Once again, I am proven to have the absolute worst taste in characters because they almost always end up evil or dead.

The Queen Will Betray You is the YA fantasy sequel to The Princess Will Save You, and I'm honestly not sure how to feel about it. The cover of this specific book is why I decided to read the series, but I can't really tell if I liked the sequel better than the first book.
While the first book focused on adventure and action, this one was definitely more political. I'm not typically a fan of political fantasies if there's not much action involved, so unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this one as much. Basically, every prince or princess or other heir is struggling to regain their thrones, mostly from the same two evil women. While I thought this book would delve into Luca's backstory and history, he felt kind of irrelevant to me, and despite the added POVs that should have given a clearer picture, I just felt that the storyline dragged. The ending itself felt a bit rushed and I'm unsure of how I feel about the epilogue, but I intend to finish the series soon.
The reason I'm conflicted about this book is that I definitely started to appreciate more of the characters. While most of the villains and newer characters didn't amuse me, the main cast from the last one carried the story. I'm still not the biggest fan of Amarande or Osana, although the former definitely experienced a little bit of depth. As I said before, I wish Luca had a bit more depth and exploration because even this book didn't do enough for me. Ula and Urtzi are definitely my favorites, and they better get more page time in book three. I also really liked Taillefer, which is bad cause he's a jerk, but his motives are just intriguing.
Fans of fantasy adventures with political intrigue, friends-to-lovers romance, and royal drama will enjoy The Queen Will Betray You.

3.5/5