Crown of Crimson (Underworld Gods #2) – Karina Halle

Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Publisher: Independently Published
Pages: 460
Release Date: May 23, 2022

Haven’t read the previous novel, River of Shadows? Check out my review HERE!

All Hanna Heikkinen wants is to be reunited with her father again. After all, that’s why she ventured into the dark and dangerous fantasy world of Tuonela, the Land of the Dead, in order to save his life. But this time her devotion to her father comes at a cost—her growing relationship with Tuoni, the God of Death himself, who held Hanna captive in exchange for her father’s life. The last thing she expects is to feel remorse at how she left things with Death, yet the dark and sexy God is all she can think about.

Death has always prided himself on never trusting the living, but Hanna’s apparent betrayal has left a scar fathom’s deep. Vowing revenge on his future bride, and making sure she upholds her end of the bargain, Death sets out across his realm to steal Hanna back, which only fans the flames between them. But Death and Hanna aren’t just fighting each other—malevolent Old Gods are rising to power within the realm, magic is being poisoned, and buried secrets are brought to light, secrets that may cause Hanna to lose everyone she loves dear once again.

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Crown of Crimson picks up immediately after River of Shadows as Hannah flees Death with Rasmus. Hannah learns a lot of information that will change the course of the novel in this action packed opening. 

Crown of Crimson opens the world as Hannah embraces her new role in this world. This new role of hers also includes training. Hannah’s training sessions were some of my favorites moments of the novel as Hannah almost always learned something new. Halle’s writing created an atmospheric setting for during and after the training sessions. 

Crown of Crimson is a fast paced sequel. When thinking back on the novel, there were a lot of slower moments where readers were able to simmer in moment with Hannah, however these were quickly overshadowed by the action sequences and world-changing information reveals.

I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about the spice, considering this is a fantasy romance novel. Halle ups the tension and spice level with Crown of Crimson. In my review of River of Shadows, I criticized it for its lack of emotional chemistry. Crown of Crimson remedies this as Hannah and Death get to know each other. Their physical chemistry continues to be fire hot with a MMF scene. For those who dislike MMF scenes, you may be surprised by this one.

I wouldn’t call the ending of Crown of Crimson a cliffhanger, but I’m really excited for the next novel that should be publishing this year. Fingers crossed!

Overall, Crown of Crimson expands the world while developing Hannah and Death’s relationship both emotionally and physically as the series ramps up for its climax.

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Have you read Crown of Crimson? What did you think?