The Ring and the Crown

This book is full of messed-up relationships one after another, but it makes a very fine trainwreck. I started reading it purely out of schadenfreude, so I was surprised to find it much more engaging than expected. Despite of what the blurb says, the story is mainly romance. About 85% of the book is about romance and tangled relationships, with all the conspiracy, magic, and revelations jammed into the remaining 15%. It was all drama up until the 85% mark, and then suddenly torrents of explanations towards the end. One may call it bad writing, but I didn't read this book for the plot. It was for melodramatic trainwreck, and for that part I'm pretty much satisfied LOL.

There are five perspectives in this book, each coming from Aelwyn, Marie Victoria, Ronan, Wolf, and Isabelle. I must say that I was impressed by how Melissa de la Cruz handled these perspectives, since there wasn't a single time when I confused them for one another. The book is narrated in third person, but the different perspectives are so clear and distinctive—even when two or more characters are highlighted in a single chapter.

However, the world-building is shaky, there's only a dash of magic despite the setting, and a lot of things—including important ones—are simply glossed over to make room for the romance. If you're looking for an extensive fantasy world with deep character development, you won't find those here. The fantasy is very light, and it feels more like a world of celebrities with gossips all over the place... which is exactly what I was expecting. :'D