The Ring and the Crown
Author: Melissa de la Cruz
Series: The Ring and the Crown #1
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Historical Fiction
Release Date: April 1, 2014
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Summary:
Princess Marie-Victoria, heir to the Lily Throne, and Aelwyn Myrddn, bastard daughter of the Mage of England, grew up together. But who will rule, and who will serve?
Quiet and gentle, Marie has never lived up to the ambitions of her mother, Queen Eleanor the Second, Supreme Ruler of the Franco-British Empire. With the help of her Head Merlin, Emrys, Eleanor has maintained her stranglehold on the world’s only source of magic. She rules the most powerful empire the world has ever seen.
But even with the aid of Emrys’ magic, Eleanor’s extended lifespan is nearing its end. The princess must marry and produce an heir or the Empire will be vulnerable to its greatest enemy, Prussia. The two kingdoms must unite to end the war, and the only solution is a match between Marie and Prince Leopold VII, heir to the Prussian throne. But Marie has always loved Gill, her childhood friend and soldier of the Queen’s Guard.
Together, Marie and Aelwyn, a powerful magician in her own right, come up with a plan. Aelwyn will take on Marie’s face, allowing the princess to escape with Gill and live the quiet life she’s always wanted. And Aelwyn will get what she’s always dreamed of – the chance to rule. But the court intrigue and hunger for power in Lenoran England run deeper than anyone could imagine. In the end, there is only rule that matters in Eleanor’s court: trust no one.
First Sentence: There are two of them, bent over their dolls.
I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for this review.
My Review:
Honestly, I had absolutely no intention to read The Ring and the Crown. Hearing about Melissa de la Cruz’s latest released book that’s out in stores, Frozen, and how terrible it was scared me off from reading all her other recent books. (Have I ever mentioned how I was a huge fan of Melissa de la Cruz’s middle school series, The Ashleys, when I was in middle school? Too bad the series was discontinued mid-way.) However, my friend convinced me to request an ARC of The Ring and the Crown from Disney-Hyperion because she read it and claimed it was soo good. In the end, I’m glad I did listen to my friend and request The Ring and the Crown from the publisher – The Ring and the Crown turned out to be a lot better than I expected.
As soon as I started The Ring and the Crown, I noticed this one thing: Melissa de la Cruz uses a lot of commas in her writing. I’ve read the first two pages of Frozen, Melissa de la Cruz’s earlier released book, and noticed this trend too. For example, instead of using the word “that” to connect two parts of a sentence, Melissa de la Cruz chooses to use a comma instead. Individually, this might not be annoying, but if grouped together into nearly 370 pages (which is about how many pages The Ring and the Crown has), it does become annoying. Thank goodness the comma usage in The Ring and the Crown is a lot better than the comma usage in Frozen, meaning that there was less use of commas in The Ring and the Crown.
But as I awake from sleep, I still do not know-
Which one of them is my daughter?
And which one is the traitor? (ARC xiv)
I have this one major problem (well, in my mind, it’s a major problem) with The Ring and the Crown; it “borrowed” character names from other books and shared some of the character’s traits. I don’t know how many of you guys have read Sherry Thomas’ The Burning Sky, but if you did, do you remember this person named Archer Fairfax? (I’m pretty sure you should since Archer Fairfax does play a very important role in The Burning Sky.) Well, guess what? There’s a Archie Fairfax in The Ring and the Crown. And that’s not all folks! I’m sure most of you have read The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer by now and met the hero of the second book in Scarlet, a street fighter named Wolf. Guess what character The Ring and the Crown has? That’s right, a guy named Wolf who is also a fighter. I had to put The Ring and the Crown down for awhile when I found out about that little tidbit because of all my Wolf (the one from Scarlet by Marissa Meyer) feels. I didn’t want to get my feelings mixed up between Melissa de la Cruz’s Wolf and Marissa Meyer’s Wolf. However, I’m reading an ARC so I thought things like names can change, but one of my friends received a finished copy of The Ring and the Crown and when I asked her, she told me that the names “Archie Fairfax” and “Wolf” stays the same. As of now, I’m going to side-eye The Ring and the Crown every time I look at it. If it wasn’t for the name “borrowing” problem, I would have given The Ring and the Crown 3.5 stars instead of just 3 stars.
