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lexi__'s review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this book, mostly how is the writing style captivating.
persephtiyareads's review against another edition
4.0
this book is more driven to characters' development compared to the first book, which is more on world building
but after all, I always love the beauty of writing in this series
so magic, so raw, and never failed to take my breath away
but after all, I always love the beauty of writing in this series
so magic, so raw, and never failed to take my breath away
tibcanread's review
5.0
I loved this book!
I read The Last Namsara earlier this year and have been impatiently waiting for the arrival of its companion ever since, and let me tell you, it was well worth the wait.
This book follows Roa, the outlander queen to Dax, Asha's brother and king, and her struggle to get what she needs for her people and for her sister, Essie, whose soul has been bound to a hawk. The story was full of twists and turns, some expected, some I hoped would end the way I wanted to, and some unexpected. It was a wild ride from beginning to end and I couldn't be more satisfied with this story, and I certainly didn't want to give up the characters or world (especially the dragons. I'm always sad to leave dragons), but here I'll be impatiently waiting until Sky Weaver comes out, and since reading TCQ, I'm very interested in finding out why Sapphire's story is titled that.
What I love most about Kristen's books is how she integrates her would building as small little stories between chapters. She did it in The Last Namsara, and she's done it again in The Caged Queen, but this time in a different way. This time, she uses those interludes as a way to understand Roa's past without having a huge info dump somewhere in the actual chapters. It's a clever way to kind of "cheat" the system and give us the information we need in a way that doesn't really interrupt the story.
If you haven't read The Last Namsara or The Caged Queen yet, what are you doing with your life? Go read them!
I read The Last Namsara earlier this year and have been impatiently waiting for the arrival of its companion ever since, and let me tell you, it was well worth the wait.
This book follows Roa, the outlander queen to Dax, Asha's brother and king, and her struggle to get what she needs for her people and for her sister, Essie, whose soul has been bound to a hawk. The story was full of twists and turns, some expected, some I hoped would end the way I wanted to, and some unexpected. It was a wild ride from beginning to end and I couldn't be more satisfied with this story, and I certainly didn't want to give up the characters or world (especially the dragons. I'm always sad to leave dragons), but here I'll be impatiently waiting until Sky Weaver comes out, and since reading TCQ, I'm very interested in finding out why Sapphire's story is titled that.
What I love most about Kristen's books is how she integrates her would building as small little stories between chapters. She did it in The Last Namsara, and she's done it again in The Caged Queen, but this time in a different way. This time, she uses those interludes as a way to understand Roa's past without having a huge info dump somewhere in the actual chapters. It's a clever way to kind of "cheat" the system and give us the information we need in a way that doesn't really interrupt the story.
If you haven't read The Last Namsara or The Caged Queen yet, what are you doing with your life? Go read them!
ishouldreadthat's review against another edition
2.0
Originally posted to I Should Read That
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This review is spoiler free for The Caged Queen, but will contain spoilers for [b: The Last Namsara|32667458|The Last Namsara (Iskari, #1)|Kristen Ciccarelli|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1499931742s/32667458.jpg|51449012].
I was so thrilled to get my hands on a copy of The Caged Queen. I liked Ciccarelli’s debut, The Last Namsara, but had some trouble with the romance. The sequel picks up the story where The Last Namsara left off, but follows a new character and a new love interest, so I was definitely intrigued. The book features some of my favourite tropes: a marriage of convenience, a hate-to-love relationship, and a whole lot of political scheming and backstabbing. I expected to adore The Caged Queen, and while there were aspects that I really liked, I ended up feeling disappointed for a couple of reasons.
To start with the good things, I absolutely love the world building in Ciccarelli’s books. She manages to bring her world and cultures to life and despite the dragons, the magic, and the fairy tales that happen to be true, everything on the page feels so real. I could read pages and pages of history about this world and never grow bored. I really love the politics in this book as well, particularly how well it blends in with cultural differences and prejudices. The political scheming was one of my favourite parts of The Last Namsara and it only gets more intense in The Caged Queen. Finally, can I just tell you how nice it is to see a wonderful relationship between sisters? Sure it’s complicated, but I loved the flashbacks to their time growing up together and dealing with Dax’s intrusion and the consequences that his presence brings.
