Title: Crown of Crimson
Author: Rose Reid
Book Publication date: January 22, 2016.
Pages: 410
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Grade: 98%
Rating: ★★★★★
Buy the Book: Here
Summary:
First Rule of the Cannon: Trust no one.
Aerietta Elony is destined for evil.
Born into a royal family, it was quickly discovered that she bore the Jezdah mark — an intricate tattoo meant to identify the Children of the Elements. To make sure his people never knew about the danger that hid in their midst, the king had his daughter sent to the leader of the Cannon, his order of assassins, where she would learn to become one of them.
No one was ever supposed to know what Aerietta was, where she came from, or what she was destined to become. She’s never worried what would happen if someone discovered her secrets. But when a neighboring kingdom attacks, and Aerietta is betrayed and captured, keeping her secret will mean the difference between life and death.
When the king of the neighboring land enlists her services to track down one of her traitor companions, she has no choice but to accept. But in order to find her former friend and make it back to the king with her head still attached to her shoulders, she’ll have to keep the enigmatic, inhuman Swordmaster in the dark, which proves to be more difficult than she could ever imagine.
Deception abounds, danger is just as prevalent, but even in this world of demons and magic, the only thing Aerietta fears is herself.
The Queen of Crimson accepts.
Thoughts:
Wow... I really mean it. You know, this is the closest thing to a perfect book that I have ever read for review. I actually took the time to re-read it, to make sure I didn't miss anything. There was only one thing I found in this book that needed to be changed, and it didn't affect my experience at all. You can tell that the author cares about the story, the characters, the reader, and I totally appreciate this. You can tell that this author is also a fantastic reader because she totally made this a home run. The character development is spot on, the plot is spot on, and the ending was spot on. I love every aspect of this book. I would definitely recommend this book to others.
Grading
(you can find my rubric here)
Character Development:
Grade: 5/5 = 25 pts
Perfect development! This is EXACTLY what I look for in character development! Aerietta has shown me that she has the ability of change and the character was developed so smoothly. I knew her at the end of this book, she was a person to the eyes of the author, and you can totally tell. Not only is Aerietta developed but so is Lyom. That makes for two characters developed beyond satisfaction.
Tone / Writing style:
Grade: 5/5 = 15 pts
You can tell straight away that the author cares a lot for her characters, writing, and readers. The only two things I caught here that she didn't capitalize "The King" as a noun in the first few chapters, and only caught one typo. Neither of them hindered my reading experience, and when it hinders my reading experience is when I start to mark it down.
Plot:
Grade: 5/5 = 15 pts
I won't reveal the plot in this section like I normally do because this book hasn't been released yet.
Everything about the plot was spot on. The author gave each rising and falling action the right amount of attention to succeed. It was perfectly portioned. There were quite a few subplots that I caught right away, and all were completed and handled beautifully.
Theme(s):
Grade: 5/5 = 10 pts
I guess the most dominant theme of this story is: Everything is more than what it seems. Everything is multi-layered and complicated; that you shouldn't always judge a character, book, or situation from its beauty because beauty is only skin deep.
Unpredictability:
Grade: 5/5 = 10 pts
Click here to see spoilers
The one thing that I didn't expect was for Lyom being a Riser. Makes sense that being the best sword fighter around would mean that you don't die (haha!). I was also expecting him to be "The Boy" because I felt Dominik was a fleeting character, someone that didn't have a ton of importance to the story besides Aerietta loving him and him betraying her.
Also, another thing that surprised me: That instead of killing Aerietta, after they figured out that she was the princess (that her very existence was a threat to the Cruel King), they sent her to the work camp! I felt that either Lyom had some influence in this and is going to break her out or the Cruel King was overly cocky and thinks that escape is too difficult. However, judging by the end of the book there will be more books to come, and she would have to get out of there somehow for the story to progress.  UNLESS the story does end where it does, and that is it, and I shall go on more to talk about that in the ending section.
Food For Thought:
Grade: 4/5 = 8 pts
This is the only section that I marked down on. The only reason for this is while it gave me many thoughts (I'll probably never forget it!), it hadn't prompted me to take a look at my life which is the requirement to get five out of five.
Ending:
Grade: 5/5 = 10 pts
The ending is complete and answers all the major questions I had while filling in all the holes.
Click here to see spoilers
Now, I feel that judging by the end of this book there will be another book. If it is, then she will be the first person ever to escape Kinecardine (she could put that on her resume after that!). Or it could mean the other way around, that this was the end of the line for Aerietta and she dies in that camp. She described the camp in such detail where there was no escape and that each assassin was tested to see if they could escape Kinecardine and every single assassin failed. Which brings me to believe that the author wants you to pay attention to such a thing so she can prove you wrong in multiple books.
Setting:
Grade: 5/5 = 5pts
I saw the prolog and immediately thought: Oh no... There won't be enough description in this novel, will it? But I was pleasantly surprised when the author proved me incorrect.
The candlelight in the corridor flickers, threatening to disperse at the slightest gust of a breeze, plunging us all into darkness. Another explosion rocks the ground and I loathe the king for keeping me here when I should be trying to help the people still trapped in the walled city above me. Dust and rock fall from the ceiling but Dominik steps in overhead and blocks the debris before it can hit either the king or me.
- Page 9, Chapter 1 of the Kindle Edition
Immediately you are hit with beautiful description, amazing! Everything was perfect, and I didn't look for more dialogue nor description.
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