Cruel Crown audiobook

Cinco estrellas para el relato de Coriane; tres estrellas para el relato de Farley. Queen Song Me fascinó leer esta pequeña historia desde la perspectiva de Coriane, la madre de Cal. Gracias a este relato podemos ver cómo una chica de una casa, en ese momento menor, logró llegar a ser la Reina. Coriane nos muestra una faceta diferente del rey Tiberias y de su corte, así como el origen de las intrigas y recelos que están ya consolidados en Red Queen. Me pareció fascinante ver cómo las garras de Elara, quien será la segunda esposa de Tiberias y madre de Maven, están presentes desde los inicios de la historia. Su maldad se vierte en cada una de las páginas de este relato e intoxica poco a poco la mente de Coriane... hasta que el final sucede. ¡Y qué final! Les juro que si yo no supiera realmente qué ha pasado gracias a Red Queen y a Glass Sword, me creería la versión retorcida de Elara. Steel Scars Yo sé que la misión de infiltración de la Guardia Escarlata a Norta y otros territorios es importante, pero ¿no podían contarla de una manera un poco más atractiva? Jajaja. Me costó muchísimo leer este relato, no sólo porque me parecía lentísimo, sino por todos los mensajes codificados con nombres clave y jerga ultra militar que no entendía. Ahora, ¿qué compruebo con este relato? Que Victoria Aveyard es CRUEL. Es decir... Deja de recordarnos lo de Shade, mala mujer.

Cruel Crown is a one stop in the Starbucks with the grande of your choice and a corner table sort of excurison, splitting the difference between two short stories and a tidbit of the yet to be released Glass Sword. I really enjoyed Queen Song, featuring a different style of prose than the traditional broad-brush and salty spunk of Mare Barrow’s plight as the little lightning girl, and seeing into the humanity of Silver politics and personalities was a wise move on Victoria's behalf. Even though anyone can betray anyone, Queen Song gives more food for thought in the way of good and evil, right and wrong, rather than Red vs Silver. So, in the books to come, hopefully one would not think all Silvers are inherently bad and all Reds are good. Such is not the case. People are people, no matter what their blood. Steel Scars gives us the other side of the coin, the grit of Norta falling south of heaven, and another version of resistance leader Farley’s destined connection with Little Miss Red in the head, Silver in the heart herself. So then this is me reading the Glass Sword sneak preview, going, “And the rest is...where?” *Looks at calender* “Umm...”So that’s the “Cruel” portion of the book, I guess…Beautiful stuff again from Victoria, as always. :D

Okay, so this was the surprise of my year so far. I have read both Red Queen and Glass Sword and to say that I didn't love them is an understatement. I thought they were okay but not amazing. Imagine my surprise when I picked up Cruel Crown this evening and ended up giving it five stars! These two short stories were amazing! They made me want to pick up Kings Cage right away, which is impressive because I have been holding off on reading that one since I bought it. These two stories were so character specific and beautiful! I loved them both so much! Aveyard changed my opinion about her in less than 200 pages and I'm not even sorry! Longer review coming soon!

Cruel Crown consists of two novellas, Queen Song and Steel Scars, that are prequels to Red Queen. I wanted to read these prequels before starting Glass Sword in case there was any information in them that would make me feel lost in the second book of the series. Queen Song ☆☆☆I read this first prequel nearly a month ago before putting the book aside to read other things. I was a little all over the the place this month and started a lot of books all near the same time that I'm just now wrapping up. I don't remember a lot of specific details of this book except that it is the story of how Coriane, Cal's mother, became queen without having to win Queenstrial. Her family had lost the majority of their fortune and with Queenstrial looming in the near future, she didn't believe she had any chance of winning the crown since she had nothing to offer. True love wins in the end, though - sort of.Although I know there have been many kings in real history who have taken lovers openly, it really seemed odd how casual everyone was with King Tiberias V's lover. His marriage to Anabel was for nothing more than producing an heir. I felt sorry for her. Would it have been as acceptable for her to take a lover openly as well? Overall, I didn't enjoy this prequel as much as many others. It was nice learning about how Coriane and Tiberias VI met and fell in love, but it didn't shed a whole lot of extra light on what had already been revealed in Red Queen. Steel Scars ☆☆☆☆☆I'm in the minority with this prequel as well, because from most of the reviews I've read, people didn't like this one. I loved it! We knew close to nothing about Farley from Red Queen, and this prequel gave us a glimpse of who she was before the Scarlet Guard's attack on Norta. We got to know her as a person and as a revolutionist. I don't want to give too much away - So, I'll try to keep the synopsis brief and a bit vague. Diana Farley grew up and lived most of her life in the Lakelands. She joined the Scarlet Guard because she hated what the Silvers were doing to her people and eventually climbed the ranks to become a captain. Farley crossed the border to Norta for the first time only a few weeks before the bombings. With the setup of the Scarlet Guard, she didn't know what the main mission was because individuals are only given enough information for them to complete their assignments. I really hope I see more of Farley in Glass Sword. I really like her character, and I hope she succeeds.

