Five Things About The Crown's Game 
 The characters lack depth. 
 There are a wide variety of characters in THE CROWN'S GAME, but unfortunately, I couldn't connect to any of them. Vika and Nikolai are both enchanters fighting to be the only one of their kind and serve the Tsar of Russia. Besides Vika being refreshingly bold and confident, something that is a little uncommon in YA fantasy, there isn't much else to her. There are a few attempts at adding a little more depth to Nikolai, but they fell flat and were not fully developed. Character development is also depressingly absent, and the romance borders on insta-love. There was also an unnecessary love triangle that, in my opinion, was only added to create more angst. 
 It has no punch. 
 There wasn't anything that really stood out to me about it, there was no real substance or WOW moment. The stakes never felt super high despite this being a game revolving around death as a consequence for failure. This aspect is a little hard to explain but I guess I would say there was nothing super memorable about this book. 
 The potential was there, but fizzled out. 
 However, I could feel what THE CROWN'S GAME could have been between the lines of each page. The bones are great: Imperial Russia, a magic duel to the death, a forbidden romance, war on the horizon, and secrets threatening to topple the empire? It sounds epic. THE CROWN'S GAME was sadly only a shadow of all that. There were some additional plotlines that came into play that I was excited about but they just sort of...burnt out and faded away. I'm not sure if they are being saved until the sequel or just cast off. 
 A bittersweet plot that follows through. 
 What I do have to give props for (besides the pacing, a 400 page book never felt so short) is that THE CROWN'S GAME makes no secret that the Game is one that can only lead to an unfortunate end for one enchanter. I loved that there was no miracle cure or way around this fact because I always appreciate an author who isn't afraid to make big moves like this. However, (view spoiler)[Since there is a sequel (which I honestly see no need for, this book is more meaningful on its own) I doubt this decision is concrete and a loophole will most likely be found. (hide spoiler)] 
 Better alternatives are available. 
 If you are looking for similar books, some of my all time favorite novels revolve around the concept of THE CROWN'S GAME, at least in some way. I would recommend THE NIGHT CIRCUS and A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC. Still, THE CROWN'S GAME is not a bad book, just one that could have been much better. 
 You can find more of my reviews on Readers in Wonderland!