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Verdict: A 462-page dark fairy-tale romantasy that crosses Rapunzel with Persephone and does the world-building properly — ambitious, lavishly written and genuinely gripping, undercut by a hard cliffhanger whose sequel does not arrive until February 2027.
Best for: Readers who want a slow-burn sapphic fantasy where the fantasy is doing as much work as the romance, who like grumpy-sunshine and dual POV, and who can wait eighteen months for the second half of the story.
Heat level: ★★☆☆☆ (2/5 — no romance.io steam band; readers report kissing and longing rather than on-page sex)
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.0/5 — a 4.32 Goodreads average earned largely from an ARC readership, on a book that does not finish)
Tropes: Slow burn, enemies-to-lovers tension, grumpy-sunshine, dual POV, fairy-tale retelling, tower captivity, resurrected heroine, court intrigue, ancient curses, found family.
A Crown of Deceit & Ruin is Jessaca Willis’s self-published opener to The Cursed Kingdoms of Grimtol — a 462-page sapphic romantasy and dark fairy-tale retelling in which Kestrel Graeme, raised for nineteen years in a tower on stories about cursed beasts, escapes to find her missing father and discovers that the monsters are the royals, while Elora, a princess killed in battle and brought back, is set to befriend her and steer her toward breaking a curse she does not understand.
It holds a 4.32 average across 217 Goodreads ratings, with half of all Goodreads ratings at five stars and no one-star ratings at all. That profile needs a caveat, though: 122 of those 217 ratings carry a written review, an extraordinarily high ratio that reflects an active ARC team rather than an organic readership. Both halves of that split are worth understanding before you start.
What Is A Crown of Deceit & Ruin About?
This is dark fairy-tale romantasy, and the two source stories are legible enough that readers name them unprompted: Rapunzel for Kestrel, Persephone for Elora. That combination sets the terms. A Rapunzel plot is about a woman who knows nothing learning the world, which means the reader learns alongside her and the book unfolds at her speed. A Persephone plot is about a woman who belongs to death and is asked to make a bargain about her own freedom. Put them together and you get a slow first half by design and a much harder second one.
Kestrel is introduced through ignorance rather than lack — nineteen years of curated stories, a father who left and did not come back, and a magic waking inside her that she has no framework for. Elora arrives through the opposite: she has already died, already lost, and has been returned to service by people who own her. The book runs dual POV, which is what makes the manipulation plot work — the reader knows what Elora has been sent to do long before Kestrel does, and watching her decide whether to do it is the engine of the whole novel.
What Makes This Sapphic Fairy-Tale Romantasy Work
- The two leads: The most-praised element, and unusually both of them — readers describe Kestrel and Elora as equally easy to love and equally worth rooting for, which is rarer than it sounds in dual-POV fantasy.
- The prose: “Lavish descriptions” is one reader’s phrase and “rich and immersive” another’s; the writing is named as a strength more often than the plot is.
- The retelling logic: Rapunzel crossed with Persephone is not decoration — the tower explains Kestrel’s pacing and the underworld bargain explains Elora’s, and both are load-bearing.
- Elora’s thaw: Readers single out the specific pleasure of a calculating, emotionally bruised woman softening slowly around someone she was sent to use.
- The betrayals: “Twists, friendships, betrayals, more betrayals” is a direct quote, and the court plot is the reason readers describe finishing the book unable to put it down.
Book Synopsis
Kestrel Graeme has spent nineteen years in a tower and knows the world only through her father’s stories, all of which are about monsters. He goes out; she stays in; that is the arrangement, and it has kept her alive. Then he is gone longer than he has ever been gone, the food runs down, and the choice stops being a choice. She leaves the tower to find him, and what she finds instead is that the stories were true in outline and wrong in every detail that mattered — the cursed beasts are real, and they are not the thing to be afraid of.
Captured and taken to Irongate, Kestrel is put in a position she has no equipment for: bargaining for her father’s life with people who trade in lives, while something new and unstable wakes up inside her. The crown has uses for a girl with untrained magic, and the walls of Irongate are full of prisoners who arrived believing they were guests.
