A Crown of Ivy and Glass

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Gemma finds herself drawn immediately drawn to Talan d’Astier, a foreign visitor who is seeking help from her father to redeem his family honor. Intrigued, Gemma proposes that she’ll help Talan navigate the ins and outs of high society and gain an audience with the queen if he assists her family in their ongoing feud with the neighboring Bask family. If this were all of the story, A Crown of Ivy and Glass might actually be better off—there’s something compelling about the competitive inter-family rivalry, and the prospect of Gemma’s grooming Talan to fit in with the rich and royal is fun. Nothing makes me more excited than reading a new book by Claire Legrand. She is my most favorite author and I have loved every single one of her books. This was no exception. I loved it. Way too much, perhaps. I may have loved it too much to be able to write a review that will make sense, ha. Five stars, of course. Each book will follow one of the Ashbourne sisters, and in this first novel, we are introduced to Lady Imogen “Gemma” Ashbourne…. a young, rich and beautiful woman of a family, which was Anointed by the gods and blessed with incredible abilities, she seemingly has it all.

Worst of all, Gemma is the only Ashbourne to possess no magic. Instead, her body fights it like poison. Constantly ill, aching with loneliness, Gemma craves love and yearns to belong.A Crown of Ivy and Glass was just as perfectly incredible as I knew it would be. Full of magic, romance and curses. Full of pain and passion and hope. The sisterly love between the three of them was amazing and I loved it so. The steamy romance was the most I have read in books before and I very much loved it. I know the next two books will be about Farrin and Mara. And I can't wait to know more about them, eee. I do hope there might be some Gemma point of view too. Fingers crossed. I must know more of this world. A Crown of Ivy and Glass really wasn't the Fantasy book for me. My main problem with it was the writing style and how it fit more with a YA novel than an Adult one. It was very difficult to suspend my disbelief in regard to Gemma as a main character and narrator when she sounded like a young teenager most of the time. Claire Legrand used to be a musician until she realized she couldn’t stop thinking about the stories in her head. Now she is a New York Times bestselling author of darkly magical books.

Reading “A Crown of Ivy and Glass” is like watching a movie. Whether it’s a sex scene or a mystical landscape or a well-fitted suit, Legrand is a polished painter of word pictures. Luscious descriptions bring the story alive, making it immersive and fun even when it’s uncomfortable or excruciating. Did I like everything about the writing style? No, definitely not. Was the story interesting and exciting? Yes, definitely. Example four. Three sisters that are totally water downed versions of Archeron sisters. You really thought we wouldn’t notice? Despite this disappointment, there’s still hope for this series. The subsequent books in the trilogy are meant to focus on Gemma’s sisters, Farrin and Mara, who both display more complexity in their brief appearances in this book than its intended heroine often does. (Plus, I’m not made of stone—the idea of eldest sister Farrin getting together with Ryder Bask, son of her family’s worst enemy is incredible .) Here’s hoping that the story’s second volume will find a more coherent way to tell their stories.As in every Claire Legrand book, the writing, and descriptions were wonderful, as was the worldbuilding. Often, I had a clearer image of what a scene looked like than I did the role the characters played in that scene, which though problematic, made the story immersive (that is until Gemma started complaining). The sensory writing was incredibly vivid, as were the hints of horror the author included. Die Handlung klingt eigentlich ganz interessant, aber ich fand sie auch sehr chaotisch. Da ist natürlich der Dämon, der die Ashbournes verflucht hat, sodass sie sich mit Familie Bask bekriegen müssen, die aber den größten Teil des Buches nur eine Bedrohung im Hintergrund darstellen, sodass man kaum fühlen kann, warum man sie fürchten sollte. Man versteht auch kaum, warum die Ashbournes eigentlich so einflussreich sind, was Mara als Wächterin des Middlemist tut und auch generell erfährt man nur wenig über die Welt, weil Gemma in ihrer eigenen kleinen Blase lebt und nichts über ihre eigenen Probleme hinaus wahrnimmt.