Best Book of 2012~ My Review of The Crimson Crown by Cinda Williams Chima

The Crimson Crown (Seven Realms #4) by Cinda Williams Chima

Hardcover, 598 pages

Published: Oct. 23rd, 2012 by Disney Hyperion

Source: Purchased

A thousand years ago, two young lovers were betrayed--Alger Waterlow to his death, and Hanalea, Queen of the Fells, to a life without love.
Now, once again, the Queendom of the Fells seems likely to shatter apart. For young queen Raisa "ana'"Marianna, maintaining peace even within her own castle walls is nearly impossible; tension between wizards and Clan has reached a fevered pitch. With surrounding kingdoms seeking to prey on the Fells' inner turmoil, Raisa's best hope is to unite her people against a common enemy. But that enemy might be the person with whom she's falling in love.
Through a complicated web of lies and unholy alliances, former streetlord Han Alister has become a member of the Wizard Council of the Fells. Navigating the cut-throat world of blue blood politics has never been more dangerous, and Han seems to inspire hostility among Clan and wizards alike. His only ally is the queen, and despite the perils involved, Han finds it impossible to ignore his feelings for Raisa. Before long, Han finds himself in possession of a secret believed to be lost to history, a discovery powerful enough to unite the people of the Fells. But will the secret die with him before he can use it?
A simple, devastating truth concealed by a thousand-year-old lie at last comes to light in this stunning conclusion to the Seven Realms series.

My reviews of The Demon King | The Exiled Queen | and apparently I didn't review The Gray Wolf Throne... I'm not finding it anyway.

Spoiler free review for the entire series (at least I think so...).
Warning: Serious gushing ahead.  Now, I know I have gushed about a few books recently and now you may not take me serious anymore.  How can I possibly LOVE that many books?  I can safely say that I have read some amazing books this year but I think the majority of them were in the last quarter of the year.  And I have found that I actually have set down almost 50% of the books I've started reading.  It really only holds my attention if it's AMAZING.  I have zero patience these days.  So if it's one I stick with, it's likely I'm LOVING it.  Also note that sometimes books sit prepped but not posted for months, review books always come first for posting and non-review books I fit in when I have a spare day.  So I do not post in the order I read.  Not even close!
Now, onto the review!

I finished this book about an hour ago and when I set it down I'm pretty sure my face was about to split from the huge smile on my face.  But my heart, my poor heart!  It was beating at a wildly erratic rate for the entire last quarter of the book!  And since it's nearly 600 pages, that's at least a couple hours of nearly beating right out of my chest.  And since I have children I had lots of interruptions, but I just hauled that book around for the ride.  I set it down to dump food in a bowl, but picked it up to mix the food together.  And so it went for the last quarter of the book.  And while the last quarter nearly sent me into heart attack mode, the entire book was so good I nearly cried from the beauty of it.  I really love when you read a book and you just want to tell everyone you see that they really must read it.  When you're in the line at the grocery store and you want to tap the shoulder of the person in front of you and just randomly tell them that you know this really great book they should read...  and while I couldn't hardly put the book down, I did find time to do some gushing on social network sites.  But really all I can say is, if you are looking for a series that completely entrances you, that has everything a fantasy should have, read this series.  Read it!  I have been trying to convince people, but so far not everyone is listening.  World, read this freaking series!

I love fantasy, but sometimes there's a series that somehow stands out from others and this is one of those.  I read The Demon King last year and immediately continued the series and then had to anxiously await the fourth.  It's now out, so you can get the entire series and read it, and trust me, you'll want to read it straight through!  I already want to reread it!

Okay, so yes, serious gushing going on... sorry about that.  But this series has everything going for it.  The characters are thoroughly entrancing and addicting.  They are thoroughly fleshed out and they will constantly surprise you.  The plot is as twisty as it gets.  Don't bother trying to figure it out, you'll never guess how it will play out.  The world is everything I want in a fantasy.  It's a bit smaller than many fantasy books I've read, being as they can travel places much more quickly, but really, it wasn't at all a negative, just something different (the world, or seven realms is small, not the size of the book, the book is huge).  It still has the different and unique places I love.  This world has wizards, demonai (like Native Americans) and vale folk (city folk).  That's just mentioning those in the Queendom that is the focus, but through the series we see more as they travel.  This book is more focused on just their lands though with no far off travel.  And the romance, oh the romance!  It deserves it's own paragraph...

First off, I want this to be a spoiler free review for the series so I'm not going to give anything away.  But I will tell you that the romance is as epic as it gets.  These two characters meet obstacle after obstacle.  And really, it's not possible for them to ever get together for real.  But yet, might it be?  Well, you have to read it.  But I have to say that all the twists and turns really lead to some surprising discoveries that really change the whole game and how people see things.  Two people that are at opposite ends of the social structure (princess vs. street lord) could end up as nearly equals.  It is possible.  But it takes near death experience (time and time again) and lots of deaths of others to lead to what may become possible.  And the entire time all you can do is bite your fingers and hope, hope, hope that somehow things will work out.  That they will survive just to be in each others arms again even if it's not forever, even if it's just for one night.  They need to survive just to accomplish that one small thing.  Okay, I could ramble on and on about this romance.  All I can say is EPIC.  EPIC.  EPIC.

In case you haven't figured it out yet, this book was the perfect conclusion for the series.  It had everything I wanted, needed, desired and so, so much more.  You'd think that things would finally work out when eek, another wrench is thrown in their plans.  It will have your head spinning and your legs trembling.  Yep, my legs surely did tremble.  And maybe my bottom lip.  Just a little.

Added on later: I have to say that some time has passed and I'm still obsessing about this book.  I recently heard someone say in a review that they could lay on their bed and literally stare at the ceiling for hours thinking about the book.  Well, that's this book.  I literally DID stare at the ceiling for hours because I couldn't sleep once I finished it!  I just laid there and thought about how much I loved it and everything that went down.  I've done some debating and some research, trying to figure out which book is my most favorite this year.  I think it's hard to determine because your memory fades a bit so those you've read more recently are the ones you remember.  Well, after a lot of thinking I have decided that this book is my number one most favorite book this year.  I would say Finnikin of the Rock and Froi of the Exiles is just a bit behind it, and it was a bit hard to determine for sure, but this series, this book in particular, was even better, in my opinion.  So that's it, this is the best book of 2012 for me!

 First book in the series is The Demon King:

Times are hard in the mountain city of Fellsmarch. Reformed thief Han Alister will do almost anything to eke out a living for for his family. The only thing of value he has is something he can't sell - the thick silver cuffs he's worn since birth. They're clearly magicked - as he grows, they grow, and he's never been able to get them off.

One day Han and his clan friend, Dancer, confront three young wizards setting fire to the sacred mountain of Hanalea. Han takes an amulet from Micah Bayar, son of the High Wizard, to keep him from using it against them. Soon Han learns that the amulet has an evil history - it once belonged to the Demon King, the wizard who nearly destroyed the world a millennium ago. With a magical piece that powerful at stake, Han knows that the Bayars will stop at nothing to get it back.

Meanwhile, Raisa ana’Marianna, princess heir of the Fells, has her own battles to fight. She’s just returning to court after three years of freedom in the mountains - riding, hunting, and working the famous clan markets. Raisa wants to be more than an ornament in a glittering cage. She aspires to be like Hanalea - the legendary warrior queen who killed the Demon King and saved the world. But her mother has other plans for her - including marriage to a suitor who goes against everything the queendom stands for.

The Seven Realms tremble when the lives of Han and Raisa collide, fanning the flames of the smoldering war between clans and wizards.