Elora is one of them, though her cage has a better view. She died in battle and was brought back, and the terms of her return are simple: she does what she is told, and one day she might be free. What she has been told to do is get close to Kestrel, earn her trust and steer her toward breaking an ancient curse for reasons nobody has explained to either of them. Elora is very good at her job. The problem is that Kestrel is not what she was briefed on, the curse is not what the crown says it is, and the question of who is using whom stops having a clean answer somewhere around the point where both women realise they would rather be free together than separately.
My Review
The craft here is a step above most of what gets shelved as indie romantasy, and that is the first thing to say. Willis has eleven novels behind her and spent three years on this one, and it shows in the places it usually does not show — the world has internal history, the magic has costs, the political situation exists before the protagonist arrives and would continue without her. Readers who came for a fairy-tale retelling stayed for a fantasy novel, and the reviews that praise the “lavish” prose are not being generous.
The second strength is the manipulation plot, which is the most interesting structural choice in the book. Elora has been sent to befriend Kestrel and the reader knows it from her first chapter, so every warm scene between them carries a second meaning the reader can see and Kestrel cannot. That is difficult to sustain over 462 pages without making the romance feel poisoned, and Willis manages it by making Elora’s reluctance visible early — the slow burn is not the two women resisting attraction, it is one of them resisting her orders.
Where it struggles is the opening third, and this is the one criticism that recurs. The Rapunzel structure means Kestrel starts knowing nothing, so the reader is handed a great deal of world before the plot begins to move — one reviewer describes the pacing as slower for exactly that reason and defends it as the cost of the character development, another says the world-building and back stories take a while and all of it is worth the wait. Both are true. If a front-loaded fantasy loses you, this will lose you in the first 150 pages.
The harder problem is the ending, and it is not a craft problem at all. The book stops on a cliffhanger — reviewers describe it in capital letters — and the second book, A Crown of Ashes & Death, is not published until February 2027. That is an eighteen-month gap between the hook and the answer, on a story that has been explicitly built as one arc across two volumes. It is the single most important thing to know before starting, and it is why this review does not score the ending higher.
One more expectation to reset: the Amazon subtitle says slow-burn sapphic fantasy romance, and slow-burn is doing real work in that phrase. One reviewer put the spice at 2 out of 5 and described it as “kissing with thoughts of more.” Another said the book is simply not big on it and asked readers not to be put off. If you are coming from spicier romantasy, calibrate down; if explicit content is what you avoid, this is unusually safe.
My honest note: The best-built world of any book in this batch, and a romance whose central deception is genuinely well handled. Start it when you can face waiting until 2027 for the rest.
| Element | In A Crown of Deceit & Ruin |
|---|---|
| Central relationship | Kestrel Graeme & Elora — a tower-raised runaway and a resurrected princess sent to manipulate her, slow burn |
| Core tropes | Slow burn, enemies-to-lovers tension, grumpy-sunshine, dual POV, fairy-tale retelling, court intrigue, ancient curses |
| Setting | Grimtol and the fortress of Irongate — cursed kingdoms ruled by royals who trade in lies and bloodshed |
| Heat level | 2/5 — kissing and longing; no explicit content |
| Series | The Cursed Kingdoms of Grimtol book 1 — ends on a cliffhanger; book 2 publishes February 2027 |
| Content notes | Captivity and imprisonment, death and resurrection, battlefield violence, coercion and manipulation, corrupted magic, parental peril |
How Spicy Is A Crown of Deceit & Ruin?
romance.io lists the book but has assigned no steam band, so the number here comes from readers, and they are unusually specific about it. One detailed reviewer scored the spice at 2 out of 5 and defined it as “kissing with thoughts of more.” Another wrote that the novel is not big on spice and asked readers not to let that put them off. The Amazon subtitle sells it as a slow-burn sapphic fantasy romance, and for once the marketing is accurate — this is longing, tension and restraint rather than open-door heat.
