Empress Crowned in Red audiobook

Originally posted on Just Geeking by.Content warnings:(view spoiler)[This book contains ongoing themes of oppression, racism, and betrayal. There are multiple scenes of death and violence, as well as references to off page deaths including deaths of parents. Grief is expressed and discussed at various points. There are several unhealthy relationships with family members in this book, including with parental figures and siblings. These include manipulation and emotional abuse. There are scenes of intoxication and drugs. (hide spoiler)]Empress Crowned in Red starts off from where the first book left off – I think. It felt very abrupt and there was hardly any padding to ease the reader back into the flow of things. I’m not a fan of authors rehashing the entire story of the last book just to resettle readers, however, if you’re going to string the story along so closely a little reminder of the immediate events that happened in a book I read a year ago would be much appreciated. I will say that it definitely made me feel as unsettled as Iraya did, so if that was the intent then it worked perfectly.It took me a while to get settled into Empress Crowed in Red; about fifty percent of the book to be exact. This book is a huge tome, and normally I’m all for massive books. That’s just more story and that’s usually not a bad thing. Usually. The first half of this book felt like it dragged on, and while I won’t say it was unnecessary, it just personally didn’t work for me. Then after that halfway mark everything started to piece together as if Smart had just been playing with us, setting the stage for the finale of her duology. The first half of Empress Crowned in Red is basically one big tease and then Smart drops the curtain.Smart introduces a lot of new elements in this book, and it mixes things up nicely. I expected book two to be still be Iraya vs. Jazmyne and while that rivalry is still present, there is more happening. It was a relief, actually, to see that Smart has grown her world even more. While Iraya and Jazmyne’s rivalry is interesting, I felt like book one covered that, and I wasn’t sure how another book of them duking it out was going to work. Adding a mystery assailant and monsters provided Smart with the chance to delve deeper into so many parts of her already fantastic world-building, and let me tell you, it only gets better in Empress Crowned in Red.As expected this sequel is the battle for Aiyca and the throne, and some things happened as I expected and were perhaps a little predictable. This book is all about the journey though and how all the characters get where they do. It’s their journeys and their developments over the course of the book that I never expected, and that’s one of the brilliant parts about Smart’s writing. She keeps you on your toes throughout the book. You know that X is going to happen, but how it happens? Guess again.The physical battle for Aiyca is very well paced. Unlike battles in other books where they end abruptly in one or two chapters, Smart takes her time. As a result it actually feels like a battle with stages. At one point at the start of the battle, Iraya’s narration changes slightly to echo tradition oral storytelling. She talks about how the residents of the Island saw what was happening, how they told the story of it happening later on. It’s a nice change of pace and has the effect of highlighting the enormity of the moment. Whatever happens, what they’re doing is still so momentous that stories are told about it.Characters and relationships develop much more in Empress Crowned in Red. In the previous book there were a lot of new relationships being forged, and this time around those relationships are beginning to solidify and grow. Trust is built even if it takes time in some cases. The way characters and relationships developed was fabulous and realistic, and I loved the way Smart writes dialogue between her characters. Whether they’re friends, enemies or lovers, the way she has with words is just perfection. Iraya is the queen of banter and sass and some of her lines are amazing.There was one character that developed in a way that personally I did not find believable at all. I kept waiting for there to be an additional explanation for what happens because the change in them felt very sudden and quite false. Other characters seem to develop very naturally, and this one just felt out of place which is odd for Smart’s writing as all the other character’s journeys were very smooth, believable. There were some signs for what happened, it just didn’t seem like a natural progression to me.This was a book that I was immensely looking forward to, and while it was a fantastic conclusion to the duology, Empress Crowned in Red just didn’t reach the same levels as its predecessor for me. That has nothing to do with how the book ended, I’d like to emphasise. I’m happy with the conclusion and I enjoyed the book a lot, I just felt that there were a few parts that just weren’t quite as good as Witches Steeped in Gold. As mentioned, the first half of the book didn’t quite catch my attention, and then there’s the out of character development of that character. Additionally, there was something related to a sub-plot that felt unfinished to me.Empress Crowned in Red is a wonderful book, and it made me laugh and cry. It also has one of the best battle scenes I have seen in a fantasy series. It just wasn’t quite a five-star read for me.For more of my reviews please visit my blog!

