The Crimson Crown – Amy Leigh Reads

Worth the hype?!

August 21, 2025August 8, 2025by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment

Every year I am definitely influenced by social media to pick up certain books that are super popular or just generally hyped! And for some reason all the girlies have been gravitating more towards fantasy and romantasy, or at least that’s what’s coming up on my FYP over the last year or so. I have 5 books that I thought were worth the hype and another five that I didn’t quite like or understand as much as the masses…

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman – wild, weird, unexpectedly touching, and genuinely funny. Definitely worth the hype!

Phantasma by Kaylie Smith – This has potential, but I wanted more depth, more connection.

The Crimson Moth by Kristen Ciccarelli – this just had me hooked right from the start!

Rebel Witch by Kristen Ciccarelli – unfortunately didn’t live up to my expectations after the first book!

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros – the dragons and the plot twists did it for me!

Deep End by Ali Hazelwood – Just ok… Scarlett was a little too insecure for me, Lukas was everything!

Gild by Raven Kennedy – I had very low expectations but I was pleasantly surprised!

Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett – I had to DNF after this book literally put me to sleep.

Quicksilver by Callie Hart – just enough spice sprinkled onto this pretty typical fae storyline with some fun twists and turns along the way!

Powerless by Lauren Roberts – just an unnecessarily long, tropey book

Top Ten Tuesdays

Books With Colours in the titles

August 4, 2020August 4, 2020by amyleighreads17 Comments

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt is books with colours in the titles. I went through all the books I’ve read over the last year or so and these were the ones that I found!

The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman

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The Black Prism by Brent Weeks

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Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

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Red Rising & Golden Son by Pierce Brown

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Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

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Red Sister & Grey Sister by Mark Lawrence

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The Crimson Crown by Cinda Williams Chima

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The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

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Book Lists

Quarterly Reading Recommendations

June 28, 2019June 28, 2019by amyleighreads1 Comment

This is my second installment of my quarterly reading recommendations for 2019. Every 3 months I will be looking over all the books I’ve read in that time and picking out my top 10 favourites. Then at the end of the year I will compile my lists and pick my top 10 overall from the books I’ve selected where I will be going a little more in depth! If you want to check out my first quarterly reading recommendations click HERE.

So in no particular order my reading recommendations for April-May-June are:

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

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Bloodwitch by Susan Dennard

Red Sister & Grey Sister by Mark Lawrence

Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young

The Crimson Crown by Cinda Williams Chima

Vampire Academy & Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

Wrap Ups

May Wrap Up

May 31, 2019May 31, 2019by amyleighreads2 Comments

I had another great reading month in May! Finished nearly everything on my May TBR and then managed to complete a few extra books on the side that I have been wanting to get to for a while now. I think this was my most successful reading month of the year so far and I had a great time reading through these books!

Pride by Ibi Zoboi – ⭐️3.5/5 stars

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio – ⭐️4/5 stars

Never World Wake by Marisha Pessl – ⭐️4/5 stars

99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne – ⭐️4/5 stars

Sea Witch by Sarah Henning – ⭐️3.5/5 stars

Red Sister by Mark Lawrence – ⭐️5/5 stars

Save the Date by Morgan Matson – ⭐️3/5 stars

Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young – ⭐️5/5 stars

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness – ⭐️5/5 stars

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang – ⭐️3/5 stars

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling – ⭐️5/5 stars

What if it’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera – ⭐️4/5 stars

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland – ⭐️4/5 stars

The Crimson Crown by Cinda Williams Chima – ⭐️5/5 stars

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang – ⭐️4.5/5 stars

Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart – ⭐️4/5 stars

Reviews

The Crimson Crown Review

May 27, 2019May 26, 2019by amyleighreads2 Comments

8069828 My new favourite fantasy series ever??

This was absolutely perfect in my opinion. Everything I love about fantasy all wound together to make this absolutely wonderful conclusion to a series that may have made its way to the top of my all time favourite list!

Raisa was everything that I needed her to be in this book. She followed her gut and her heart and never strayed from what she believed in until she thought all was lost and even then she still tried to figure out a way to prevent war in the Vale and save as many people as she could. She is more than willing to trade her life for the good of her people and she didn’t let me down in this book. I had a few misgivings about her throughout the series but she really took everything she has learnt and put it to play and ultimately went with her heart, which I absolutely loved!

What can I say about Han… ever since The Demon King he has steadfastly been my favourite character in this series and he has honestly gone above and beyond my expectations. He has proved time and time again that he will do anything for the people that he loves and is loyal to a fault. You never know what to expect from him and he is such an entertaining character. His arc over the course of the series as well was momentous; from a street lord at Ragmarket to the High Wizard of the Queen. I loved seeing him manipulate and also struggle in his attempt to overthrow the Bayers and how eventually his plan unfolded and came to fruition was everything that I hoped for. There was so many obstacles that Han and Raisa had to overcome and knowing that it didn’t come easy and without loss only made it more satisfying.

It delved so much deeper into the history of the Seven Realms and all my questions about what happened between Alger and Hannalea was unearthed and I was completely blindsided. I honestly didn’t predict anything that happened and I tried to go into to the book without thinking to much about what plot twists could happen next and I was rewarded with so many convoluted, intricate storylines that shocked and amazed me!

I truly loved this book and the Seven Realms series as a whole. Cinda Williams Chima is now one of my favourite fantasy authors and I will without a doubt be picking up the Stormcaster series as soon as I can get my hands on it!

⭐️5/5 stars Perfection!