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A review by ericaf95
The True Queen by Zen Cho
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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? It's complicated
5.0
Coming up with a rating for this novel was the easiest part of this review, because it completely blew it's predecessor out of the water, and I gave that one four stars. Not to mention, I enjoyed literally every aspect of this book.
Zen Cho is exceptionally talented at crafting a satisfying ending. I experienced this with Sorcerer to the Crown, and as I was reading the last chapter of The True Queen, I found myself feeling more and more satisfied with the way things ended for all the characters.
My chief complaints with Sorcerer to the Crown were that it took a while to get going in terms of action, and the intensity of the racism and misogyny in it were such that if it had been written by a white man, instead of a Malaysian woman, I probably wouldn't have had enough faith in the author to keep going
Neither of those issues were present here. The action starts pretty much immediately. Satki and Muna wash up on the shores on Janda Baik with no recollection of who they are, and are cared for by Mak Genggang (the best character in the first book, by far). I had so much fun with both the characters and the journey of the plot that it didn't bother me in the least that I had figured out what the big twist was going to be by chapter four.
I don't think the world Zen Cho has constructed in fantasy England was in any way more tolerant of nonwhite people and magical women (though an argument could be made here forthe amount of work Prunella has done to force them to at least not openly suppress women using magic), but I do think that the characters were less tolerant of their society's intolerance. Muna comes from a place where women are free to work magic as they wish, and has no interest in tolerating snide comments from old old racist paintings, and I love her for it. Prunella has always been bold and self-assured, but the difference is now she has power. England's first Sorceress Royal is a half-Indian woman who founded a school designed to teach and nurture magic in girls and women and no one can say shit about it because she's the most powerful woman in Britain, and I found that utterly delightful.
Frankly, I don't blame Zacharias forhanding the Sorcerer Royal's staff over to Prunella . His life sounds awesome.
I was initially eager to read this book because I was told it was significantly gayer than the first once, and Zen Cho really came through for me there. Her romances are in no way the focal point of her novels, and the understated way she wove the development ofMuna and Henrietta's relationship throughout their adventures worked for me. A lot. There's very little that thrills me more than reading something that fills me with unfettered joy on the axis of being a queer woman, and this book did that very, very well.
It's been a while since I read a book I deemed worthy of five stars, and I can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed this one, and I will definitely be reading more of Zen Cho's works in the future.
Zen Cho is exceptionally talented at crafting a satisfying ending. I experienced this with Sorcerer to the Crown, and as I was reading the last chapter of The True Queen, I found myself feeling more and more satisfied with the way things ended for all the characters.
My chief complaints with Sorcerer to the Crown were that it took a while to get going in terms of action, and the intensity of the racism and misogyny in it were such that if it had been written by a white man, instead of a Malaysian woman, I probably wouldn't have had enough faith in the author to keep going
Neither of those issues were present here. The action starts pretty much immediately. Satki and Muna wash up on the shores on Janda Baik with no recollection of who they are, and are cared for by Mak Genggang (the best character in the first book, by far). I had so much fun with both the characters and the journey of the plot that it didn't bother me in the least that I had figured out what the big twist was going to be by chapter four.
I don't think the world Zen Cho has constructed in fantasy England was in any way more tolerant of nonwhite people and magical women (though an argument could be made here for
Frankly, I don't blame Zacharias for
I was initially eager to read this book because I was told it was significantly gayer than the first once, and Zen Cho really came through for me there. Her romances are in no way the focal point of her novels, and the understated way she wove the development of
It's been a while since I read a book I deemed worthy of five stars, and I can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed this one, and I will definitely be reading more of Zen Cho's works in the future.