In a world of fairytale retellings, The Crimson Crown barely classifies in my opinion. We see the easter eggs of the classic of Snow White scattered throughout this book, but at its core it’s a new original story almost entirely removed from the original. I believe if I didn’t know this was a retelling for the “Evil Queen” in Snow White, (along with the multitude of hints in worldbuilding), I’d have never guessed what this story was.

That’s not a bad thing, by the way. At no point was I certain where this story was going, because other than knowing our main character was to become a “villain” at the end - everything building up to that pivotal moment was brand new. This story hooks itself into you and takes you along for the ride, until you too are rooting for the villain in this tale. A sincere part of me wishes for a sequel to explore this newfound narrative, and to see if the story continues closer to how we know it - or if we will continue to root for the Evil Queen until the end.

I loved Malice and Misrule, and The Crimson Crown has a very similar vibe to it - by the end, you are wishing for the destruction of everything around the main character so she can take her (well deserved) revenge.

The one thing I found a bit difficult to get into was the romance scattered throughout, between Ayleth and Jacquetta. Much of their romance was built upon a history we were not there to see, so I found it hard to care or relate. That’s not to say that they didn’t have moments, and that I didn’t root for them to succeed against all costs - just that I find it hard to get into “established” romances in storytelling.

If you love villain origin stories, where you get to follow along with our main character as they fall deeper and deeper into a darkness they cannot escape from - until eventually they embrace this part of themselves - then this is the novel for you. Even “knowing the ending,” as it were, there were many twists and turns and I was never certain how our Ayleth became the Evil Queen we know until it finally happened.

Thank you to the author, Netgalley, and Random House Ballantine/Del Rey for this arc in exchange for an honest review.