whats_worth_reading 's review for:

The Ragpicker King by Cassandra Clare

4.5

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious 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: Yes

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The Ragpicker King is book two in The Chronicles of Castellane series and picks up where Sword Catcher ended. Lin has declared herself the Ashkar Goddess in an attempt to save her friend, Kel is in deep with the Ragpicker King and his band of misfits, and Conor has had to step up following his father’s incapacitation. 

With the arrival of the Exilarch the Ashkar’s version of a prince, sent to test Lin’s claim of divinity, her time to help Mariam is running out. When Conor enlists her help to find the cause of the King’s catatonic state, she finds herself torn between the palace and the city. Hiding her growing feelings for Conor becomes difficult when she spends more time with him and begins to see his caring side. Conor finds himself struggling with his growing feelings for Lin, but when he makes a marriage alliance to marry a princess that will protect Castellane he has to put them aside for the greater good. 

Meanwhile, Kel and the Ragpicker King’s crew are trying to find out the mastermind behind the Shining Gallery massacre, whilst simultaneously trying to unmask an assassin who seems to be one step ahead of them. Throw in Antonetta’s sudden engagement to an absolutely pig of a man and Kel has his hands full trying to juggle everyone else’s problems as well as his own. 

There is so much going on with this book and I would honestly recommend either reading this own straight after reading Sword Catcher or looking for a summary video - there is a good one on the Tandem Collective YouTube channel. I will admit the first half of the book was difficult for me, there was so much from the first book that I couldn’t remember that it made reading slow. 

Then suddenly the action started and I couldn’t stop reading and ended up finishing the read-along early! The relationships that were hinted at in the first book develop more in the second half of The Ragpicker King, and as someone who becomes very invested in characters, I think this is what I needed to feel more connected to the story. 

With no release date I’m now I’m left facing the wait for the next book which is tentatively titled The Bone Conjurers! I’m excited to see what direction the next book takes Lin as she sets off in search of answers.