A Crown of Ivy and Glass

Product Information

Despite this disappointment, there’s still hope for this series. The subsequent books in the trilogy are meant to focus on Gemma’s sisters, Farrin and Mara, who both display more complexity in their brief appearances in this book than its intended heroine often does. (Plus, I’m not made of stone—the idea of eldest sister Farrin getting together with Ryder Bask, son of her family’s worst enemy is incredible .) Here’s hoping that the story’s second volume will find a more coherent way to tell their stories. Example four. Three sisters that are totally water downed versions of Archeron sisters. You really thought we wouldn’t notice? This has so much potential and I wanted to love it, but I'm spending most of my time being irritated and it's too long of a book for that. That said, this feels like TikTok fodder and there are people who will probably eat it up. The problem is that what I think this author does well isn't what this imprint and I assume these editors are leaning into. So, I’ll be honest, I’ve had this post started for a few weeks now and every time I pull it up to actually write my review, I become super intimidated and find excuses to do other things. Mostly this is because I’m still not quite sure how I feel about this book! I have some extremely opposing feelings about almost every part of it. But one thing I think I can confidently start with is one of the things I referred to in my introduction: this author knows how to write. I immediately felt drawn into this world and these characters. As the story progressed, the magic and world itself felt as if it was unrolling before me, presenting more and more insights into the world-building that was on a much more grandiose scale than I had originally thought. Regardless of anything else in this review, the appeal of Legrand’s prose is enough to keep me reading this trilogy going forward. As someone with a chronic, painful illness that has no known cure, I relate deeply to Imogen’s pain as she grapples with her place in the world and finds meaning in her oft-bedridden existence. True to life, Legrand describes Imogen’s aches and ailments with such consistency it’s impossible to forget.

Oh, wait. Talan. I loved this boy the very most. Eee. He was all kinds of precious. Beautiful, of course. But so sweet and giving off such vibes of innocence, haha. Which he was not. Well, he was. He was all kinds of complicated and I loved that. He had such a wild story and a wild life. I loved getting to know him. Sure, he did make some mistakes too. And there was some drama that I was not a big fan of. Hmph. But it was nothing that bad. And oh, how I loved him. Talan was the sweetest and he cared so so much for Gemma. The result is a genuine and exciting character arc that puts disability and mental illness in the spotlight for an honest, earnest evaluation.

Lady Gemma Ashbourne seemingly has it all. She’s young, gorgeous, and rich. Her family was Anointed by the gods, blessed with incredible abilities. But underneath her glittering façade, Gemma is deeply sad. Years ago, her sister Mara was taken to the Middlemist to guard against treacherous magic. Her mother abandoned the family. Her father and eldest sister, Farrin - embroiled in a deadly blood feud with the mysterious Bask family - often forget Gemma exists. A Crown of Ivy and Glass, the first book in the Middlemist trilogy, is a story about romance, dark magic, costuming and architecture, dance, music, monsters and myths. A story about sisterhood, passionate lovers and this is only the beginning. Claire Legrand used to be a musician until she realized she couldn’t stop thinking about the stories in her head. Now she is a New York Times bestselling author of darkly magical books.

It has the lightness and shimmer of a high society balls hosted at a beautiful mansion in the countryside that is covered in ivy from the out and inside. It has the softness of a silk gown and the magical aesthetic of a pre-Raphaelite painting. But it also has the weight and eerie darkness you would hope for in a fantasy world. The danger and mystery. Therefore, I absolutely adored the world building around the Mist, the Rosewarren, the history, folktales, and gods, since it was so characteristically “Claire Legrand” with its rich details, its depth and extended even further once the Fae and demons were introduced. I have so much to write about this book. And I have already written too much. And yet I'm not done, ha. But I will not say too much about the plot of this story. As it was all over the place. And I loved that. This book is all about Gemma. About her slowly learning more about why she has zero magic. And how she might have it anyway. It was a little creepy and all kinds of awesome to read about. This is a book about demons. A book about curses. A book about magical travelling through hedges, haha. A book about love. It really does feel like Bridgerton meets magic and demons, but with mental health and chronic illness rep. The writing felt so rich and well crafted, and I'm itching to unravel more of the mysteries of Middlemist. There were a few things I noticed, like how the first and second halves felt almost like separate books, and how the pacing got a little messy in the later, but I honestly didn't mind. Gemma has grown up with a very priveleged existence: rich, beautiful, and a member of one of the most powerful families in the land. But, at the same time, Gemma has always felt herself to be on the outside looking in. Not only does she not possess any of the magical talent that her family is known for, and that both of her older sisters excel at in their own ways, but magic actively hurts Gemma, causing her to move through life in a very magical world experiencing constant levels of pain. When Gemma meets Talan, a young man who also feels that he exists outside the strictures of society, she finally begins to see a way forward, teaming up with him to hunt a powerful demon who may be the answer to her struggles with magic. But along the way, she begins to suspect that there is much more going on with Talan and the larger world as a whole. My first initial reaction to this book was that it is the perfect blend between an English high society period drama and an epic fantasy novel.