Great finish to an epic duology. I liked this sequel a lot more than the first book and I'm very satisfied with the ending. If Ciannon Smart writes more YA or adult fantasy, I'll definitely read it and look forward to it.

Massive thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an eArc of the book, in exchange for an honest review. If you loved the first book, I can promise you are going to love this one even more. Iraya and Jazmyne both have beautifully haunting character arcs that I know are going to stay with me for a long time. I'm sad that I won't see certain relationships resolved and healed in a third book in the saga but I couldn't have wished for a better ending. Aiyca had the ending I had always wished for it to have. The story was rife with tension between Iraya and Jazmyne as to who would emerge on the Golden Seat of Aiyca, although sometimes the pacing was too slow for my liking. Barring that this book was everything I wished it to be and more.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.Wow, what an ending to this powerful duology. Without wanting to give away any spoilers, this book gave me everything I wanted after finishing Witches Steeped in Gold, and then some things I didn't even know I was hoping for. Having two protagnosists on opposite sides of an ancient divide, forced to work together again and again means that throughout the series you truly have no idea who will eventually succeed which is a refreshing change in a fantasy series, where often the endings seem assured even if the method of getting there isn't. Making two such opposing characters equally likeable and relatable is a challenge that I think the author met well. Personally, I'm Team Iraya but I've always had a weakness for impatient, impulsive warriors, and Jazmyne as a counterpoint demonstrates that there is more than one way to be a strong female lead, which is a message I can always get behind. As with the first book, my only complaint is one of pacing, the plot dips a bit in the middle before picking up speed to race toward the end, but overall I loved this, even more than the first book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bonnier Books for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. Empress Crowned in Red is the epic conclusion to Witches Steeped in Gold. Brimming with magic, hope and heartbreak, this is a stunning finale you won’t want to miss. The sequel follows rival witches Jazmyne and Iraya in their tentative alliance to save their home from a new, unknown enemy. Tempers clash and betrayal lurks at every corner, making this impossible to put down. This book is dual POV, which can be confusing at times, but is necessary for the storyline to work. It is action packed and the pacing is good, but it is a long book (so be prepared). The writing style is definitely aimed at more mature readers, it reads more like an adult book than YA, the wording can be quite complex. Saying this, the writing was lovely, almost lyrical and the descriptions were excellent. I would also recommend re-reading the first book before starting this, I didn’t and it took me a while to catch up with characters and events that took place in WSIG. Personally, I think this book almost did an injustice to Jazmyne, she was portrayed as being quite weak at times, I think she deserved more of a character arc. I also thought the final chapter felt too short, I expected to see more of an epilogue. However, besides these small observations, this was an enjoyable read and I was emotionally invested in the characters and the storyline.

I received an advanced reading copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.This is an epic follow up to Witches Steeped in Gold that does what every great sequel should do, more of the same mixed with fresh elements and expansive vision. Empress Crowned in Red takes us on a wild journey for the fight for Aiyca with more allies, more enemies and higher stakes than before. Smart weaves the dual perspective story with complex characters in a lyrical way that thrusts you into their world so deeply I wasn't sure who I was ultimately rooting for because I was emotionally invested in all the characters journeys. While this is professed as a conclusion to the witches story I can't help but hope there will be more stories set in this world because there is so much depth to the world building or maybe just a killer adaptation in the future. Either way I enjoyed the novel I'd love to see more.

