Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - The War of Two Queens

I'm not sure what to say about this one. It was okay, I didn't dislike it. I found the plot entertaining at parts but it just felt very very long and the ending a bit rushed. I did the audiobook for this one and the narrators did so well! I'd recommend the audibook if you are going to pick this one up.

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maistfu's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

was blown away by the things that happened at the end of this book. I adored the time kieran and poppy had together. the adventure/action vs worldbuilding and information was great but there are still a few things that bothered me.

!!! spoilers ahead !!!

1) in the first 3 books we get so many secondary characters, like delano, niall, emil, vonetta etc. but in TWOTQ we barely get anything about them. of course I'm happy that kieran and poppy's relationship developed more in this one but I would've loved more of the others too. especially since tawny appeared again too.

2) the way poppy's parentage and powers keep changing each book is getting kinda weird and very confusing. I get that it's a big universe with a lot of new information but I can't keep up.

3) there was such a good opportunity for the joining to become a relationship between kieran, poppy and casteel but it didn't happen. the joining felt off to me. they've all expressed deep seeted love for one another but somehow kieran and casteel didn't even kiss once but both had sex with poppy...? it just doesn't seem right to me. the author could've done so much better but she didn't.

4) building further on the missed opportunities: kieran and reaver had such chemistry and banter and literally nothing came from it.

anyway, I enjoyed it but it was lacking in many departments.

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ohgodsash's review against another edition

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emotional sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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mightymaite's review

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emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

What a beautiful progression of the story. Poppy and Cas being apart so long made you suffer, but also made the character and relationship development in this book possible. The trauma that Cas went through, the aftermath and the impact on Poppy were so gripping! The atrocities of war in this book were written beautifully and so visually that it gripped you by the throat and branded itself on your eyes.
After seeing the relationships between the characters change and develop over multiple books, it was the perfect time for the Joining to happen. Very natural progression to get here. Tastefully written, full of love and friendship.
This book was the perfect bridge between Poppy's and Nyktos' storyline.

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hapalyn's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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fireinherveinzz's review against another edition

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dark funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I’m sick of the plot twists at this point , it’s getting really old like poppy would have been enough and worthy just being a mortal and didn’t need all these extra super special super powers or finding our she’s the the chosen one in this prophecy. or oh great she has a long lost sister who she didn’t get to bond or interact with at all after losing her brother . Also the joining scene definitely overhyped to be way more than it actually is . She’s not cheating on or lying to Casteel it’s consentual and healthy communication even when she was feeding from Kiernan which she was forced to do to survive and was extremely reluctant to. She didn’t have sex with him without Casteel there . People really got all up in arms about this for no reason. When really this story had other issues . It just kinda dragged out with some light hearted comedic moments and a lot of violence and torture and scenes of aftermath of mass murder of children etc which JLA seems to be found of . Then the anti climatic moment of her ending her mothers life after all that build up over how scary powerful she was just. I love how this story started in the first couple books now this is getting really dull and not interesting anymore . JLA over relying on plot twist and random reveals that just won’t stop happening to make the story interesting does not in fact make for an interesting story . The only scene I truly loved was Poppy being assertive about deciding she what she would wear to see her abuser her biological mother and not the former white dress she was forced to wear or she would show up naked . That should have been the energy of the death scene or punishing Isbeth some other way it just wasnt that satisfying.
She kept saying she didn’t want to turn into her or become like a god who demolished cities and killed innocents . But acted really selfishly and like a brat at times .
I don’t see how much more this story can get dragged out for .

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josxphinchen's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.25

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kodafaith's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense 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

4.0

While this wasn’t my favorite in the series, I did find it so good! Expanding on the world and the lore was really fun and leaves you so excited for future books.
I do find it funny how much hate JLA has gotten for something she literally has hinted at for the entire series and think people need to take a step back. There is absolutely no need to be horrible to an author just because you didn’t enjoy what happened, just don’t read the books!

I personally have been waiting for the joining to occur because you can’t tease me like that! And I thought that the relationship between Poppy and Kieran doesn’t feel like one of infidelity but more like a natural bond between them. I feel like if it was anyone else it wouldn’t feel okay but the way Cas and Kieran are together makes it feel okay. I don’t know where the relationship between all of them will go in the future but I imagine it will be similar to how it was before they joined. That they will all be close and playful but it will still be just Cas and Poppy and maybe Kieran will join sometimes but not just Poppy and Kieran. But I personally think that if all parties are okay with it, then there is nothing wrong with the relationships they form!

I found this book great and I’m so excited to learn more about the histories and see how this war plays out. I can’t wait for more books to be out!

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