Review of Crown Of Oblivion by Julie Eshbaugh

Astrid is the surrogate for Princess Renya, which means she bears the physical punishment if Renya steps out of line. Astrid has no choice—she and her family are Outsiders, the lower class of people without magic and without citizenship.

But there is a way out of this life—competing in the deadly Race of Oblivion. To enter the race, an Outsider is administered the drug Oblivion, which wipes their memory clear of their past as they enter a new world with nothing to help them but a slip of paper bearing their name and the first clue. It’s not as simple as solving a puzzle, however—for a majority of the contestants, the race ends in death. But winning would mean not only freedom for Astrid, but citizenship and health care for her entire family. With a dying father to think of, Astrid is desperate to prevail.

From the beginning, the race is filled with twists and turns. One of them is Darius, a fellow racer Astrid meets but isn’t sure she can trust. Though they team up in the race, as Astrid’s memories begin to resurface, she remembers just who he was to her—a scorned foe who may want revenge. Astrid also starts to notice she has powers no Outsider should—which could help her win the race, but also make her a target if anyone finds out. With stakes that couldn’t be higher, Astrid must decide what is more important: risking her life to remember the mysteries of the past, or playing a cutthroat game in order to win her—and her family’s—freedom.

There's so many great reviews of this book but quite frankly what I read was a whole mess. This would be great as a first draft but there was so much thrown in that it just didn't work and ended up almost feeling middle grade in places. Characters were basically just Speshul Proganist, Rebel, Bad Prince, Good Princess, Love Interest That Does Dark Things But It's Okay Because He Has Reasons.

I know this book really wanted to be the next Hunger Games, literally lifting some of it to use in this book but the great things about The Hunger Games this book didn't have. The extra contestants, apart from Darius, all faded into one and had very little personality besides stabby. They also disappeared very quickly. One particular contestant that did stand out at the beginning completely disappeared for the rest of the book and I only just remembered her now.

Right so what do we have? *Deep breath* Fantasy land, royal kingdom, indentured servants, people with magic, people without magic, three different types of magic that is not fullt explained, drugs, a race which makes little sense, the IRA... no... OLA, the Third Reich... whoops, Third Way, journalists, one scene which legit felt like Wacky Races, weird family secrets, weird love interest secrets, weird Princess secrets, stabby people, clues you'll never solve because they didn't think to provide us with a map, memories that make your brain hurty, wild boars, boxing matches, underground communities (thanks scorch trials and hunger games).

One thing that was never really explained is how much help Astrid got for no apparent reason. Everyone she seemed to meet was more than willing to help her Because Reasons. Despite living with the Princess for most of her life, Astrid also seemed to be completely unaware of the race or how it worked until the moment she decided to sign up on a whim.

What really killed the story for me was the constant use of "And Then This Happens", throwing in another completely bizarre, random plot device or plot twist to move the story along. It ended up just being a contest to see what shit would stick. The story didn't break new ground, nothing felt new or interesting but it was readable.