Oh my God this book was amazing it was so action-packed that I just finished it and I started it at yesterday and finished it this morning.

Backstories are my fave of all time, so I was very excited for this novella bound-up.Included in the Around the Year in 52 Books Challenge: Week 4 A book by an author you discovered in 2015.YouTube VideosAtYi52B Wrap-Up Weeks 1-4 | https://youtu.be/A8ioxVJlzJgJanuary 2016 Wrap Up | https://youtu.be/XRx5k8i-3EIQuotes I’d Paint On a Canvas (If I Had The Time and Money and Wall Space)“A strange prince, an even stranger night, she wrote later. I don't know if I ever want to see him again. But he seemed lonely too. Should we not be lonely together?”-Queen Song“He will not be a soldier, she wrote in her newest diary. I owe him that much. Too long the sons and daughters of House Calore have been fighting, too long has this country had a warrior king. Tool long have we been at war, on the front and-- and also within. It might be a crime to write such things, but I am a queen. I am THE queen. I can say and write what I think.”-Queen Song“The only person in my head is me. The only person who has not changed is you. You are still the little girl in a dusty room, forgotten, unwanted, out of place. You are queen of everything, mother to a beautiful song, wife to a king who loves you, and still you cannot find it in yourself to smile. Still you make nothing. Still you are empty. The only person in your head is you.”-Queen Song“The diary ended unfinished, unseen by any who deserved to read it. Only Elara saw its pages, and the slow unraveling of the woman inside. She destroyed the book like she destroyed Coriane. And she dreamed of nothing.”-Queen Song“We all have scars and ghosts of our own. Some drove us to the Scarlet Guard, and some were because of it. I know the sting of both.”-Steel ScarsLOLsNot very much LOL-worthy in this bookShade showing Diana his abilities for the first time and she nearly vomitsProblematic: Things I Didn’t Quite Love (For Various Reasons)*Some* of the formatting of Steel Scars. I’m not certain how, but it could have been written in a better way that’s easier for the eye to follow.RecommendationsIf you liked The Queen or Just Ella, you’d like these similar stories. You should read Queen Song when you’re a little too angry and need to feel sad.You should read Steel Scars when you’re ready to overthrow the overlords in your dystopian society and want to fight everybody.Cookie I’d Pair With This BookThe perfect mix of silver and red (packaging), Ghiradelli Chocolate Peppermint Cookies.Final ThoughtsWHO is in Command of the Scarlet Guard? Do we know them? Are they a new character? Do they have nefarious motives?Diana makes me itch for Glass Sword all the more. Especially the REAL REASON behind this war!!!! Diana + Shade must be protected at all costs.Coriane didn't deserve any of this..

While this book lacked the ability to pull you in that Red Queen had, it was still incredibly interesting. It follows two barely mentioned but HIGHLY important characters in the series. I'm glad I actually decided to read this and read it before moving on to Glass Sword! The information is so useful as to knowing more of the backstory and what our characters are facing in the upcoming book.

**There are Spoilers in here**I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. I think Coriane's side of the book was more interesting than Farley's(although I still enjoyed it). Even though I knew Coriane would die in the end, I was so caught up in her tale, that I was disappointed she died in the end. I loved the last words, “The diary ended unfinished, unseen by any who deserved to read it. Only Elara saw its pages and the slow unraveling of the woman inside.She destroyed the book like she destroyed Coriane.Still, she dreamed of nothing.” In Farley's part of the book, we meet Shade and their slow build-up romance. Although this part of the book wasn't as interesting as Coriane's, we did get to see more of Farley's past which was something we all needed.

Original reviewCruel Crown contains two short stories: Queen Song and Steel Scars. Both short stories are set before Red Queen and give us a better look on the characters and the Scarlet Guard. You can also read a sampler from Glass Sword, but I don't like to read a sampler and then wait until I have the book, so I didn't read the sampler.Queen SongQueen Song is the first short story. It tells the story of Queen Coriane. It begins with Coriane being young and you get to know how she met King Tiberias (then Prince Tiberias or Tibe). She keeps a secret diary she got from het brother Julian, where she writes everything in. Coriane is the first wife of King Tiberias and the mother of Prince Tiberias, better known as Cal.Steel ScarsSteel Scars is the second short story. It tells the story of Captain Farley (Diana). You get to know more about the Scarlet Guard, how it works and how Mare's brother, Shade, got involved. You get to know that Mare isn't the only Red with Silver abilities. First they discovered that (view spoiler)[Shade (hide spoiler)] had these abilities and later on they discovered that Mare has them too.I think that both short stories are really amazing. You get to know more, information you didn't know by reading Red Queen. There were even times that I was shocked (for example with Shade). These stories gave me a better look and I can't wait to read Glass Sword.

