A review by verymom
The Exiled Queen by Cinda Williams Chima

5.0

**If you're reading on the app for mobile devices, there are spoilers herein. I've noticed they don't show up on the app. Hopefully this series is established enough spoilers won't matter, but just in case, they are marked hidden on the desktop version of goodreads.

I'm a huge fan of this series. I've read the books several times (two documented here), and am now listening to the audiobooks.

Book two follows Princess Raisa and Han Allister as they journey separately to the academy at Oden's Ford, where at last, their paths cross again. I don't know any other author whose love triangles (spoiler:)

Spoiler

it's a love square, really, if we count Micah

feel as authentic as this one. I cried when (spoiler:)

Spoiler

Amon Byrne finally explained why he and Raisa couldn't be together

- Chima just handled this so deftly, and the emotions felt real, rather than trite and immature like many teen/YA romances.

On this read (listen) of the series, I was a little worried, as I remembered (spoiler from the first book:)

Spoiler

the deaths of Han's mother and sister

. As a survivor of profound loss and a carrier of immense grief, I was worried this loss of his would feel like an empty plot point, but I've been pleasantly (if anything about loss can be pleasant) surprised. Chima handles this very well. The loss does not hit the character and then disappear. The character carries the grief and the loss changes him and influences who the character becomes. We see that development happening in this book and if I remember right, it carries through the rest of the series.

As ever, I highly recommend this series. The books are exciting, well-written, and well-plotted. The world building is INCREDIBLE. I read this series to my kids when they were younger and they remain huge fans.