I thought the world-building was fabulous but the story was lacking. There was a lot of sex and drug use which comprised the bulk of the book. I would have liked to learn something more about the characters. ( )

The Publisher Says: In the Realm there are whispers. Whispers that the city used to be a different place. That before the Queen ruled there was a sky beyond the clouds and a world beyond their streets.

Vaun Dray Fen never knew that world. Born a prince without a purpose in a Realm ruled by lavish indulgence, unrelenting greed, and vicious hierarchy, he never knew a time before the Queen’s dust drugged the city. Everything is poisoned to distract and dull the senses, even the tea and pastries. And yet, after more than a century, his own magic is beginning to wake. The beautiful veneer of the Realm is cracking. Those who would defy the Queen turn their eyes to Vaun, and the dust saturating the Realm.

From the carnivorous pixies in the shadows to the wolves in the streets, Vaun thought he knew all the dangers of his city. But when whispers of treason bring down the fury of the Queen, he'll have to race to save the lives and souls of those he loves.

I RECEIVED A REVIEW COPY FROM THE PUBLISHER. THANK YOU.

My Review: As with all fantasy novels, there's a 50/50 chance I'll resonate to the story harmoniously enough to enjoy the read; odds got us to 60/40 for QUILTBAG themed stories and higher still if there's a bisexual man.

We stalled at 60/40 and never got going again. All the sex is implied; the point of the world's sexual fluidity is played as increasing the sensual options of these decadent people; and in the end, the male MC goes back to his hetero roots. So, disappointments all around. There's also a certain glacial pace issue. There's also a dearth of evidence that a professional proofreader saw the MS (eg, "sooth" ≠ "soothe" nor "horde" substituting for "hoard"), which honestly bothered me quite a lot. Still, a read I'm not sorry I made time for. ( )

Book 1 in the crowns and Ash series. Vaun is a prince just enjoying the extravaggances his title allows him especially the dust he consumes. Soon rumours of treason and bad dust circulate dragging Vaun into danger.

This was a good read but it took me a while to understand the world and the people. Once I did, I enjoyed the story. It's an interesting idea if a little gory in places. The ending was good and left me wanting to read more.

Vaun is interesting and I enjoyed seeing his character develop and the relationship between him and Grayc. Looking forward to book 2 and hopefully learning more about AviSariel. ( )

Considerably better than I was expecting, and very unusual in that it's a faerie fantasy set entirely in the Fae with no reference to humans or normal world at all. It's also quite an unusual Faerie, quite unlike the common Gaelic Sidhe tradition.

The Realm is divided in three - between three families, each controlling their own territory, but also by class from High, through Main to Low. However above all are the Royals. The Queen in absolute power, and her children, the Prince and Princess free to live as they wish (nobody mentions the eldest brother subsumed into the Queen's Wrath and enforcer of the Queen's will). Prince Vaun particularly enjoys his life. He has lovers aplenty, whoever he wishes, as many as he wishes an none dare think about complaining when he moves onto the next. He even has a paragon of a servant, Grayc

TBC ( )

Dang. I had been excited to snag a copy of this for review, and this has lived up to my expectations. The worldbuilding is fantastic -- drug-soaked political drama with bonus sex all wrapped in intermarried ruling families complications -- and I really want to read more.

This is projected to be the first of a series. I am totally down with reading the next one. Four stars.

Related matter:
Review of Book Two.