Birdie's Books: The Ring and the Crown by Melissa de la Cruz

The Ring and the Crown by Melissa de la Cruz
Published: Disney-Hyperion, April 1st, 2014
Pages: 384
Source: Hardcover, library
Genre: Fantasy/Historical Fiction
Rating: 3.25/5 (79%)

How I Felt: Overall I enjoyed this book, I just don't think it's fantastic. I expected a little more from this book because people rave about how amazing an author Melissa is, but honestly in this book I didn't see that. This book was really slow to start off and I just couldn't get into it, but after about 80/90 pages it became a little bit more entertaining and the pace picked up a bit. But by the end the story really started to get annoying because the characters I was finally growing to like just took a turn for the worst and everything started to fall apart by the end. It often came to a point where I couldn't stand to read any more, and I had put the book down on multiple occasions. One of the main issues I had with this book was that it took me a long time to start to like the characters and get used to them and their point of view. The characters just didn't immediately attach themselves to me until near the very end, and by that point there were major plot twists that switched everything up again, distancing me from the characters all over again. Usually when I read a book I can find something I like about the characters that I can relate to myself; just to make the story more enjoyable, but with these characters this process was quite difficult. One thing I can say I enjoyed was the world development. The world and time period this story was set in was quite enjoyable and interesting. I felt like it was also expertly explained. It's kind of an alternate twist on history, and because I love history I found this aspect quite enjoyable. The incorporation on magic and all these fantasy elements really added depth to the book and plot and made me sit at the edge of my seat at times. I don't even think I have a favourite character, they were all just okay, most of the time there's at least one character I gravitate to but again I just didn't have that in this story. If there was a sequel I would most definitely read it because I'd like to find out what happens in the kingdom, and with the main characters. This book as a whole was enjoyable. I can't say I highly recommend it but if you're looking for a fantasy book to read you might like this one.

Favourite Quotes:

“What happened to your face?' she asked.
'It fell on a fist.' He shrugged.
'That happens a lot?'
'Enough.”
“It was a story they could tell their children, something out of a fairy tale. How their mother had not known who he was when she accepted him, and the frog turned out to be a prince. But the princess had been unwilling to kiss the frog, the prince remained warty and unloved, and now there was no adventure to be had.”