WinterHaven Books: Blog Tour: Crystal Kingdom by Amanda Hocking / Review & Excerpt

Welcome to WinterHaven Books blog tour stop for Amanda Hocking's Crystal Kingdom blog tour. This is one of my favorite authors to date and I am beyond thrilled with the conclusion of The Kanin Chronicles.

Crystal Kingdom by Amanda Hocking
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: August 4, 2015
Series: The Kanin Chronicles
Purchase: Barnes and Noble, Amazon, ibooks
Add it: Goodreads

Cast out by her kingdom and far from home, she's the Kanin people's only hope.

Bryn Aven - unjustly charged with murder and treason - is on the run. The one person who can help is her greatest enemy, the enigmatic Konstantin Black. Konstantin is her only ally against those who have taken over her kingdom and threaten to destroy everything she holds dear. But can she trust him?

As Bryn fights to clear her name, the Kanin rulers’ darkest secrets are coming to light… and now the entire troll world is on the brink of war. Will it tear Bryn from Ridley Dresden, the only guy she’s ever loved? And can she join forces with Finn Holmes and the Trylle kingdom? One thing is certain: an epic battle is underway—and when it’s complete, nothing will ever be the same…

Chapter Three excerpt: Click here

My Thoughts...

Crystal Kingdom was a great conclusion to The Kanin Chronicles! Being a huge fan of Hocking's from the start, I couldn't wait to dive into this book. And as always, I love her writing. She's a natural storyteller and knows how to speak to her readers.

Bryn is on the run from Doldastam after being arrested for treason and accused of murdering the Skojare Prince Kennet Biaelse and her friend Kasper Abbott. Enter tall, dark and mysterious Konstantin Black, known as a Kanin traitor and working with Viktor Dalig. Konstantin was a serious mystery to me in the previous books. But it all unravels throughout this story. I love the action and the character chemistry between the characters, even secondary like Fin, Ulla, Kate and more.

Viktor Dalig's secrets and conspiracies unfold and the players in his game--key components into which he almost gets what he wants--revenge on those who took away his title and everything that accompanied that, as well as the riches his children were entitled to but was stripped away due to his attempted murder of the king.

Bryn and Konstantin travel to many kingdoms for help and to save the troll people of her village from an evil Queen who only sees them as industrial ants to do her bidding. Hocking played these characters and their story lines like Boss. She wove every facet into a nice tidy bundle. On the journey to figure out who was behind the murder of the king, she realizes that the Queen she had known wasn't exactly who she led herself to be. So Bryn and gang went for help and searched for answers for themselves and to build an alliance with other kingdoms in hopes to take down Queen Mina.

I was utterly surprised, and thrown off to be honest. Amanda does a fantastic job weaving multiple characters as well as their kingdoms into the mix. She also adds in bits and pieces from previous books to remind the reader of certain parts that happened before Crystal Kingdom. I'm a big fan of Ridley and Bryn and hoped those two could make it work from the get-go. There was a particular scene that had my toes curling and had wished the turmoil would cease so Bryn and Ridley had more time together. This conclusion was action packed and threaded with romantic elements. Bryn proved being a strong heroin and she was determined to clear her name and prove who the true traitor was. In the end she succeed, but it was quite a journey to say the least.

In the ending, everything was wrapped up nicely. I honestly am so sad to see these characters go. Like I said before, Hocking's writing is natural and her story telling is fantastic. She doesn't fluff her books with flowery prose and span off into the unknown with too much description and I like that.

I'm sad this chapter has closed but I am looking forward to whatever she brings our way next. I definitely recommend trying out any of her books/series if you haven't. Well done, Ms. Hocking.