The Witch Queen

The Crimson Crown Duology #2

by Heather Walter

Pay the price of blood and Snow White’s wicked queen rises to her destiny in the second book of a queer, witchy duology that’s hailed as “an alluring, vengeful origin story that brings tremendous dimension to the classic fairy tale” (Chloe Gong)—from the author of Malice.

The wicked queen’s story did not end with a happily ever after. And she wouldn’t have it any other way.

With the king bound to her magic mirror and Princess Blodwyn, the rightful heir, hidden away in the countryside, Queen Ayleth has the kingdom entirely at her command.

Despite her ultimate power, Ayleth finds herself With fears that the witches from her former coven will return to depose her. With the dread that someone at the palace will discover her secret. With her own deepening dark magic.

And with thoughts of her lost love, Jacquetta—the witch whose betrayal still haunts Ayleth as stubbornly as the lingering scent of juniper.

But Ayleth’s carefully built world begins to unravel when Blodwyn returns from exile accompanied by Margaret, the king’s scheming sister, and reveals a plan of her to invoke Braxos’s Trials, a contest of bravery, wisdom, and justice that could allow Blodwyn to retake the throne. Ayleth suddenly discovers she is in danger of losing the crown she sacrificed everything to win—and she will do anything to retain control.

And Ayleth isn’t the only one struggling with her altered position. Blodwyn’s homecoming soon proves more difficult than she imagined. Embroiled in Ayleth’s viperous court, Blodwyn is surrounded by enemies and plagued by rumors of a long-buried curse come to life. As family secrets resurface, the princess isn’t sure who—or what—she can trust. Especially when she may be falling for one of her rivals in the trials.

As the battle for the realm intensifies, both Ayleth and Blodwyn find themselves fighting not only for the throne but for the truth of their own souls. Soon, they must each What price are they willing to pay to wear the crown?

Genres: Fantasy, Lesbian, LGBT, Retellings, Adult, Romantasy, Queer

542 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 4, 2026

About the author

Heather Walter has been telling stories for as long as she can remember. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with both English and Information Science degrees, books are--and always will be--a definitive part of her life.

As an author, Heather loves writing about what-ifs, flawed protagonists, and re-imagined history. Her favorite characters are usually villains.

When not writing, you can find her reading (duh), knitting, binging TV, and planning her next travel adventure.

Reviews

[Alyssa McKnight]

Who do I need to sell my kidney to for an arc of this?? I’m wishing 2025 away already.

[Taeopae]

Thank you, NetGalley & Del Rey, for the review copy! I was very excited to get to read this early. I went to Heather's tour for the Crimson Crown and was eager to see how the story ended.

We begin where we left off: the veil has been broken, Ayleth has the king trapped and under her control, the rightful heir off with her aunt- what could go wrong? When the king's sister returns with Blodwyn, Ayleth is forced to protect the crown she fought for, but with the witches scheming and a strange creature claiming to come for the true queen, Ayleth must decide whom to trust in her circle and whom to fight.

This was the perfect ending to the story. Several plot points had you scared to turn to the page, and the surprises did not stop. It was so fun to see the nod to Snow White throughout these books. This series certainly reads more fantasy than romanatasy, which was just what I needed. I highly recommend this duology!

[Clarissa Labue-Pham]

The Witch Queen is a fabulous ending to the duology. A must read if you liked the first.

In this sapphic fairytale fantasy follow-up to the Crimson Crown we follow Ayleth, now queen as she hunts down witches, battles Blodwyn in Court, and deals with reignited flames for Jacquetta.

I loved everything about this, the differing POVs, the romance, the pacing, and above all else the ending. This book was everything I had hoped it would be and more.

If you want dark sapphic romantasy this duology should be at the top of your tbr.

[Dario Pacheco]

First and foremost I’d like to thank NetGalley and Del Rayfor the amazing opportunity of reading this book with a copy. My review will be an honest reflection of my feelings towards this book.
I absolutely devoured book 1 in Thai duology and we once again follow Ayleth as she deals with the consequences of her actions. Will she rise or is she destined to fall?
I think my only complaint is the length but outside that I enjoyed seeing this world and characters get a closing chapter.
It was nice seeing inside Blodwyn(aka Snow White) as she struggled with her own demons and feelings of not being wanted. Not realizing that her and the evil queen have more in common than they think.
Overall I enjoyed this duology, Heather has a great hand turning these classic fairytales and spinning a new tale that stands on its own.

[Monte Price]

If y'all aren't reading Heather Walter what are y'all doing with yourselves?

I'm not naive enough to think that Walter was the first fantasy author to take inspiration from fairytales and craft a story; or even to take the villain of those tales and turn them into our protagonist. What I do think Walter does that other authors fail at is not simply relying on this idea that these women were simply misunderstood. There was something so refreshing seeing Ayleth know that she was making these horrible decisions but they were simply what needed to be done. That she was conscious of the fact that she couldn't reveal all of herself to all of the people around her because then they would understand the true scope of her monstrous actions.

In this conclusion we really get to see the Snow White aspect of the tale. Blodwyn is all grown up now, at least compared to the last time we saw her, and she's come to challenge Ayleth's fragile hold on the kingdom. But even that doesn't necessarily go quite as expected.

The lore of the world is further explored as the Kingdom continues to crumble around Ayleth. Characters are betrayed and find themselves in alliances I couldn't have predicted at the beginning of the book.

What Walter is able to do with fairytales and the new life she manages to breath into them is truly nothing short of remarkable. I couldn't tell you what Walter is going to come out with next, I simply know that of course I will be sat and ready to devour whatever it is.

[Taylor]

I’m absolutely impressed!

I will give a book five stars only when I feel I wouldn’t change anything about it, and this is true here. I love that this series is a duology and yet it packs in so much plot. Perfect length. This is a retelling of a classic tale, yet I never knew what was going to happen next. I wasn’t sure if I was going to watch Ayleth turn into the ultimate unredeemable villain or if there might be a twist, because there were a whole lot of twists happening throughout.

The characters shine too. They are messy. Most are morally grey. Some are as loyal as they come. Others have grown up needing to be selfish to survive. They make mistakes. Despite being witches or dwarves or wolves made of dark shadow they all read as so “human”. That is to say, very complex and very lovable.

The overall message wins here: love is the strongest magic of all.

(Oh and the sapphic romance of it all was beautifully done. I prefer tension and slow burn, the payoff is always the best.)

