~ Book Review: Castles in Their Bones (Castles in Their Bones #1) ~

Author: Laura Sebastian

A spellbinding story of three princesses and the destiny they were born for: seduction, conquest, and the crown. Immerse yourself in the first book in a new fantasy trilogy from the author of the New York Times bestselling Ash Princess series.

Empress Margaraux has had plans for her daughters since the day they were born. Princesses Sophronia, Daphne, and Beatriz will be queens. And now, age sixteen, they each must leave their homeland and marry their princes.

Beautiful, smart, and demure, the triplets appear to be the perfect brides—because Margaraux knows there is one common truth: everyone underestimates a girl. Which is a grave mistake. Sophronia, Daphne, and Beatriz are no innocents. They have been trained since birth in the arts of deception, seduction, and violence with a singular goal—to bring down monarchies— and their marriages are merely the first stage of their mother’s grand vision: to one day reign over the entire continent of Vesteria.

The princesses have spent their lives preparing, and now they are ready, each with her own secret skill, and each with a single wish, pulled from the stars. Only, the stars have their own plans—and their mother hasn’t told them all of hers.

Life abroad is a test. Will their loyalties stay true? Or will they learn that they can’t trust anyone—not even each other?

The Castles in Their Bones is the first novel in a trilogy of the same name. I’ve loved the concepts of all the other Laura Sebasian stories and although the final products do not always perfectly align with me, her writing still make me want to read more. The story follows three princesses, Sophronia, Daphne, and Beatriz, who are the daughters of Empress Margaraux of Bessemia and raised to one day reign over the entire continent of Vesteria. As the story is told from the different journeys of each princess, the novel itself is on the longer side. There is a lot to tackle to set up each of their stories plus help the reader to connect to each of them. While it was a longer novel, it was interesting to follow each of the princesses. There were moments when I enjoyed one of them more than the others, but there was not one I did not enjoy.

Sophronia is sent to marry Leopold, son of Queen Eugenia and King Carlisle, in Temarin. Eugenia is originally from Celeria and sent to Temarin for the marriage. As Eugenia was sent to marry a prince from another kingdom, this was a nice parallel to Sophronia who is going through the same thing. Sophronia is a softer personality, which was a nice contrast to her other sisters. As for Daphne, she goes to marry Cillian, son of King Bartholomew, in the northern kingdom of Friv. There is some additional political drama with her marriage. She was also the most mysterious of the sisters, so I was drawn to her POV. The final sister, Beatriz, is sent to marry Prince Pasquale of Cellaria where King Cesare has outlawed magic.

The writing itself was an interesting mix of a simple typical fantasy story and a unique spin. If this was a standalone, it would read a lot differently as it needed a bit more; however, as the first novel in a series, it read like an amazing set-up. The tension builds a lot with twists and turns where the reader can see some of them coming and can potentially be surprised by others. There is a lot of drama, and the characters are not straightforward. Each sister seems to be set with their marriage missions and their mother seems to have given them their tasks, but I enjoyed that the story became a lot more than that. There was some character growth and there are a lot more that could happen in the sequels. Overall, this novel was intriguing, and I cannot wait to read the sequel!