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A review by gdesousa
The Amethyst Kingdom by A.K. Mulford
5.0
A big thank you to NetGalley and AK Mulford for this eArc!
I can’t believe that this is the last book in the Five Crowns of Okrith Series! Wow, what a conclusion. The Amethyst Kingdom follows Carys and Ersan through the challenges of trying to win the Eastern Court crown while Adisa Monroe continues to wreak havoc across the land. Like all the previous books I could not put this down and never wanted it to end.
This book differed from the previous in the series because it was a second-chance romance as opposed to the other books in which none of the characters had a past relationship together. Additionally, Carys had to work through both the trauma of her past while finally recognizing the trauma she inflicted on others and how much she has grown which is different from the arc of the previous novels. These aspects in combination with each other made Carys sometimes painful character to follow, however, it was integral to truly understanding Carys. From the perspectives of the other characters she is nice, stoic, and self-sacrificing but in truth she is a deeply flawed character and the reader needs to (like Carys) relearn that about her to fully understand her growth. Additionally, it was so powerful to see Carys deal with her mental health struggles since the front she had in the other books was so infallible. Because of this Carys felt dissociated from how I had personally imagined her given the context of the previous books, but I am really glad AK Mulford chose this route with her as it really differentiated her arc from anything else I have read. This ties into her relationship with Ersan, as it is her growth that shines light onto their relationship together and why they are better for each other now than when they were originally together.
My only wish was that there was more action in this book since this was the conclusion to so much buildup. However, I understand why Mulford chose for the book to be more character-driven given that Carys’ growth was the main journey taken. That being said, this was a wonderful way to end such an important series and while I am sad to see it end, I am glad that I got to spend so much time with these characters. I would recommend that readers read The Witch’s Goodbye before this book as I think it provides much-needed context.
I can’t believe that this is the last book in the Five Crowns of Okrith Series! Wow, what a conclusion. The Amethyst Kingdom follows Carys and Ersan through the challenges of trying to win the Eastern Court crown while Adisa Monroe continues to wreak havoc across the land. Like all the previous books I could not put this down and never wanted it to end.
This book differed from the previous in the series because it was a second-chance romance as opposed to the other books in which none of the characters had a past relationship together. Additionally, Carys had to work through both the trauma of her past while finally recognizing the trauma she inflicted on others and how much she has grown which is different from the arc of the previous novels. These aspects in combination with each other made Carys sometimes painful character to follow, however, it was integral to truly understanding Carys. From the perspectives of the other characters she is nice, stoic, and self-sacrificing but in truth she is a deeply flawed character and the reader needs to (like Carys) relearn that about her to fully understand her growth. Additionally, it was so powerful to see Carys deal with her mental health struggles since the front she had in the other books was so infallible. Because of this Carys felt dissociated from how I had personally imagined her given the context of the previous books, but I am really glad AK Mulford chose this route with her as it really differentiated her arc from anything else I have read. This ties into her relationship with Ersan, as it is her growth that shines light onto their relationship together and why they are better for each other now than when they were originally together.
My only wish was that there was more action in this book since this was the conclusion to so much buildup. However, I understand why Mulford chose for the book to be more character-driven given that Carys’ growth was the main journey taken. That being said, this was a wonderful way to end such an important series and while I am sad to see it end, I am glad that I got to spend so much time with these characters. I would recommend that readers read The Witch’s Goodbye before this book as I think it provides much-needed context.