Seven Realms by Cinda Williams Chima - Series Review (Reread)

Series Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

Books in the Series:

• The Demon King

• The Exiled Queen

• The Gray Wolf Throne

• The Crimson Crown

Best Book: The Crimson Crown (Book 4)

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Spice: Mild

Summary:

Han “Cuffs” Alister is a former streetlord, but now he’s trying to walk the straight and narrow…mostly. He runs into trouble when he sees a few young Wizards trespassing in the Spirit Mountains, an area of the Fells reserved for Upland Clan. Han is from the Vale, but he has spent all his summers with the Clan at Marisa Pines Camp since he was a young boy. He and his Clan friend, Dancer, chase the Wizards off, and steal an amulet from one of them. This amulet happens to be an important family heirloom…of the High Wizard of the Queendom. Stealing the amulet is a catalyst for a series of misfortunes and adventures where Han will learn he’s much more than a former streetlord.

Meanwhile, Raisa ana’Marianna, Princess of the Fells, and heir to the Queendom, is returning to the Capital of the Fells after spending a few years with her father at Demonai Camp learning the Clan’s trading and combat traditions. With the Clan she learned to be savvy, confident, and independent. Raisa has so many ideas to improve her country and is eager to start participating in governing the Queendom. But her mother, the Queen, wants her to focus on finding a suitor now that she’s turning sixteen. If that’s all it was, Raisa wouldn’t mind so much…but her mother is pushing for a marriage that goes against the laws of the Realm.

Unbeknownst to them, Han and Raisa are on a collision course as political machinations between the Queen, the Wizards, and the Clans clash. Han and Raisa will need to navigate these and forces outside the Fells to stay alive and save the Queendom.

Reaction:

This young adult series has so much to like, and a lot of the things I look for in a book are executed well. The books are heavy on court politics, with main plot points focusing on political marriages, tensions between the various groups of people within the Queendom, and relations with other Realms. The books follow two main characters, Han and Raisa, whose stories start at opposite ends of the wealth & influence spectrum. Sometimes in Dual POV books, it can feel like it’s one story through alternating narrators, but this series feels like it’s two stories happening in the same world, and they occasionally overlap. And the POVs are so different that it helps naturally communicate the world-building, avoiding that overload of information at the beginning of a fantasy book. The romance is VERY slow burn, and the series overall leans more towards a fantasy than a romance. But there are plenty of surprises and twists to keep a reader interested through the four books. The character development is also top notch; the narratives directly recall previous experiences for their motivations so you can really believe why their actions may change over time. Overall, the Seven Realms series is a great young adult fantasy series that’s perfect for readers who want a romance light read with an engaging plot and political machinations.