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

[Pam]

I really enjoyed the first book of this duology and was eagerly anticipating the second. Origin stories sometimes work for me, sometimes they don't, but in this case, we had a story that really explained how the Evil Queen from Snow White came to be seen as such. And it was a sapphic romantasy, so I was here for it.

The struggle I had with this book was that it was way too long. I listened to most of it on audio, and the pacing felt glacial for most of the novel. After the sprint to the finish at the end of the previous novel, I was ready to hit the ground running. But instead, we dealt with drawn-out court politics, lengthy conversations with Blodwyn and her burgeoning group of friends, and long internal monologues in Ayelth's head.

What I did end up loving in this story, which kept it at a 3-star read, was the way the witches were reincorporated into the plot. I didn't see a lot of the twists and turns coming, and I especially loved how Heather Walter added conflict for Jacquetta into that mix. I did think the final conflict of the story took too long, and I wanted more from the witches in that moment, but I still enjoyed how the overall story resolved.

[Jess Leigh]

3.75🧚‍♂️🫶
This was a fitting conclusion to the first book, the crimson crown. This story further delved into the political intrigue, the magic system and family bonds. Therefore, it is definitely evident that the romance is more a subplot to the story. This is something that given the variety of the story fit in nicely overall. However, connection wise between the two, it did seem flat and appeared rather underwhelming when they got together.

As this was the conclusion, some chapters felt more of a filler and repetition of bits that have been stated in the first book. I think in terms of the time jump it could have been more fitting to have amplified this in months. However, given the significane of the war and Ayleth to remain in power, this was a good narrative and with Blodwyn now being of age to take the throne. Though, it does tie it back to the fact, it has been years and the emotions seemed to lack.

Overall, the magic and spin on a classic fairytale was an interesting read 🧚‍♂️🫶

[Cyd’s Books]

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for approving me to read this book, I’m rating it 4,0 stars.

I’m glad I got to read on from book 1, I enjoyed the characters and the world building plus the little links of retelling this story has brought to life.

Ayleth and Blodwyn have experienced a lot of tragedy, scheming, loss, but also love and loyalty that surprised them. Book 2 really show cases who they were and who they want to be while navigating the strenuous political tensions of who should be queen. There’s trials and sacrifice at the heart of the story and we get to see who’s the true queen of them all.

I love the little romantic sub plots unfolding in the background, it adds a lighter element to the book and something you can root for when all hell is breaking loose which is very much does.

[Donna Bull]

4.5/5

This was a really strong conclusion to this duology! I never felt like is wavered in where it was going or lost its way, and I couldn't wait to continue listening. I liked that we got the POV's of both Ayleth and Blodwyn, plus the resolution of the threads from the first book all without feeling like it was shoved in at the last minute or rushed. It's a well-paced story throughout and a very satisfying conclusion that could certainly leave things open for more tales set in this world in the future. I would certainly enjoy coming back to new characters here again. The audiobook was well done with two excellent narrators and was a very enjoyable listen, highly recommend this duology!!!

[Whitney ✨A River of Books✨]

Well, my life is in shambles now that this is over…

I really enjoyed this duology and will definitely pick up the author’s other books! I had to resist the urge to message her and as WTF she was doing because I was torn up the entire time 😩

I like both Ayleth & Blodwyn’s journeys of self discovery, over coming self doubt and realizing their own self worth and potential. That love is the most powerful form of magic.

Roland was one of my favorite characters- aside from Nettle and Nox (because who doesn’t love a good animal side character)- I felt he added some comedic relief, but always pictured him as Hoggle from The Labyrinth.

There was also so much going on in here, but it kept me guessing and there was a lot more action- & betrayal- than I was expecting.

This is probably one of my favorite series of the year!

[Rose]

Maybe the real magic was the friends we made along the way…

Minus one star because the Blodwyn and Gavin romance subplot was useless and annoying and because if I’m being honest…I wanted Ayleth to be so much worse. In Misrule we got the protagonist literally mounting the heads of her enemies on the walls of her throne room and this just didn’t go nearly that hard. I wanted her to be the EVIL queen, y’know? Everyone’s so mad at her all the time in this book and like…she really didn’t do anything that bad?

[BookishKB]

🪞❄️ The Witch Queen ❄️🪞

📖 Bookish Thoughts

My full review will be shared closer to the publication date.

✨ What to Expect
• Queer Fantasy
• Wicked Queen POV
• Witches
• Court Intrigue
• Morally Gray MCs
• Magic Mirror
_ _ _

📅 Pub Date: August 11, 2026
Thank you to Del Rey, Random House Worlds, and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

[Demetri Papadimitropoulos]

The Fairest of Them All Has a Control Problem
In Heather Walter’s “The Witch Queen,” Mirrors, Huntsmen, Prophecies, and One Very Crowded Plot Lead Back to a Simpler Trouble: Ayleth Cannot Make Love Obey
By Demetris Papadimitropoulos | August 7th, 2026

Disappointment arrives in “The Witch Queen” wearing the face of approval. On the eve of Ayleth’s coronation, her mother finally says what Ayleth has spent a childhood wanting to hear: she is proud of her. The sentence barely has time to warm the room before its condition shows itself. Cassandra is less dazzled by her daughter than by what the Bloodstone crown might do for the covens. Ayleth answers the old wound with a new kind of certainty. Cassandra’s magic is torn from her and locked in the crown; Shade kneels as Ayleth’s Huntsman; the darkness names her “fairest of them all.” Heather Walter begins the second half of “The Crimson Crown Duology” at the instant when vindication becomes an intoxicant.

Even before succession plots and palace intrigues begin multiplying, Walter fixes the bargain that will govern this 560-page sequel. Ayleth has learned to experience abandonment as a kind of erasure. Her mother preferred her gifted sister; the covens treated her as defective; King Callen regarded women as prey; Jacquetta, the witch Ayleth loved, left her. The crown offers something more seductive than rule. If everyone must obey you, perhaps no one can leave. If prophecy selects you, perhaps no one can declare you insufficient. If the shadows call you fairest, there is no second place to fear. Ayleth does not simply want safety. She wants immunity from refusal.

Monarchy has suited Ayleth badly, though she would contest the diagnosis. Three years later, she rules Riven beside the wreckage of Callen, whose consciousness she has confined inside a magic mirror while his damaged body remains at court. She has broken the religious Order that persecuted witches and repealed its prohibition on same-sex relationships. She has also allowed liberation to harden into coercion. Malum, the shadow force she embraced, has blighted parts of the kingdom; villages judged disloyal suffer catastrophe; witches are hunted and stripped of their latent magic, which accumulates in Ayleth’s crown. She escaped being prey and built a realm in which she gets to decide who counts as predator.

