A Crown So Silver 

• Author: Lyra Selene
• Genre: Fantasy
• Publication Date: January 23, 2025
• Publisher: Orbit
• Series: Fair Folk #2

Thank you to Orbit and Oliver Wehner for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The second installment of Lyra Selene’s international bestselling series, A Crown So Silver, is set during a deadly trial on a mysterious snowy island ruled by a trickster king. The prize: a chance for vengeance.

After her sacrifice on the Ember Moon, Fia is slush with powerful magic and eager to rush into battle against her murderous sister, Eala. However, Irian, Fia’s new husband, suggests a cautious retreat to the Silver Isle at the edge of the fae world.

Ruled by a cunning smith-king, the Silver Isle proves far from a safe haven. Fia and Irian quickly become embroiled in the Tournament of Kings, competing for a magical item imbued with immense power. Their relationship will be put to the test as they navigate conflicting motivations, shifting allegiances, charming princes, and ancient magic.

With the end of the tournament looming and Eala’s threat growing, Fia must decide just how much she’s willing to sacrifice to defeat her sister.

I enjoyed the first book in this series, and liked it even more while I was doing an audiobook reread. I started this one with high hopes for what things were building up to in the first book, and to see where things would go in this book. Some things were fantastic, but there were a couple of aspects that I didn’t love.

Originally, I was looking forward to seeing how things are going between Fia and Irian. The first book ended when their relationship was in the very early stages, while this book allowed a little time to have elapsed, and we get to see the progression of their relationship. However, I was disappointed to see them veer wildly from love/lust to anger and nasty barbs lobbed at each other. 

I struggled a bit with Fia for almost half the book. That’s the point where the competition gets thrown into the story, and I was so ready for that to change the dynamics. It also is the point where readers get insight into why Fia was acting in such a seemingly irrational way, and understand what was causing her to behave that way. It made me a lot more empathetic towards Fia, and I admit that the first half of the book was a slow-moving slog. 

There were a few tropes that arose during the reading that weren’t favorites of mine, such as a love triangle and the whole miscommunication trope. I’m usually pretty iffy on love triangles, and they have to be really, really good for me not to mind them. This wasn’t the case here. The love triangle didn’t feel as believable, and I wasn’t invested in that romance because I was already invested in her romance with Irian. 

Once I reached the halfway point of the book, things got better. I still didn’t love how much bickering and arguing went on between Fia and Irian, especially when so many of these spats could have been completely avoided by sitting down like two adults and speaking to each other about their thoughts and feelings. This came across as hard to differentiate from YA fantasy/romantasy, since Fia read especially immature. I also struggled with how impulsive and rash Fia was throughout the book—she doesn’t ever seem to think about how 

But after the halfway point, the tournament quickly overshadowed any of the other issues. I loved the different nature of the challenges, so that the stronger and faster competitors didn’t ensure an easy win for them. They kept my attention hooked to the book. 

Overall, this wasn’t what I was hoping it would be, but it was still a good read. I love the flowery and lush prose of Selene, making me visualize the most vivid scenes. It was also intriguing to see some more aspects from British folklore being woven into the story. Despite my dislike for the specific tropes that were chosen for this book, the author did have a plan in mind that becomes clearer after the midpoint of the story. While it lost the fairy tale feel that the first book had throughout the narrative, we gained a lot more scenes with more spice than I was expecting. Each time it was a reminder that I wasn’t reading a YA book, even if the characters acted more like teenagers than adults. But this turned out to be quite an intriguing read, and I’m curious about how the series ends.

You might like this one if you:

• Are fascinated by Irish/British folklore.
• Enjoy reading about love triangles.
• Can’t resist a good tournament in your fantasy novels.
• Love prose that is descriptive yet a little flowery.

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