Name: Kingsbane
ISBN: 9781492691693

Claire Legrand

Age range 14 to 18 The #1 LibraryReads Pick author of Furyborn is back with the second book in the epic New York Times bestselling Empirium Trilogy! Rielle Dardenne has been anointed Sun Queen, but her trials are far from over. The Gate keeping the angels at bay is falling. To repair it, Rielle must collect the seven hidden castings of the saints. Meanwhile, to help her prince and love Audric protect Celdaria, Rielle must spy on the angel Corien -- but his promises of freedom and power may prove too tempting to resist. Centuries later, Eliana Ferracora grapples with her new reality: She is the Sun Queen, humanity's long-awaited savior. But fear of corruption -- fear of becoming another Rielle -- keeps Eliana's power dangerous and unpredictable. Hunted by all, racing against time to save her dying friend Navi, Eliana must decide how to wear a crown she never wanted by embracing her mother's power or rejecting it forever.

The Empirium Trilogy

Kingsbane

Valeria

Rachael Copas

She fixed him witha hard stare. "A woman doesn't need to read minds in order to speak to another woman. We have a language, especially when danger is near.”

"I want as much as you'll give me. I want you for as long as we have left."

Obritsa was quiet for a long time. He sensed her praying, which she wasn't good at, because she hated God. 

Aimee :)

"Have you read the books I retrieved for you?"

Simon blew out a sharp breath. "Have you at least read the passages I marked?"

“For someone who claims to hate me, you certainly do kiss me a lot.”

Book two in the New York Times bestselling series called "Beautiful, brutal, heart-stopping, and epic" (Laini Taylor)! Two queens, separated by thousands of years, connected by secrets and lies, must continue their fight amid deadly plots and unthinkable betrayals that will test their strength—and their hearts. Rielle Dardenne has been anointed Sun Queen, but her trials are far from over. The Gate keeping the angels at bay is falling. To repair it, Rielle must collect the seven hidden castings of the saints. Meanwhile, to help her prince and love Audric protect Celdaria, Rielle must spy on the angel Corien—but his promises of freedom and power may prove too tempting to resist. Centuries later, Eliana Ferracora grapples with her new reality: She is the Sun Queen, humanity's long-awaited savior. But fear of corruption—fear of becoming another Rielle—keeps Eliana's power dangerous and unpredictable. Hunted by all, racing against time to save her dying friend Navi, Eliana must decide how to wear a crown she never wanted—by embracing her mother's power, or rejecting it forever. Praise for Furyborn: A BuzzFeed Most Anticipated Title of Spring 2018 A Goodreads Most Anticipated Title of Spring 2018 A Bustle Most Anticipated Title of Spring 2018 "A must-read." —Refinery29 "A series to watch." —Paste magazine "Visionary." —Bustle magazine "One of the biggest new YA fantasies." —Entertainment Weekly "Empowering." —BuzzFeed

arwen

edit (17/01/21) reread
corielle and simoneliana will be the death of me

Riley Bell

Oh wow this was so much better than the first book, From the very start i was deeply interested in it, eager to read more and more. I couldn’t get enough of the storyline and the characters. But the very end is what got me, near the end everything picked up and became so intense and shocking. I can’t get over it, I have so many questions. I was reading so fast because i wanted to know more whilst i had and have tears in my eyes. My mind is truly blown, i knew something was off but still i didn’t expect any of that. This was really well written and i’m not going to stop thinking about the ending for a while.

Kaitlyn Johnson 

This book is written with immense detail, creating a unique and fascinating experience. I will say I did struggle at one point but that wasn’t due to the book that was more towards my own preference. However, you go through enemies to lovers to enemies, friends to lovers to enemies in this book it’s a wonderful book to delve into.

mercy

4.5 but for eliana and simon only someone check on them their backs must be hurting from carrying this whole trilogy rielle corien and audric get off the stage boooo 🍅

Emily B

Ok. I’m not gonna lie. That really hurt. Like, monumentally. Like, the other only other book experience I’ve had that hurt this much was that one moment towards the end of Kingdom of Ash by SJM (fans of ToG, you know what I mean). Despite the fact that I’m still reeling, I absolutely adored this book. The world was expanded, and the new history revealed was a twist that changed everything for me. Rielle’s slow descent to becoming the Blood Queen she was destined to be was a beautiful and painful thing to watch. Eliana’s journey to accepting her power and responsibility was something that made my heart reach out for her and cheer her on. And through it all, despite what he’s done, I still love Corien. I both love him and hate him, and I understand him better now, and I am hoping/praying for a redemption arc for him. Unfortunately, I’m aware of how slim a chance that is, so the least I can do is wish him a peaceful end. This trilogy has become one of my all time favorites. I am DESPERATELY waiting for Lightbringer. It cannot come fast enough!!

