Review: 'Crown of Coral and Pearl' by Maya Rutherford

"For generations, the princes of Ilara have married the most beautiful maidens form the ocean village of Varenia. But though every girl longs to be chosen as the next princess, the cost of becoming royalty is higher than any of them could ever imagine..."

I will firstly start by saying that this is normally the kind of book that I will pick up and only get a few chapters in before putting it down and inevitably let it sit on my shelf for a while. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this book and actually found myself completely absorbed in the story (I actually managed to missed my train station because I was so intrigued).

The premise of this story focuses on Nor, who is sent to marry the prince, replacing her sister who is gravely injured. I particularly liked the way that the pacing of the first half of book was set, giving us a chance to explore Nor's relationship with her family (especially her twin sister Zadie) and those in her village and provided a thorough background to understand and compare many of the characters' actions in the second half.

That being said, I did find the ending slightly more rushed than I would have liked, and was found parts of it a little cliche. Given how many intricacies were explored at the beginning, it would have been nice to have seen a similar level of depth toward the ending. This. was already quite a long book and I would much have preferred it to continue a little longer for a less rushed ending (but I always admit that well-written and angst-filled relationships between different characters interest my far more than action scenes).

On the whole I did not have a favourite character, though I did enjoy exploring the different motivations and backstories. I liked that Nor was intelligent and strong, but also vulnerable. But what interested me more was discovering the reasoning behind Ceren's actions, who, despite my dislike (props to the author for creating such a reaction) was still fascinating, particularly the politics he was playing at court.

Rutherford's writing was the reason why I managed to finish the book. I found myself engaging with the story in a way I frequently struggle with reading fantasy, especially given that this type of plot is one I feel I've seen quite a bit.

This was quite an enjoyable book, and one that I would encourage you. to read if. you are looking for a well-written fantasy with a bad-ass main character.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

ISBN: 9781489282712

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Publication Date: 19/08/2019

RRP: $19.99 AUD