“WOLF! WOLF! WOLF! WOLF!” They called him the Beast of Berlin, the Animal of the Black Forest, Lobo Loco in Spain, Le Loup Fou in Montreal; and tonight in New York City, he was the Mad Dog of the East. (ARC 42)
Unlike what the summary on Goodreads suggests, there are actually five main characters in The Ring and the Crown instead of just two. The Ring and the Crown is told from Marie, Aelwyn, Ronan, Isabelle, and Wolf’s point of views besides just Marie and Aelwyn’s like the Goodreads summary suggests. Each of the character’s stories are entertaining and they end up interacting with one another later on in the book.
The one word I’ll use to describe The Ring and the Crown is entertaining. The Ring and the Crown is full of drama. Don’t worry though, The Ring and the Crown isn’t full of annoying drama, but fun entertaining drama. There were plenty of shocking twists I didn’t see coming, use of magical powers, plus scandals! I don’t know about you, but I’m addicted to reading about scandals set in a historical period because it is just so much fun to read about scandals that have happened back then.
“Oh please, you can’t afford me…Because of my circumstances I must marry for money, and not for love. I might as well be one of those painted ladies in Amsterdam, with a red light over my head.” (ARC 144)
The ending of The Ring and the Crown was shocking, but a page later, Melissa de la Cruz decided to end the shocking part of the ending abruptly. Basically, the third to last page ruined the shocking ending by trying to sum up a few months worth of events instead of leaving us readers stunned and desperate for more. It would have been a lot better if the ending of The Ring and the Crown left us continuingly guessing, but nope, it didn’t. That ruined the “umph” effect the earlier ending gave me.
Do I recommend The Ring and the Crown? I’ll have to say yes, especially if you enjoy reading about scandals and romance set in a historical period. If you enjoy reading those kind of books like I do, you’ll definitely enjoy reading The Ring and the Crown.
Yes! The comma thing! Drives me insane.
I kind of enjoyed Frozen, but it wasn’t one of my favorites, that’s for sure.
Amanda @ Off The Book recently posted…Hiatus
I know! All those commas make me pause and go all whoaaa!
I didn’t read Frozen; I lent my friend my signed ARC and she never returned it. ):
Kelly recently posted…Book Review: Love Letters to the Dead – Ava Dellaira
I seriously love the cover and am so interested in this book, I have never read anything else she has written, just love this cover. i am not so happy about the ending now!
Missie @ A Flurry of Ponderings
Missie recently posted…Waiting on Wednesday – Stitching Snow
I love the colors of the cover! :D
I was obsessed with Melissa de la Cruz’s middle school series, although I don’t think it’ll be my taste now. :P
The thing is, I heard that The Ring and the Crown would be a series, so what was up with that ending? It just doesn’t make sense.
Kelly recently posted…Book Review: Love Letters to the Dead – Ava Dellaira
I’ve only read 1 book my Melissa Dela Cruz and I thought that I’m already done with her. But after seeing this book, I kind of got interested and thought that maybe I should give her another try. Setting aside that beautiful cover, romance set in historical period sure is interesting. And I really like books told in many perspectives seeing sides of the story through different personalities is always fun to read.
I really can’t wait for this one now! :D
czai recently posted…[Live-Action] Bokura ga Ita Zenpen
I take it as you don’t like the one and only Melissa de la Cruz book you’ve read? o:
The Ring and the Crown is full of drama too, which is ultra fun! And the SCANDALS, don’t forget all the SCANDALS!
Don’t worry, it’s going to be released next week! :D
Kelly recently posted…Book Review: Love Letters to the Dead – Ava Dellaira
Despite the possible name borrowing, I’m still curious about this book :) I like the overall sound, especially the fun entertaining drama. I sometimes really enjoy that, haha. I haven’t read anything from this author before, but this book sounds like a save try to meet her wor!