Madelyn

Annabella

What... what... WHAT.   WHAAAAAAAT??!   My head is spinning, holy shit

Leonor Ribeiro 

Alex Roland

I am so upset by the last 5% of this book. I am heartbroken and mad and I hate everyone in the book rn. Ugh!!

this was intense and wonderful. The end had a twist I did NOT see coming. I cannot wait to pick up the next one.

Shai

macy

Cassie Annesi

Savannah Winchell

3.75 ⭐️
I’m not gonna lie and say I’m not disappointed. Rielle’s story was like 2⭐️ but Eliana was 4⭐️. The beginning was messy shit but the end was pretty solid so like??? Idk

Livia

You know that you have read all kinds of fantasy with different kinds of plot twists and direction of the story when you can predict the ending or not get surprised at all by it

The Instant New York TimesBestseller! The anticipated sequel to the New York Timesbestseller Furyborn! Two queens, separated by thousands of years, connected by secrets and lies, must continue their fight amid deadly plots and unthinkable betrayals that will test their strength--and their hearts. Rielle Dardenne has been anointed Sun Queen, but her trials are far from over. The Gate keeping the angels at bay is falling. To repair it, Rielle must collect the seven hidden castings of the saints. Meanwhile, to help her prince and love Audric protect Celdaria, Rielle must spy on the angel Corien--but his promises of freedom and power may prove too tempting to resist. Centuries later, Eliana Ferracora grapples with her new reality: She is the Sun Queen, humanity's long-awaited savior. But fear of corruption--fear of becoming another Rielle--keeps Eliana's power dangerous and unpredictable. Hunted by all, racing against time to save her dying friend Navi, Eliana must decide how to wear a crown she never wanted--by embracing her mother's power, or rejecting it forever. Praise for Furyborn: A BuzzFeed Most Anticipated Title of Spring 2018 A Goodreads Most Anticipated Title of Spring 2018 A Bustle Most Anticipated Title of Spring 2018 "A must-read." --Refinery29 "A series to watch." --Pastemagazine "Visionary." --Bustlemagazine "One of the biggest new YA fantasies." --Entertainment Weekly "Empowering." --BuzzFeed

Sophia Lazari

4.5⭐️
All I have to say is that this betrayal and plot twist shocked me so much I considered burning this book and my house with it. Such a well written and well developed book, I loved the multiple perspectives and how the stories align, but most of all I love the characters and how deep their connections ran. No words, just picking the next one up as I write this cause waiting one more second for an explanation is going to drive me insane.

Allison Garrett

I started reading this book immediately after Furyborn which from looking at other’s reviews seemed like a good choice due to Legrand’s intense worldbuilding. In a lot of trilogies, the second book always seems like a drop off, but I don’t think that held true for Kingsbane. If anything, I was significantly more invested in this storyline. 

Pros: 
•	Worldbuilding: We get to see many of the countries in this installment, and the worldbuilding seemed more natural instead of the first book where I felt it was just thrown at the reader. 
•	Character development: I think Eliana grew a substantially compared to Rielle. In the first book I would look forward to Rielle’s sections and dreaded Eliana’s which flipped for me in this book. 
Cons: 
•	Split POV: I can understand how it is necessary for the stories to be split since they take place in different times, but it is jarring to go from two vastly different storylines. I especially hated the minor character’s POV, but I do see where Legrand was able to maximize the story through small snippets of other’s POV. 
•	Mixed up pacing: It took a while for this book to get going, and as much character development was happening the plot was relatively slow until the ending. 

Kingsbane left off with a huge cliffhanger, so I can’t wait until Lightbringer! 

Rating 4.5/5 stars

9 times out of ten I can spot a plot twist but the ending of this book shook me to my core. I audibly gasped when ioseph was revealed to be the admiral, and I sobbed when Simon’s betrayal came to light (still secretly hoping he is somehow possessed even though his eyes are the same). Also rielle and audric :(((((( so much heartbreak it was SO good for a sequel. 

Elena Efthimiopoulou

The second book was definitely better.  The characters developed very well and most of all the story started to involve in a nice pace . While, at the beginning, it still felt as if the one story was evolving quicker than the other, it was definitely worth reading it.

Scarlett A.

4 /⭐️
2/🌶

Find my review for Kingsbane here.

Emi Gilmore 

Someone murdering me would hurt less than this book

Katie savino 

This book gave me so many intense emotions. I was constantly changing my opinions of characters as I learned more about them. It gave me the same feelings I got from the Mistborn Trilogy. No one has plot armor and nothing is forever. This book destroyed me. Cannot wait to start book 3 immediately. Took off half a star because I don’t think I’m going to get happy fairy tale ending that I want. 

stephanie archer 

Ludivine is the only reason that i keep reading these books. my girl is so underrated and also there has been three confirmed queer women in this story which i enjoy very much as a queer women especially to see that it doesn’t fully take over the story. it’s literally just mentioned in a sentence all three times and then the plot moves on. nice touch.

kezzie

!!books like this are the reason i have trust issues!!

Kingsbane The Empirium Trilogy