Everything becomes less manageable when Princess Blodwyn, the rightful heir, returns from exile with her aunt Margaret and invokes Braxos’s Trials, an old contest of bravery, wisdom and justice through which she hopes to reclaim the throne. The trials give the book its first clean line of suspense. Walter soon knots it with rival claimants, war, a supposed curse, a vanished princess, poisoned bodies, stolen hearts and the romance Ayleth has spent three years pretending not to mourn. Revelations begin arriving in bunches: Princess Matilda became Millicent, one of the founders of witch history; Cassandra survives behind part of the supernatural threat; Shade’s loyalty belongs to Malum rather than to Ayleth; Callen escapes the mirror with his talent for making patriarchy sound like a personal hobby unimpaired. The congestion is real. So is the momentum.

The busier this fantasy machinery becomes, the clearer the smaller, more dangerous novel inside it grows. Ayleth’s real struggle is with the fact that another person can possess an interpretation of her that she cannot command. She owns the prologue and every chapter of Part I. Blodwyn does not gain a viewpoint until she returns to contest Ayleth’s rule. The queen can command a room, a council and, with enough magic, a body. She cannot command the meaning another consciousness makes of her. That loss of narrative sovereignty matters almost as much as the threatened loss of the throne.

Rather than using two narrators simply to widen the view, Walter lets the second voice contradict the queen. Ayleth can remember tenderness toward Blodwyn; Blodwyn can remember manipulation. Ayleth can call a punitive act protection; Blodwyn can register its cruelty before Ayleth has finished building the defense. Neither woman is perfectly reliable, which keeps the arrangement from becoming a prosecution with chapter breaks. Their accounts rub against each other. Intention matters here, but consequence gets a vote. Ayleth’s great frustration is that Blodwyn retains not only the right to refuse her but the right to decide what Ayleth’s love, loyalty and injuries have meant.

If “Circe” by Madeline Miller belongs to the current tradition of returning interiority to a woman inherited as monstrous, Walter takes the harder next step. Understanding Ayleth does not make her innocent. She persecutes witches, tolerates suffering she could alleviate, lies to Joan, weaponizes intimacy and repeatedly converts another person’s refusal into evidence against them. Malum does not conveniently absorb the blame. Ayleth chooses, often with terrible lucidity. Her history explains how she acquired these reflexes without washing the blood from them. Walter’s gamble is to keep sympathy alive after innocence has become impossible.

Power, for Ayleth, is a theory of intimacy. She wants people to choose her, but voluntary choice is frightening because the chooser might choose otherwise. Shade is soothing because he kneels. The shadows are soothing because they praise. Prophecy is soothing because prophecy cannot wake one morning and decide it has fallen out of love. When Jacquetta is captured, Ayleth wants her to call for her, to need her, to return under conditions Ayleth controls. The feeling is romantic; the method is coercive. Beneath both lies the wounded simplicity of a child demanding proof that she will not be left.

Ayleth’s attachment to Blodwyn presses the same bruise without romance to disguise it. She fears the younger woman as a claimant, certainly, but fear of losing the throne keeps collapsing into private dread. What does Blodwyn think of her? Does she believe Ayleth is a monster? Will she choose Margaret instead? When Shade offers the efficient solution of removing the princess, Ayleth cannot quite accept it. Gone is not enough. Persuaded would be better. A throne can compel a curtsy; it cannot compel affection. Ayleth’s tragedy is how often she mistakes the first for evidence of the second.

Playfulness keeps the darkness from settling into a single register. Ayleth’s contempt for Callen has an acid snap; court life produces small absurdities; Nettle the cat and Nox the Nevenwolf move through murderous magic with the serene confidence that kingdoms are chiefly elaborate furniture arranged for their convenience. The jokes let Ayleth be companionable as well as dangerous. One understands why Joan might want her beside her at a banquet while still checking, discreetly, where the queen has put the mirror. The humor also keeps Walter from treating suffering as automatic solemnity, a mercy in a book so crowded with old wounds and new curses.

At sentence level, “The Witch Queen” is more fluent than singular. Walter writes brisk, immediately legible first-person prose, favoring short-to-medium declarative sentences, fragments, quick interior questions and physical signals of feeling. Anger surges, dread coils, magic hums behind the sternum, hearts pound, stomachs drop. The method keeps 560 pages moving. Across that distance, though, urgency settles into a recognizable pulse. Walter often lets a gesture or image communicate an emotion, adds the body’s response, then explains what the first two have already shown. The reader is rarely confused, but sometimes denied the small pleasure of arriving half a beat before the narration.

Details, more than syntax, give the book its individual texture. Walter keeps returning to mirrors, crowns, shadows, hearts, ravens, juniper, fire, crimson blood against snow, changing what each object means as the story moves. The mirror is prison, surveillance device and truth machine, but its slyest function is comic: Ayleth acquires a way to inspect almost everyone in Riven while remaining spectacularly poor at reading herself. Juniper becomes Jacquetta’s sensory ghost, entering Ayleth’s awareness before she will admit what she misses. Hearts begin as things that can be removed, bound, threatened and stored; by the end, their value depends on whether they can be freely given. Walter is better at making an image recur than at letting an implication linger.

If Blodwyn contests Ayleth’s version of the present, Matilda contests Riven’s version of the past. Riven remembers her as a princess denied a throne and swallowed by tragedy. Matilda instead became Millicent, found a vocation outside the throne and helped establish the covens. Her story has not simply been forgotten; it has been assigned the wrong meaning. That distinction suits a novel so preoccupied with women who discover that the identities imposed on them are sometimes lies, sometimes half-truths and sometimes accurate descriptions of what they have chosen to become. Walter is revising Snow White while her characters discover that their own dynastic fairy tale has also been badly edited.

More cumbersome is the architecture carrying these ideas. Part IV, especially, behaves like a cupboard into which every remaining mechanism has been placed just before the door is shut: Cassandra returns under disguise; Shade defects; Parnell studies the mirror; Callen escapes; Blodwyn is poisoned; Ayleth faces execution; the cosmology needs rewriting. Scene by scene, the book moves quickly. Taken whole, it sprawls. Its problem is saturation, not sluggishness, which is how a novel this eventful still manages to feel overlong. Walter is expert at replacing one engine before the previous one has stopped, but propulsion is not always accumulation’s alibi.

Its largest weakness is that it does not quite trust its own best story. The cleaner line underneath is already strong: a woman who equates vulnerability with danger acquires enough control to feel invulnerable, discovers that obedience cannot provide secure attachment, and must learn that surrendering power is not the same as returning to helplessness. Walter surrounds that line with so much prophecy, genealogy, magical jurisprudence and coup mechanics that the White Palace begins to seem underwritten by a very nervous insurance company. Several mechanisms arrive after Ayleth’s character has already made their argument for them. The book seldom bores; it more often insists when it might have trusted.

That tidiness is most visible in Blodwyn’s maturation. She begins as a useful counterweight because she is young, resentful, uncertain and capable of misreading Ayleth. By the final chapters she has become a remarkably comprehensive corrective to the previous reign: tolerant of dissent, generous with relief, willing to bring Dwarves into government. These are attractive instincts, but they arrive with few equivalent governing costs. Blodwyn occasionally resembles the answer sheet to Ayleth’s exam. Her decency would be more persuasive if it occasionally made somebody furious for reasons the novel could not easily dismiss, or if inclusion produced compromises rather than applause. Ayleth’s relationships remain thornier than Blodwyn’s government; people resist the novel more stubbornly than institutions do.

Readers are likeliest to part company over the bill Ayleth should pay. Walter refuses the two tidiest exits. She does not acquit her heroine by blaming Malum, and she does not kill Ayleth in a spectacular act of repayment. Death would be temptingly efficient in a villain retelling, a grand sacrifice that closes the ledger while the music swells. Walter chooses the less ceremonial problem of letting Ayleth survive her own recognition. She loses the crown without losing the possibility of love, work, community or a future. For some readers that will feel mercifully adult; for others, the novel’s tenderness may arrive before their forgiveness does. That disagreement is not a flaw in the book’s ethics. It is evidence that Walter has left something genuinely unsettled.

One late scene reduces the argument to a knife and a single word. Restored to power, Callen offers Blodwyn what both women have spent much of their lives wanting from disappointing parents: the chance to become the favored child. He puts a knife in her hand and tells her to take Ayleth’s heart. When Blodwyn refuses, Callen threatens to strip her title and make her “nothing.” Ayleth hears the governing terror of her own life in that word. She has accumulated crowns, prophecy, magic and obedience so that no one could ever reduce her to nothing again. Blodwyn refuses the premise along with the knife. A self does not disappear because someone powerful withdraws approval.

Politics enters most persuasively through that same contradiction. Having suffered domination teaches Ayleth a great deal about injury and very little about governing. She can dismantle the Order’s prohibition on same-sex relationships, creating genuine freedom for Joan and Anora, while inventing coercions of her own elsewhere. Walter is sharpest when she keeps that contradiction attached to conduct rather than turning Riven into a tract: victimhood matters morally, but it is not a governing philosophy. The Matilda story carries a related suspicion. Inherited authority can preserve not quite a lie, but a version of the past convenient enough to do a lie’s work.

Only in the ending does the fairy-tale logic achieve its cleanest reversal. The magical crisis is resolved through balance rather than supremacy, with witches, mortals and Dwarves joining forms of power the realm has treated as incompatible. That solution is a little neater than the social antagonisms surrounding it, but the character resolution is better judged. Blodwyn becomes queen. Ayleth does not. Walter refuses to stage the transfer as humiliation. When Blodwyn is acclaimed, she looks toward the woman who once treated another claimant’s success as existential danger and sees pride. The stranger victory is Ayleth’s ability to watch another woman be chosen without experiencing herself as erased.

Under all that machinery, “The Witch Queen” earns 83/100 and 4/5 stars because Ayleth remains more psychologically exact than the plot around her. The prose is lucid rather than remarkable, the middle crowded, Blodwyn’s model of rule cleaner than the wounds that precede it. But Ayleth remains vivid because Walter refuses to tidy her moral life. She is wounded without being harmless, culpable without being discarded, capable of love without being entitled to forgiveness. The more interesting question was never whether the Wicked Queen was secretly good. It is whether “good” and “wicked” are finally large enough words for a life that has to continue after both have become true in part.

Last comes the smallest reversal, and perhaps the most exact: one that fits inside a name. Six months later, Stonehaven, where Ayleth learned to regard herself as a failed witchling, is becoming a school open to witches, mortals and Dwarves. Magic is returning to the land. Jacquetta is beside her. Someone addresses Ayleth with a title, and she corrects them: “Just Ayleth.” The woman who once needed the shadows to call her fairest has reached a stranger freedom – a life in which her name no longer has to be a superlative.

[Katrina Vallett]

What a satisfying end to The Crimson Crown Duology! You do need to read The Crimson Crown before diving into this book; but isn't it such a great feeling to be able to read book 1 and have book 2 already finished?! (Grab The Witch Queen on 8-11-26)

Ayleth went through some trauma in book 1 - no spoilers, it happened very early on- with the violent death of her sister and almost simultaneous abandonment by her first love, Jacquetta. There was a lot of dissent among the coven's leadership during a time when her kind was outlawed by the kingdoms, all of which obliterated the sense of security a girl needs to grow up. Ayleth fled home with an irrational idea, and enough hurt and anger to fuel her forward.

In the Witch Queen, Queen Ayleth has everything she recently decided she needed (almost), but she definitely made a few enemies, told a few lies and hurt some feelings, on her way to the top. The book's blurb does a great job of lightly touching on some of Ayleth's upcoming challenges, without giving anything away.

Some of my favorite aspects:
* Beloved characters from the first book are back in action for book 2 (Hey Nettle!).
* We meet some of Roland's family and are welcomed into to the dwarves' territory.
* This novel is also told from Blodwyn's POV. She is older than the last book, but still young and in need of guidance. Unfortunately, those providing guidance have their own agendas. Blodwyn must figure out what is right, and who she can trust, on her own. This has coming of age vibes, but with monsters that want her dead...so slightly more urgent.
* Gavin. Verity.
* The author's world building (and destructing); her well-flushed, deep characters; the way she allows her characters to make choices out of pain and face rock bottom before finding the strength to rebuild. The lessons learned along the way are invaluable.

[AJ Sneed]

The Witch Queen is a fitting, emotionally powerful sequel that picks up three years after the events of The Crimson Crown. Heather Walter effortlessly draws readers back into her dark fairy-tale atmosphere with lush, immersive writing, vivid magic, and intense political tension. While the plot can occasionally lean a little into the ridiculous, it remains undeniably fun, action-packed, and difficult to put down.

A Kingdom in Chaos
The story thrusts us right into Queen Ayleth’s troubled reign. She faces pushback from a council displeased with a female ruler, chaotic attacks from a rebel group known as the Followers, and vengeful witches angry over the destruction of the veil and the release of malum.

The stakes skyrocket when King Callen’s sister, Margaret, arrives with Princess Blodwyn to stake a claim to the throne through a series of competitive "trials." With schemers like Lord Warbeck and Margaret advancing their own agendas, the plot is packed with twists, turns, and shifting alliances. As the story progresses, explosive information is discovered that completely upends everything the characters believed about the ruling family's history, the witch covens, and the very nature of magic in Riven.

Complex, Morally Gray Characters
One of the strongest elements of this book is the character development. Walter excels at writing morally gray characters, making it impossible not to become invested in their choices:

Queen Ayleth: At first, Ayleth’s power and decision-making as queen might seem frustratingly flawed—she appears to be making all the wrong, unsavvy moves. However, her journey is deeply complex, and her choices make perfect sense by the end. When the truth about her is finally revealed, it strains her relationships with allies like Roland and multiplies her enemies.

Princess Blodwyn: Blodwyn has an absolutely fantastic arc in this installment. Amidst the heavy, history-laden tension between her and Ayleth, it was genuinely rewarding to watch her grow and finally make friends.

Jacquetta: Her reappearance brings a deliciously toxic dynamic between her and Ayleth, bringing its own unique challenges and drama to the narrative.

Romance and Thematic Depth
The queer romance in this book is absolutely captivating—intense, emotional, and brimming with chemistry. It adds an immense amount of heart to the story, striking a perfect balance so that neither the romance nor the high-stakes fantasy outshines the other. Every emotional moment lands beautifully.

Beyond the magic and intrigue, the book weaves in deeper themes of transformation, freedom, and reclaiming power. Multiple characters are forced to reevaluate what is truly important to them and who they want to be.

The Verdict
If you enjoy dark fantasy with rich world-building, compelling female characters, queer romance, and atmospheric storytelling, The Witch Queen is absolutely worth reading. It is an enchanting journey that balances high-stakes royal trials with beautifully layered emotions.

[Lilith Gray]

After "The Crimson Crown" I was absolutely thrilled to start this book and let me tell you, it did not disappoint!
Picking up the story where it was left off on the previous book, we go head first into the Witch Queen reign and all that follows!
Crushed by the weight of tough choices and old prophecies, Ayleth finds herself with nothing but shades and shadows at her side, while carrying out her plan of ultimate vengeance and strip the world of witches.
However, no matter how hurt her heart may be, it still thuds a song of hope and love, that only those who dare to pay attention, may just hear.
Each of the characters must walk their own path, with something to learn, something to conquer and something to give back.
And as much as this fairytale should be as easy as good and bad, it really isn't and there are enough complicated layers making up each of the protagonists, that it is impossible to simply deem them as villains or heroes of the story. Instead they are just a group of flawed, hurting people, doing their best as they discover their place in the world.
Their dynamics are ever evolving, complementing each other and just wonderful to experience!
The banter always brought a smile to my lips and Roland is one of my favorite grumps of all time, blessed is soft heart.

When it comes to romance, just like in the first book, it will not take hold of the whole plot but it will still play a part on how things unfold. If you're looking for a love focused story, this will not be it, there is much more at stake than the faith of two, and at no moment are we aloud to forget it.
Still, this is still a fairytale to some extent and the way things were wrapped up, made me wish for a bit more when it comes to the two of them.

Just like in the first book, the worldbuilding is so rich and involving that it was very hard to put it down, always looking for the next chapter, always on my toes for what would unravel. And the writing was just beautiful.
The complexity of the characters is not forgotten or easily overcome and all the fears and flaws we once knew are now bare and swollen - impossible to ignore and mandatory to face. This is very much about second chances and it is up to them, all of them, to decide how the story is going to end. Personally, I was taken by surprise with some turns and twists and it was delightful.

There were perhaps a couple of things I would have enjoyed to see explored a little more - why was the connection to Rhea lost afterall? and I think Cassandra's arc broke a little bit, for the sake of the story, for instance, but that did not make me enjoy the story any less.

It has been a while since I dived into a fantasy book that would simply leave me this spelled.
I am certainly gonna miss them all!

[Carrie Griffin]

The Witch Queen was a wonderful continuation of the duology started in The Crimson Crown. I particularly enjoyed how we got perspectives from both Ayleth and Blodwyn throughout the book. This novel mostly takes place three years after the conclusion of The Crimson Crown, with Queen Ayleth taking on all royal responsibilities after trapping the king in her magic mirror. She also sent Blodwyn away to live with her Aunt Margaret, after she comes down sick while dealing with grief after her mother's death.

Blodwyn and Margaret arrive at the court three years later, with Blodwyn announcing she wants to take the throne through a series of trials. The Braxos trials are a contest started centuries before and were the reason the first White got on the throne to begin with. Instead of Blodwyn being the only one to compete, many young men in the kingdom compete along side her in acts of bravery, wisdom, and justice. Ayleth does not only have to worry about losing the crown to whoever wins the trials, she also is dealing with a war with the witches and another kingdom.

Heather Walter has taken such a familiar fairy tale and twisted it in so many interesting directions. We get many recognizable aspects such as the man in the mirror, the huntsman, a queen trying to keep her power, "fairest of them all," etc. but there is so much more to this story than it being a retelling of "Snow White." Many of the characters in this book are morally grey and we get an in-depth look into what makes them who they are.

The dual narration was the perfect way to tell this story, so we were able to get in both Ayleth and Blodwyn's heads. I like how both characters are not what you would expect from a take on this story. They are so much more developed. We get to deeply understand each of them on a complex level because of this.

It was entertaining to get the different competitions for the Braxos trials and seeing what Blodywn and the others had to do for each. Blodywn is not only trying to win the trials, she is also trying to win the hearts of the court. She goes on quite the emotional journey in this book and I really felt for her. I also enjoyed her relationship with her Aunt Margaret who was also a princess sent away. Margaret was one of the most interesting characters in this book.

Many of the twists and turns actually surprised me. I love the world-building in this novel and getting even more about the history of this kingdom. Also, there is a small connection to Heather Walter's Malice duology which I liked seeing. I look forward to reading anything else she will write in the future.

*Thank you to NetGalley, Del Ray Publishing, and Heather Walter for my ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.*

[vlm]

The Witch Queen is a captivating and emotionally rich conclusion to Heather Walter's Crimson Crown Duology, offering a thoughtful exploration of power, identity, love, and the complicated nature of good and evil.

After claiming the throne, Ayleth finally has everything she sacrificed so much to achieve. Yet instead of finding peace, she is consumed by fear, isolation, and the growing darkness of her magic. I loved how Walter continued to develop Ayleth as a deeply flawed and sympathetic character. Her struggles felt authentic, and even when she made questionable choices, I found myself invested in her journey and rooting for her to find her way forward.

One of the strongest aspects of this sequel is the addition of Princess Blodwyn's perspective. Her return to challenge Ayleth for the throne creates a compelling conflict that avoids clear-cut heroes and villains. Both women have understandable motivations, and the shifting dynamics between them kept me engaged throughout the story. The Braxos Trials added an exciting layer of competition and intrigue while raising the stakes for everyone involved.

The political maneuvering, court secrets, and magical elements were all well executed, creating an atmosphere filled with tension and uncertainty. I also appreciated how the story continued to challenge traditional fairy tale narratives, asking readers to reconsider who gets labeled a villain and who gets remembered as a hero.

Ayleth and Jacquetta's relationship remains one of the emotional anchors of the series. Their history, heartbreak, and lingering feelings added depth to the story and provided some of its most touching moments.

While I enjoyed the overall story, there were a few sections where the pacing felt uneven, particularly in the middle portion of the novel. Some plot threads took longer to develop than I expected, which occasionally slowed the momentum. However, the strong character development, emotional payoff, and satisfying conclusion more than made up for those slower moments.

Overall, The Witch Queen is a strong finale that brings Ayleth's story to a meaningful and satisfying close. Fans of dark fairy tale retellings, sapphic fantasy, political intrigue, and morally gray characters will find plenty to enjoy in this duology.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Sterling Sapphic Reads]

Okay so honest talk babes because that is always what you are going to get from me: this one took me a while to get through and it did not grab me the way Malice and Misrule did. And I have been sitting with why, because I think it is worth being fair about.
I read the first book, The Crimson Crown, at such a perfect time and that voice of anxiety and ambition just completely worked for me in that moment. Coming back to it here though? It landed differently. What felt so compelling and textured the first time tipped at points into feeling a little flat, and honestly a little frustrating. The worry about being liked, that adolescent quality to the internal spiral, wore on me in a way it did not before. What I really wanted was Ayleth fully leaning into being the dark queen. Committing to the power she sacrificed everything to win and really sitting in it. That is the book I was hungry for. It is just not entirely the book Walter was interested in writing, and that gap is where my reading experience lived.
The time jump also genuinely threw me. Years passed between books with very little context to ground it and the effect was that everyone felt kind of stagnant rather than evolved. Months would have served the story so much better I think, or at the very least some texture around what those years actually looked and felt like for these characters.
BUT. There is genuinely a lot here that I loved and I want to make sure that comes through too. The dual perspectives worked way better than I expected and I was honestly surprised by how much I settled into Blodwyn's point of view. The heir trials subplot absolutely popped off and I could have read an entire book built around that alone, hand on heart. And the way Walter ties everything together at the end, the threads of natural magic, the dwarves, all of it, is acutally really satisfying. As a conclusion to the duology it mostly delivers.
My one lingering wish is for more from Ayleth and Jacquetta. The relationship just needed a little more room to breathe for me to be fully rooting for them. And I will be honest, part of me was really hoping Margaret would turn out to be a love rival alongside being a power rival because that tension had so much potential and I wanted the story to go there.
Not my fav read of the year but absolutely worth finishing. Heather Walter is doing something genuinely ambitious in this space and I will keep following her for it.

[Anne]

The Witch Queen by Heather Walter
⭐⭐⭐⭐✨ (4.25)
Thank you to Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inkore, and NetGalley for the eARC!

Book two was easily my favorite of this duology. While the first book immersed readers into the world at a steadier pace, I felt that The Witch Queen delivered more action, more scheming, and higher stakes throughout the story.

I especially enjoyed the dual POVs from Ayleth and Blodwyn. Heather Walter did an excellent job making me sympathize with both characters, even when their goals, beliefs, and desires were completely at odds with one another. There were moments that left me feeling frustrated, disgusted, hopeful, and heartbroken for both women, which made their perspectives equally compelling to follow.

The Braxos Trials were another aspect I really enjoyed. Throughout history, women in positions of power are often viewed as a problem by the men around them, and I thought Walter incorporated that dynamic well into the story. I was particularly intrigued when Blodwyn returned alongside the vicious and vindictive Aunt Margaret to reclaim her throne. Once Blodwyn announced her intention to retake the crown, other suitors and ambitious men quickly threw their hats into the ring as well, creating even more political tension and intrigue.

As the story unfolds, secrets surrounding who is truly a witch begin to surface, while darker forces emerge throughout the kingdom. Between hearts being ripped out, attacks threatening the realm, and the growing political unrest, there was always something happening to keep me invested.

One reason this wasn't a full five-star read for me was my frustration with Ayleth.

Girl... Jacquetta burned you HOW MANY TIMES in the first book? How is your heart still beating for this woman?

You are a strong, independent ruler who took the throne and gained the power of the witches in book one, only to spend parts of book two stumbling over yourself because of Jacquetta all over again after she has betrayed you HOW MANY TIMES? I understood the emotional conflict, but at times the naivety became frustrating and pulled me out of the story.

Even with that frustration, I thoroughly enjoyed this conclusion. The political maneuvering, multiple perspectives, magical secrets, and increased action made this a stronger book than the first and a satisfying end to the duology.

[Sherri]

***I received an ARC from Net Galley in exchange for my honest review

In the second book of the Crimson Crown Duology, Queen Ayleth has the kingdom entirely at her command, now that she has bound the king to her magic mirror & Princess Blodwyn sent to live with Margaret, the king's sister. Everything should be great, but first, Roland the dwarf in charge of the mines notifies her of a problem - a strange red liquid is trickling down the walls of the mines & coming out of the cracks & no one can identify what it is. Then Margaret shows up with Blodwyn in tow, notifying Ayleth that she is invoking the Braxos’s Trials, a contest of bravery, wisdom, and justice that could allow Blodwyn to retake the throne. With Ayleth worried about losing her tenuous grip on the crown & Blodwyn worried about the trieals and not sure who she can trust at court, Ayleth & Blodwyn will both have to decide what price they are willing to pay to wear the crown.

