The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

Title: To Steal the Sun: A Retelling of East of the Sun and West of the Moon

Series: A Four Kingdoms Duology #2

Author: Melanie Cellier

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Retelling, Clean Romance

Rating: 4.5 stars

Review:

Gwen has discovered both the love she once lost and her courage. But her greatest challenge still lies before her. She has chosen to fight for her people and that means standing against the mountain queen and all the fears of her childhood.

Charlotte is ready to risk everything to save her husband and reverse the consequences of her mistakes. But freeing Henry means getting entangled in the mountain kingdom’s fight for freedom and that fight might take the one thing Charlotte isn’t willing to give.

Once again, the two girls must rely on each other if they hope to save the men they love and emerge unscathed from the evil that lies at the heart of the castle east of the sun and west of the moon. – summary from Goodreads

To Steal the Sun was amazing, and I loved how it wrapped everything up! I was a little hesitant about The Four Kingdoms Duology, because it was one tale split between two books, but I love how this was done. The way this was done did both the original tale and these characters justice.

Gwen and Easton are so cute! They had such a sweet, steady relationship and I loved how this was portrayed. Their romance was rushed, but for the necessity of the story. They had a childhood friends to lovers’ romance, though they were separated for many years. I love how Cellier made it clear that the love was still there between them, but they still had to get to know their adult selves. I also really enjoyed that these two are older protagonists. They are twenty-three, twenty-four and you don’t typically see this in young adult books.

Gwen’s character growth reached its conclusion in this book! She was coming into her own in the previous book and this book she became confident and assured. She also really realized her duty to her people and fully stepped into her role. Her backstory was also explored more than in the previous book. I enjoyed this part of the book, and it made the kingdom and its history more real.

Charlotte and Henry are very cute together! They have such a wholesome relationship that I just adore! They were fighting to be together and to protect each other throughout this book. They’re relationship was more settled this book, so I think the majority of the book was more focused on Easton and Gwen as well as the rebellion than on Charlotte and Henry.

I have said it before, and I will say it again- I love Cellier’s more practical approach to these tales. To fight against the queen, Gwen and Charlotte got the court to back them. Usually, this side of the story is neglected, but this book made it a center point. I loved how they got the people and court on their side, and they made plans for the rebellion. I also really enjoyed the rebellion and how that fit into this kingdom and curse.

I really enjoyed how the godmother objects came into play. The godmother objects have been a big part of this world since the beginning, and it was nice that the ending of this series will end with the godmother objects being so helpful. I think in the last few books, we have mainly been seeing the godmother objects when they have been twisted. I also really liked how Gwen and Charlotte used twisted godmother objects for good.

The queen is such an intriguing character, and I think she probably has an interesting story. We got some small snippets of her story and character, but I wish there was more of her backstory. We didn’t get that much, and I think it would have made her decisions much clearer.

There was some nice exploration of slavery and captivity. I liked this exploration and how it was handled. It was nicely done and gentle; done in a way that will get you thinking but not weigh you down. I especially loved the switch in Gwen from thinking of the people as servants to captives and slaves. I also really love how dedicated Gwen was to making things right for these people.

After I had finished this book and was mourning the end of the series, I flipped to the acknowledgements where Cellier has shared she will be writing a novella continuing this story! I am beyond excited for this book and it is going to be released the day after Christmas this year! I cannot wait to read it!!!

To Steal the Sun was a wonderful conclusion to the Four Kingdoms Duology, where the East of the Sun and West of the Moon retelling was concluded. With wholesome romances, rebellion, and magic, this was a wonderful conclusion to the Four Kingdoms world!

Quotes:

“You are home to me, Gwen, and I care about that far more than I care about what I do or what role I fill. If you needed me to build a house for you and bring home wood every day for our fire, I would do it without a second thought. And if you need me to put on a crown for you, I’ll do that with equal gladness.’”

“‘I want more for you than just me.’”