Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
It’s been a hot minute since I did a Top Ten Tuesday! This week’s topic is:
10 Books with a Crown on the Cover!
This week’s prompt was a fill-in-the-blank where we choose books with something specific on the cover. I decided to pick ‘Crowns’, because I know there is no shortage of good books with crowns on the cover! Making this list, I realized that not only do hundreds of books (and sometimes entire series) have crowns on their covers, but they all seem to have a dark undertone to them. Apparently crowns and blood go well together? Who knew…
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard: I could have featured the entire Red Queen series in this list! Each book features a different and very pretty crown, and all are dripping blood, highlighting the theme of the series. I read Red Queen a long time ago, and didn’t realize how many books were in the series until now. I might need to revisit them. Get your own copy of Red Queen here!
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black: This book has been on my TBR list for ages, I just keep forgetting to pick it up! I need to be in a certain mood for fae novels. Once again, about 3/4’s of this series could be featured on this list. Grab a copy of the Cruel Prince here!
Furyborn by Claire Legrand: Furyborn has also been sitting on my TBR list long enough for it to grow into a full series. Only half of this series could appear on this list, so the proportion of crowns is slowly shrinking. Get a copy of Furyborn to read here!
Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian: I actually learned about Ash Princess recently, since I’m currently reading another book by Laura Sebastian, ‘Castles in their Bones’. I’ve heard good things about this trilogy, so I will have to give it a try! Get your copy of Ash Princess here!
Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake: Does this count as three, since it has three crowns on the cover? Three Dark Crowns sounds a bit like Hunger Games meets Game of Thrones, which definitely has potential! Grab a copy here!
The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton: I think this might be my favourite cover of the group! Another darker fantasy, and oddly enough it has three sisters just like Three Dark Crowns! Grab a copy here!
Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte: Another dark cover with bloody crowns, I’m starting to get the sense that royalty isn’t all fun and games! Four Dead Queens it a YA mystery that sounds very intriguing. Get your own copy here!
Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh: Well, there’s no blood on this crown, but it is on a skull, so that’s not much of an improvement! As a fun twist, this book involves necromancy. Grab your own copy here!
Kingdom of the Cursed by Kerri Maniscalco: This is the second book of the Kingdom of the Wicked series, but it’s the only one to feature a crown (and a skull again). This series is actually a romance series, so it might not be as dark as it appears (or maybe it is)! Check out the first book in the series here!
The Traitor’s Kingdom by Erin Beaty: By far the happiest cover in the bunch! Maybe the darker stuff happens earlier, because this is actually the third book in The Traitor’s Circle series. This is a YA romance trilogy, and it sounds very intriguing. Grab the first book here!
Have you read any of these books? Are they all as dark as they look? Let me know in the comments!
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What lovely crowns!
I’ve always wondered what it would be like to wear one. Are they heavy? Do they slide off your head easily? They seem to interesting.
My post: https://lydiaschoch.com/top-ten-tuesday-books-with-curly-haired-characters-on-the-cover/
Oh, “The Red Queen”! Good choice.
My post: https://pagesandpaws.com/2022/04/26/ttt-books-with-this-award-on-the-cover/
Crowns on covers can be so cool. I love how it is used on Red Queen with the blood.
I have read Reign of The Fallen, and to be honest, I would describe it as more sad than dark? It focuses a lot on grief, and it’s less action packed than the blurb had me believe.
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2022/04/26/top-ten-tuesday-365/