Books Multibuys

Worst of all, Gemma is the only Ashbourne to possess no magic. Instead, her body fights it like poison. Constantly ill, aching with loneliness, Gemma craves love and yearns to belong. But where do I even begin with this book? There is so much to write about. So much to say. And I am going to try not to share everything about it. But oh, I have many thoughts. And I simply must share most of them. The writing was absolutely stunning. As always, with a Claire book. I fully fell in love with everything. A Crown of Ivy and Glass was just as perfectly incredible as I knew it would be. Full of magic, romance and curses. Full of pain and passion and hope. The sisterly love between the three of them was amazing and I loved it so. The steamy romance was the most I have read in books before and I very much loved it. I know the next two books will be about Farrin and Mara. And I can't wait to know more about them, eee. I do hope there might be some Gemma point of view too. Fingers crossed. I must know more of this world.

Lady Gemma Ashbourne seemingly has it all. She's young, gorgeous, and rich. Her family was Anointed by the gods, blessed with incredible abilities. But underneath her glittering façade, Gemma is deeply sad. Years ago, her sister Mara was taken to the Middlemist to guard against treacherous magic. Her mother abandoned the family. Her father and eldest sister, Farrin-embroiled in a deadly blood feud with the mysterious Bask family-often forget Gemma exists. Her bestselling Empirium Trilogy consists of epic fantasy novels FURYBORN, KINGSBANE, and LIGHTBRINGER. Then she meets the devastatingly handsome Talan d’Astier. His family destroyed themselves, seduced by a demon, and Talan, the only survivor, is determined to redeem their honor. Intrigued and enchanted, Gemma proposes a bargain: She’ll help Talan navigate high society if he helps her destroy the Basks. According to popular legend, a demon called The Man With the Three-Eyed Crown is behind the families’ blood feud—slay the demon, end the feud.Each book will follow one of the Ashbourne sisters, and in this first novel, we are introduced to Lady Imogen “Gemma” Ashbourne…. a young, rich and beautiful woman of a family, which was Anointed by the gods and blessed with incredible abilities, she seemingly has it all. Example one. This book is marketed as adult. But the characters and the writing is VERY YA. Cursing and bad cringy sex scenes do not make book an adult fantasy. This is the first adult book by Claire, which I loved. Felt a little young to me, and that is what I like. So I did not mind that at all. This trilogy will be told from three different sisters. In this one, it was about Gemma, the youngest. Gemma was twenty years old. Mara was the middle one, twenty-two. Farrin the oldest sister, at twenty-four. I cannot wait to read their books as well. Although I very much hate waiting. Hmph. Anyway. It is an adult series, but I felt like it was very much like her Furyborn books in tone and such, which I loved. Gemma felt so young at times. Yet older too. Of course, biggest difference with this book being for adults was the very steamy romance. Sigh. There was a lot of it, haha. And it was perfect. I loved how steamy it was, yet sweet too. Speaking of characters, I didn't like our two leads. Gemma--especially at the beginning--was entitled and nasty to everyone who cared about her. She took everything for granted and hurt those around her. I understand that she had anxiety but I actually think using her anxiety as a weapon to hurt others is harmful stereotyping. I get that a book doesn't have to have likable characters, but especially when mental health is a main aspect of character, it's important to make characters redeemable or at least sympathetic. In that same vein, Talan was not a character, he was paper cut out that the author moved around to further the plot. He and Gemma went from disliking each other to being madly in love within a chapter and I still don't understand why. They had almost nothing in common, and the only conversations they had were cheesy declarations of love.

Did I like everything about the writing style? No, definitely not. Was the story interesting and exciting? Yes, definitely. Die Handlung klingt eigentlich ganz interessant, aber ich fand sie auch sehr chaotisch. Da ist natürlich der Dämon, der die Ashbournes verflucht hat, sodass sie sich mit Familie Bask bekriegen müssen, die aber den größten Teil des Buches nur eine Bedrohung im Hintergrund darstellen, sodass man kaum fühlen kann, warum man sie fürchten sollte. Man versteht auch kaum, warum die Ashbournes eigentlich so einflussreich sind, was Mara als Wächterin des Middlemist tut und auch generell erfährt man nur wenig über die Welt, weil Gemma in ihrer eigenen kleinen Blase lebt und nichts über ihre eigenen Probleme hinaus wahrnimmt. Example six and probably the biggest issue I had with this book. The main character, Gemma is absolute WORST. She is annoying, spoiled and sometimes completely empty headed. The only reason I didn’t DNF it was because I was listening to the audiobook while commuting and doing chores, otherwise I don’t think I’d have been able to finish it. But even though this was a huge disappointment for me and I won’t be continuing this series, I’ll still keep an eye out for Legrand’s future works. If you haven’t read anything by this author yet but you want to, I recommend starting with her Empirium trilogy.Gemma Ashbourne stammt aus einer der einflussreichsten Familien mit der stärksten Magie, doch sie selbst hat nicht nur keine magischen Kräfte, allein die Nähe zu Magie kann bei ihr starke Schmerzen auslösen. The world building was absolutely fantastic. I loved the regency society juxtaposed with magic, and the mysteries of the Mist. I loved the different demon and horror elements that were incorporated more and more as the book continued. There was a lot of twisted imagery as the book continued.