Heavy Crown

Heavy CrownBrutal BirthrightSofie Lark

Apr 1

Written By Ally Talley

Brutal Birthright #6

By Sofie Lark

*Can be read as a standalone*

TheStory

Sebastion saves Yelena from a would-be kidnapping, sparking a relationship between the two of them. But their origin story is not all it seems. Lies and manipulations cloud their relationship from the start. Nothing stays hidden forever and when the lies come to light, they may not be able to be overcome.

TheReview

While this is a pretty whirlwind romance from the beginning, Yelena is also just a pawn. She might not have been who Sebastian thought she was exactly but she doesn’t really have any power in her world.

Watching their relationship develop and Yelena change along the way was amazing. They worked so well together and seeing them flourish with each other was just beautiful.

Obviously, given how they met, the families hated each other so that seemed as though it would be the main catalyst for drama. Which it was. But it didn’t actually cause too much until the big blowup.

While I loved Yelena’s character development, Sebastian took a turn from what I thought he would. It seemed a little odd the way he handled everything at the end, given that he wasn’t even anywhere near the chosen heir of the family. He went from being a semi-pro ball player with dreams of college to THAT ending?? Now, I know his basketball dreams were shattered in the previous books but still, it seemed like a WAY dramatic shift.

The bulk of the story was Yelena and Sebastion getting together and then spending time together. However, the ultimate result of the betrayals in this book are setting up for the next series. This one really reads like a prequel to Kingmakers, the next generation of the families in Brutal Birthright. So if you plan to read that one, you may want to read this one first. I would highly recommend. Even if not the whole series, at least this one book.

And what a blowup it was! Holy cow. I was expecting a much smaller version of what actually happened. I was on the edge of my seat. It didn’t exactly follow a standard enemies-to-lovers. The dark drama actually happens about 50% of the way through the book, leaving a lot of time for the subsequent fall out and resolution.

And oh man, was the last 50% needed to handle all that drama.

Overall, it was a really well-written story with plenty of twists and turns that kept me fully hooked. The epilogue is eighteen years later and sets up spectacularly for the Kingmakers series. I am SO excited to read that one but this one was also amazing. I had a fantastic time reading the whole series.