Cursed Crowns

Content warnings: necromancy, blood magic, attempted murder, grief, loss of a family member

Rose and Wren are identical twin queens (and witches) who must navigate a society trained to distrust magic.

Note: This review contains spoilers for the first book in the series, Twin Crowns.

Identical twin queens Rose and Wren are still reeling from the events at the end of Twin Crowns. Rose is concerned about her people and how they are reacting to a world where magic isn't evil and having two witches on the throne of Eana. Wren is learning about being a queen when all she wants to do is go to Gevra and save her grandmother Banba, who was captured at the end of the last novel.

A royal tour of Eana is scheduled to make the people fall in love with their queens, but dissension is brewing. A faction called the Arrows is against witchcraft and threatens the queens' safety in their own country. Wren leaves for Gevra before the royal tour can start, and Rose discovers a mission of her own that will take her away from the tour. Can the twin queens save their grandmother, fight against the Arrows, and unite their kingdom before the Arrows ruin everything?

Recommended for readers of YA fantasy and romance.

Catherine Doyle is a middle-grade and YA author. She lives in Ireland.

Katherine Webber is a native Californian living in London. She is a YA author and also co-writes YA novels with her husband as Katie Tsang.

Series: Twin Crowns, #2

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Length: 512 pages

Release Date: May 9, 2023

Representation: lesbian couple, kingdom based on the Middle East and Asia

I received an electronic galley copy of this title from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.