My problems with the book center around Roa, our main character. She plays a small role in The Last Namsara and I was really looking forward to seeing her as a main character. She seemed so brave and badass in the first book -- she leads an army to help Asha and Dax overthrow their father and she marries Dax in order to secure a future for her people. However, she really fell flat as a character for me for two reasons. The first is that she, quite frankly, just didn’t seem very bright. She cannot see beneath the surface of any situation she is in or any person she meets -- in this way she is an astonishingly shallow character. Sometimes this works out really well in terms of plot, but it just made her seem silly most of the time. Without giving any spoilers, she manages to walk into the exact same life threatening situation twice and doesn’t seem to learn from it. All of this would be more acceptable to me if we weren’t constantly told how bold and brave she is and what a great strategist she is -- this didn’t come across in the narrative at all. I found myself constantly wanting to shake as she miraculously stumbles her way through the plot.
The second issue I have is that about 85% of the conflict in this book could have been resolved if Roa sat down with Dax and other characters and just had a conversation with them. This is a particular issue that really gets to me -- I find it infuriating and often DNF books that use this plot device. Roa has numerous opportunities to clear the air with other characters and never does. Some of it I can understand, particularly later on in the book, but for the most part it’s just her pride getting in the way of common sense.
I was ultimately disappointed by The Caged Queen, despite it having some great writing and world building. Roa is not nearly as strong a character as Asha, and her unwillingness to discuss the problems at hand was really problematic for me. I really wanted to love The Caged Queen and Roa, but she just wasn’t a strong enough character to carry the novel. I know this won’t bother other readers as much, so I encourage you to pick this book up and form your own opinion.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This review is spoiler free for The Caged Queen, but will contain spoilers for [b: The Last Namsara|32667458|The Last Namsara (Iskari, #1)|Kristen Ciccarelli|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1499931742s/32667458.jpg|51449012].
I was so thrilled to get my hands on a copy of The Caged Queen. I liked Ciccarelli’s debut, The Last Namsara, but had some trouble with the romance. The sequel picks up the story where The Last Namsara left off, but follows a new character and a new love interest, so I was definitely intrigued. The book features some of my favourite tropes: a marriage of convenience, a hate-to-love relationship, and a whole lot of political scheming and backstabbing. I expected to adore The Caged Queen, and while there were aspects that I really liked, I ended up feeling disappointed for a couple of reasons.
To start with the good things, I absolutely love the world building in Ciccarelli’s books. She manages to bring her world and cultures to life and despite the dragons, the magic, and the fairy tales that happen to be true, everything on the page feels so real. I could read pages and pages of history about this world and never grow bored. I really love the politics in this book as well, particularly how well it blends in with cultural differences and prejudices. The political scheming was one of my favourite parts of The Last Namsara and it only gets more intense in The Caged Queen. Finally, can I just tell you how nice it is to see a wonderful relationship between sisters? Sure it’s complicated, but I loved the flashbacks to their time growing up together and dealing with Dax’s intrusion and the consequences that his presence brings.
My problems with the book center around Roa, our main character. She plays a small role in The Last Namsara and I was really looking forward to seeing her as a main character. She seemed so brave and badass in the first book -- she leads an army to help Asha and Dax overthrow their father and she marries Dax in order to secure a future for her people. However, she really fell flat as a character for me for two reasons. The first is that she, quite frankly, just didn’t seem very bright. She cannot see beneath the surface of any situation she is in or any person she meets -- in this way she is an astonishingly shallow character. Sometimes this works out really well in terms of plot, but it just made her seem silly most of the time. Without giving any spoilers, she manages to walk into the exact same life threatening situation twice and doesn’t seem to learn from it. All of this would be more acceptable to me if we weren’t constantly told how bold and brave she is and what a great strategist she is -- this didn’t come across in the narrative at all. I found myself constantly wanting to shake as she miraculously stumbles her way through the plot.
The second issue I have is that about 85% of the conflict in this book could have been resolved if Roa sat down with Dax and other characters and just had a conversation with them. This is a particular issue that really gets to me -- I find it infuriating and often DNF books that use this plot device. Roa has numerous opportunities to clear the air with other characters and never does. Some of it I can understand, particularly later on in the book, but for the most part it’s just her pride getting in the way of common sense.
I was ultimately disappointed by The Caged Queen, despite it having some great writing and world building. Roa is not nearly as strong a character as Asha, and her unwillingness to discuss the problems at hand was really problematic for me. I really wanted to love The Caged Queen and Roa, but she just wasn’t a strong enough character to carry the novel. I know this won’t bother other readers as much, so I encourage you to pick this book up and form your own opinion.
bound_to_books's review against another edition
3.0
So I didn’t and haven’t read the previous book in this series so read the second book with no understand of what happened before it.
It took me a little time to get used to the characters and story line but I enjoyed it. Roa was a little annoying at times and flawed as a character but then humans are.
I would say this book is a guilty pleasure and if I get the chance I may read the previous book.
