Casters and Crowns is a cozy romantasy by Elizabeth Lowham. This is my second fantasy book review this year, and I picked a great one. Buckle up, because Casters and Crowns was awarded the Foreword INDIE Gold Medal for best Young Adult Fiction.
Casters and Crowns is a fairytale retelling of Sleeping Beauty with a twist. In this version, Aria, tries to broker peace with casters (magic users) as a stand in for her magic averse father, the King. It goes horribly wrong and she ends up cursed. She can’t sleep at night, and she can only sleep for short periods of time during the day. She has 100 days to reverse the curse or die. She attempts it by learning all she can about magic from a handsome lord in the kingdom who also happens to be a caster. Because the story has a romantic through line, he is of course, the love interest.
This book was a treat. The stakes are high and the problem is daunting. The romance isn’t forced. It plays out naturally. It is a slow burn, and there is zero spice, which I prefer, given that my romance roots are in Regency romance back when Regency was trying to be Jane Austen and not Bridgerton. The world building is solid and detailed. You get a strong understanding of how casters fit into this society, and the magic secrets are revealed logically. The side characters are well drawn and add to the story’s fun. It’s a satisfying read.
I picked this book for my January TBR pile because it was a YA Fantasy, it fit multiple prompts for my reading challenges (has a crown on the cover, has a map, and a handwritten font inside), and it fit my fantasy book club prompt too – for that, I needed a fairytale retelling. I also recently met the author at my local writing conference/book event. She’s lovely, and told me about her book with enthusiasm. I snapped it up, and I have been looking forward to making time for it ever since. It was even better than I expected it would be. I have given it five stars in my review.
Who is this book for? If you like sweet YA romantasy that tugs at the heart strings and and has an upright gentlemanly hero, or if fairytale retellings with magic curses that feel hopeless and with heroines who are brave and take initiative are your thing, this is one to grab.
Casters and Crowns is a standalone fantasy. There is a companion novel, Sonnets and Serpents, that follows some side characters that you meet in C&C. When the time is right, I’ll be picking that one up too! To order the book, follow this link.
Thanks for reading!
