Article contributed by Suya Chry
Why should you read The Crowning?
Magic? Check.
Sibling rivalry? Check.
Fight for the throne? Check.
Anonymous evil growing in the castle? Check.
‘Magic is the happiness that we create when we give ourselves permission to follow our dreams’.
In this magical debut by the indie author Nattie Kate Mason, the enchanting kingdom of Alearia awaits its next ruler. The royal prince and princesses, weak prophetic Agnes, the shape-shifting Alexander, and the fire wielders, Alecia and Anastasia train hard to participate in the heir crowning ceremony, which is to take place on Princess Anastasia’s sixteenth birthday. The potential heirs will display their giftings and leadership skills and the winner would be crowned heir to Alearia.
When the prince Alexander is anonymously murdered, an unease spreads, followed by the magical disease that take away citizens’ giftings. But the three sisters still train hard and well for the upcoming competition. But the question remains: who will be the future Queen of Alearia?
Far away, untainted by the growing atrocities in the castle, Queen Amealina’s secret child and Anastasia’s twin, Annalyse grows up with her mentor and the Queen’s best friend, Lilliana, providing help in healing the people of Lavender Grove. Annie, in my opinion was the best character, with morals and values, putting others before herself, of the utmost helping nature.
‘For this is who I am, an orphan, healers apprentice, sage and a granddaughter in spirit, to my inspiring mentor, and I will own my identity.’
The Crowning successfully displays a complex relationship amongst the siblings and the royal family. It was enjoyable to see Anastasia and Alecia loving each other, still knowing that they would compete for the crown. As for Agnes, she’s the assumed weak sibling and she is bullied by her family. The storyline shows how that affected her and how it led her to darkness. Growing up with weak powers and almost never thought by anyone that she would ever become queen, she made up her mind to do just that. Even the King and Queen would sometimes neglect her, and this abuse affects her in the bad way and she uses her powers the wrong way.
‘I will become Queen, and nothing will get in my way.’
The Queen Mother’s love and grief for her children was another interesting thing in the novel. The prologue shows the story some 15 years ago before the actual plotline, when Queen Amealina is gifted with the twin princesses, Anastasia and Annalyse, only for her happiness to be broken down due to her prophetic vision, warning her that a twelve-year-old Annalyse would be betrayed and killed in the castle. This had her give her beloved child to Lilliana, who took her away from the castle, raising her as a healer among common people. ‘Both a gift and a curse,’ Amealina called her prophetic gifting.
Although the writing style seems a bit too formal, thus leading to some dull moments, the plotline is well done and the ending is a shock. There is too much respect and prose in the book, which made me feel like I was reading a history book, rather than experiencing a completely new world. In addition, set in the period that felt medieval and not of this time, certain words and phrases did not seem to fit in correctly. There is also a lack of romance, and I, being the hopeless romantic, felt that romance could have played more of a role to make the story more interesting. I would have loved to see Annie or Anastasia being in love with someone else and not just their family and kingdom. Sometimes the story feels obvious with the righteous and kingdom-serving royals, fighting only one villain.
However, if you enjoy royal families and their problems, a competition for the throne, princes and princesses squabbling, royal parents immense love for their children, multiple point of views, and olden days without technology, I would definitely recommend this book to you. It is a great work done, the ending was a blast and I absolutely cannot wait for the sequel.
The Crowning is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.
Have you read The Crowning? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
An heir to the magically gifted Kingdom of Aleria must be chosen. The shape-shifting Prince Alexander is favored to claim the title. The fire-wielding sisters, Princess Anastasia and Princess Alecia, feel one of them will take the crown. However, the eldest potential heir, Princess Agnes has other plans. The current ruler of Alearia, Queen Amealiana, a gifted sage and seer, has a hidden secret that will change everything.Rivalry, magic, betrayal, healing, death, hope. In the pursuit of power, only one may be crowned Heir.
