Cruel Crown consists of two novellas: Queen Song and Steel Scars. 
 Neither one interested me. I think Queen Song was better than Steel Scars but it still was pretty trivial. 
 Steel Scars could've more potential but the story was just meh. 
 Not enough action. Weird storytelling. 
 If you're interested in the backstory of Cal's mom than give Queen Song a go (even though it's very superficial) and if you'd like to know more about Farley than read Steel Scars (even though the only good element was Shade).