Review: The Devil's Crown: Part 2

The Devil's Crown: Part 2 by Monica James
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"She is broken. We both are. And together...we're on a collision course bound to destroy the other the moment we collide" 

Part two of Alek's story is finally here and it is as epic as the character himself. Rising from the ashes, literally coming back from the dead to rebuild an empire is not as easy as one might think. Oh who am I kidding that sounds incredibly difficult. Alek can barely trust anyone, he needs to be as diabolical as possible and the first 40% of the book is a chess game of political moves as he tries to position himself in a way to return to his throne as the King of Russia. 

I wish I could give 1/2 stars. This is a solid 3.5 star review for me. Dark and delicious moderately deviant, but with a few bumps. 

Before reading either book in this duet you should know there is a trigger warning and it is serious. Now I dont have triggers when it comes to romance, so they did not bother me, or affect my opinion of this book. But the book does involve sexual violence, normal violence and human trafficking of young children. The book would not be what it is without the themes and it is all very much in line with the All The Pretty Things trilogy and The Devil's Crown Part 1. I found the first half of this book a bit slow, but by 50% the action picked up and the pages were flying. Alek and Ella were both making strategic moves, but they failed at communicating and it's a pet peeve for me. Had they had a simple conversation things would have gone much smoother for both of them. 

I loved Alek's character arc during this series, and seeing him really coming into the Anti Hero he wants to be. A big part of that was his relationship with Irina. He is the protective father we all knew he would be and it is HOT! (hint hint Monica James, if Irina got a book we could see Hot Daddy Alek go all protective). 

Ella was difficult to like in the beginning of this book, but again by half way through I had more sympathy for her as she came into her own power. Saint and Willow were also prominent in this book which felt like the series was coming full circle. 

If you are a fan of Dark Anti Hero books and can tolerate triggers I think you would really enjoy this duet. I received an arc of this book and voluntarily give my review.

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