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ijustreallyliketrees's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Sexism, and Racism
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, and Violence
n_asyikin_'s review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-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
5.0
In the follow up to the Sorcerer of the Crown, The True Queen followed two sisters, Muna & Sakti, who had woken up one day with no recollection of who they were & their past except for their names & the possibility that they had their magic stolen. With the help from the incredible Mak Genggang & Prunella, spanning from Janda Baik to England via the Unseen Realm, the two tried to solve the mystery revolving their state which may be rooted in a power struggle amongst powerful magical creatures.
The start of the story was aptly slow paced, reflecting the confusion the sisters went through with their amnesia. But the acerbic & sharp-witted nature of the casts of strong women made for a highly entertaining read; Sakti, Prunella & Mak Genggang, even the polong, have the tendency to quite literally took life by the horns. This was especially true when it came to shooting down any attempts by others to stifle them for their gender, "class", or race. I just loved how they either tried to bulldoze their way through the unjust system or play the system at its own game. But I also adore how we had the likes of Muna & Henrietta, though they were more subtle, they were just as revolutionary.
The series depicted the concept of culturally-different views & approaches to magic. I loved how there were contrasts being made between the Western & Eastern (i.e. Malay specifically) views on the magical system. If there is one thing that I adore most about Cho, it is how unapologetically Malaysian she is with her writings: in this story, she imbued Malay myths & beliefs into the plot to depict Muna, Sakti & Mak Genggang's background. Those familiar with the Malay culture may recognize the significance of "fine creatures" aside from the proverbs mentioned including references to mulut tempayan and nasi sudah menjadi bubur translated into English or mentioned in some form of Bahasa Rojak; as a Malay Malaysian, it was a joy to see.
The True Queen was a fun, light read in a fantasy that recognizes & celebrates magic beyond the Western world. Towards the climax of the story, Cho successfully evoked a sense of awe, quenching one's thirst for adventure as the mystery involving the sisters was resolved. But the characters' astute commentaries about the problems with elistism & feudalism were ever so relevant, & I found their sarcasms to be an exceptional balm especially in lieu with what's going on currently.
If you want to read a fantasy that provides a different approach/view to magic, I highly recommend you picking up The True Queen as well as its accompaniment, Sorceror to the Crown.
The start of the story was aptly slow paced, reflecting the confusion the sisters went through with their amnesia. But the acerbic & sharp-witted nature of the casts of strong women made for a highly entertaining read;
The series depicted the concept of culturally-different views & approaches to magic. I loved how there were contrasts being made between the Western & Eastern (i.e. Malay specifically) views on the magical system. If there is one thing that I adore most about Cho, it is how unapologetically Malaysian she is with her writings: in this story, she imbued Malay myths & beliefs into the plot to depict Muna, Sakti & Mak Genggang's background. Those familiar with the Malay culture may recognize the significance of "fine creatures" aside from the proverbs mentioned including references to mulut tempayan and nasi sudah menjadi bubur translated into English or mentioned in some form of Bahasa Rojak; as a Malay Malaysian, it was a joy to see.
The True Queen was a fun, light read in a fantasy that recognizes & celebrates magic beyond the Western world. Towards the climax of the story, Cho successfully evoked a sense of awe, quenching one's thirst for adventure as the mystery involving the sisters was resolved. But the characters' astute commentaries about the problems with elistism & feudalism were ever so relevant, & I found their sarcasms to be an exceptional balm especially in lieu with what's going on currently.
If you want to read a fantasy that provides a different approach/view to magic, I highly recommend you picking up The True Queen as well as its accompaniment, Sorceror to the Crown.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Racism and Colonisation
achingallover's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Misogyny, Racism, and Sexism
Moderate: Cannibalism
strange_little_ranger's review
adventurous
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, and Sexism
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
THE TRUE QUEEN by Zen Cho introduces Muna, a young woman venturing to foreign Britain to obtain magical help in rescuing her vanished sister.
Where SORCERER TO THE CROWN dealt specifically with racism and misogyny, THE TRUE QUEEN is more about misogyny and the particular combination of racism and xenophobia that is exoticism. I love the book's overall tone, it has relentlessly upbeat feeling, a kind of optimism borne out of either not understanding how grave the danger might be or from understanding the risks and persevering anyway. Which one is happening shifts throughout the story and from narrator to narrator as characters other than Muna briefly lend their points of view. Even though it was several chapters in before I came across characters I recognized from the first book, this upbeat style was recognizable and immediately make it clear that the books were connected. It didn't retread much ground from the first book in terms of worldbuilding, only re-explaining as much as was immediately necessary, preferring instead to focus on Muna's perspective and the parts of the setting which affected her directly. It's the same way that the worldbuilding was handled the first time around, but seeing the effect centered around a different character made it more noticeable.
