A review by bzliz
Lady Smoke by Laura Sebastian

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-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

3.25

This evolution from Ash Princess sees our protagonist Theo starting to move from the panic of escape to making plans to go on the offense. The plot dragged in some points for me where it felt like characters were rehashing the same conversations without reason and settling on the same course of action having gained no new insight. 

The love triangle-y pieces of Theo’s relationships with Blaise and Søren feel like an obligation of the YA fantasy genre. I would find it a lot more satisfying if it either didn’t exist or if it coexisted more peacefully, knowing that Astrean culture is that queens don’t marry and they tend to be more open. It could have been a good opportunity to really seize that and acknowledge that Theo loves both these guys- maybe to different degrees- and they need to come to the realization that neither of them are the most important piece of her life. 

Big spoiler ahead
The Kaiser’s death didn’t feel significant enough. To have Cress- now with this power due to her failed murder attempt- swoop in and snuff him out in an effort to elevate her to true villain status felt cheap to me. This man orchestrated years of abuse for so many people and for him to meet his demise at the hands of someone who truly only benefited from his behavior feels so unearned, even if it is just meant to drive Theo’s discovery of her own power and show her that she needs to get stronger.


I still look forward to reading the third book, in hopes that it gives me the kind of ending I wanted Game of Thrones to give Daenerys. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings