Crowned A Traitor – Kate Callaghan

First of all, I want to start by thanking Netgalley for once again giving me the amazing opportunity to review this book. I really enjoyed reading this. The writing style was unique, and so was the story. The characters were detailed and so different than what I’ve recently been reading and the entire story was honestly so refreshing. 

Plot

This was a super cool plotline. Our main character is none other than the heir of Hell! Klara is Lucifer’s daughter and she has been called upon to take her place in the world of royalty as the High Queen of Malum. Unfortunately, Klara doesn’t want to rule, which puts her in a tough situation with all of her guardians. 

With her guardians chasing after her, Klara makes a run for it and tries to leave for the city of Kalos, a place ruled by the Fae. 

On the run, Klara meets many allies who intend to help her through her rough journey to the magical lands of Kalos, where dark magic is prohibited. Klara journeys with a dead Warlock who has a talent for keeping the peace, two Lycaon siblings who she becomes very protective over, and finally, a demon who is connected with her past. 

Characters

Our main character, Klara Lucifer, was really cool. She genuinely cares about everything going on in her lands, even if she doesn’t want to inherit any of it. I really liked reading about her. I have to say, she was kind of hard to understand at times, especially with her relationships with certain other characters, but overall, she was a really fun character. Along with that, she seemed super chill and laid back. I mean she lost her heart and all she was worried about was going back to Hell to meet her father. 

One of the most interesting characters, in my opinion, was Frendall. Klara introduced Frendall to us when we reach Hell and from the beginning he was fascinating. I honestly wish he had more presence in the book because I wish I learned more about him. Frendall’s two differing opinions between Hell and Klara made the book really different, as well as the plot twist that he was involved in at the end of the book. 

The Lycaons were also really cool additions to the story. I’ve never actually heard of a Lycaon before so it was nice to see what they could do and what they are, and the characters were really sweet too! I immediately fell in love with Lottie, the little sister Lycaon. She was so adorable and I felt like I just wanted to take care of her the entire book! I also loved her protectiveness over her brother and Klara too. Along with the adorable little Lottie Lycaon, there was also Wolfgang. I think that Wolfgang added a lot of dialogue and witty banter back and forth between the characters which I really enjoyed and he was a nice addition to the crew. 

Setting

Malum, Hell, and Kalos. Three incredibly different, but equally fascinating settings. 

First of all, Hell. Hell was exactly like you’d expect it to be, except magnificent. Klara only stayed in Hell for a short period of time, but from what I could gather, the heat was sweltering and the grand castle that Lucifer lived in was kind of amazing. There’s also the Maze that Klara described and that sounded beautiful. While Hell is a place that dark souls go to after they die, it seemed pretty elegant. I mean, despite the demons, of course. 

Malum was where most of the story took place as Klara was living there and journeyed there. Malum is definitely a place I’d never like to visit. Full of dark creatures and bad magic, it really doesn’t seem all that great, however, with the ending of the book, maybe it changes? With the rulers as the three High Queens – Eve, Lilith, and Abadan – the forest and land of Malum is a horrible place with creatures who possess dark things. 

While these two settings are supposed to be horrible, Kalos is beautiful and exactly the sanctuary that Klara wanted in order to escape. Ruled by a Fae Queen, Kalos seems calming and peaceful compared to the horrid lands outside of it. Kalos is only present in the story for a short amount of time, however, I believe it lives up to its expectations and is exactly the place that good people from Malum should escape to. 

Writing

Kate Callaghan’s writing is so unique and different from what I’ve recently been reading and it was really refreshing to read this book. I definitely think I’ll try and read some of her other stories since I enjoyed this one and it was a really easy read to get into. The book had such an in-depth storyline, but it was so easy to fall into and I constantly wanted to read more. 

In Conclusion… 

I definitely recommend this book to any fantasy lover. It was really easy to fall into the storyline and fall in love with the characters along the journey, and I really enjoyed reading it. 

Rating: 4/5⭐