BOOKS | Review: Daughter of Winter and Twilight by Helen Corcoran

Name: Daughter of Winter and Twilight (Queen of Coin and Whispers #2)

Author: Helen Corcoran

Publisher: The O'Brien Press

Date published: September 2023

Genre: Fiction, young adult, fantasy

Pages: 576

Rating: 5/5

 

'Magic was dormant - never dead'
To some, Emri - the adopted heir and daughter of two queens - is a living reminder that her birth father tried to usurp the Edaran throne. While Emri grapples with a diplomatic visit from her estranged cousin, Melisande, the two girls are attacked by a magical force and spirited away. They must put their differences aside when Emri comes face to face with a goddess she’s always considered a myth: Lady Winter.
Trapped deep within a mountain temple alongside other young royals, they face a race against time to complete Lady Winter’s trials... or die. 

- From Goodreads. 

This was a wonderful follow-up to Queen of Coin and Whispers. It took the world that was established in that first book and really expanded on it while also taking the plot in a new and exciting direction. Since the existence of magic and the gods were mentioned in the first book, but were not actually present, it was intriguing to see them actually become real and undeniable for the characters and to see their reactions to that.

The jump in time from the first book was also really interesting and it was fascinating to see how the characters we knew from the first book had grown and changed and what had happened to them in that time, as well as to meet new characters who had not even existed during the first book's plot.

I really liked Emri, the main character for this book, I think you could really feel and understand all her emotions, and it was very easy to root for her. It was also interesting to see Lia and Xania from her point of view as parents to her, when in the first book we had seen their story from their perspectives. I think we still got a strong sense of their characters and personalities and they still felt like the characters we knew in the first book, but of course a little older and more experienced.

The romance was a bit more in the background in this book, but I still enjoyed the romance we did get, and I thought it was well done that we saw Emri get to know and begin to like her potential future partner, without it being rushed and how it was clearly shown to be just the beginning of what had the potential to become a very sweet and loving relationship.

I would definitely recommend this if you enjoyed Queen of Coin and Whispers, and if you have not read that yet, I recommend both if you enjoy books with intriguing political plot lines and well thought-out worlds and well-rounded characters. If you like Samantha Shannon's Roots of Chaos series, I think you will like this too. 

BOOKS | Review: Queen of Coin and Whispers by Helen Corcoran

Name: Queen of Coin and Whispers

Author: Helen Corcoran

Publisher: O'Brien

Date published: June 2020

Genre: Fiction, young adult, fantasy, romance

Pages: 457

Rating: 5/5

This review contains vague and non-specific spoilers.

When teenage queen Lia inherits her corrupt uncle’s bankrupt kingdom, she brings a new spymaster into the fold ... Xania, who takes the job to avenge her murdered father.
Faced with dangerous plots and hidden enemies, can Lia and Xania learn to rely on each another, as they discover that all is not fair in love and treason?
In a world where the throne means both power and duty, they must decide what to sacrifice for their country - and for each other...

- From Goodreads.

I loved the main characters of Queen of Coin and Whispers, Lia and Xania, and thought they both had enthralling storylines. Their romance was captivating and so lovely to read. They faced obstacles and argued with each other, but in the end when it really mattered they did all they could for each other and really loved each other.

Both Lia's and Xania's persepectives felt necessary, important and distinct. The story would not have been as good without both of them so the dual points of view felt beneficial rather than repetitive or unnecessary as it can in some books. It would have been nice to have a couple more chapters from Lia's perspective towards the end of the book. I understood that we did not get chapters from her for a while to build tension but perhaps once everything was resolved there could have been more chapters from Lia as she dealt with the after affects of what happened at the climax of the novel. The rest of the novel was quite balanced in their perspectives but the end was much more focused on Xania so it felt a little strange, although it was nice that the novel started in Lia's perspective and ended with Xania's.

I liked that both Xania and Lia both had parts of their families still alive and supporting and caring for them, while also occasionally presenting problems. In young adult books there are often missing parents or families so it was refreshing to see familial relationships explored in this book. I also liked that Xania had a step-parent who was good and truly cared about Xania as step-parents in fiction can often be bad and it was nice to see a different approach to that.

I did find the political and mystery plot lines a little confusing at times and not always easy to follow and perhaps would have found a map at the beginning of the book to be useful. But by the end and once all of the mysteries had been revealed and solved, I understood better what had happened and found the plot points had been resolved in a satisfying way. I was intrigued for the whole book and never predicted what happened next and always enjoyed reading it.

I thought the structure of nobility with the way the people were organised into steps was unique and interesting to read. In general the world-building and creation of the society they lived in was very well done and fascinating to read about.

Overall I really loved this book and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a good romance between women with royalty, political intrigue, and mystery. I really felt for and loved the characters, was fascinated by the setting, and thought the romance was very well written. It was a really excellent book, especially for a debut, and I will certainly be looking forward to reading more books from this author.