It took me a little time to get used to the characters and story line but I enjoyed it. Roa was a little annoying at times and flawed as a character but then humans are.
I would say this book is a guilty pleasure and if I get the chance I may read the previous book.
taylor500's review
5.0
"It is when you cannot see yourself in another that you turn them into an enemy."
First off, I have to say this series has among the prettiest covers I have ever seen! Second, this is an amazing book and series so far.
I loved these characters, Dax especially by the end, and I'm glad we saw some of Asha and Torwin. Roa's development through the book was extremely well done and I was not expecting the way her relationship with Dax developed. There were hints throughout the book with some of the flashback, but it was still beautifully done.
Words really can't describe how much I am loving this series so far! It's one I could definitely see myself reading over and over again ❤️
First off, I have to say this series has among the prettiest covers I have ever seen! Second, this is an amazing book and series so far.
I loved these characters, Dax especially by the end, and I'm glad we saw some of Asha and Torwin. Roa's development through the book was extremely well done and I was not expecting the way her relationship with Dax developed. There were hints throughout the book with some of the flashback, but it was still beautifully done.
Words really can't describe how much I am loving this series so far! It's one I could definitely see myself reading over and over again ❤️
howlsmovinglibrary's review
3.0
The Caged Queen was a book I’ve really been looking forward to. The first book by Ciccarelli, The Last Namsara, was a book that captivated me but proved difficult to rate. While I love Ciccarelli’s writing style and the way she constructs fantasy worlds by retelling stories within that world, The Last Namsara had one huge issue – the problematic master-slave romance between the heroine Asha, who was a member of the ruling Draksor class, and Torwin, her father’s slave.
Because The Caged Queen follows a new set of characters, and also a heroine who isn’t Draksor, and if therefore not one of the dominant powers in the world, I was hopeful to see the slavery of the first book critiqued. I was also excited to see how things progressed on from The Last Namsara’s climax.
One thing that I found difficult about The Caged Queen was following Roa as a character. Like Asha of the first book, she’s morally grey, something I usually love, but this greyness is actually more a product of bad decisions than an integral part of her personality. I found myself becoming increasingly infuriated by what seemed simply to be her contrariness. think this is because the level of dramatic irony between Roa’s perspective and the reader’s just gets too much – as a reader, some things became increasingly obvious to me very quickly, and it began to frustrate me that she didn’t see them too.
There's a much bigger focus on romance than the previous book, mostly because the arranged marriage of Dax and Roa is at the centre of the plot. This is a romance that hits a lot of tropes – enemies to lovers, childhood friends, fake relationship, even *gasp* forced to share a bed – but I kind of loved it for that.
I did not however, feel like the problematic elements of The Last Namsara were addressed fully, which is partially why I read this.
Read the full review here!!
Because The Caged Queen follows a new set of characters, and also a heroine who isn’t Draksor, and if therefore not one of the dominant powers in the world, I was hopeful to see the slavery of the first book critiqued. I was also excited to see how things progressed on from The Last Namsara’s climax.
One thing that I found difficult about The Caged Queen was following Roa as a character. Like Asha of the first book, she’s morally grey, something I usually love, but this greyness is actually more a product of bad decisions than an integral part of her personality. I found myself becoming increasingly infuriated by what seemed simply to be her contrariness. think this is because the level of dramatic irony between Roa’s perspective and the reader’s just gets too much – as a reader, some things became increasingly obvious to me very quickly, and it began to frustrate me that she didn’t see them too.
There's a much bigger focus on romance than the previous book, mostly because the arranged marriage of Dax and Roa is at the centre of the plot. This is a romance that hits a lot of tropes – enemies to lovers, childhood friends, fake relationship, even *gasp* forced to share a bed – but I kind of loved it for that.
I did not however, feel like the problematic elements of The Last Namsara were addressed fully, which is partially why I read this.
Read the full review here!!
loveverythingbooks's review
5.0
I had already read some reviews before I read this book and was worried that I would dislike Roa, but I actually found myself sympathising with her. It was clear she had a kind and caring heart. She simply was in a lot of pain, which made her easy to manipulate.
Still, I did get annoyed sometimes. Mostly because I have a lot of love for Dax and had a strong urge to protect him. Although, it eventually become clear to me that he could take care of himself, I hated it when he got hurt and let's be honest, Roa was the one doing the hurting most often.
Of course, this could all have been prevented if Dax and Roa would just communicate like decent human being instead of only yelling at each other.