These stories provide good backstories for some of the characters. I think I liked Queen song a bit more but both provided some interesting content and I can't wait to read books 2. Definitely consider reading these...from what I can tell you won't necessarily miss anything if you don't but you will learn a bit more about the whole story.

Queen Song: 4 Steel Scars: 3

I wish I had known to read these novellas earlier in the series! There was so much background info that pieced together a ton of unanswered questions!

Queen Song: 3 starsSteel Scars: 4 starsokey, I'll admit I read this book just to get rid of this horrible thought that I've had since finishing Glass Sword yesterday... and the hole in my chest got a bit bigger.To be honest, I was expecting more about Coriane's story. Just for being Cal's mother she should have had more background story, more details about her diary. I just feel like Victoria just ended the story so quickly and gave me the idea of a weak woman that I can't like her as much as I wanted. True, she was loyal to her ideals, but I seriously don't understand what hapenned to her.As for Farley's story, I liked it a bit more. It was interesting to see how she worked for the Scarlet Guard and how she confronted the coronel for that reason. But it hurted me so much to read more about Shade (the ones who read Glass Sword will understand why)... and I loved how the main story in Red Queen connected 😊Overall, I liked it but I wish it was longer :P

I really enjoyed both of these novellas. Going into the rest of the series, I think that knowing more about Coriane and Farley adds a lot to the story. I love this world SO much and seeing stories from both a red and a silver was awesome. Blog review for Queen Song:https://katiesjumbledthoughts.wordpre...Blog review for Steel Scars:https://katiesjumbledthoughts.wordpre...

