I think this book was handled a lot better than the previous one. I still think it would've been a better story had it just been about the queen candidate instead of an imported foreigner, but at least in this book you get to see the Raka movement on their own. It isn't just Aly's story anymore. And there are a number of points where Aly is told to sit down, shut up, and listen, because it isn't her fight and she doesn't have the same skin in the game as everyone else.

I also just think the spy bits were much more fun here than in the prior book. They're back in the city now instead of dealing with living in the country and you actually see the rebellion in action.

Overall, I still do like this series, but it's probably my least favorite of the Tortall books. There's just no getting past the colonialism, and this is a story that's been done so many times by authors of color about people of color. Despite enjoying it (and probably a good portion of that was due to nostalgia), I couldn't wholeheartedly recommend this series to others.