In this way, their flaws perfectly complimented each other. Roa has never been good at reading other people, which is ironic since she always was the one lecturing Dax about not being so transparent. From her memories it became clear that Essie always was the empathetic and open one, while Roa kept her feelings to herself.
While Dax once might have complained about Roa "keeping her feelings in like a dragon", he got pretty good at that over the years as well. He is probably the most cryptic person alive. Something we already knew from The Last Namsara, where "When darkness falls, the Old One lights a flame" apparently translated to "Hey Asha, I'm planning to kill our father and take his throne. Care to join me?" How much easier things would've been if the boy wasn't such a drama queen..... I'm only partly kidding.
I can go much deeper into their reasonings and respective personalities, but let's just leave it at both of them being admirably complex characters.
Since we're already taking the empathetic route, we could even excuse Theo for him manipulating Roa this entire book. He only acted out of the fear to lose her. Still, I will never truly forgive him.
In the end, the plot of this book comes down to a political love story. The story of a queen who felt alone and unloved, acting out of resentment. Only to find out that her king did in fact know what he was doing the entire time, does support her and does love her. She learned what it really meant to love someone. Because sometimes, love means letting go.
~Favourite quotes~
"And it is when you cannot see yourself in another, that you turn them into an enemy"
"What are souls, but stars waiting to be born."
"Never underestimate a fool."
"You taught me never to reveal myself. You taught me that once my enemy knows my weakness, he knows how to beat me.
So I hid my true weakness behind rumors and flirtations and decoys. Because if my enemies know just how much she means to me, they would take her away."
"I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I never meant to break us. Everything I learned about love, I learned from you. You taught me that sometimes love means holding on so tight. And sometimes it means letting go."
"The old stories say we belong to each other. If that's true, than our enemies are not our enemies, but our brothers and sisters. Unless we treat all lives as sacred, we will never have peace."
"Like a sailor who needs the heavens to find his way home, you were my own star. Burning through the night. Helping me find my way."
Still, I did get annoyed sometimes. Mostly because I have a lot of love for Dax and had a strong urge to protect him. Although, it eventually become clear to me that he could take care of himself, I hated it when he got hurt and let's be honest, Roa was the one doing the hurting most often.
Of course, this could all have been prevented if Dax and Roa would just communicate like decent human being instead of only yelling at each other.
In this way, their flaws perfectly complimented each other. Roa has never been good at reading other people, which is ironic since she always was the one lecturing Dax about not being so transparent. From her memories it became clear that Essie always was the empathetic and open one, while Roa kept her feelings to herself.
While Dax once might have complained about Roa "keeping her feelings in like a dragon", he got pretty good at that over the years as well. He is probably the most cryptic person alive. Something we already knew from The Last Namsara, where "When darkness falls, the Old One lights a flame" apparently translated to "Hey Asha, I'm planning to kill our father and take his throne. Care to join me?" How much easier things would've been if the boy wasn't such a drama queen..... I'm only partly kidding.
I can go much deeper into their reasonings and respective personalities, but let's just leave it at both of them being admirably complex characters.
Since we're already taking the empathetic route, we could even excuse Theo for him manipulating Roa this entire book. He only acted out of the fear to lose her. Still, I will never truly forgive him.
In the end, the plot of this book comes down to a political love story. The story of a queen who felt alone and unloved, acting out of resentment. Only to find out that her king did in fact know what he was doing the entire time, does support her and does love her. She learned what it really meant to love someone. Because sometimes, love means letting go.
~Favourite quotes~
"And it is when you cannot see yourself in another, that you turn them into an enemy"
"What are souls, but stars waiting to be born."
"Never underestimate a fool."
"You taught me never to reveal myself. You taught me that once my enemy knows my weakness, he knows how to beat me.
So I hid my true weakness behind rumors and flirtations and decoys. Because if my enemies know just how much she means to me, they would take her away."
"I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I never meant to break us. Everything I learned about love, I learned from you. You taught me that sometimes love means holding on so tight. And sometimes it means letting go."
"The old stories say we belong to each other. If that's true, than our enemies are not our enemies, but our brothers and sisters. Unless we treat all lives as sacred, we will never have peace."
"Like a sailor who needs the heavens to find his way home, you were my own star. Burning through the night. Helping me find my way."
tori_story's review against another edition
5.0
I definitely expected to like this less than the first book, but I might have enjoyed it even more. How are these stories so good?!
rebar351's review
3.0
I adored The Last Namsara but book 2 I just couldn't connect with. I wanted book 2 to follow Asha and Torwin more vs being more of a companion novel. Still a good book but I just wished books 1 and 2 flowed together more in my opinion. I still did enjoy Caged Queen.