The ​Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L. Armentrout

|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.

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|Review|

The Crown of Gilded Bones was very much a filler book. It felt like nothing that happened really mattered to the story line. 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.

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 actually ended up DNFing around half way through. I just found myself not wanting to pick it up and decided to call it quits. We’re all here for the steamy scenes, but I’m also invested in the plot too. I actually didn’t like it at all and probably wouldn’t be continuing the series.