A review by keytheelibrarian
The Prodigy 2: Rise of a Queen (Family Ties) by Shae Sanders

dark funny sad tense fast-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

i...liked it. can't say i loved it, can't say it blew me away, but i did like it. it wasn't bad by any means, and for the most part we did get the loose ends pertaining to malika and jakari wrapped up. i don't know y'all, it just feels like there's SOMETHING missing. maybe the fact that gab's still living is throwing me off. need her gone IMMEDIATELY! 

in book two we get to see the consequences of what we learned at the end of book one. malika is scarily level headed about the entire situation, but the more i think about it, the more it makes sense for her character. throughout this book we see her become stronger, bolder and step into her role as mrs.windermere. the conflict with her family and past play a large role in who she becomes, but there are times feels they felt like they were glossed over.  

i would've loved to see jakari take on more of the king role this book. he's still the prodigy of course, but with his father gone and everything happening it would've been interesting to see him lock into that character arc. it felt like he was just chasing malika for the majority of the book. as a romance lover, i'm never going to complain about that, but i would've loved to see some balance. 

overall, i enjoyed it! 4 ⭐️s!