Skip to main content

The Last Crown (The Bold #2) by Elżbieta Cherezińska: A Book Review

The Last Crown (The Bold #2)
Author: Elżbieta Cherezińska
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Forge Books
Release Date: 2022
Pages: 544
Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: Across Baltic shores, English battlegrounds, and the land of Northern Lights, The Last Crown is the follow up to The Widow Queen, and the epic conclusion of Swietoslawa's journey from Polish princess to Queen of Denmark & Sweden and Queen Mother of England.


     The web of love and lies is thicker than ever as we reunite with players spread across the board of Europe in this sequel to The Widow Queen. Our heroes and enemies alike are beholden to the hands of fate.


     While Olav Tryggvason reclaims the throne of Norway and baptizes the land by blood, King Sven in Denmark is filled with rage at his once comrade. Not only does Olav threaten Sven’s hold on Norway, but his hold on his own wife -- the woman with two crowns, three sons, and a heart long spoken for. Swietoslawa, the Bold One.


    Meanwhile, those Swietoslawa trusts most -- Astrid, her sister, Sigvald, her brother-in-law and head of the Jomsvikings, and even her own son, Olaf -- take shocking, selfish action, with consequences that will reverberate for years to come.


     For the storm of unrequited love destroys all in its path.


     My Review: The Last Crown is the sequel to The Widow Queen. This novel picks up immediately after the first one ends. Swietoslawa has been crowned Queen of Denmark and Sweden. This novel chronicles her rise to Queen of Norway and England. It also tells how she became the Queen Mother of England.


     Swietoslawa is a very fascinating character. She shines throughout the novel. She is feisty, fearsome, and strong. She is also shrewd and manipulative. She is very skilled in politics. Therefore, she wins the respect and admiration of the men around her. I found her fascinating and rooted for her as she became queen of four countries and the mother of kings. I especially love the novel’s depiction of her as a formidable queen who had lynxes as pets. Thus, Swietoslawa was one of my favorite characters, and her story was very intriguing. The novel showed her not only as a queen but the familial roles she played throughout the story as a wife, mother, sister, and aunt.


      Overall, this novel is about religion, family, and love. I found the large cast of characters to be well-developed and complex. The things that I did not like about this book was I found the many battles to be very repetitive and a slog to read. I also found the middle to be a filler until the end. I also thought that due to its length, this novel was very drawn out and should have been shortened by a couple hundred pages. Still, I did enjoy the epic. There was a lot of political and courtly intrigue to keep me turning the pages. I did not know who Swietoslawa was, and her story of how she became queen of four countries was very mesmerizing! She led a very colorful life! I also had never heard of the Piast Dynasty, and it was interesting reading about their dynasty! Thus, The Widow Queen and The Last Crown was a welcome break away from the Tudors and the Plantagenets! I recommend this novel for fans of The Unbroken Line of the Moon, Shadow on the Crown, and The Forever Queen!


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Potiphar's Wife (The Egyptian Chronicles #1) by Mesu Andrews: A Book Review

  Potiphar’s Wife (The Egyptian Chronicles #1) Author: Mesu Andrews Genre: Historical Fiction, Christian, Biblical Fiction Publisher: WaterBrook Release Date: May 24, 2022 Pages: 453 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: One of the Bible’s most notorious women longs for a love she cannot have in this captivating novel from the award-winning author of Isaiah’s Legacy .       Before she is Potiphar’s wife, Zuleika is the daughter of a king and the wife of a prince. She rules the isle of Crete alongside her mother in the absence of their seafaring husbands. But when tragedy nearly destroys Crete, Zuleika must sacrifice her future to save the Minoan people she loves.       Zuleika’s father believes his robust trade with Egypt will ensure Pharaoh’s obligation to marry his daughter, including a bride price hefty enough to save Crete. But Pharaoh refuses and gives her instead to Potiphar, the captain...

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn: A Book Review

The Rose Code Author: Kate Quinn Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Harper Collins Release Date: 2021 Pages: 635 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: 1940, Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire.        Three very different women are recruited to the mysterious Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes.       Vivacious debutante Osla has the dashing Prince Philip of Greece sending her roses – but she burns to prove herself as more than a society girl, working to translate decoded enemy secrets. Self-made Mab masters the legendary codebreaking machines as she conceals old wounds and the poverty of her East-End London upbringing. And shy local girl Beth is the outsider who trains as one of the Park’s few female cryptanalysts.       1947, London.        Seven years after they first meet, on the eve of the roya...

A Right Worthy Woman by Ruth P. Watson: A Book Review

A Right Worthy Woman Author: Ruth P. Watson Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Atria Books Release Date: 2023 Pages: 303 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: In the vein of The Personal Librarian and The House of Eve , a “remarkable and stirring novel” (Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times bestselling author) based on the inspiring true story of Virginia’s Black Wall Street and the indomitable Maggie Lena Walker, the daughter of a formerly enslaved woman who became the first Black woman to establish and preside over a bank in the United States.       Maggie Lena Walker was ambitious and unafraid. Her childhood in 19th-century Virginia helping her mother with her laundry service opened her eyes to the overwhelming discrepancy between the Black residents and her mother’s affluent white clients. She vowed to not only secure the same kind of home and finery for herself, but she would also help others in her community achi...