Gretchen Powell Fox

❝ 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘸𝘯 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘸𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘈 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦: 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘮 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.❞

Elyria Lightbreaker, aka “The Revenant”, is a war hero. Some admire her, some envy her, some stay far out of her path. She has spent the last 25 years drowning her sorrows in cider and bad decisions, after losing the man she loved to the crucible. Fate has a way of bringing us all back to the path were intended to walk. Elyria is no different. When she finds out that her friend, and her lost loves sister, is about to take on the same crucible, she vows to do whatever it takes to keep her safe.

Along comes our Knight in shining amour, not in a figurative way of speaking. He is full of hate for the fae , and none more than the one they call The Revenant. Cedric Thorne is charged by his lord and King to win the crucible. He will do whatever it takes to win. He will do this for his people and for himself. Sir Thorne wants to avenge the death of his parents.

Smoke and Scar is the first book in the shattered crown series. I thoroughly enjoyed the dual POV, seeing how both Cedric and Elyria see the crucible, their allies , their enemies , and each other. The whole book is in the dual POV, however at the end in the prologue you do get a third POV, and oh goodness it leads to a cliff hanger that will make you absolutely, gasp and need more.

The breadcrumbs that are left through the story, from the very start is brilliant. The prophecy and how it plays out through the very last chapters and where the main characters and side characters fit in to the prophecy, and seeing it all click in to place was not only well done for the plot but even the character growth and development.

If you enjoy slow burn, enemies to lovers, and found family. This book has it all. This is definitely one of my top reads of 2025.

Once the audiobook became available I did a re-read / listen before book two makes it way into my hands, and the audio was just as amazing. I knew what was going to happen , and i still started tearing up at parts. This book will give you all the feels, if you read or listen, just know you will be cheering , crying, yearning, wanting to smack characters across the head for being dense, and all the feelings in between.