Saying this right at the start: this is book 2 of 2. So if you haven't read book 1 then you should (and I reviewed that here). If you decide to read on and open the spoiler section, you'll find spoilers from the first book.Right here is good if you need a memory refresh though, because I'm going to recap some of the things I'm thinking are probably important for this book, before I start reading.(view spoiler)[Alright. So we left off with a lot of confusion, and a lot of different threads, some of which had been pulled together.The doyenne is dead, long live the new doyenne: Jazmyne. Throughout the first book, she grew from totally unready to lead, to finding her power, to getting a liiiiittle bit drunk on it. Subplot ready to turn into plotplot: the pirates! She wants to be doyenne and pirate queen because otherwise the pirates will be coming, as soon as they elect one. So that's that. She's thrown in with them and they with her.Ira - aka Iraya Adair, last scion of the Adair family Jazmyne's mother (and her Unlit buddies) killed. She had sworn herself to the Warrior cast and the super secret order of super secrecy. She doesn't want to be doyenne, she never did, but she did want to kill the doyenne who killed her parents. Here enters a whole winding tale between Ira and the Obeah and Kidan and Jazmyne as she tries to reconcile the weight of expectations placed on her the second anyone figures out who she is, with her desire to get revenge and head off again to find her super secret sect. She's softened a little, realising that had she worked with people before things would have gone better, and certain awful things wouldn't have happened. It's humbled her a little, but her arrogance won't stay away for long, I'm sure. Her biggest magical issue has been the glyphs stopping her "naevus" - the ancestral magic. Getting rid of or working around them has to be a priority, and so far she's been good at neither. Plus, whenever she pushes, destructive blinding light (hello naevus) erupts from her. This has the side effect of immediately telling everyone in the vicinity the the Lost Empress is right there.Kirdan. Well now, he's an interesting one. Posed as a cousin if the doyenne who rules the Zesians–a people who really really want to take the Aiycan island for themselves because it's the only place where the golden conduit coins live, and magi need to use coins as conduits for their magic (except for Ira, because she is one of the Super Special Descendants with a special core of power aside from the usual). Turns out, he's the prince and firstborn. Unfortunately for him, firstborn boys are not looked upon fondly by a matriarchal society in which the passing on of magic is done by death or sharing. A firstborn boy is seen as taking magic that isn't rightly his. So they put them into the army of bastards and train them up real good to fight.Kirdan, who had allied with Delsyn and Sham, two Obeah who Ira tried super hard to push away, wants to help Iraya but she made it lots harder for them, which was actually pretty funny. But he wants Iraya, if she won't lead, to at least revoke the law that doesn't allow a doyen, before appointing him to that post either over all, or in Zesia.And Ira needs to decide on things soon, because the Jade Guild, assumed by all to be disgruntled Obeah, are, in fact, Unlit who are tearing holes in the Veil to let nasty beasties through. They plan to isolate all three islands (which is pretty much done), capture Aiyca for the conduit gold, then go after everything else. And having successfully propaganda’d themselves into looking like the plucky rebels, their actual Obeah ranks are swelling.Last bit of recap: jéges. These are four mythical-but-real items, two of which can only be activated by an Adair. A locket which amplifies magic (Adair only); a tome of deep and powerful patwah spells: a mirror in two halves; one of which we have seen used and reflects back any spell that hits it, magnified x10 (Adair only); and the aforementioned Conduit Falls.Currently, the tome and one half of the mirror are with Ira and the others. The Falls are not moveable, but nobody knows where they are without a doyenne's secret knowledge of the thing. And the others are presumably with Jazmyne.I hope Iraya finds a way to break the traditions, to be a new type of Empress who can stand for herself, as a Warrior, as well as a ruler. Her people have this weird, compulsive, imposed fragility thing that they push upon their Empresses, and that's a big part of the problem for her–being a fighter and all. (hide spoiler)]Alrighty then, onto the book!I am getting more and more needy about wanting to know details about this world. Everything around the story is so rich with life and history–and secrecy–this book just adds to it. I desperately don't want to be forced to leave this world behind.Some of the writing strikes me anew. As we see Roje the pirate more, Smart uses nautical words to describe his voice, his tone, his mood. It's a neat touch, that just speaks again to the detail with which Smart has written.The plotlines from book 1 were numerous, so the introduction of a bunch more was worrying at first. There was an awful lot happening, and it was all going kind of slowly. But suddenly you realise everything actually led somewhere and it's time for the Big Finish!I loved these books and the world they're set in. Grab them both if you can.Queer character info: Anya from the last book, some hints of others - definitely there. Vea has died offscreen.