I really wish this book had a recap at the beginning, reminding you of everything that has happened so far. I had to go back and find my review for the first book to get a refresher course. When sequels don;t come out for a year or more, and most people read quite a few books between then and now, it is impossible to recall storylines. OK, I am off of my soapbox. This book was non-stop action & excitement. I love that this fairytale retelling has the king in the magic mirror, a witch for the wicked queen, and she is in love with another witch. Not the fairytale you remember, is it? The king obviously learned nothing by being trapped in a mirror - he was just as cold & conniving in there as he was before he got trapped. I love Blodwyn. She loves animals, refused to kill a stag during the trials, and seemed to be one of the only decent people at court. I really wanted Ayleth to choose to be good, and if that meant giving up the crown & running off with the love of her life, so be it. The book is narrated in the alternating voices of Ayleth & blodwyn. This is a long book, 542 pages, but I was so immersed in the story it didn't feel that long at all. If you love a good fairytale retelling, you will love this. You will need to read book one - The Crimson Crown - first.

[Layla]

4.75⭐️

I’ve been looking forward to this since I finished The Crimson Crown, and can firmly say that the The Witch Queen was the perfect follow up. This Snow White retelling was so well done and adds such good lore and world building to the original tale, it felt very high fantasy especially with all the different factions and parties existing and vying for power. The vibes were perfect too, with being dark fantasy, I could totally envision the forest, the palace at Riven, and Stonehaven. Was thrown off at first by the time jump, but that’s the only way this could’ve realistically been done as Blodwyn needed to age up a little. I almost wish there was a third book or novella for that in between time.

The characters were so well layered as well- our lead Ayleth is the perfect morally gray evil queen. You definitely want to root for her and for her to succeed even though we know what she has to do to get there is pretty grim. The second lead Blodwyn also grows on you, I was a little annoyed with her at first but her character does develop a lot (especially in the last 30%). Margaret was a fun character to read and I loved her addition and contributions to the story and plot overall. Again, all the characters (Roland, Jaquetta, Joan, etc) were great and fun to read.

I did knock a quarter star down because there were so many facets and sides to the conflict and war going on with other random forces showing up and driving things that it was a teeny bit much for me at times, and it was hard to stay focused as the threads that drive the story forward started to loosen a little, but they all tied themselves together nicely in the end. That’s just my personal opinion though, there is a large possibility that I go back and change it to 5 ⭐️ depending on how much I think about the book not w that I’ve finished it tbd.

Overall, I HIGHLY recommend! I can’t wait for the release of this and for everyone else to read! I may be in a tiny slump after this but maybe I should read the author’s other duology? We shall see, I have other arcs I need to read as well lol. Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC, all thought and opinions are my own.

[Ann]

Was I entertained? Yes. Was I questioning most of what happened in this book following the first installment? Also yes.

The first half of the book was riveting, at least when it came to the external plot. We have a grown up Blodwyn returning from her stay at her Aunt Margaret's seeking to take the throne from Ayleth. Ayleth is the queen with her shadows, and she is lying to EVERYONE. Ayleth is trying to preserve the power she sacrificed everything to have, but Blodwyn and her Aunt Margaret are threatening it. The tension here was immaculate. And Aunt Margaret, or I should say the Duchess, was such an interesting character. She was even more cunning than Ayleth.

But the internal plot lost me. I felt like I was reading the first book again, seeing the same patterns and internal conflict as before for Ayleth. The woman bound herself to Malum, trapped the king in that mirror, and schemed her way to the throne, but somehow she's still battling the same patterns as in the first book? I was expecting something more. I only ever glimpsed more when Ayleth lost her cool with Blodwyn and confessed that power was everything. THAT was a great scene. Otherwise, it just felt like the same dance as the first book. Especially when Jacquetta came back.

Then the second half made me pause. The identity of this creature coming for them was revealed, and it made absolutely no sense. Especially considering the creature called Ayleth a "usurper." The plot only kept unraveling, but at this point I couldn't help but think how convenient some things were... I was left wanting more.

Not to say I wasn't enjoying the book, but the deeper I thought about it, the more questions I had. In the end, I found myself annoyed at Ayleth, Jacquetta, Joan, Margaret, and the entire court. I could give a pass to Blodwyn because she was the youngest out of everyone, so she has a reason for acting stubborn and dumb. Otherwise, I still enjoyed the journey, but I expected a little more from this.

[Liz]

The Witch Queen
by Heather Walter
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I’m honestly in awe.

Five stars are reserved for books where I wouldn’t change a thing, and The Witch Queen earned every single one. This was everything I wanted from the conclusion of this duology and more.

We pick up right where we left off: the veil has fallen, Ayleth has the king under her control, and the fight for the crown is far from over. With old enemies returning, witches plotting, and a mysterious creature claiming to come for the true queen, Ayleth has to figure out who deserves her trust before everything she fought for falls apart.

What impressed me most was how much story Heather Walter managed to fit into two books. Nothing felt dragged out, yet the world still felt rich and complete. Even though this is a retelling, I never knew where the story was going. I was constantly questioning whether Ayleth was becoming the villain of her own story or if there was another twist waiting around the corner.

The characters were easily my favorite part. They’re complicated, flawed, and wonderfully morally grey. Everyone has their own motivations, fears, and reasons for making the choices they do. Whether they’re witches, dwarves, or creatures made of shadow, they all feel deeply human.

And can we talk about the sapphic romance? The tension, the slow burn, the emotional payoff—it was beautifully done. I will always choose a romance where the yearning builds because the payoff is just that much better. 🤌🏼

I also loved that this series feels much more like fantasy than romantasy. The magic, politics, and retelling elements take center stage while still giving us a gorgeous love story.

Overall, The Witch Queen is a powerful and satisfying finale filled with magic, betrayal, morally grey characters, and a reminder that love can be the strongest magic of all. If you love dark fairytale retellings, complex heroines, and immersive fantasy worlds, this duology deserves a spot on your shelf. ✨

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

[Bookish Emili Reads]

The Witch Queen, the second book in Heather Walter's Crimson Crown Duology, continues the dark reimagining of Snow White's Wicked Queen, following Queen Ayleth as she struggles to hold onto the throne she fought so hard to claim while old enemies, dangerous magic, and lingering heartbreak threaten to unravel everything she has built.
Walter excels at creating morally complex characters, and Ayleth remains the highlight of the novel. Rather than presenting a simple villain, the story explores ambition, power, sacrifice, and the personal cost of pursuing destiny. The relationship dynamics, particularly those tied to betrayal and lost love, add emotional depth to the political conflicts unfolding around the crown.
The book's atmosphere is another major strength. The blend of dark magic, court intrigue, fairy-tale elements, and queer romance creates an immersive world that feels both familiar and fresh. The stakes remain high throughout, and the battle for power is filled with difficult choices and shifting loyalties.
While I enjoyed the story overall, some sections felt longer than necessary, and a few plot threads did not have quite the emotional impact I expected. The dense political maneuvering occasionally slowed the pacing, especially in the middle portion of the novel. Still, the compelling characters and strong thematic focus kept me invested until the end.
Overall, The Witch Queen is a satisfying conclusion for readers who enjoy dark fantasy, fairy-tale retellings, and complex female protagonists. It delivers strong character development, rich worldbuilding, and an engaging exploration of what power truly costs.
Rating: 4/5 stars. A dark, atmospheric fantasy with memorable characters and compelling themes, even if the pacing occasionally holds it back.