The thing worth flagging in advance is coercion rather than sex: Elora is under orders to manipulate Kestrel, and much of the book’s intimacy happens inside that imbalance. It is handled deliberately rather than glossed, but it is the ethical texture of the romance. Nothing on this site sits at exactly this band; the nearest comparisons are a notch hotter — Her Shadow so Dark and Lovely at 3/5 with the same plot-first priorities, and Sweet Paladin at 3/5 for readers who want warmth over heat.
Who Should Read This Book?
You’ll likely love it if: you want a romantasy where the fantasy is genuinely built rather than sketched, you like fairy-tale retellings with visible structural logic, you enjoy dual POV where one narrator is lying to the other, and slow burn is a feature.
You may want to skip it if: you need on-page heat, you have no patience for a front-loaded first third, cliffhangers frustrate you, or waiting until February 2027 for the resolution is not something you want to sign up for.
In short: one of the better-made books in this genre, and the worst one to start if you dislike waiting.
What Readers Are Actually Saying (August 2026)
The first thing worth naming about the discourse is its shape rather than its content. There are 217 Goodreads ratings and 122 written reviews — a ratio of more than one review for every two ratings, where a typical indie title runs closer to one in ten. A large share of those reviews open by identifying themselves as ARC copies, and the author’s own post about finishing the book after three years sits at the top of the review feed. That does not make the praise dishonest, but it does mean the 4.32 average is measured on a readership selected for enthusiasm. There is no audiobook — Libro.fm does not stock it — and no trade coverage.
Why readers love it (according to the discourse): The characters first, and specifically both of them — “Kestrel and Elora are just so easy to love” is representative, and reviewers who normally pick a favourite in dual POV say they could not here. The prose is second: lavish, rich, immersive, all recurring words, with several readers naming description as the thing that pulled them in. Third is the plotting — the twists-and-betrayals list gets recited in review after review, and the book is described as unputdownable more often than it is described as good. Fourth, the retelling: readers identify the Rapunzel and Persephone strands themselves and treat the combination as the selling point. The minority view worth flagging comes from readers who normally avoid slow burn and say the deception plot gave them a reason to stay.
What readers argue about and complain about: Pacing, above everything, and the mechanism is structural rather than a failure of craft — because Kestrel has been kept ignorant, the reader learns the world at her speed, which front-loads a great deal of exposition before the plot engages. One three-star reviewer, who otherwise called it bold and haunting, is explicit that the book sometimes lost her. Two more readers defend the same slowness as the price of the character work, which is the honest state of that argument. Second: the spice, or its absence. A romantasy audience arriving from hotter books finds a 2/5, and while nobody rates it down for that, several reviewers pre-emptively warn other readers. Third, and the one that will matter most to you: the cliffhanger. Readers describe it in capitals and as a reason to want book two immediately — which is a compliment now and a problem for eighteen months. Fourth, minor: the prequel is not sapphic, and at least one reader started it before working that out.
The series question everyone should ask first: This one is not optional reading. A Crown of Deceit & Ruin ends on a genuine cliffhanger, and A Crown of Ashes & Death is currently listed for 4 February 2027 — roughly eighteen months after the first book landed, and not yet in Kindle Unlimited. There is also a prequel in the wider Grimtol world, which several readers report is not sapphic and not required. If you are cliffhanger-averse, borrow this now and read it in early 2027; if you are not, it is one of the strongest openers in this batch.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does A Crown of Deceit & Ruin end on a cliffhanger?
Yes, and a hard one — reviewers describe it in capital letters. Book two, A Crown of Ashes & Death, is listed for 4 February 2027, so the wait is roughly eighteen months.
How spicy is A Crown of Deceit & Ruin?
A 2/5. romance.io has assigned no steam band, and the most detailed reader assessment describes it as kissing with thoughts of more — the Amazon subtitle’s slow-burn billing is accurate.
Do I need to read the Grimtol prequel first?
