And Break the Pretty Kings

By: Lena Jeong

Narrated by: Greta Jung

A crown princess. A monster the gods fear. A destiny no one can outrun.

Inspired by Korean history and myths, the first book in the Sacred Bone series is a rich and evocative high-stakes fantasy that is perfect for fans of Gallant and Six Crimson Cranes.

Mirae was meant to save her queendom, but the ceremony before her coronation ends in terror and death, unlocking a strange new power within her and foretelling the return of a monster even the gods fear. Amid the chaos, Mirae’s beloved older brother is taken—threatening the peninsula’s already tenuous truce.

Desperate to save her brother and defeat this ancient enemy before the queendom is beset by war, Mirae sets out on a journey with an unlikely group of companions while her unpredictable magic gives her terrifying visions of a future she must stop at any cost.

Difficult to wild

This begins almost predictable but works it way to a feverish pitch with many twists and surprises!

A lot of Sueprises

I really liked the twists in this book! Definitely did not see them coming. Mirae has a lot of naivety, but she's getting wiser.

Confusing teen fantasy

I was really looking forward to unique Asian fantasy but this was a mild mannered teenage level fantasy based upon time travel, unnecessarily cryptic prophecies, and confusing character actions. Why raise the potential heir in ignorance of the life or death tests that she must undertake? Why wait until the middle of an emergency to demand drastic action based upon blind trust? Why is there more emphasis on describing food than magic?

There’s a lot of telling rather than showing, like all the Oracles killed in the beginning. There’s a flipped script of gender prejudice where men can’t have magic because they’re dangerous (kind of like the ‘do not suffer a witch to live’ concept) that wasn’t credibly explained. My biggest grievance, however, was the blandness. There’s nothing about this story that will stick with me beyond next month.