I would reread this book in a heartbeat if it wasn't 750 pages4.5 rounded up to 5. Yes I recommend (but recommend reading book 2 right after book 1 or you'll spend the first 100 pages confused)Summary: Smart's mastery of imagery and world building kept me going through the slow burn (both romance AND plot). Iraya is the smart a$$ protagonist, brave to the point of reckless, we love to cheer for, while Jazmyne fights the internal struggles many relate to. I loved their character arcs, the self realization of both, and the connections they form with secondary characters. At times I was very confused (especially in the beginning, I really should've read the two books closer together) both due to the long prose (that were beautiful) and the complex world building. There were a few too many important secondary characters. I really wish this would've been a trilogy instead of a 750 page book. Characters: Iraya - Too perfect sometimes, hilarious others, always my favorite. She was witty, cunning, and an overall bad a$$ that kept me so invested in the story. Jazmyne - At times she was whiny and annoying. I wanted to skip through her chapters to get back to Iraya in the first half of hte book, but Jazymne truly had the best character arc (in my opinion) so by the end, I wanted more of her. Kirdan - I loved the conflict between Iraya and Kirdan. It gave their relationship more depth than "I think you're hot" because he truly had his own motivations and was so much more than many love interests in fantasy romance are (not that this is truly fantasy romance but has similar tropes/feels). Other secondary characters - the deaths hit HARD, the betrayals harder. They were main characters in their own lives, each with selfish motivations and realistic reactions to the horrors of what their leaders must do to win the war. I could've done with a few less of them, however.PlotHere's where I took off the half star, it does drag at points. It's 750 pages, of course it's going to drag when you have chapter after chapter of political intrigue because they have to amass the armies and make alliances and develop as characters, however, I think a good 200 pages could've been cut without damaging the plot or character development. During the slow parts, I really just had to focus on the beauty of Smart's prose and the one liners that HIT. The ending did feel a bit rushed, especially since the rest of the book was so long, and definitely had a "power of friendship" vibe that I knew was coming but kind of hoped wasn't. World buildingThe world was both immersive and too much. I felt lost through many parts and had to scour back through the book to find small points that made things fit together. Part of this is a me-problem, as it's Jamaican-based fantasy so many words and titles were unfamiliar (that is not a critique of the book at all, but of my ability to adjust from primarily medieval based fantasy). I was a bit confused on distances between locations, and time skips between the dual POVs did not help as we'd jump back and forth.

Y’all. When I tell you it took me almost a month to finish this book I mean it. It was a really good book I loved the elements added the suspense the plot twists that happened every so often the heart break I felt with every betrayal like I would absolutely tell someone to read this series. I love a good witch story and this was absolutely something i expected from witches. The feminist plotting the enemies to lovers The Who did this to you and touch her and you die tropes the creatures that were used that weren’t JUST witches I loved it all. Now let me tell you why it’s only four stars. Ciannon, girl! You did my girl jazmyne sooooo dirty!!!! From book one to now o felt like jazmyne deserved soooo much better! Like if her hair wasn’t grey I feel it would’ve eventually turned grey!!! And the ending?? I know you said this book was a duology but I felt like the ending could have been considered a close hanger! At the very LEAST put an epilogue of all the rights done a decade or so later so I can be SATISFIED by the characters developments and plots that you so generously left holes for. Roje? I need to know! What did the island look like afterwards? Are you going to make stories on the other surrounding islands on the future?? I have sooo many questions. And that’s fine! I feel like later down the road you will answer some of these and I’ll be happy getting another book from you to appease my appetite for more. Because in all honesty that’s what this is; an appetite for more of the story. If an author does not leave me craving more of their work on the future then something is wrong THANK YOU for this story it was everything I needed an more. 10/10 would recommend to someone else starting on YA to NA in high fantasy ❤️❤️Still upset I didn’t get a map though :(

