Skip to main content

Review: King of the Crown Imperials - Where the Lilies Wander #1

King of the Crown Imperials book cover on blue background

Low fantasy Christian books might be a growing genre for me this year, especially if other books are as well-written as King of the Crown Imperials is by Joanna Alonzo. This book has now set my expectations at a certain level, and I hope to find more similar titles! For anyone looking for a book to add to their Clearly Christian Readathon list this year, I would most heartily recommend this one, especially under the prompt of "excellence."

I am grateful to the author for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Book Synopsis

Danger lurks everywhere. No one needs to know.

She’s a beautiful diversion. Time to put on a show.

A royal internship in the island country of Ancoria is the perfect way for Vivienne to end her year-long journey across the world. She gets more adventure than she bargains for when the internship requires her to pretend to be the prince's fiancée.

With two spies missing and rumors of war spreading across the kingdom, the last thing Philip wants is to figure out his love life. A chance encounter with his cousin’s best friend draws the nation's fascination and provides the perfect distraction to buy him time to protect his throne, family, and country.

Will their farce of an engagement succeed in shielding the kingdom from its enemies? Or will the lies reduce their faith, love, and country to ashes?

Source: Amazon

Book Thoughts

Oh my heart, this exceptional book! If I could give it more than five stars, I would. Not only has it completely captivated me, but I don't know that this story will leave my mind anytime soon. This brilliant retelling of Esther contains all of the peril, wartime strategy, and geopolitical influences that make the King of the Crown Imperials such a thrilling read. I absolutely loved the characters of Vivienne Kristiansen and Philip Sideris and the world they inhabited. Their faith felt so tangible in that it felt like the entire book was bathed in prayer. On more than one occasion, I found myself praying as I read along. What a transformative book! Honestly, I could not stop reading once I started as I was desperate to find out how the complex dilemmas presented could be resolved.

This book is excellent in every way that I can think of for Christian fiction. I was so invested in what would happen to Paxnisi, and I cared so much about what would happen to the Ikari tribe. The messages of God's grace, sacrifice, and leading clearly resonate within the pages. Joanna Alonzo's ability to draw emotion out of her readers while creating a near-flawlessly detailed world in Ancoria is such a gift to readers. In addition to this, the book was overall a stunning visual treat, both with the cover and the interior. Chapter titles, graphics, maps, and even the floral touches of the crown imperials all led to a magnificent reading experience that I hope to replicate again soon by immersing myself into more of her books.

Book Summary

  • Format of book: 📱
  • Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • Recommendation: 👍

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Review: The Call of Living Water - Refuge #1

Be still, my missions-loving heart! This is hands-down, one of the best fictional books I've read on this theme, and I cannot gush enough about it. The Call of Living Water by Alexis M. Melvin is a new book that will be released on August 23, 2025 and  if I had to suggest a Christian fiction title that could make a difference in your walk with God this summer, it would be this one. Many thanks to the author for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own. Content to be aware of : tribal sacrifices, martyrdom Book Synopsis When the God of Living Water calls, will Suái be willing to risk her life and the lives of everyone she loves to answer? Deep in the jungle of Paraguay, Suái’s tribe worships indifferent gods who withhold the life-giving rain unless their worshippers make costly sacrifices. However, when a missionary arrives speaking of the loving God of Living Water, Suái’s curiosity leads her down a dangerous path. Thrust into a new life with p...

All the Cheese

I've been coming across content within the past several weeks that has stereotyped Christian books (and other mediums) as being cheesy on Christian accounts. While this isn't a new label or even a new topic, what has surprised me somewhat has been seeing more Christian authors jump into this conversation who wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment. Although some authors will name others whom they believe are writing non-cheesy fiction, I feel as though the damage has been done by repeating this blanket statement. While readers have freely been engaging in this type of commentary for some time, it's been interesting to see authors chime in, where in some cases, there seems to be an emphasis on self-promotion over reflection. I'm not stereotyping and saying that all authors or even the authors I'm connected to respond with this tactic (because I really don't think they do!), but there are a few out there from my limited experience who seem to respond to this disc...

Mortality and Reading

This is a topic that has been resonating for me over the past few days, ever since I saw James Trevino's Instagram reel about why you shouldn't finish every book you start. In it, he breaks down the math of how many books we'd be able to read in a lifetime, based on reading a set number of hours per day and the average lifespan. He then compares this number to the number of books that are available worldwide. At first glance, it made me realize that I would have a lot of unread books, no matter whether my life is short or long. There's just too many books to read. Thinking about when my life might end led me to think about the types of books I read and how I'm currently filling my time. I don't think it's a coincidence that right after this crossed my mind, I was listening to  The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis where he espouses a simple but profound line that stopped me in my tracks: "If you don't read good books, you will read bad ones." Thi...