I was so happy when Fairyloot announced that they would include Twin Crowns by Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber as an additional paperback in their June 2022 Young Adult book box! Fantasy, confused identities, enemies-to-lovers, what’s not to love?

Twin Crowns

Twin Crowns tells the story of two twin sisters, separated at birth. Princess Rose’s life seems to be perfect: next month she’ll be crowned queen and she’ll be wed to a sweet prince of a neighbouring kingdom. The threat of magic has been subdued for ages and her country is safe. Little does she know that she’s about to be pulled into the biggest adventure of her life. Her sister Wren – of whose existence she’s not aware – is planning together with her grandmother to switch places. Raised far away from the palace, Wren is an enchantress who is willing to risk it all to get justice for the witches…

A magical rom-com

Personally, I had never read a romantic comedy set in a fantasy world before, so I was intrigued as of the start. And the story didn’t disappoint. It was an easy read, with interesting characters, several twists, and a moderate amount of humor and romance.

This was a plot and character driven novel, which I always appreciate. Nevertheless, the world building was good too. I really appreciated the magic system, the history of the realm, and interesting details like the creation myth.

I have heard that I’m peculiar in this, but I didn’t have a preference between Rose or Wren. I liked both. Nor did I prefer one of the love interests over the other. Any fans of Matthias Helvar (Six of Crows)? Then one of the love interests might just be your cup of tea 😉 My real fascination is with the royalty of the neighbouring kingdom though. I hope to see much more of them in the next book.

At the beginning, I thought there would be quite a clash in style between the chapters narrated from the point of view of Rose and those of Wren, as I assume that each of the authors would have written one of the characters. However, if that was indeed the case, I did not notice it. At no point did I encounter any plot, style and/or tone inconsistencies. Very nicely done. Interested in learning more about the writing process? Check out this interview with the authors to get some insights!

I’m not very clear on how many books this series will contain, but I’m looking forward to part two which is set to be published in May 2023.

Three out of five gemstones!

Age Category: Young Adult

Representation:  LGBTQ+ supporting characters

Do you want to discover more?

If my review inspired you to pick up the book, don’t hesitate to check it out at Goodreads or at the below online stores.

Amazon.nl: Hardcover edition

Amazon.nl: Paperback edition

Amazon.nl: eBook edition

There are also several special editions available of Twin Crowns. I only own one, namely the Fairyloot paperback edition with its redesigned cover, digitally sprayed edges, and a digital signature of both authors. It is superbly pretty. I would definitely recommend getting this one, although more as a collector’s item than as an edition to read. It’s quite sturdy and it will be difficult to read it without breaking the spine. Finding it might be another challenge. I had expected it to be readily available on the second hand market, but I struggle to find many listings. Should be relatively feasible for about € 40 though if you look around a bit.

Waterstones also launched a special feature for its signed copies. There are two different versions of the stenciled edges available: one inspired by Wren and one by Princess Rose.

Similar to this

Twin Crowns reminded me in different degrees of a couple of books I read these past few years. The first one that came to mind was Little Thieves by Margaret Owen. I quite appreciated this witty retelling of Goose Girl (my review). Not only is this also the story of swapped girls, Wren’s behaviour also reminded me quite a bit of the main character.

The second book that came to mind was Even the Darkest Stars by Heather Fawcett. This is the first book in an amazing duology about an expedition in snowy mountains. There’s a similar plot line with witches wanting to get their land back. I cannot say enough how much I adore this duology! Check out my review here.

And thirdly, it reminded me somewhat of Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin, although it’s less clear to me why. I think it was mostly due to the interactions between the lovers. My review can be found here.

Recap: Twin Crowns

In the following section, you’ll find a recap that you can use to prepare for the next book when it is published. Of course, this is by definition full of spoilers, so it is hidden behind a spoiler tag. Enter at your own risk!

Want a recap before starting the next part? (click here, contains spoilers)

World: : Eana. The previous king and queen are thought to have been murdered by witches, who were driven from the realm ages ago by the Protector. Queen Lilith herself was a reformed witch. She was murdered right after haven given birth to twin daughters. The midwife – also a witch – fled with one of the babies, Wren. The other baby, Rose, was raised as the crown princess by the Kingsbreath (who was the actual murderer). The royal murder led to further repercussions against the witches, known as Lilith’s War.

History has forgotten that there were twin witch queens before the Protector conquered Eana. One of the sisters went mad and caused magic to split into five strands: warriors, enchanters, seers, tempests, and healers. This weakened the witches, the good sister had to kill the bad one, and the Protector killed the good one. This is the “curse”. The cliffs where the witches now reside is called Ortha.

Gevra is the neighbouring country across the sea. They are known to be a brutal people. They train wild animals and love war. Their king is vicious. Rose was engaged to the younger brother of the king. The king is fascinated by witches and wants to collect them.

Main characters: Main characters are Rose and Wren. Rose is trained to be Queen. She was engaged to prince Ansel, who is quite soft. He died at the end of the book, when the Kingsbreath, William Rathborne, threw a knife at Wren and Tor, Ansel’s guard, jumped in front of her, leaving the prince vulnerable. During the course of the book, Rose fell in love with Shen, a Warrior witch and Wren’s best friend. It is revealed that Rose is in fact also a witch, and more precisely a healer. Her best friend is called Celeste. Celeste is fascinated by the princess of Gevra.

Wren (an enchantress) is raised by their grandmother Banba (a tempest). Her manners are much less refined than those of Rose. Wren quickly falls in love with Ansel’s guard, Tor.

Plot: At the beginning of the story, Shen kidnaps Rose while Wren takes her place as princess. It soon becomes clear that it won’t be that easy to become queen though, as Rathborne wants the throne for himself. He wants to ship the princess off to Gevra, while he would rule in her stead. Wren learns of their plans to send an army to Ortha and sends out a message. Rose, who is in the meanwhile among the witches, returns at once. They plan to work together to let the people know what really happened to their parents. Their plot is discovered, Rathborne accidently kills Ansel and Alarik, king of Gevra, declares war on Eana. They manage to kidnap Banba when the witches storm the capital and take her with them to Gevra. Rose and Wren decide to rule together as Queens, even though the prophesy has foretold that this would re-enact the curse of the twin queens. Rathborne is killed during the battle at the end of the story. Tor returns to Gevra.