Thrown into mer-filled waters, and surviving... It sounds like such an exciting start to a story. I seem to be in the minority when it comes to this book. I did not enjoy it.
Before I jump into my main points I want to say that Rebecca Garcia is a talented writer. She has a knack for helping you see the beauty in the world she created.
My only real gripe with this story was Winter our protagonist. I honestly, just didn't like her. She is a spoiled, sheltered brat. Part of that isn't her fault because her father keeps her in ignorance and she never thinks to question anything. Why should she? When confronted with the outside world for the first time she has to face the fact that things are not as she was taught. After her brother dies she and her mother are sent away. She through circumstances she falls into the ocean and is rescued and taken to enemy land. She tries tirelessly to get back to her home. Along the way, she meets people who are kind to her and go out of their way to help her. She gets back to her family who has never treated her kindly and at the first opportunity, she betrays the only people who were kind to her. She didn't do this maliciously. But she still knew what would happen if she did.
The dark and light fae were interesting people but I wish I knew a little bit more about the dark fae king he was intriguing but I feel like I didn't see enough of him to really get a handle on his character.

Lastly, I think the ending was also WAYYY TO ABRUPT. Something huge happens and then the curtain closes. Just like that, it ends. I think it needed one more chapter to bring a little closure before ending.
<img src="https://media3.giphy.com/media/Rf7y3ornL6qVG/giphy.gif"/>

ARC received from The Next Realm PR . Voluntarily reviewing and all opinions are objective and my own.

I enjoyed this book, but I didn’t love it. It’s the first of a series, so this comment may seem silly, but it felt like more of a half of a beginning; like this entire book was the beginning of the first book. Maybe it’s the author’s style, but this book moved a little slow, BUT regardless, I am interested in reading the rest of this series. I feel this was a good lead into more. I am curious about the characters. I don’t get a feeling of the romance direction yet; it could go two ways I’m thinking, so I would like to see how she rolls out. With the crazy ending, I look forward to reading about her next adventure.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot to say about this book. It was decent, I just wanted more from it, so I’ll cross my fingers for more in the next installment.

Also, one of the most beautiful covers I have ever seen!

When you compare a book to those by Sarah J. Maas right in the synopsis, you're putting that book pretty high. And here, it was a blatant lie. Obviously a minority here, but this book did not impress me at all. I agree with some of the other lower stared reviews about the pacing. I'll be one of the first to complain about a book that is so ridiculously slow that it bores me out of my mind. I don't think I've ever come across one that was so fast that it did the same thing....until now. So much happens, but then it's almost immediately done with and it's on to the next thing. There are numerous time skips which we only realize when we're eventually told it's been weeks or months. There are many characters that you would think should be important, but they don't get enough page time to really develop into anything except a stepping stone for Winter to be onto her next thing. As for Winter, oh how I hated that child. And child she was. Don't try and sell a 15 year old girl who turns 16 as a YA book when she is so painfully childish, immature, and naive. I could not stand her and every single decision she made was a selfish one that just served to make me hate her more. The only character that I got enough of to truly like was Blaise.

Admittedly, the world created here was a good one. There was lots of magic, good and bad fae, terrifying mer-creatures, and such different ways of life between all the kingdoms that it would be hard not to be impressed with much of it.

But the story dragged it down. Or more specifically, Winter. Winter has been an arrogant, sheltered, ignorant princess her whole life. For some reason both of her parents treat her with a sort of mild neglect while they dote on her older brother. She's not jealous that he will rule because she truly loves him and knows he will be a great king. But when their kingdom is attacked and he is killed, her whole life changes. Now all of a sudden she is heir to the thrown and we hear ad nauseum throughout the entirety of the book how it is her crown and she will do whatever she has to to take it back. Hidden away on an island or something away from the castle, she ends up falling off a cliff and getting attacked by the mer-creatures. Of course she is saved, but now she finds herself in enemy territory. Color her surprised to find people there that are actually nice! How shocking! Next thing you know she's already on her way back home. But her troubles are just beginning. She's to be married off the the dark fae crown prince upon her return. Which was already demeaning enough to her but then she finds out what her father is planning. In her half-assed attempt to save a life she does something she was told never to do without even reading the side effects or what could happen. She is that stupid. She messes up the whole marriage and soon even becomes the enemy of both kingdoms of that land. She flees back to Blaise to seek his help and after he tells her of his plans she feels she can't trust him anymore and she runs away from there too. I am truly astonished at all the traveling this girl does by herself and manages to always make it safely. Well, almost always. She does get caught once but of course is rescued because we can't have the princess get hurt. Winter finally figures out what she thinks she has to do to get her crown back and nothing will stop her. It's one thing to end on a cliffhanger, but this ended on what felt like the middle of a chapter.

