An excellent sequel to Witches steeped in gold. The story continues and is actually better than the first book in the series. Lovely story that grips you from the first page.

This is an epic follow up to Witches Steeped in Gold that does what every great sequel should do, more of the same mixed with fresh elements and expansive vision. Empress Crowned in Red takes us on a wild journey for the fight for Aiyca with more allies, more enemies and higher stakes than before. Smart weaves the dual perspective story with complex characters in a lyrical way that thrusts you into their world so deeply I wasn't sure who I was ultimately rooting for because I was emotionally invested in all the characters journeys. While this is professed as a conclusion to the witches story I can't help but hope there will be more stories set in this world because there is so much depth to the world building or maybe just a killer adaptation in the future. Either way I enjoyed the novel I'd love to see more.

Found this sequel a bit more plodding than witches steeped in gold. I enjoyed the moral ambiguity of the characters but there wasn’t enough difference in voice for the dual pov characters. The plot was a little off the peg. I enjoyed the book, but I have read a lot of fantasy and this didn’t really wow me with anything new.

I had enjoyed Witches Steeped in Gold so was very excited to read Empress Crowned in Red. I must admit that I enjoyed the sequel a little more than the first instalment.
The beginning of the book set the scene for an amazing sounding quest. I really enjoyed seeing each of the protagonists being set their own tasks in order to meet their goals
The middle of the book was where it fell a little flat for me. I felt that the middle 40% of the book was a little lacklustre. It felt quite slow and at times was a bit of a slog to get through
The last 30% was so exciting though! I genuinely applauded at one point. The battle was really quite epic and so enjoyable
At times I found myself getting a little lost with the volume of characters, there was a character list at the beginning of the book but it only listed 6 characters (4 of whom were deceased before this book started).
I really enjoyed the dual narrative aspect of the book, I love a dual narrative!
I did enjoy this book and I would give it 3.5 but rounding down just due to the slow middle

Thank you netgalley for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed the first book, so I was really excited for the sequel, and I really enjoyed it. I loved the characters and how their arcs developed with the plot of the book, working towards the ending. It was a solid read and I really enjoyed it so I’m giving the book 4/5 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and publishers for this eARC of Empress Crowned in Red

I was excited to read this follow up to Witches Steeped In Gold.
This was beautifully written and followed on perfectly from the first novel.
The writing technique is similar to WSIG and the chapters are from Iraya and Jazmyne's point of view. The character development was evidently improved and the pace of the storyline moved along well, making it an enjoyable read.

I was so excited to see this in arc form as I loved Witches Steeped in Gold. Well written with an enchanting storyline and well developed charcaters that I of coursed adored. I loved the dual narrative aspectthat was beautifully written.
I was gripped right from the very start and found this book heart -wrenching in places. I couldn't put it down and I didn't want it to end.

I enjoyed witches steeped in gold, but definitely should have reread the book prior to picking up the arc, as there was a lot of information and character's I couldn't remember.

As with wsig the book is told in dual pov from main characters Jazmyne and Iraya, and just like previously, I was struggling to keep track of the pov as both character's were written very similarly, and were not distinguishable. Whilst I wasn't particularly attached to any of the characters, I liked that they were not wholly good or bad, but morally grey and protective of what they thought was right, it added a lot of depth and thought to the story, and made it impossible to pick a side. There was a perfect amount of tension between Jazmyne and Iraya and definitely built on from the previous book, and helped with character development.

The plot, when picked up, was enjoyable, but the story did slow down at times, and risked becoming quite boring, especially since the book was so long. I think I struggled at times, as there was no detailed world building and some of the language felt misplaced, and more complex than needed. I stumbled across a few synonyms I was unfamiliar with and had to keep stopping to understand what I had read, and that threw my pace off a lot. A few examples were within the first few pages.

Regardless, the actual writing was beautifully written, at times deeply emotional, and almost lyrical and there was enough to the story to keep me engaged. Empress crowned in red was a great conclusion to witches steeped in gold, and I would be interested in seeing more from this world, or reading anything else Ciannon Smart writes, as it is just so well crafted.