[Alyssa Waltz]

♡ Villain Origin Story
♡ Snow White Reimagining
♡ Feminine Rage
♡ Second (Third?) Chance Romance
♡ Found Family
♡ Dark Fantasy
♡ Sapphic Witches

This was a satisfying conclusion to this duology. I really wish we got more duologies in fantasy, because this was wrapped up so well without dragging the story out unnecessarily.

Now, let me be the first to say that I support Ayleth's villain arc 100%. Girl's crash out was honestly so valid and I truly loved watching her rise to power and seize her opportunities. While this may cast her in the "morally grey" column, its clear that she still retained a shred of humanity (figuratively) and didn't truly want to cause harm to anyone who hadn't wronged her in some way. And I absolutely ate up what she did to Callum. He's obviously vile, but every interaction they had was delightful.

Blodwyn, our Snow White, finds herself in a somewhat similar position to Ayleth in the first book, in the sense that she has to prove her worth to everyone around her and fight for her right to rule. I did find her witty and fun, if a bit naive, but hey, she's a teenager.

The character development in this one is phenomenal. I adored Ayleth and felt fiercely protective of her in a "I don't glorify murder, but I do support the rights of women" kind of way. Blodwyn even ended up surprising me, seeing as how I didn't care a whole for her in the beginning.

If you're reading for the romance, this isn't really the duology for you. Yes, its there, but it felt a bit underwhelming in both cases. I honestly didn't think there was an ounce of chemistry between Blodwyn and her love interest. This felt more like a story of sisterhood, mending bonds, and making family where the one you had failed.

The plot was fantastic, the shadow/creature imagery was masterfully done, and characters were well rounded individuals.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy!

[VIVI ★]

To me, the Witch Queen was a book that only became a bit more enjoyable when it was nearing it's end, more specifically after Blodwyn's vision of Millicent.

I found myself bored and disliking most of the characters, except a few like Blodwyn and Roland, and when you dislike the main character and the love interest the book becomes a bit hard to follow.

The repetition of a few things drove me crazy, and I couldn't stop noticing them after a while, such as mentions of "You will burn" (15 times) and mentions of "that voice" speaking to both Ayleth and Blodwyn incessantly (115 times) Not to mention the amount of times I've read pay the price of blood and snow. I know that some things should be repeated but it was to an extent that I started counting them after a while.

In the previous book I was not entirely convinced of Ayleth and Jacquetta's romance, and this second installment did not change my mind of it, albeit the ending was a bit sweet, I will admit.

But, I think they pale in comparison to the sapphic couple in the author's previous duology, Malice and Misrule. Although there was no shortage of conflict in the books, their relationship seemed to matter a lot to each of them, and take center stage often, therefore making the reader care as well. I did not get that impression from Ayleth and Jacquetta. There is also the matter that both Alyce and Aurora were far more likable, even with their flaws, and although Aurora was not the protagonist, she stood out on her own as much more than a love interest, and I felt that was lacking in Jacquetta.

Overall, I really wish that I liked this more, but it will not stop me from reading the author's other books in the future.

[East of Reality]

The book has people harp and harangue Ayleth for wanting power, for wanting a crown. As if it’s wrong for her to want to be like other witches — to have magic — or other nobles, to have power, or to have justice against the man who harassed her and made her afraid, that the kingdom that would kill her for being a witch, even if she had never done any harm. Ayleth has done bad things, horrible things, wrong things, yes … but why is she the one, the only one, getting blamed? Why is she always held up as someone who has fallen from a height?

Why is it Ayleth’s fault for wanting to be just like everyone else?

And in the end it’s Ayleth, the commoner witch, who steps down, who sacrifices so the princess can take the crown back.

Look, I like this book. I like this duology. Ayleth is a complicated and messy character and the world building is just fun; that the dark creatures of Malum — on the other side of the veil — are creatures and people like everyone else, kept in a dark and cruel place so witches could have magic. And on learning that, Jaquetta, a witch who is supposed to have empathy, shrugs and, in essence, says sucks for them, put the veil back up. Give up *your* magic so that I can go back to being powerful.

Jaquetta abandons and betrays Ayleth again and again, and each time Ayleth forgives her. Not to say Ayleth is innocent in all this, she’s just as cruel and calculating, but it’s Ayleth who has to say she’s sorry to be worthy of love, Ayleth who has to be humbled for everyone else’s happiness. It’s a messy book, both well written and well plotted … but I do wish Ayleth had been allowed to be happy.

[Gabrielle Perna]

After finishing this book, I am very much struggling to write this review. I do feel that MANY trilogies could have been duologies, and many duologies could have been trilogies. This is one of those cases. I very much felt that this dragged on and as it was meant to be duology that it very much could have been cut down, I felt that the pace was back and forth on being fast and then slow. I really loved the morally grey characters and the growth of many of their characters but I do feel that we spent too much time on things and by the end I was looking for something to happen. I really love Walter's reimagining of fairy tales and the villain origin stories but I wish we had gotten to the action faster. Ayleth's character has THE most growth in this book, I felt like by the end she was a completely different person than she was in the beginning. Again, so much to say but I do not want to spoil the end. We have a return of her lover and see their relationship grow and change, always in flux between enemies then reluctant allies and then enemies again, they are very much the epitome of the thin line between love and hate. Despite being YA there were a multitude of adult themes in this book and much time has passed since the first book and Ayleth has grown up A LOT. I rated this four stars because I did love the character growth and the way the overarching plot ended, it was very satisfying. The only reason it is not 5 stars was the pacing. If you are looking for an author who kills gay fairy tale reimagining this is the author for you!!

Thank you NetGalley and Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore | Del Rey for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.