My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Title: Ember Queen
Author: Laura Sebastian
Format: ebook (borrowed)
Pages: 512
Categories: Young Adult, Series, Fantasy, Romance
The thrilling conclusion to the series that began with the instant New York Times bestseller “made for fans of Victoria Aveyard and Sabaa Tahir” (Bustle), Ember Queen is an epic fantasy about a throne cruelly stolen and a girl who must fight to take it back for her people.
Princess Theodosia was a prisoner in her own country for a decade. Renamed the Ash Princess, she endured relentless abuse and ridicule from the Kaiser and his court. But though she wore a crown of ashes, there is fire in Theo’s blood. As the rightful heir to the Astrean crown, it runs in her veins. And if she learned nothing else from her mother, she learned that a Queen never cowers.
Now free, with a misfit army of rebels to back her, Theo must liberate her enslaved people and face a terrifying new enemy: the new Kaiserin. Imbued with a magic no one understands, the Kaiserin is determined to burn down anyone and everything in her way.
The Kaiserin’s strange power is growing stronger, and with Prinz Søren as her hostage, there is more at stake than ever. Theo must learn to embrace her own power if she has any hope of standing against the girl she once called her heart’s sister.
A princess becomes a Queen.
My Reactions:
My Attention: captured
World Building: detailed, layered, elemental gem magic, conquered kingdoms – all of it
Writing Style: fluid, so good
Bringing the Heat: 🔥 a few kisses and one night of something more not that detailed haha – Theo is busy saving Astrea!
Crazy in Love: not so crazy, but just right for a Princess fighting for her throne – she has priorities and needs balance 🤷🏻♀️
Creativity: same tropes as other “princess trying to win back her kingdom” kinda story BUT…the political chess in this story and writing is good
Mood: victorious 👊🏼
Triggers: death, violence
My Takeaway: Theo the princess grows up a lot and earns her real crown and throne. 👸🏻 She learns some hard lessons along the way. 😢
- I didn’t think I’d finish this series out because Lady Smoke was an okay book mostly because of the love triangle which I felt became distracting to Theo’s goals. But in Ember Queen…she has grown, she listens to counsel from the people around her, she puts aside the romance because she is so close to freeing Astrea and their people. She endures hardship, challenges and painful loss. 🥺 But all of this has shaped who she is.
- The chess match she has with Cress kept me invested. I wondered what Cress’ end game would be and it kept me on my toes.
- Theo lucked out having Heron, Blaise and Artemesia by her side. Seriously, if I was someone trying to get my throne back, I want those people my side. ❤️ Talk about loyalty until the end.
- This second half of this book was emotional and intense. Soren, Erik, Heron, Art and then Blaise…ugh…I was so damn worried about all of them. And I didn’t even think I cared about them but this book showed the bonds between them that wouldn’t break and I wanted a happy ending for them all.
- Soren and Theo’s reunion was bittersweet but I liked that their relationship wasn’t the focus of this book. It was reiterated over and over in the book that Theo would put Astrea above anyone else and I thought that was a queen mentality. It may have seemed cold at times, but come one…she’s a Queen. She has to make the hard decisions and face the consequences no matter how painful.
- This story shows how power can corrupt and how a leader has to face hard decisions especially in times of war. What are the right decisions to make? Which one will lower loss of life? What does it take to stop a war and have peace? An eye for an eye? Turn the other cheek? Theo has to face these issues and questions head on and in the end she makes the best possible choice.
- Some parts were repetitive, like at times Theo’s plans (and there were many) were faulty and her counsel would try to find the holes in it, which I appreciated but there were so many plans in this mission to the throne that at times I wanted it to move faster.
- You have to dig into the first part of the story because it is really setting up for a final battle which had me on edge. But many parts have to fall into place but Theo has some hiccups here and there which seems like the story is moving slowly – but she and her allies dig deep, and keep fighting.
This was a satisfying end to the series, especially with the epilogue. Most stories end with a happily ever after, the girl gets the guy, the kingdoms are saved. But has to be one of my favorite endings, Theo is alone and reflects on her journey as she approaches and sits on the throne she feared and hated for so long. She knows the loss that came with her victory, she knows the battle within herself that she’s had to fight and overcome. But now she’s made the throne her OWN. Ugh…I wanted to stand up and clap and cheer for her, that’s how awesome I felt at the end of this book. Bravo! I look forward to whatever Laura Sebastian writes next!
Past Midnight Book Reviews & More 