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.Empress crowned in red starts immediately from where we left off in the previous book Witches steeped in Gold, again from the POV of Jazmine and Iraya. The book starts off at a fast pace and continues throughout the book. I loved Ciannon Smart’s writing style and the rich and compelling world she has built in this series, the long history and characters are rich and complex. I think Jazmine and Iraya go through quite a character change in this book, compared to the first, though all the betrayal and political intrigue that they both must overcome in this book. I also loved the ending and felt that it was true to the characters. On a less positive note, the book is looooong, maybe too long, it did feel like a bit of a slog trying to get through it at some parts, overall, however, I did enjoy the series as a whole, and I’m excited to see what Ciannon will do next.

I gave 4 out of 5 stars. I missed Iraya and her sassy attitude and speech. And the most growth prize goes to Jazmyne, she had the most ups and downs of all the characters, she lost her way and found it several times. The betrayals that happened has me spinning and gasping. You are lured into a false sense of security and then the rug is pulled from under your feet over and over again. It is a dizzying feeling to not know what to expect and expect the worst. I have one question (why do some rulers think that fear equates to respect?). I loved the end, two ladies who will never like each other but who can grow and evolve together. This is the kind of female empowerment story I like to read, if they are petty it is not for a man and if they stab each other in the back, it is for power, not a man. A balanced matriarchal society where men are not subjugated but women are the clear rulers by design.

Absolutely stunning. This book is a masterpiece. Everything about this duology is so intricately detailed that this world feels fully realised. Smart reveals details and shows us other countries within the empire that are so different to Aciya. It really feels as if this world stretches on, further than the book. The character arcs are fully fleshed and Iraya and Jazmyne are formidable protagonists- i love them both, but i hold a special place in my heart for Jazmyne. If you relate to 'i try my best but it's never enough' i think you'll love her too.Smart's writing is incredible. Some lines read like poetry, some cut deep, and some resonated so deeply that I'd like them tattooed. I have so much love for this duology, especially as someone from the Jamaican diaspora. Seeing folklore from my heritage as the foundation for an expansive fantasy such as this was something I'll be forever grateful for.I will be reading everything Smart writes :)

I will be the first to admit that I should have read my copy of Witches Steeped in Gold before starting to read the second book in this duology. I will honestly say that perhaps this is why I did not enjoy Empress as much as I should have. I found the pace of the book quite slow and it was terribly difficult for me to get drawn into the story. Despite this I can wholeheartedly day that Ciannon Smart is an incredible writer for the level of detail and world building that went into her two creations, just because it was not for me personally, it doesn't meant I can't appreciate how talented and accomplished a wtiter she is. If you read and loved Witches Steeped in Gold, then you definitely need to read Empress Crowned in Red.

Thanks to Netgalley and publishers for this eARC of Empress Crowned in RedI was excited to read this follow up to Witches Steeped In Gold.This was beautifully written and followed on perfectly from the first novel.The writing technique is similar to WSIG and the chapters are from Iraya and Jazmyne's point of view. The character development was evidently improved and the pace of the storyline moved along well, making it an enjoyable read.

The sprawling epic continuation of Witches Steeped in Gold satisfied on many levels. With its extensive world-building and complex characterization, this is a book to be savored. I read both novels in this series via audiobook, and the narration is phenomenal. Iraya’s swagger and Jazmyne’s subtle ennui come through beautifully. I hope there will be a third book!

I was so excited to see this in arc form as I loved Witches Steeped in Gold. Well written with an enchanting storyline and well developed charcaters that I of coursed adored. I loved the dual narrative aspectthat was beautifully written. I was gripped right from the very start and found this book heart -wrenching in places. I couldn't put it down and I didn't want it to end.