pagemaid 's review for:

Queen's Shadow by E.K. Johnston

4.0

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i shelved this as YA but i'm not sure it isn't meant to be more middle-grade. i'm also shelving it as 'fem-positive' because padme and her handmaidens are all young women who are highly skilled, courageous, confident, powerful, resourceful, etc etc and all the romances are sort of in the background, not affecting or driving the plot. oh and a few other notes on 'romance', i liked getting a little more detail about the culture of Naboo and of the whole queen-and-her-doubles roles and how both sides of that relationship would feel, during and after her reign. i felt that this book was a little slow at times, and that some things were left unresolved, like who was it that made the attempt on padme's life at the beginning of her senatorial term? also,

Spoiler

am i meant to assume that sabe and tonra actually adopted/raised luke under false aliases?? just kind of unclear. i would like it if so but i don't know how canon-compliant that is. maybe they are just meant to have smuggled the twins to their destinations.

i think i might have enjoyed this as a graphic novel instead too so we could get visuals of all the ornate outfits and art. (one time i went to an art museum display of star wars costumes and Padme's were definitely the most impressive!) i probably won't re-read this but i'm happy to have lingered for a while in a story where Padme got much more of her due than she gets in the movies.


**edit after re-reading summer 2022: i liked it better this time! i think partly because i read it slower, and had read the prequel Queen's Peril before re-reading so i had a better idea of who the handmaids were and was more invested in their characters. it still sucks that padme does not get the treatment she deserves in the movies but i'm glad for this book/this series and i'm looking forward to reading Queen's Hope next.