The Seven Realms by Cinda Williams Chima

I first started this series three years ago. I loved the first book and was excited to read the rest of the series. Unfortunately, I didn’t get around to finishing them all until this week. I’ve decided I hate waiting a year between sequels. I end up forgetting characters, plot and other relevant items and usually don’t want to re-read each book when the newest one comes out. So, I decided with the Seven Realms series that I would just wait until all the books were out and then read them all together. When the newest book, The Crimson Crown, was released last month I went ahead and ordered all the books.

I thought this was a fun high fantasy series. I liked the plots, characters and writing. I thought they were easy to read, all 2217 pages worth. For the most part the books focus on our main characters Raisa and Han, we are lucky to hear from both POV. I liked both characters; they each had their own strengths and weaknesses.

While the books are marketed towards a YA audience, I actually thought they were more fitting for 18+. The characters are all around 16-18, but their behavior and circumstances are more mature. The books are clean, but there is quite a bit of innuendo (although not crude) throughout the series. I thought the attitudes towards sex were too blasé, I would have enjoyed the stories so much more if they had a better moral message. While I didn’t personally agree with all the characters choices, I did enjoy the romance aspect of the series.

Overall, I thought this was a fun series. I’d probably give the overall series a 3.5, but it would have been much higher if it had been cleaned up a bit.

Content: Overall, clean. There is innuendo throughout, for the most part it is subtle, but at times it’s a little more obvious. There are a couple minor characters that are gay.

Reading Order:

Book One: The Demon King
Book Two: The Exiled Queen
Book Three: The Gray Wolf Throne
Book Four: The Crimson Crown

(For reviews of each individual book, please visit my Goodreads profile.)