Shelf Life Chronicles

Title: The Crown of Gilded Bones
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Release Date: April 20, 2021
Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Rating: ★★

Synopsis

She’s been the victim and the survivor…

Poppy never dreamed she would find the love she’s found with Prince Casteel. She wants to revel in her happiness but first they must free his brother and find hers. It’s a dangerous mission and one with far-reaching consequences neither dreamed of. Because Poppy is the Chosen, the Blessed. The true ruler of Atlantia. She carries the blood of the King of Gods within her. By right the crown and the kingdom are hers.

The enemy and the warrior…

Poppy has only ever wanted to control her own life, not the lives of others, but now she must choose to either forsake her birthright or seize the gilded crown and become the Queen of Flesh and Fire. But as the kingdoms’ dark sins and blood-drenched secrets finally unravel, a long-forgotten power rises to pose a genuine threat. And they will stop at nothing to ensure that the crown never sits upon Poppy’s head.

A lover and heartmate…

But the greatest threat to them and to Atlantia is what awaits in the far west, where the Queen of Blood and Ash has her own plans, ones she has waited hundreds of years to carry out. Poppy and Casteel must consider the impossible—travel to the Lands of the Gods and wake the King himself. And as shocking secrets and the harshest betrayals come to light, and enemies emerge to threaten everything Poppy and Casteel have fought for, they will discover just how far they are willing to go for their people—and each other.

And now she will become Queen…

Review

The Crown of Gilded Bones was very much a filler book, one that I thought I enjoyed until I realized none of it really mattered to the story line (thank you Taylor!). If this had been a trilogy like it originally was planned to be, I think it could have been a strong series. As it stands now though, the third book was unneeded. If you’re thinking about picking it up yourself, just go into it knowing that it is a filler book and it still can be enjoyable.

Compared to the first two books, book three hits the ground running. One thing I disliked about the previous two were the beginnings felt slow and the endings felt rushed; that was not the case here. We started hard and fast but did stall out half way through the book. Poppy’s internal monologue was way off from the other books. It all felt very repetitive and yet a lot of new concepts were introduced or explained more I guess. This is book three but we get like an introduction to the series all over again.

The romance was STEAMY but it still wasn’t enough to keep me invested in this story. Every moment seemed to be about sex, some kind of innuendo or teasing moment. I get it we’re not here for the plot apparently, but 90% of this book was romantic moments and focused on Cas and Poppy being in an actual relationship. It was unnecessary and repetitive.

I originally had written a good review for this book. I felt caught up in the hype and truthfully I thought I enjoyed it; that the struggle was me as a reader having personal life issues and not the book itself. Like I said I was there for the steamy scenes but I’m also invested in the plot too. After sitting on it these past few weeks though I realized I actually didn’t like it at all and probably wouldn’t be continuing the series.