Jaime Reviews ~ The Crown's Game (The Crown's Game #1) by Evelyn Skye
By Evelyn Skye
Published on May 17, 2016
Published by: Balzer + Bray
Source: Edelweiss/Around the World ARC Tours
Published by: Balzer + Bray
Source: Edelweiss/Around the World ARC Tours
Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia—and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the Tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.
And so he initiates the Crown’s Game, an ancient duel of magical skill—the greatest test an enchanter will ever know. The victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter and the Tsar’s most respected adviser. The defeated is sentenced to death.
Raised on tiny Ovchinin Island her whole life, Vika is eager for the chance to show off her talent in the grand capital of Saint Petersburg. But can she kill another enchanter—even when his magic calls to her like nothing else ever has?
For Nikolai, an orphan, the Crown’s Game is the chance of a lifetime. But his deadly opponent is a force to be reckoned with—beautiful, whip smart, imaginative—and he can’t stop thinking about her.
And when Pasha, Nikolai’s best friend and heir to the throne, also starts to fall for the mysterious enchantress, Nikolai must defeat the girl they both love . . . or be killed himself.
As long-buried secrets emerge, threatening the future of the empire, it becomes dangerously clear . . . the Crown’s Game is not one to lose.
The Crown's Game...
This book was unlike any other that I have experienced, and oh how I adored every single magical minute of it. Evelyn Skye is.... ! This book is genius, and so is its author. Magic is a favorite thing of mine, and this book of magic takes things to a whole other level.
But, BUT... there is so much more to this story than just the magic. There is intrigue and drama, intense emotions, hate and love and what it means to be a family, and so many other little things in between. I tend to say this on occasion, and I do always mean it, but this time even more so: You have to go into this book as blind as possible. Start fresh from the beginning, with no preconceived ideas or expectations. I don't normally do that. Normally, I will read reviews and check out comments to see what people have thought about a book. With this one, I just dove right in. And it made the experience so much better. (I think the people who do this regularly are onto something!).
The characters are so well written, and so intensely different from one another. Vika is fiery and stubborn, not afraid to speak her mind and she is incredibly confident about her abilities. Nikolai is quite the opposite. He is much more reserved and never quite sure about himself, but he has honor written all over him. I loved these two separately, and I loved them together. The secondary characters all played important parts to the story. From Vika's father to Nikolai's mentor, to Pasha the future tsar who is Nikolai's best friend, to the baker who becomes so much more, and the maid who deserves so much better, the characters jump right off of the pages.
The pacing isn't slow, but it isn't blinding either. It is right in the middle, keeping you focused in the story, but giving out details of the world and the magic of the Enchanters in perfect little segments. You can't help but continue reading, so that you can learn as much as possible as quickly as possible, but you also want to slow it down a little so you can savor it all the more. The Enchantments were so intriguing, especially one towards the end. And finally, the ending will rip your heart out, but then give you a tiny grain of hope before it ends and you are pretty much left crying in a heap knowing that there is a very long wait ahead of you. At least, that is how it happened for me!
I adored The Crown's Game. I really, really did. Evelyn Skye is a fantastic author. Her writing style is perfect for a fantasy, and her imagination is through the roof awesome. I very much look forward to the sequel of this wonderful story. I would definitely, 100% without a doubt, recommend that you go ahead and pre-order this one. And when it arrives, jump right into it. IT is so, so worth it!
Jaime Lynn