RATING: 4.5 StarsI'll say it now: Cruel Crown was the explosive bomb of beauty that I wanted Red Queen to be. I knew that Aveyard had the gift, but hey, debut novels tend to be shaky.Although it's technically just a pair of novellas, Cruel Crown's well-written contents have propelled it near the top of my favorites list. Reading Cruel Crown, I got everything I've ever wanted from a book: real emotions, developed characters, intricate worldbuilding, and the literary knife into my heart that means the author's actually managed to make me dedicated to her characters.I went into Cruel Crown like this:And came out of it like this...I'm not a beach reader, not one who reads books for fun. I read them to see if they make me feel something. Cruel Crown did the job.My emotions were stabbed, repeatedly, leaving numerous bloody holes behind that still need healing. And that's exactly what I want from my books; as a reader, I search and search to the ends of the universe for the worlds that will hurt me most.Cruel Crown consists of two novellas: Queen Song and Steel Scars. I'll dedicate a piece of the review to each. Queen Song My favorite of the two. Queen Song tells the story of Coriane Jacos, Julian's younger sister who fell in love with the young Prince Tiberias, married him and bore his sweet summer child: Cal. Admittedly, I've wanted to know more about Queen Coriane ever since Julian first told Mare about her.This novella follows Coriane from her days at the languishing family estate to her bloody, untimely end. She and Julian are the last children of the singer line; with that comes great responsibility, so Coriane and Julian move to court with Coriane's best friend--skin healer Sara Skonos. Coriane is just 15 years old at the time.At court, Coriane meets the cunning Elara Merandus along with dozens of other High House children (and their equally treacherous parents) who are vying for closeness to the crown.I'm not going to give anything else away, but let me just say this.The first few pages made me care about Coriane; the last made me want to rip my heart out, it hurt so much. Queen Song is a dark little story that captivated me due to its harsh sincerity and fascinating protagonist. Also, before I move on: Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion...but several of the reviews for Queen Song are just irritating. It's fine to not like a book, but I've seen so many complaints that Coriane was a 'weak' character, that she deserved what she got, that she was whiny, that Elara was so much stronger than her, etc. There are many things very, very wrong with that mindset.Coriane is just 15 when she meets Tiberias, and she's 16 upon marrying him. She was told her entire life that nothing she did was ever good enough. She was depressed to begin with. Her true passions were not encouraged and her family was relentlessly mocked and lied to. Coriane's grown up with no mother, a disappointing father, and a critical old cousin. Most importantly: she's still a child. 15, for crying out loud. Those who are calling a vulnerable child weak: Do you know how silly that makes you look?Do you think fracking Elara Merandus just burst out of the womb with her confidence and strength? She was groomed since the day she could talk. Her house was in HIGH ESTEEM and extremely wealthy, the opposite of Coriane's situation. She was told that she could do anything from the moment she first practiced her power.The reality is that a lot of young teenagers struggle with depression. Thousands of them are just like Coriane (minus the supernatural power).We need to do away with the notion that a female can only be strong if she lets nothing hurt her, if she's constantly on the offensive, if she works her ass off every day, if she always tries to be the best. No. That's not how it works. Coriane is strong in her own way, which might not be obvious when she's compared to fully realized heroines who've had supportive mentors and time to hone their abilities.Calling a young girl weak because she struggles from depression--and eventual madness that was not her fault, but the doing of another--is stupid even if that girl is a fictional character. Every woman is strong. Some just don't see it yet; they haven't realized their worth. And I feel like it's really counterproductive to dismiss a character as weak because she wasn't bold enough for you.Newsflash: the strongest people have had to go through a shitload of terrible experiences, wherein they were depressed and hopeless and not as cool, to get to where they are now.The fact that Coriane never got a chance to do that, because she was MURDERED for night's sake, makes her story all the more tragic.So, yeah, call Cal's mother weak if you want. But I'll fight you on it till my dying breath. Steel Scars Steel Scars follows Farley and her operations in the Scarlet Guard before she met Mare Barrow. Those who've read Red Queen might remember Farley as the badass blonde chick with a fierce determination (and even fiercer scars). Yep, that's the one.I've taken off half a star because Steel Scars wasn't a 5-star work. Nothing wrong with the storyline or characters, but I just wasn't quite as invested in this one.It was interesting to read about the Scarlet Guard--turns out, this group goes deeper than I ever thought, with locations in different countries and cities plus an admirable secret-keeping system. Oh, and I was delighted to find out that Farley isn't the Scarlet Guard's supreme leader after all.Farley's character development is more firmly fleshed out. This chick's not just a bloodthirsty revolutionary; she's got a past (duh), feelings, and a hunger to prove herself. Farley is a witty young girl underneath all the bravado.Steel Scars takes you from Harbor Bay to the Stilts; oh, and you may meet a few recognizable characters along the way. The Verdict: I think I've made my opinions pretty clear. I do recommend Cruel Crown to fans and/or casual readers of Red Queen.(If you haven't read Red Queen, you should peruse that book first--otherwise this novella probably won't make sense. These are prequels to add more information to a previously explained story, so don't expect any introductions. Cruel Crown dives right in. It's really not fair to say that "you had no idea what was going on," blaming it on the book when you never read its predecessor.)Try Cruel Crown if you enjoy any of the following literary flavors: * sci-fi/fantasy fiction * magical powers * political upheaval * female protagonists This review was originally posted on Lovable Reader/Fictional Darkness Book Blog

This will sound so ridiculous, considering how awesome Red Queen was, but I am really impressed with how good these novellas are!!! I wasn't really that psyched to be reading the novellas, but they really impressed me and are absolutely amazing, and I loved reading about what and who came before Red Queen! QUEEN SONGI was actually looking forward to this one the most! Victoria Aveyard did an amazing job with Coriane and the tone of her life! It was written in third person and spanned about six years in only 54 pages, but it was perfect and so well written! I loved reading about the young Julian, and it was really interesting to read about Cal's dad. I loved Cal's grandparents and Robert - I feel like there was a huge leap from the more close, loving, and supportive family portrayed in this novella to the one Cal and Maven have... That's crazy! I also liked how it specified and explained why Cal and Maven could not marry for love. As for Coriane, I thought the author did such an amazing job with her and the mood in her story/life! And I mean really... we all know what Elara is capable of... The last two journal entries were so amazing!STEEL SCARSI'll admit, I didn't particularly like Farley in Red Queen, however, in this novella told in her point of view... Love Her! I am so glad we got to see so much more of Shade in this; I couldn't wait to read more about him in the sequel coming up! Shade and Farley... sigh!!! I loved the whole setup of this story - the Scarlet Guard is majorly impressive! And Farley's dad - totally saw that from the beginning but is still really cool and will make for some good reading in the sequel!! I absolutely loved the way the SG communicated, and how it was showed in the book - It. Was. Awesome! And again, the last couple of pages ... Holy Crap! Aveyard did that sooo well!!! I'm really glad I read this before I read Glass Sword. Now I'm so pumped for it, and back in the story, and excited to read it! I feel like it really adds to the story to read this after Red Queen and before Glass Sword! Like Red Queen, it was amazing and extremely well written and leaves you so excited to read more!