With all that Winter goes thru in this book, one would have expected her to have grown up at least a little bit. But she doesn't. She is always right, everybody else has no idea what they're talking about. She should be more powerful than others because she's a royal, so she gets pissed off when she finds someone with a stronger connection to their magic. She never learns a lesson, ever. Especially when it came to gambling with a fae. I could probably rant a long time about this idiot...but I won't.

While I would love to find out more about some of the characters (especially the boy who helped her out of enemy territory) I do not want to read about Winter at all any more, so I won't be continuing this series.

The fate of crowns
By Rebecca Garcia
Pub date Jan 5 2021
I love this fantasy World two be in this is a perfect fantasy read you enjoy. I love the characters in this book and the fantasy world was epic read. The cover is beautiful and the writing style is easy two follow. I loved the dark secrets this story told its intense story you love. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Received in exchange for a honest review.

The story and plot is wonderful. The world building is good. There needs to be a bit more so you can understand the different factions of people. We are told about the dark and light fae and the merpeople. I would have liked more to be seen on the elves and the pirates though. And why does the Berovean sailors not know about metal? They are travelers and go to Berova so why isn’t metal known and how it helps against the merpeople known to them? We know that the dark fae are supposed to be the good guys and the light fae bad but I think they both are good and bad. I think in each area Berova, Magaelor and Niferum there is good and bad.

In Berova is where Winter starts her journey that has her eyes open a little. Here she meets the elves who teach her a little about the light fae and the forest. Her mysterious friend who helps her and is kind to her and he helps her find a way home. I do think I know who he is but am hoping that the second book fleshes more out about Berovia and him.

In Magaelor is where Winter comes from. Her father is a cold calculating man who has seriously manipulated Winter. She is naive in many many ways. When we begin the story she seems almost childlike for her age. She loves her life and doesn’t want change. Her brother Andre is to take the thrown and she has some wonderful friends. One moment changes it all. One moment and Winter starts to see a dark side to her dad. One moment and her fate changes as well. She is now engaged and thrust into more responsibility but also whisked off for her supposed safety. Do I believe that? No. Why? Her dad is too calculating for that. He sent her and her mom away so he could continue to rule with an iron thumb and not have her be the wiser. Her mom was just as naive as she was. I don’t really like her parents. Father is cold and mom doesn’t care only when it can get them in good favor with her father. So when Winter ends up on the ship and in Berova I was a bit happy.

I loved seeing her start to relax but also have her eyes opened a bit. She was evasive but also scared. Her time in the woods was great and to me where she began her transformation. She learned about the balance of nature and magic. About the elves and their beliefs and more about the light fae in Berova and the forest.

Her time in Niferum was her biggest eye opening time. She lands there after finding her way back to Magaelor. I didn’t like how even after all she sees about her dad she still wants his approval. I understand it but don’t like it. Winter is changing and seeing things differently and her first trip to Niferum she is still a little naive. She places trust in someone I don’t think she should. But where else can she turn? She does drastic measures to protect many from others and pays a price.

Her second trip to Niferum is where her eyes are truly opened and she sees the greed and power hunger of others. Her only true friend is Morgana. I love that story and look forward to seeing that play out as well. How is Morgana going to help show her how powerful she is. For me the journey for Winter is preparing her to become a great queen. Powerful but not greedy, you can tell she is learning about her people and what they need and wants to do right by them.

The story is filled with danger, twists and turns and keeps you on your toes and the edge of your seat. You root for Winter and really want her to open her eyes and see all that is going on around her. You hope that she sees how truly greedy her father is and how uncaring he is as well. You watch her grow and learn and are just enthralled by her adventure and all she goes through. You wonder who is really good and bad and see how blurred that truly is. The ending just wow. I do wonder what is next and can’t wait for the next book.

