Tricia Levenseller
YA Romantacy
Chrysantha Stathos has won.
By hiding her intelligence and ambition behind the mask of a beautiful air-headed girl, she has gathered important secrets, earned her father’s constant care, and become a wealthy duchess—all by age nineteen. Now, she is only one elderly, dying duke away from having all the freedom, money, and safety she’s ever wanted.
Or so she thought.
Turns out her little sister somehow snatched the true victory away from her: Alessandra is wedding the Shadow King, the most powerful man in the world. Meanwhile, after the death of Chrysantha’s no-good, lecherous husband, a man claiming to be the duke’s estranged grandson turns up to inherit everything that should be hers.
Chrysantha is enraged. There is no way that she’s going to let some man take everything from her. Never mind that he’s extremely handsome and secretive and alluring with mysterious powers… No, Chrysantha wants Eryx Demos dead, and in the end, a Stathos girl always gets what she wants.
-Excerpt taken from Goodreads.
Check Goodreads to see the book’s ratings.
My Opinion
“When men think they can control you, they don’t watch you as closely.”
(4 / 5) Chrysantha has finally achieved the life she wants. She purposely married an elderly man so he would die soon and she could inherit his estate. She has played the demure, innocent girl for long enough and now she can be herself. Until one of her late husband’s long lost grandsons comes to inherit instead. After living her 19 year old life under men’s rules, she has had it and refuses to let him ruin her new life.
“If the gods didn’t want us killing men, then they shouldn’t have allowed them to hurt us so much.”
Chrysantha is just as devious as her sister in The Shadows Between Us. She’s cunning and traitorous and such a fun morally grey character. She has conned enough men to know how to get her way and the grandson doesn’t know what’s about to hit him. It was entertaining to see her schemes play out and ultimately find her happiness.
I found it a bit unbelievable that nobody cares if someone has murdered another. What? And just as in book one, Chrysantha has a very healthy sex life, which is not a problem but definitely feels more New Adult than Young Adult. I loved hopping back into this world of tricks and twists, lies and love. And even better, Fierce Reads graced me with the beautiful special editions and I could not be happier!
General content summary:
19yo married to a 65yo
Man gropes his wife’s chest (request for intimacy)
Teen pregnancy (previous, only the father raised the child)
Misogyny
Murder (suffocation, few details)
Knife and gun threat
Physical violence (punch to unconsciousness, breaking a bone, throwing people, knife injuries, gun shots, blood, snapping bones, crushing skull, pulling arms off, beheading, few details, fist fight)
Brothel (and paying frequently for the services, virginity mentioned)
Animals and people found dead with suspicious bite marks (previous)
Parental death (rumored to be suicide or wasting away)
Poison administered
F/F attraction
M/F relationship (passionate kisses, playful flirting, ripping off clothes to reveal nakedness then “closed door” scene)
**Any quotes have been taken from the advance readers copy and may or may not be in the final, published copy.
Thank you to Fierce Reads and NetGalley for the copies!
The book releases July 9, 2024.
**As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
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