When Twin Crowns by Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber was published, I was quite sceptical at first as I thought this book wouldn’t be for me and also wouldn’t be too unique. However, it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed by the sequel, Cursed Crowns. To me, it felt a bit unnecessary and whereas the characters show lots of growth in the first book, they act much more like young adult characters in this one. I therefore wasn’t too keen on reading Burning Crowns. But, as always, my curiosity got the better of me and I just wanted to finish this series. Did the series redeem itself in the end?

About the book

Burning Crowns by Catherine Doyle, Katherine Webber
Series: Twin Crowns #3
Published by Electric Monkey on April 25, 2024
Pages: 477
ISBN: 9780008672294
Genres: Fantasy, Young adult
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Wren and Rose rule the kingdom of Eana. But an ancient, powerful enemy moves in the shadows. Oonagh, the twins’ evil undead ancestor, is creating a terrifying army, and she is determined to fight for the throne.

Rose must gather support from the four corners of the kingdom whilst she wrestles with what the future holds for her and her beloved Shen. Meanwhile, Wren and Alarik set out to destroy the curse that both unites and weakens them. Caught between the King of Gevra and his Captain of the Guard, Tor, Wren must decide where her heart truly lies…

When Oonagh’s true plans are revealed and Rose’s life hangs in the balance, the stage for the final battle is set. Sacrifices will be made, blood will be spilled. Who will survive to rule the kingdom of Eana?

My review

As I wasn’t the biggest fan of Cursed Crowns and didn’t know whether I wanted to read Burning Crowns as a result, my expectations were not too high. In fact, I had none. Truth be told I couldn’t even remember what happened in the previous book and this makes it harder to have expectations for the sequel. I also wondered what this book would be about since it felt like this story was already fully told after the first book.

The major problem I had with the previous book was the character arc for both main characters Wren and Rose. Whereas these twins were so different from one another in the first instalment of the series, they grew to become more of the same in the second book. Unfortunately, this didn’t change in this third novel. I had the feeling that they hardly show any further character development yet again and that they were already done growing. If I have to pinpoint some growth, the honor goes to Rose. She was really protected and therefore acted quite naïve upon introduction. Now, she dares to take life changing decisions on her own and is not afraid to travel and such. Wren stayed quite the same to me. These characters therefore got less interesting by the minute. Unfortunately, this also applies to the side characters.

The writing was the best part yet again. As the chapters are short and POV switches occur at every chapter, it was easy to finish this book pretty fast. Since the plot requires the girls to go their separate ways, these switches are necessary. I still didn’t notice that this book is written by two authors, this was already the case when I started the series. Unfortunately, the writing is not too outstanding or unique, it’s quite straight forward. Nice for a change, but this made me less eager to get sucked into this book.

And here comes another huge issue I have with the second and this book, the plot. I felt like the plot has been milked out only to be able to fill three books. For me, the story felt done and dusted already after the first book, which make the rest of the series feel unnecessary. I wasn’t really intrigued by anything, although I wanted to find out what would come next. I kept searching for some character growth and development, but I can’t deny I zoned out quite a lot. I loved the fact we got to see more of the world though. I was able to picture all the locations whilst reading. This world combined with the plot provides a dark and gloomy atmosphere, which truly fits. It all just feels so predictable to me and therefore I got a little bored. However, the fact that I didn’t remember much form the previous book didn’t help me in this case.

Burning Crowns by Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber was, expectedly, a book I didn’t fully enjoy. It’s okay, but that’s everything about it. To me, the story feels a bit too repetitive and milked out. The events were quite predictable and there was a lack of growth in both main characters Wren and Rose. The writing made it possible for me to finish this book pretty quickly. I found out there are two more novels in this world, but I definitely wouldn’t be reading them as these characters don’t catch my interest.