Wow - I can't believe I had a few false starts with this book. I finally had the time and attention to sit down and read this book in one sitting. I felt like this story could have been a really one-dimensional narrative, but it broke the bounds. I loved the complex storylines and character relations. Have bought a copy and will read all future works!~

Had I not known that this was a debut beforehand I wouldn't have guessed..The writing style was flawless and the story, plot line and scene sequence was utterly perfect..I usually take some time to adapt to a new author's writing style but this was seamless..I loved Winter, Cedric almost all the characters really..except the proverbial bad guys of course..Attention to detail was perfect. That said even though the book held my attention for all of the time I spent on it, the twists were slightly predictable sometimes.. This book has a cliffhanger ending.. And I can't wait for the sequel!

*arc provided by net galley in exchange of an honest review *

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I feel like if I didn't get distracted by dinner I would've read this so much faster than I did. That being said, I devoured The Fate of Crowns and I can't wait to dive into the next book of this series! I feel like I have so many questions after this ended.

That being said, I definitely want to know more about the light and dark fae's in this world. Plus what really went down in the battle. Mostly because I don't trust her father or mother at this point. So they could be lying about EVERY little thing. It honestly wouldn't shock me either.. so yeah.

I also just want to know what is going to happen next in Winter's life. I wasn't really digger her with Blaise and shit.. but I was with Cedric. So yeah, I definitely want more of that please. Definitely excited for the next book and I hope I get the ARC of it!

Un premier tome passionnant , que ce soit apr son héroïne avec des défaits mais vraiment attachante, que ce soit par l'univers onirique riche et envoutant ou cette intrigue originale et imprévisible. La plume de Rebecca L Garcia m'a embarqué et je ne manquerai pas de lire la suite ( février 2021 ) .
An exciting first volume, whether by its heroine with flaws but really endearing, whether by the rich and captivating dreamlike universe or this original and unpredictable plot. The pen of Rebecca L Garcia took me on board and I will not fail to read the rest (February 2021).

The Fate of Crowns by Rebecca L. Garcia is the first book in The Fate of Crowns Series. The story is narrated through the eyes of Winter Mortis who is a princess from Magaelor. It follows Winter on her dangerous journey to secure her rightful place as future Queen of Magaelor.

This is the first book by Rebecca that I have read and I absolutely loved it. I liked being introduced to all of the different types of creatures in this magical world because I found them to be really interesting. I found Magaelor, Niferum and Berovia to be intriguing especially how each place was very for different for example the light fae and solises all live together in Berovia. While lunas lived in Magaelor and the dark fae live in Niferum.

I had a love/hate relationship with Winter and at times I found her to be annoying. I found that she seemed to care more about her future on the throne than she did about doing the right thing. I do think that she became a stronger character throughout the story but to me she still seemed selfish and naïve. Now I absolutely loved and adored the crowned fae prince Blaise Lazarus because there was something about him that made me swoon. I really want to see more of Blaise because I found him to be a complex character that I look forward to figuring out. I also want to give a shoutout to Jasper Bluelight because I really liked him too.

I found this to be a well written intriguing story filled with war, revenge, hope, self discovery and magic. I definitely cannot wait until the next book to see what happens to Winter.

I recieved an advanced copy for free, and this is my honest opinion.

Well this one has been a pleasant surprise! I couldn't predict not even one twist and turn in this ride, which is a major bonus.
I can't wait to see what happens next.

4 stars

~ I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own ~

I need the second one...like yesterday. I could not put this book down and I have some serious questions that need to be answered in the next book. Absolutely wonderful and I love all the characters involved and how the main character doesn’t fall hopelessly in love with the first (or second) boy she meets.

The Fate of Crowns is fabulous!! It's a terrific start to a new series and I'm eagerly awaiting the second book! When comparisons are made to Holly Black and Sarah J. Maas, an author really has to bring it. Let me just say that Rebecca Garcia did just that.

This book contains great world building and character development. I was quite nervous when I started it and was incredibly pleased to find it was a gem. The only down side was it had one heck of a cliffhanger. Fortunately, the second book should be released before long.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review this book and the opinions contained within are my own.

Title: The Fate of Crowns
Author: Rebecca L. Garcia
Pub. Date: January 5, 2021
Rating: 2

This will be a spoiler free review. Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free copy to read and review. Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t it for me.

