Claire Legrand

Sun Queen Rielle faces new trials as she tries to maintain the Gate and is tempted by the angel Corien, while centuries later, Eliana must choose whether to embrace the crown or reject it forever.

Kingsbane

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

Aimee :)

Away from Baingarde. Away from Ame de la Terre.

Away from Rielle, and the home in which Audric had loved her.

THEORY: AFTER THE TIME TRAVEL AND CORIEN GOT INTO ELIANA’S MIND HE WENT INTO SIMON’S WHICH IS MAKING HIM ACT LIKE THIS

Then he took off his mask, confirming it.

The face of Ioseph Ferracora stared back at her--a jutting chin, like Remy. Dark hair, pale skin, eyes like two thick drops of black paint.

"No!" Remy cried, his voice splitting open. His sobs were terri-ble, ragged and squalling, and he tried to turn his face away from the sight of their father, staring at them with angel-dark eyes, but Simon wouldn't let him. Simon, a cruel smile playing at the corner of his mouth, held Remy right where he was.

His voice belonged to the Wolf, iced over and unfeeling.

He dragged Remy along with him--one hand gripping his arm, the other holding a knife to his throat.

Eliana's mouth went dry. She recognized that jagged blade.

That, absurdly, was the thing that made tears spring to her eyes at last.

He had taken her favorite goddamned knife.

She repeated it to herself, twenty times over. Fifty. One hundred.

She would keep repeating it until it no longer hurt her.

Does she still love me? Harkan could no longer speak. His thoughts were a whisper, fading. But he needed to know. He needed, he needed.

Oh, Harkan, Zahra replied, soft and sad. She never stopped.

I KNEW SOMETHING WAS OFF WHEN ELIANA GOT BACK FROM TALKING TO RIELLE BUT I DIDN’T EXPECT THIS

Simon was leading Eliana not to freedom, but to the admiral.

We live in a world where children must learn to be killers, he thought, tears rising to his eyes. Where girls must grow up to become bounty hunters. Venerated saviors and frightened queens.

And now you've proven them all right. You're the monster Aryava foretold. A traitor and a liar."

"My name is Eliana," said the girl. "I am your daughter."

"I don't love you," she whispered, the lie bitter on her tongue. "I refuse to love you."

"I know," he said and held her to him, stroking her hair. "I don't love you either."

And that, she decided, was the worst thing she could imagine. Not to lose a beloved thing, but to have it taken from you, to have the experience of it ripped from your heart, leaving no memory behind.

if they rewrote the course of history so that the blood Queen never fell and the Empire died before it could begin, none of this would have ever happened. She would never have been Remy's sister, or known Harkan, or killed Rozen.

She would never have fallen in love with Simon.

"Please, can I touch you? I've dreamt of this, Eliana. Worshipping you, for hours and hours."

She smiled up at him, raising an eyebrow. "Hours? My, aren't we ambitious?"

And even that wouldn't be enough for me,"

she became aware of how, for the first time since she had known him, Audric was regarding her with something like fear.

Tal voicing them aloud had merely solidified them and brought into sharp clarity their twin truth.

If she was a burden to Tal, to any of them, then perhaps that was only fair. For the burden of their humanity, pale and fragile in comparison to her own, something she was expected to imitate and admire despite its smallness, was one she had carried her entire life.

"Can't you take them off, even for a little while?"

"I'm dangerous," Eliana whispered. "I'm a monster, in fact."

"Aren't we all?" Jessamyn pressed Eliana's hands gently together, between her own. "Is it awful," she said with a little smile, "that knowing you're dangerous makes me want to kiss you?"

"We fight until we can't fight anymore, and then we die, and none of it will matter anyway. Nothing's changing."

"We are the light against the darkness, and we must continue to burn brightly, so others may find their way out."

okay so maybe my theory wasn’t that correct but i knew he would betray her somehow

Harkan was drugging her, just as Fidelia had done all those weeks ago in Sanctuary.

"It's an old Astavari word, one we learned from Saint Tameryn's writings. Roughly translated, it means, You carry my heart. An expression of love and of warning. It is a great responsibility, to be trusted with another's heart."

"A woman doesn't need to read minds in order to speak to another woman. We have a language, especially when danger is near."

"You could burn me a thousand times, and I would still want you for my own."

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. 

Rachael Copas

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

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