically, you fall in love with these characters and tragedy strikes them and/or they end up with the wrong friggin' people. You get attached and ship certain couples and NONE of them work out. I'm not exaggerating a single bit. NONE of them work guys. NONE.

THE END! 

I hope you all enjoyed this book review and discussion for The Ring and the Crown by Melissa de la Cruz. 

Just as a PSA, this book was meant to have a sequel, and de la Cruz wrote it and decided she liked the way she ended this one or something crazy like that and decided not to publish the sequel. If you care enough I would invest in the extended edition of this book because the original edition may leave out a few things. 

Also, there are no memes because I just couldn't even be happy or funny enough to find them and insert them after reading that devastatingly terrible ending. 

Happy Reading!!

XOXO,

Eden

Champion by Marie Lu

Hie everyone! It's been a while. I hate to say I was in a heck of a book slump after finishing Soldier by Julie Kagawa. I was pretty devastated if you couldn't tell....

I finished Champion by Marie Lu, the third and final installment in the Legend Trilogy, today after trying to get through it for about  a month. I hit halfway yesterday and suddenly I was engrossed and I couldn't put it down.

Soooo without further adieu, here is my review for Champion!

Goodreads Summary:

"He is a Legend.

She is a Prodigy.

Who will be Champion? 

June and Day have sacrificed so much for the people of the Republic—and each other—and now their country is on the brink of a new existence. June is back in the good graces of the Republic, working within the government’s elite circles as Princeps-Elect, while Day has been assigned a high-level military position. 

But neither could have predicted the circumstances that will reunite them: just when a peace treaty is imminent, a plague outbreak causes panic in the Colonies, and war threatens the Republic’s border cities. This new strain of plague is deadlier than ever, and June is the only one who knows the key to her country’s defense. But saving the lives of thousands will mean asking the one she loves to give up everything. "

My Rating: 5/5 Stars!!!!!

Non-Spoiler-y Thoughts:

First of all, I want to say that I was not prepared for the level of emotion I felt with this book. 

Obviously, I loved this book! I've said before that a book that gives you all of the feels has done its job and it has done its job well. Better than that! It excelled! 

The love story in this book is breath-taking. Seriously. June and Day are amazing characters and they are perfect together. 

The bond between Eden and Day is also beyond amazing. I don't have siblings, but I imagine I would feel the same bond that Day and Eden do. 

I really enjoyed the action in this book. It's different than the action from the first two books, but it is still absolutely thrilling. This book's action is all about war. Not rebellion and making statements like with Legend and Prodigy. 

I adore this series and I am honestly sad that it's over. I needed more. The ending left me kinda just hanging, but it was an okay ending. Much better than what I expected, but I still need more!! 

Outside of that fact, I can't rave enough about this series. 

Pick them up and read them! Seriously! You won't regret it! 

WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW!!! 

YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!!!!! (In best Gandalf voice)

Seriously. Turn back. 

Book Talk (SPOILERS) 

 Alright so if you've read all three books, you'll be fine continuing on with this section of the post. 

If not, go away. You'll wish you had listened to me if you get spoiled. 

So here we go. We'll start with Anden. 

Anden is the new Elector of the Republic. He is madly in love with June. Anden is struggling to be a better Elector than his father, who was ruthless and had no qualms about killing innocents. I actually really like Anden and I have some sympathy for him because of the position he is in. He is under a ton of pressure at such a young age. For a while I thought that Anden and June would end up together, but hoped they wouldn't. He's really a stand up guy, and I'm glad that June has Anden in the 10 years that she and Day are apart. 

Now for Tess! She has REALLY matured in this book. She is pretty much over her infatuation with Day, which made me happy. She really just wants him to be her family. She is such a strong young woman. She feels so deeply and wants to save everyone that she loves. Unfortunately that isn't possible at one point in the book, and we see her reaction to the fact that she can't. The following meme represents my feelings for Tess in the previous book. She has redeemed herself.

Pascao is a character that is definitely not a lead, but I really liked his presence in the story line. He really helps Day and I think that they are pretty close friends. There isn't much to say about him except that he's a total bad-a** and I love him.

Eden, Day's little brother is another character that I think adds a lot to the story without being a lead character. His presence helps show what kind of heart Day has to his family. He loves Eden so much and would do anything for him, even if it means dying himself. I especially like that Eden goes to college in Antartica and he comes back to the Republic in the epilogue for a job interview in Batalla. That wrapped up his story line really well! (Love his name, because it's mine.) This meme is me every single time Eden is in the story.

JUNE! 

This girl kills me at some points in the book (the end!) I love the story that has unfolded between she and Day. She is so stiff and with him she doesn't know how to act. When she FINALLY tells him she loves him, I was so emotional. Basically, Day tells her that if she doesn't love him he needs to know so that he can stop torturing himself. He says ," Help me." June tells him she can't help him because she loves him. It was a beautiful moment. I really like that they had the one intimate night together (not that Marie said they were intimate, but we know ;) ) It was beautiful. She says," Nothing compares to him. And right now, I want nothing else." 

I HATED her for not telling Day who she was and what they meant to each other after his surgery. She just told him thank you for everything he had done for her and walked away forever. Ugh. So hard to read that part. 

June is still a complete kick-a** female lead in this book. I admire her and I applaud Marie Lu for creating such a marvelous character!!

DAY!!!! 

Day is my favorite character, if you can't tell.... I'll love him forever. 

His story is so heartbreaking and I love how he has overcome so much in his life and is still such a wonderful guy. His love for Eden is amazing and his love for June leaves me speechless. I need that kind of love in my life! Right now! 

When he's begging June to tell him how he feels and to help him I was so emotional. I know that feeling! It was so heartbreaking. 

My favorite part of that scene was when he says, "Billions of people will come and go in this world, but there will NEVER be another like you."  I swooned. Literally swooned, y'all. 

At the end of the book, when Day and June see each other again after the ten years they haven't seen each other, June sees that he is still wearing the paper clip ring that she gave him at the beginning of the book. I had real tears again guys. I'm not usually a book crier, but apparently my book selections have been on point, because I have sobbed. The paper clip ring part is so romantic and just so emotional. Then he tells her that he has known her before, so he remembers her in bits and pieces. He remembers parts of their relationship. He tells her that he wants to get to know her again if she'll let him. I was just so happy that they were going to be together again that I couldn't contain the tears. The book ends with the two of them reintroducing themselves to each other.

THE END! 

I have one negative thing about Champion. I needed more closure. I needed to see their wedding, or I needed children, I just needed an honest happily ever after. 

Besides my one negative, 

I LOVED this series so much. I don't think I have ever seen a love like the one between Day and June. It was EVERYTHING! Every. Thing. All of the feels guys. All of them. I cried so much.

There has never been a dystopian like this, I swear. At least not one that I have read. 

I'm really sad that this path in my reading adventures is at an end. I haven't loved a series this much in a while (not counting Falling Kingdoms). This has been amazing, and I really hope that someone who reads this has been encouraged and inspired to pick this series up. I know you'll love it. :) 

I hope that you have all enjoyed my Legend series posts! 

I'll be back with more reviews before long. School is almost out and I should have a little more time for reading after graduation! 

Happy Reading!! 

XOXO,

Eden