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A review by worldsunlikeourown
The Queen's Resistance by Rebecca Ross
4.0
Find this review and more on my blog at Worlds Unlike Our Own.
The revolution has succeeded, and a queen is poised to once more sit the throne of Maevana. Brienna now has to win the trust of the MacQuinn household, not all of whom are especially welcoming, prove that she is more than who her birth father was, and claim her right as Lord MacQuinn’s adopted daughter. On the other hand, Cartier returns to claim a House he has few memories of and struggles to manage the weight of the responsibilities that now lie on his shoulders. Isolde’s coronation draws closer, but before she can be crowned, there is still work to be done. Not all the Maevan Houses are fully in support of her, and the with the Lannons’ trials coming up, Brienna and her allies must keep an especially wary eye out for any supporters of the old regime who might lie in wait and quell any signs of an uprising.
Picking up immediately following the events at the end of The Queen’s Rising, this sequel was significantly better in terms of storytelling. For one, it didn’t give away any major plot points right at the beginning like the first book did. Things didn’t seem to come to the main characters as easily and the tone of the narration took a more serious turn in some places, which in turn contributed a lot to character development. Cartier, or rather, Aodhan Morgane, gets his own POV in this one, which was a really nice addition that gives a new depth to the narrative. Declan Lannon was an interesting villain, but it would have been more effective had he been introduced in the first book itself.
While I was disappointed that we didn’t get to see much of Brienna’s passion sisters from Magnalia, I loved the new character Neeve and her backstory, and between her, Brienna and Isolde, Rebecca Ross once again does a fantastic job depicting strong friendships and sisterhood. When it comes to Cartier and Brienna, in the previous book, I felt that their romance was odd, but it actually made much more sense in this one, and was even enjoyable. No spoilers, but I absolutely loved the last chapter – I knew it had to be coming eventually given the scene with the tapestry earlier in the book. The only thing that I found mildly annoying was how much detail the events of the previous book were reiterated with right at the beginning – enough that had I not read the first book, I would have still managed to understand what was going on by the end of the first chapter.
While I thought The Queen’s Rising wrapped up the story quite nicely, The Queen’s Resistance is definitely worth a read, because it’s quite rare to come across a fantasy novel that discusses what happens after the victory, the tough decisions that need to be made and what it takes to rebuild and establish peace across the land. I would not say no to a third book in this series, as even though everything seems resolved, I’m still curious to know more about these characters, but it seems to be a duology for now. Definitely recommended!
The revolution has succeeded, and a queen is poised to once more sit the throne of Maevana. Brienna now has to win the trust of the MacQuinn household, not all of whom are especially welcoming, prove that she is more than who her birth father was, and claim her right as Lord MacQuinn’s adopted daughter. On the other hand, Cartier returns to claim a House he has few memories of and struggles to manage the weight of the responsibilities that now lie on his shoulders. Isolde’s coronation draws closer, but before she can be crowned, there is still work to be done. Not all the Maevan Houses are fully in support of her, and the with the Lannons’ trials coming up, Brienna and her allies must keep an especially wary eye out for any supporters of the old regime who might lie in wait and quell any signs of an uprising.
Picking up immediately following the events at the end of The Queen’s Rising, this sequel was significantly better in terms of storytelling. For one, it didn’t give away any major plot points right at the beginning like the first book did. Things didn’t seem to come to the main characters as easily and the tone of the narration took a more serious turn in some places, which in turn contributed a lot to character development. Cartier, or rather, Aodhan Morgane, gets his own POV in this one, which was a really nice addition that gives a new depth to the narrative. Declan Lannon was an interesting villain, but it would have been more effective had he been introduced in the first book itself.
While I was disappointed that we didn’t get to see much of Brienna’s passion sisters from Magnalia, I loved the new character Neeve and her backstory, and between her, Brienna and Isolde, Rebecca Ross once again does a fantastic job depicting strong friendships and sisterhood. When it comes to Cartier and Brienna, in the previous book, I felt that their romance was odd, but it actually made much more sense in this one, and was even enjoyable. No spoilers, but I absolutely loved the last chapter – I knew it had to be coming eventually given the scene with the tapestry earlier in the book. The only thing that I found mildly annoying was how much detail the events of the previous book were reiterated with right at the beginning – enough that had I not read the first book, I would have still managed to understand what was going on by the end of the first chapter.
While I thought The Queen’s Rising wrapped up the story quite nicely, The Queen’s Resistance is definitely worth a read, because it’s quite rare to come across a fantasy novel that discusses what happens after the victory, the tough decisions that need to be made and what it takes to rebuild and establish peace across the land. I would not say no to a third book in this series, as even though everything seems resolved, I’m still curious to know more about these characters, but it seems to be a duology for now. Definitely recommended!