Based on the cover and the synopsis I thought I was going to love this book. It sounded exactly what I’ve been reading, and I was ready to fall in love with a new fantasy world and new characters.

That didn’t happen. I was confused almost the whole book. I kept waiting for it to all make sense. Not sure if I wanted to continue, I went to Goodreads and read a few reviews and they were glowing, all praising the book and the character development the main character goes through.

I didn’t care for Winter and found her to be indecisive and whiny the whole time. Never once does she definitively make up her mind about something. She spends the whole book bouncing around, proclaiming her brilliance, how smart she was, but she doesn’t do anything.

The pacing is too fast and things got lost. I couldn’t keep track and kept having to reread and turn back to make sure I hadn’t skipped a paragraph or something.

Then for the other characters – let’s start with Blaise. He had the suaveness of Rhys (if we’re comparing) and the lackadaisical care of Carden. Like, legit if you mashed those two together, you’d have Blaise. And while he was more interesting than Winter, the fact that he was so blatantly supposed to be a mix of Rhys and Cardan kind of made me not interested. Blaise was clearly supposed to be the dark, fae prince who was morally grey but he just didn’t hit that mark for me. Cedric – the second love interest had the personality of a Golden Retriever, who *maybe* had a slightly dark backstory. And I’m not even going to bring up the first one, because it was weird af, and he was clearly older than Winter’s 15 and it was just so strange. Also, a reason I think Winter was initially older and then aged down.

This book also had so much going on. Mythical beings across the board, and I didn’t get it. I didn’t understand the rules of the world. I didn’t get why light fae and dark fae hated each other. I didn’t understand the tension with the Elves, or the differences between the sorcerers of Winter’s world and the ones of Cedric’s. I also have no idea where the differentiator of “lunas” and “solis’s” came from. That felt like it came out of left field.
I feel like I read a different book form everyone else who has reviewed this on Goodreads. I wanted so badly to like this, to love this. The cover is stunning, and the synopsis paints this amazing story. So, I’m bummed it didn’t enjoy this as much as I had anticipated enjoying it.

I believe this is the author’s first novel, and as such it is really good. However as a seasoned reader The Fate of Crowns left me on the fence. As many others have mentioned, the pacing is way off. Too much happens right away, but we don’t meet Blaise til half way, and she ages seemingly overnight. I also found Winter to be an annoying character and I didn’t see the growth I wanted from her. Particularly her interaction with Morgana in the last 10% showed me she hadn’t matured at all. I wanted a lot more, from Winter and from the supporting cast and their relationships. Lastly I felt like a lot happened to Winter, but not a lot actually happened. Now I realize it sounds like I didn’t enjoy this book, but I think the reason I’m being so picky is because I could see how this book could be great! There were sections that flew by for me and I was riveted. I will definitely continue reading this series and hope the author and her characters continue to grow.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of The Fate of Crowns in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley.

I’m really impressed with Rebecca L. Garcia for The Faye of Crowns. I know this is her first novel, and she has exceeded the YA fiction mark in every way possible. Faeries, magic, sorcerers, political intrigue, and cover up stories, buddying romance...every YA fantasy reader’s wet dream!

At first I was a little thrown off because the book is in first person narration from the point of view of the MC, Winter. It’s not often that I enjoy a good first person novel nowadays without feeling as if part of the story is missing or we aren’t getting the entire picture. The first person POV in this story only served to strengthened the idea that the character’s prejudices and differing opinions were a byproduct of the world she had been raised in. It was incredibly well written and executed to an expert level.

One issue I do have, is that I think there was a few pacing discrepancies throughout the book. From the get go the reader is tossed into the fast paced mess that becomes the MC’s life and destiny, and I felt like I didn’t have all that much time to sink into the story itself, as well as getting used to our MC as a narrator.

Next there’s Winter as a character. At the beginning of the book, I found her incredibly annoying, naïve and nothing short of childish, but you can see the growth she goes through as a character over the progress of the book. I still believe she has a whole lot more growth to get through, but only a second book in the series will reveal more about her, her mission, and the cliffhanger that we were left with.

The Fates of Crowns is said to be for fans of Holly Black and SJM and I wholeheartedly agree with that. I wasn’t a fan of Holly Black’s ‘Cruel Prince’, but I see the resemblance between the two fantasy worlds, and as someone who loves SJM work, I can totally relate Winter’s strong-willed nature and stubbornness back to Celaena/Aelin.