Mel@thedailyprophecy recently posted…Review 245. Danielle L. Jensen – Stolen Songbird.
Ha ha, I am still side-eyeing the name borrowing. It just seems so fishy… -side-eyes the book some more-
If you’re looking to read about some drama, then The Ring and the Crown is the book for you! There are TONS of drama and scandals. It’s so entertaining to read about. ;D
Kelly recently posted…Book Review: Love Letters to the Dead – Ava Dellaira
I’m glad you ended up enjoying it for the most part! I just finished it, and I agree about the borrowing of names. I haven’t read The Burning Sky yet, but Wolf automatically made me think of Scarlet. Though I found in the end the characters were different enough, it didn’t bother me too much, thankfully. This book was definitely a lot twists & drama! Lovely review, Kelly!
Cyn recently posted…Review: Stolen Songbird by Danielle L. Jensen
Yeah, the borrowing of names made me ULTRA suspicious.
Wolf from Scarlet and Wolf from The Ring and the Crown were different enough when I reached the end of The Ring and the Crown, but both Wolfs being a fighter just makes me go all no no no.
And psst, you HAVE TO read The Burning Sky! :D
Kelly recently posted…Book Review: Love Letters to the Dead – Ava Dellaira
Great review! I’ve heard mixed reviews about this book, and am still not sure whether or not I want to read it. I know what you mean about the “borrowing” of characters (traits and names), I hate that also. I guess its difficult for authors to create entirely new characters from scratch? Mind you, they must have friends who they can base the characters off of, and just thinking about my friends I think that I wouldn’t have the same characters twice. Thanks for the review, I’m still debating about reading the book, but your review may have pushed my decision more towards yes.
Thanks Tanya! (:
I dunno, Melissa de la Cruz should be an expert on creating new characters from scratch because 1) she has written A LOT of books and 2) there are plenty of other characters in The Ring and the Crown that aren’t “borrowed.” It just rubs me the wrong way no matter how you look at it.
Psst, you should read this one. Trust me. ;D
Kelly recently posted…Best Series Blog Hop
I’m also reluctant to read The Ring and the Crown because of all the terrible Frozen reviews but I did read The Witches of East End and enjoy it. Maybe if I find this in the library eventually I’ll pick it up! I do love historical books, especially alternate histories, and romance and scandal is always fun. The name thing would bother me as well ( I loved The Burning Sky!) but your review convinced me this could be a fun read when I need one :)
Believe me, The Ring and the Crown *should* be a lot better than Frozen. I said “should” because I didn’t read Frozen, so I’m not completely sure, but judging by the things my friends had said about them both, I think you’ll definitely enjoy The Ring and the Crown more.
The Ring and the Crown is definitely a fun and entertaining read! :D
Kelly recently posted…Best Series Blog Hop
This cover looks very interesting… hmmm…
Claire @ Bitches With Books recently posted…ARC Review: Black Dog
Indeed. You should watch the book trailer; it has a lot to do with the book cover. ;D
Kelly recently posted…Stacking the Shelves [74]
I am so excited about this book! Even if the ending doesn’t go so well…I just can’t wait! :D And when I do get to read this story it will by my first historical fiction so that’s exciting! I can’t wait to distinguish it from the rest of the YA books out there :)
I found out that this book will be in a series, so I wonder how that will turn out, especially with the ending the way it is.
And eep, I hope you’ll enjoy this one Hillary! (:
Kelly recently posted…Stacking the Shelves [74]
I LEGIT JUST FINISHED THIS TEN MINUTES AGO! I agree with some of your points but I liked this quiteee a bit more than you! The five characters thing WAS a bit weird at first, but I felt like it worked for this story! As for the ending, completeeee agreement! It was strange because it was so sudden! I’m still unsure on whether it’s a series or what, but if it is then…yeah it could’ve ended better
Nikki Wang recently posted…Far From You by Tess Sharpe