No. Several readers report the prequel is not sapphic and not required — one started it, realised the difference and says she followed this book without difficulty.
Is there an A Crown of Deceit & Ruin audiobook?
Not as of August 2026. Libro.fm does not stock it and no audio edition is listed elsewhere.
Is A Crown of Deceit & Ruin on Kindle Unlimited?
Yes, book one is currently borrowable with a Kindle Unlimited membership. Book two is not yet — it is listed as a pre-order for February 2027.
What fairy tales is A Crown of Deceit & Ruin based on?
Rapunzel and Persephone. Kestrel is the tower-raised runaway and Elora the resurrected princess of death, and readers identify both strands without prompting.
If You Loved A Crown of Deceit & Ruin, Read These Next
Her Shadow so Dark and Lovely runs the same plot-first, restraint-heavy balance one heat band up, Of Dreams and Poison takes the court-intrigue-and-curses spine somewhere far hotter if the 2/5 is the problem, and The Curse of the Goddess shares the ancient-curse engine at full novel length with a resolved ending. More in slow burn lesbian romance and across all our book reviews.
The Bottom Line
A Crown of Deceit & Ruin sets out to be a fairy-tale romantasy that takes the fantasy as seriously as the romance, and it manages three things most of its shelf-mates do not: a world with real history and real costs, two leads readers refuse to rank against each other, and a deception plot that makes the slow burn structural rather than decorative. What it does not do is move quickly in its first third, offer any meaningful heat, or finish — and that last one is a genuine cost, not a quibble, with book two eighteen months out. If you can wait, this is one of the best-built sapphic fantasies of 2025. Check A Crown of Deceit & Ruin on Amazon →
The Eikna Overall Ranking
On the Eikna scale, A Crown of Deceit & Ruin ranks as a genuinely well-built dark fairy-tale romantasy — ambitious, lavishly written and structurally clever, constrained by a slow opening and an unresolved ending, and best approached for the world and the deception plot rather than for heat or closure.
The Evidence Scorecard
Overall ★★★★☆ 4/5
- ✓ 4.32 average across 217 Goodreads ratings
- ✓ No one-star ratings at all
- ✓ 122 of 217 ratings are ARC-weighted reviews
Romance ★★★★☆ 4/5
- ✓ Deception plot makes the slow burn structural
- ✓ Grumpy-sunshine dynamic with real asymmetry
- ✓ Elora’s thaw singled out repeatedly
- ✓ The arc does not resolve in this volume
Characters ★★★★☆ 4.4/5
- ✓ Readers refuse to pick a favourite lead
- ✓ Kestrel’s ignorance written as a real position
- ✓ Elora calculating and emotionally bruised
- ✓ Supporting cast rarely named in reviews
Writing ★★★★☆ 4.3/5
- ✓ “Lavish descriptions” is the recurring phrase
- ✓ Author’s eleventh novel, three years in the making
- ✓ World has history that predates the heroine
- ✓ Description density slows the opening third
Emotional Impact ★★★★☆ 4.2/5
- ✓ Betrayals are the most-recited element
- ✓ Captivity and resurrection both given weight
- ✓ Readers report being unable to put it down
- ✓ Front-loaded exposition delays the first payoff
Heat Level ★★☆☆☆ 2/5
- ✓ No steam band assigned on romance.io
- ✓ A reader scores it 2/5, kissing with thoughts of more
- ✓ Amazon subtitle bills it accurately as slow-burn
- ✓ Reviewers pre-emptively warn hotter readers off
Ending ★★★☆☆ 3.2/5
- ✓ Emotional climax lands for nearly every reader
- ✓ Cliffhanger described in capitals by reviewers
- ✓ Book two listed for 4 February 2027
- ✓ No standalone resolution of any kind
Re-read Value ★★★★☆ 4/5
- ✓ Dense world rewards a second pass
- ✓ Deception plot reads differently once known
- ✓ Sequel will pull readers back in 2027
- ✓ No audiobook exists for a second format
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