The Ring & The Crown

Today’s post is on The Ring & The Crown by Melissa De La Cruz.  It is the first in her The Ring & 

The Crown  series. The it is 372 pages long and is published by Hyperion. The cover is a pinky-red 

with the title in black and a young woman at the bottom wearing a flower hat. The intended reader is 

someone who likes fantasy, Jane Austen like novels, and love triangles; older young adult and adult 

only. There is sex, talk of sex and rape, some violence and some strong language. The story is told 

from the third person perspective of the main character's moving from one to another chapter by 

chapter.  There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- Magic is power, and power is magic. Once they were inseparable, just two
little  girls playing games in a mighty castle. Now Princess Marie-Victoria, heir to the mightiest
empire in the world, and Aelwyn Myrddyn, a bastard mage, face vastly different futures.

Quiet and gentle, Marie has never lived up to the ambitions of her mother, Queen Eleanor the 

Second. 

With the help her Merlin, Eleanor has maintained a stranglehold on the world's only source of magic. 

While the enchanters faithfully serve the crown, the sun will never set on the Franco-British Empire.

As the annual London Season begins, the great and noble families across the globe flaunt their 

wealth and magic at parties, teas, and, of course, the lavish Bal du Drap d'Or, the Ball of the Gold 

Cloth.

But the talk of the season is Ronan Astor, a social-climbing American with only her dazzling beauty 

to recommend her. Ronan is determined to make a good match to save her family's position. But 

when she falls for a handsome rogue on the voyage over, her lofty plans are imperiled by her desires.

Meanwhile, Isabelle of Orleans, daughter of the displaced French royal family, finds herself cast 

aside by Leopold, heir to the Prussian crown, in favor of a political marriage to Marie-Victoria. 

Isabelle arrives in the city bent on reclaiming what is hers. But Marie doesn't even want Leopold- 

she has lost her heart to a boy a future queen would never be allowed to marry.

when Marie comes to Aelwyn, desperate to escape a life without love, the girls form a perilous plan 

to endangers now only the entire kingdom but the fate of the monarchy.

Review- This was a fun read. There is drama, love triangles, magic, and some surprising tough 

issues. Leopold is a bad guy. He treats women like his personal sex toys and no one dares to try and 

stop him. Marie-Victoria just wants to be loved and she knows that Leopold will only make her 

miserable. Aelwyn wants her father to trust her and she wants power. I could go on but I think that 

you get the idea. All the characters are on the edge of adulthood and they do not know what to do 

with their personal desires or how to handle others. The character's are interesting and the plot is 

solid. But the stronger themes are a bit of surprise. Isabelle has been raped by some of the men in her

life and she does not know it. Leopold has magic on him that makes people want to please him. So 

Isabelle thought she wanted to have sex with him until she is out of his power. In addition to having 

a cousin who is a rapist. Aelwyn has a similar experience. I was uncomfortable with those parts of 

the story but I think that you should be. Someone being raped or deceived into sex is something that 

people should be uncomfortable with. I think that De La Cruz handles it well. I will be reading the 

next book in the series to see where she is going with it.

I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from 

my local library.