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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
I haven’t read the first book in this series and I feel like I needed to, to get an idea about the world the author had built.
Starting The True Queen there was a lot of confusion. I didn’t understand what was going on or some of the references to things or characters. That made it hard for me to connect with the characters.
I found some parts on the story predictable and I figured out what was going to happen early on which was kind of a let down.
I found myself easily distracted by the story and I wasn’t fully immersed in the story.
I liked Muna’s and Henrietta’s friendship. I could see it blossom through the pages. I loved the banter they had going on. That was probably the thing that stood out to me.
Overall it was a ok book for me.
Starting The True Queen there was a lot of confusion. I didn’t understand what was going on or some of the references to things or characters. That made it hard for me to connect with the characters.
I found some parts on the story predictable and I figured out what was going to happen early on which was kind of a let down.
I found myself easily distracted by the story and I wasn’t fully immersed in the story.
I liked Muna’s and Henrietta’s friendship. I could see it blossom through the pages. I loved the banter they had going on. That was probably the thing that stood out to me.
Overall it was a ok book for me.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I remembered enjoying Sorcerer to the Crown (book 1 of this series) when I read it a few years ago so I was excited to see a sequel. I was even more excited when I read the description which seems to have more Asian slant ("The island of Janda Baik, in the Malay archipelago..."). There aren't many fantasy books published in English with Asian slant; until recent times, of course, when social media helped readers like me to come across writers like Zen Cho, Fonda Lee, and many other amazing talents out there.
I know nothing of Malay's mythology so I've no idea whether any part of this book is inspired by such. I just had a lot of fun imagining Mak Genggang (old cranky Malay old lady), the island, and their style of dresses (I had a lot of Batik motif in mind). And then, when setting was moved to Fairyland, I had even more fun imagining all the fantastical fairy things and creatures. Even whilst I used a lot of my own imagination, I was totally helped along by the author as this novel was full of such rich descriptive prose. This was what I loved most of this novel.
We mostly follow one of the 2 sisters with some chapters in between from perspectives of some English sorceresses. Prunella, who was the main protagonist in the first book, also made her appearance here though as rather minor character so we didn't really see her develop here. I did identify with the main protag's earlier character of sensible timidness even if it annoyed me a little however she did develop into someone you'd very much like.That last bit at the end of the book, though... I just felt that it was forced. I didn't expect that. I didn't feel coming at all. I just didn't feel it. Is it just me? Please tell me if you actually felt that spark cuz I had none :/
Overall, a very fun adventure of interesting (plus quirky) characters in very lush settings. You could read this second book without reading the first but you'll miss some background on the English side of the 'history'. So, read both!
Thanks to Pan MacMillan Australia for copy of book in exchange of honest review
I know nothing of Malay's mythology so I've no idea whether any part of this book is inspired by such. I just had a lot of fun imagining Mak Genggang (old cranky Malay old lady), the island, and their style of dresses (I had a lot of Batik motif in mind). And then, when setting was moved to Fairyland, I had even more fun imagining all the fantastical fairy things and creatures. Even whilst I used a lot of my own imagination, I was totally helped along by the author as this novel was full of such rich descriptive prose. This was what I loved most of this novel.
We mostly follow one of the 2 sisters with some chapters in between from perspectives of some English sorceresses. Prunella, who was the main protagonist in the first book, also made her appearance here though as rather minor character so we didn't really see her develop here. I did identify with the main protag's earlier character of sensible timidness even if it annoyed me a little however she did develop into someone you'd very much like.That last bit at the end of the book, though... I just felt that it was forced. I didn't expect that. I didn't feel coming at all. I just didn't feel it. Is it just me? Please tell me if you actually felt that spark cuz I had none :/
Overall, a very fun adventure of interesting (plus quirky) characters in very lush settings. You could read this second book without reading the first but you'll miss some background on the English side of the 'history'. So, read both!
Thanks to Pan MacMillan Australia for copy of book in exchange of honest review
This book, much like the previous one, is pure delight. There's a heartfelt earnestness in these books that will serve as an antidote to all kinds of nastiness. Earnestness can become fluff, but here it is matched with clever plotting, characters and characters behaving like adults. It's a book that is easy to love.
Prunella, now Sorceress Royal after [b: Sorcerer to the Crown|23943137|Sorcerer to the Crown (Sorcerer Royal, #1)|Zen Cho|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1430239646s/23943137.jpg|43548024], has opened a school for females who wish to learn magic. The male thaumaturges of England are furious about it. Into their squalid attempts to steal power from Prunella walks Muna, a young Malaysian amnesiac. Muna's sister went missing in Fairy, and she is desperate to get her back; desperate enough to pretend to have magic of her own, and desperate enough to mount a rescue into the very heart of Fairy. She is assisted by Prunella's bff, the mild-mannered but steel-souled Henrietta.
I love so much about this book. The characters are lovely, and I immediately wanted only the best for kind Muna and sensible Henrietta. The fantasy Regency England world in which this is set is precisely my favorite type, with a wondrous mixture of the actual time period and the weird wildness of fairies. There's a whole sequence with huge terrifying dragons that's treated just as though it were Bertie Wooster and his aunts talking about whether or not to eat someone. The style is overall a delightful descendant of Wodehouse or Heyer: that frothy type of burbling nonsense mixed with real affection for the characters. But the pacing is just godawful. As in the first book in this series, characters figure out the plot far later than the reader, which I find frustrating. And even worse, just as in the first book, characters persist in having these long, not particularly important conversations literally in the middle of climactic battles. It infuriated me. The last thing that bothered me isHenrietta and Muna's romance. They make good sense as a couple and I was pleased that this book had not one but two queer romances in it. But they know each other for I think just a couple days before Henrietta thinks herself in love with Muna, and at best another day after that before Muna realizes she's in love with Henrietta. I really wanted to see them get to know each other, or have some more time adventuring together, before I believe that they're truly in love.
The concept and much of the execution of this book is so delightful. I hope there are more written in the same lines, but with rather better pacing.
I love so much about this book. The characters are lovely, and I immediately wanted only the best for kind Muna and sensible Henrietta. The fantasy Regency England world in which this is set is precisely my favorite type, with a wondrous mixture of the actual time period and the weird wildness of fairies. There's a whole sequence with huge terrifying dragons that's treated just as though it were Bertie Wooster and his aunts talking about whether or not to eat someone. The style is overall a delightful descendant of Wodehouse or Heyer: that frothy type of burbling nonsense mixed with real affection for the characters. But the pacing is just godawful. As in the first book in this series, characters figure out the plot far later than the reader, which I find frustrating. And even worse, just as in the first book, characters persist in having these long, not particularly important conversations literally in the middle of climactic battles. It infuriated me. The last thing that bothered me is
The concept and much of the execution of this book is so delightful. I hope there are more written in the same lines, but with rather better pacing.
we stan gay dragons and evil queens who call their arch enemies wicked hussies and prunella as sorceress royal but overall henrietta and muna? loves of my lives.
a magical regency era fantasy featuring dragons and queens and eating your siblings as a display of dominance and fae who are just completely and utterly inhuman in the most glorious of ways and the lovely (and very gay) henrietta who just wants her sisters to be okay and wants to be USEFUL to prunella (and makes an adorable rabbit) and muna (also very gay) who deserves the absolute world everything about this book was wonderful.
spoiler - the hand kiss between muna and henrietta invented romance.
a magical regency era fantasy featuring dragons and queens and eating your siblings as a display of dominance and fae who are just completely and utterly inhuman in the most glorious of ways and the lovely (and very gay) henrietta who just wants her sisters to be okay and wants to be USEFUL to prunella (and makes an adorable rabbit) and muna (also very gay) who deserves the absolute world everything about this book was wonderful.
spoiler - the hand kiss between muna and henrietta invented romance.
adventurous
emotional
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence
Minus one star for drawing out the Saktimuna plot beyond all reason (I figured it out a quarter of the way through the book), plus one star for ending with magical lesbians.