Content Warnings: Sex scenes, violence, blood/gore, murder, sexism, sexual harassment, grief and PTSD. Mention of: death of a parent, death of a child, torture, child abuse, grief, genocide, and war.

In preparation for this book to release I reread book 1 and 2 and annotating the crap out of them. I almost pushed off reading this longer because I just wasn't ready to let go of the world yet...but I also desperately wanted to know what happened.

Back in "Capture the Crown" we saw Gemma sneak and spy in an attempt to protect her kingdom and try to stop her enemies before they could enact any grand plans. We also got to see her meet and get to know a grown up Leo and battle her feelings for him. The mutual pinning was *chefs kiss* We also got a few flashbacks to her childhood when she first met Leo while fleeing the Seven Spires Massacre. It was so excited getting some of those details that I wondered about while reading "The Crown of Shards" trilogy. [If you haven't read the Crown of Shards series have no worries there's a great 1-2 page refresher of everything that happened back then...though I do recommend reading the first trilogy just to have a deeper understanding of the kingdoms and people]

In "Tear Down the Throne" we get to witness royals, who do not all get along, gather at the annual Summit to cement trade agreements and we get to find out more about Maeven's long game. Although they're enemies and Gemma knows nothing can come of their mutual feelings...Gemma and Leo continue to grow closer even as politics, and their own past feelings, threaten to get in the way. OMG the pining, the growing romance, and the confessions of feelings has me giggling and cheering them on. Not going to lie this book had my feelings about Maeven shifting a lot too...it hurts me that I'm starting to understand her. 😭

Now in "Conquer the Kingdom" there's a big tournament coming to Andvari and Gemma is still hunting down the one person set on destroying them. Even though Gemma now has Leo at her side she still feels it's temporary and that a future will never be possible. I adored the flashbacks we get in this book so much...and trust me you will too! We get to see Gemma blossom even more as she grows in her power, self confidence, and her place in the world. I love this trilogy so much and plan to reread it over and over so I never have to leave this wonderfully crafted world. 🥰 

  OMG, I know that Estep hasn't officially announced another spin off...but there are LARGE bread crumbs throughout this trilogy that are telling me we're getting one and it's going to focus on another favorite character of mine! 😍 I CANNOT WAIT!