I know I don’t sound completely confident, however, it is hard to have an outstanding first book in the series because so many elements need to be fleshed out. With that being said, I’m a looking forward to reading further into this series and I would recommend this as the next upcoming YA read.

The Fate of Crowns is a YA fantasy that I couldn’t put down and didn’t want to end!!

From start to finish, this story is fast paced and full of adventure. From sorcerer’s to elves to mercreatures, The Fate of Crowns is a wild ride with so much distrust and trickery.

I love that so many regular aspects of your typical Fantasy/Fae worlds were kept but with small twists and changes that make it fascinating.

I cannot wait see what is in store for us in the next book!!

The Fate of Crowns is a magical debut filled with dark plots and twisting adventure. It has such great world-building and a slew of budding characters.

With our protagonist, Winter, she seemed very petty and immature in the beginning of the book. There were a few times I wanted to slap her honestly. Although she was very naive throughout the book, she was also very cunning at times as well. I did feel for her too, as she was bounced around like a pinball in this book. With Winter, I felt like I needed a companion or a constant for her and kept not getting it. You’d grow to like a character, and then they’re gone. The only exception being Morgana which I ended up LOVING her role.

With our side characters, other than Morgana, my favorite hands down was Cedric and Aquarius. Cedric… oh man! I want so much more of him. I honestly was hoping he was going to be our main love interest. Really hoping he returns in the next book and has a huge role. Maybe he’ll even turn out to be a prince or something… one can only hope! Then on the other side, with our dark fae was Blaise. I liked his character, however I wish we were shown there was a bit more of a spark or fire between him and Winter versus us just being told. Their scenes together were a little forced versus developing into something.

One other thing that got to me a bit was that time moved way too quick in the beginning. It seemed a little detached to me. “Months later” and “now I’m sixteen”, I had to stop and try to calculate time in my head. I mean, yes, I’m a math a teacher but I don’t always want to calculate while reading, lol.

Overall though, a really great premise and start to this series. The last 40% of the book was easy to fly through and kept me wanting to see what Winter would choose to do. I am very excited to see where Rebecca takes it next!!

Review posting on 1/5/21 on Jotted by Jena

It looks like my opinion is pretty unpopular, but I didn’t enjoy this book. There were several elements that were done well, but it just didn’t seem well crafted, or thought out.

I think the only reason I disliked this so much was our main character, Winter. I found her to be spoiled, and although I can appreciate a naive character, Winter was too much for me. She was constantly making statements, and proclaimed herself as well educated, despite knowing nothing about her kingdom. I’m sorry, but a princess who knows nothing about her kingdom, or how to rule is not a character I’m interested in liking. On top of that, she took everything as a betrayal! She never could choose a side, instead she just floated in the middle. She constantly declared that she wanted to rule, but never made any steps to learn how or to get to know her people.

Because I hated her, I couldn’t enjoy much else about the book. Blaise was a super interesting character, who reminded me of Cardan, and I would’ve loved to have more of him. Honestly, I think I might’ve preferred it if he was our main character. I do wish that he was a bit more morally grey, because he never makes any “hard” decisions. His relationship with Winter wasn’t my favorite, but that’s mainly because I have no idea what he sees in her.

Along with my complaints about the characters, I also have to say that the worldbuilding confused the heck out of me. What’s the difference between the light and dark Fae? Why are they enemies? These may have been answered, but my attention towards this book was pretty low by the end.

I really wanted to like this book, and sometimes, those expectations are what ruin a book. The beautiful characters and promises of a Fae prince drew me in, only to let me down. This isn’t my type of book, but dozens of other reviewers have loved it, which is a point in its favor.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

I actually enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would! I really liked the character development in the main character, she goes from a blind rule following princess, to a rebel, basically. I do wish that she spent a little more time in Berovia, I feel like she could have experienced that life a little more. I would have also liked her to question her beliefs a little more. She spent so much time arguing about how the the ways she was taught are absolutely right, and everything else is wrong, and spends the majority of the novel thinking that, and then kind of suddenly switches, so her development is a bit more sudden than I would have liked it to be. Overall, I really enjoyed this and can't wait to read the sequel!