Casters and Crowns Elizabeth Lowham

Posted September 29, 2024 by jrsbookr in Uncategorized / 0 Comments

by Elizabeth Lowham
Casters and Crowns  Elizabeth LowhamCasters and Crowns Published by Shadow Mountain on October 1, 2024
Genres: Young Adult Fiction / Fantasy / Romance
Pages: 384
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Goodreads

Cursed by magic, bound by mistakes, Princess Aria finds her destiny hinges on the mysterious Baron Reeves. Will love be enough to break the curse, or will war bring her kingdom to ruin? A new romantasy by Elizabeth Lowham.

When Crown Princess Aria sees her kingdom on the brink of war with the magic-wielding Casters, she takes it upon herself to speak with Widow Morton, the most dangerous Caster in the realm. If successful, Aria will not only ensure peace but also prove to her father that she is a worthy heir. But when her negotiations fail, Aria is dealt a terrible curse: Over the course of one hundred days, she will be unable to sleep, her body and mind doomed to waste away. And then the curse will pass to her sister, until every member of the king's line is dead.

Aria's best hope for breaking her curse is to seek help from another Caster--the handsome and charming Baron Reeves. He may be entitled to a place at the court, but as a magic user, can he truly be trusted? She vows to not be fooled by his dimpled smiles or his devotion to his brothers, but as she spends more time with him, she discovers that her heart has other ideas.

Baron has no desire to see the princess suffer--especially since she might be the key to changing the king's opinion on Casters--but he has secrets to protect and ghosts of his own. The last person he tried to save using his magic died, and he's not willing to risk harming someone he loves again.

As the curse continues its deadly countdown, both Aria and Baron must risk their lives and their hearts to save each other and unite a kingdom.

Review:

Casters and Crowns is so well-written and well-plotted that I’m blown away. There are fairytale elements in this (namely Sleeping Beauty) with a deadly curse that reminded me somewhat of Sleeping Beauty’s curse. The curse is unique, and unlike anything, I’ve ever read in a fairytale or fantasy, where instead of sleeping for 100 years, Princess Aria is cursed to be unable to sleep over 100 days until she wastes away and dies. After that, it would pass on to her sister and everyone else until her entire family on the King’s side dies. And worse, the curse forbids her to tell anyone, so she can’t even ask for help. The story itself was so creative I had zero clue how she would get out of this.
The magic is not overly complicated, and you get a taste of the royal life of a princess just like you would in a fairytale. The world-building is done well and is not overly complicated like some fantasy tends to be.
Aria doubts her worthiness as a good ruler and feels she must prove herself. She is timid about standing up for what she thinks is correct but pushes through not because of an “I’m going to do what I want, so fuck you” attitude but because she wants to prove herself to the council and her father despite her self doubts. Sure, it all goes wrong and sets off the events of the curse, but I like that she struggles with talking herself out of ideas. She has to help her people because, like everyone else, she has self-doubts. However, her internal marking of all her doubts and mistakes did get a bit redundant at points in the story.

 

About Elizabeth Lowham

Elizabeth (Liz) Lowham dreams of a future house that is seventy-percent library with at least three lavish window seats. Her reality is five bookshelves and a rocking chair, which isn’t so bad. She is the author of Beauty Reborn, Astra Remade, and Casters & Crowns. She has a BA in English from BYUI.