I enjoyed this book enough to read it in roughly a day. I think it was better than its predecessor in some ways, but not so much in others.

For starters, I loved each of the queens. They were cunning and powerful, with their own agendas, and Mirabella and Arsinoe were hesitant to complete their destined task. Katharine was quite ruthless, and I liked that about her. Katharine is still my favorite, but I’ve found myself truly liking all three.

The pacing was much more even than it was in the last book. There was fighting and sabotage, as well as the physical, emotional, and political aftermath of each. While I thought the second half was better than the first, I found the whole novel to be suspenseful and intriguing.

If I had one issue with this book, it would be that some things just didn’t ... feel right? Arsinoe nearly died at least three times and kept miraculously surviving, but Natalia and Joseph died what I think were rather pointless deaths. Only Nicholas’ death felt truly meaningful, and I think it’ll be one of the driving forces of the third book.

On that note, I’m not entirely sure what else will happen in the next installment. There was no cliffhanger or event that desperately needs addressing. Katharine was crowned, and her sisters and most of the other important characters successfully escaped the island. I think Jules will be the “renegade” mentioned in the third book’s synopsis. Aside from that and Katharine’s apparent inability to have sex or children, I don’t know what could happen. Obviously it shouldn’t be predictable, but my point here is that I’m not sure of any threads that could develop another book, much less two. I’ll just have to wait until release and find out.

Overall, a very good sequel despite a few imperfections. I’m glad this novel held up after how good the first one was, and I hope to enjoy the third just as much upon reading it.