As a sequel this was very self-contained. THE TRUE QUEEN is unmistakably part of the same world as SORCERER TO THE CROWN due to the tone, characters, and magic system, but as a story it didn't need the first book at all to be understood. It doesn't really wrap up anything left hanging from the first book, but it does involve characters from there in ways that advance their personal storylines. In particular I appreciate seeing a lot more of Henrietta, and some updates on Zacharias and Prunella. The main storyline follows a new character, Muna, and her story is introduced and resolved here. How this was handled as a sequel makes me think that there's room to cover a lot of kinds of characters who have been marginalized from magical society in this version of England. I also need to see more of Muna, given how the book ends. The main character, Muna, is newly introduced here. Some characters like Prunella briefly reprise their role as narrators, and everyone has distinct narrative voices while keeping an overall tone to the book that works well. Someone could absolutely read this without having read the first book, as relevant information is briefly explained. I had a gap of over a year between reading each book and while there could be more reference I'd catch if I'd read them closer together, that helps me be more sure that someone who enjoys historical fantasy could pick this up at random and have a good time.
Where SORCERER TO THE CROWN dealt specifically with racism and misogyny, THE TRUE QUEEN is more about misogyny and the particular combination of racism and xenophobia that is exoticism. I love the book's overall tone, it has relentlessly upbeat feeling, a kind of optimism borne out of either not understanding how grave the danger might be or from understanding the risks and persevering anyway. Which one is happening shifts throughout the story and from narrator to narrator as characters other than Muna briefly lend their points of view. Even though it was several chapters in before I came across characters I recognized from the first book, this upbeat style was recognizable and immediately make it clear that the books were connected. It didn't retread much ground from the first book in terms of worldbuilding, only re-explaining as much as was immediately necessary, preferring instead to focus on Muna's perspective and the parts of the setting which affected her directly. It's the same way that the worldbuilding was handled the first time around, but seeing the effect centered around a different character made it more noticeable.
As a sequel this was very self-contained. THE TRUE QUEEN is unmistakably part of the same world as SORCERER TO THE CROWN due to the tone, characters, and magic system, but as a story it didn't need the first book at all to be understood. It doesn't really wrap up anything left hanging from the first book, but it does involve characters from there in ways that advance their personal storylines. In particular I appreciate seeing a lot more of Henrietta, and some updates on Zacharias and Prunella. The main storyline follows a new character, Muna, and her story is introduced and resolved here. How this was handled as a sequel makes me think that there's room to cover a lot of kinds of characters who have been marginalized from magical society in this version of England. I also need to see more of Muna, given how the book ends. The main character, Muna, is newly introduced here. Some characters like Prunella briefly reprise their role as narrators, and everyone has distinct narrative voices while keeping an overall tone to the book that works well. Someone could absolutely read this without having read the first book, as relevant information is briefly explained. I had a gap of over a year between reading each book and while there could be more reference I'd catch if I'd read them closer together, that helps me be more sure that someone who enjoys historical fantasy could pick this up at random and have a good time.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, and Xenophobia
Minor: Death of parent
ailsaod's review against another edition
adventurous
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? Yes
4.0
Borrowed this from the library as an eBook so I had a 3 week deadline to read this. I haven't read the first book and while I feel that would have provided further context to the actions of a few characters this was fine - I understand that this book focuses on different characters and has a central plot that is not particularly connected to whatever took place in book 1.
Things got off to a bad start as I did not enjoy the first fifty to a hundred pages at all and it took me almost two weeks to get through them but then the plot takes a turn and I enjoyed it much better! The main reason for my lack of enthusiasm is that the beginning of the book has strange pacing and I really couldn't stand Sakti.
If you pick this up because of the 'fake it till you make it in magic school' element of the synopsis then you'll probably be disappointed as the book actually takes a fairly different direction (one I personally preferred but I am aware a lot of people are fond of their magic schools). This story is more focused on the central mystery surrounding our main characters, Muna and Sakti, which actually turned out to be pretty interesting.
What really redeemed this story for me was the setting: I have a massive weak spot for Regency period fantasy and the Malaysian aspects of the story were extremely interesting (though certainly not the focus of the story!) - I certainly wouldn't object to reading more Malaysian fantasy! I also really enjoyed Muna and Henny's relationship which was pretty cute and the way Henny's family problems were solved was very entertaining.
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism, Sexism, and Misogyny
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