Cinda Williams Chima

mmmmmmm this is the good shit. YA fantasy is a horrible and contrived genre MOST OF THE TIME but cinda williams chima manages to turn stereotypes on their head with this book. she sets up the long game in this series, and fully doesn’t care that her main characters only meet ONCE in the first book. you’ve got politics, magic, poverty, and royalty - basically this book creates a political landscape that feels real, with high stakes and memorable characters. This is one of my favorite show more books of all time - maybe it’s guilty pleasure, maybe it’s the forbidden romance, but damn do I love this series. Raisa in particular is a dynamic and sometimes infuriating iteration of princess: her desire to really know her queendom is marred by her complete lack of freedom and knowledge of her people. but this book really shines with Han Alister. questions of belonging, morality, survival, and family haunt this character as he tries to find his place in the world. they’re two people who are ripped apart and thrown together by forces bigger than themselves: blood, destiny, and love.

as a first novel in a series, this book could definitely use with some tightening, as it’s a wee bit slow in some places, but it’s a strong jumping off point for the rest of the series (which only gets better from here). god bless you cinda williams chima for this darkly romantic romp through a beautiful and vivid world - one of my favorites then, and still a favorite now. show less

just when you think this series can’t raise the bar, it does. when you think there can’t POSSIBLY be another surprise, there is. this book takes the characters we’ve fallen in love with at this point and ruthlessly, MERCILESSLY thrusts them into the most high stakes situation yet - ruling a queendom.

i was deeply impressed by raisa’s development in this book - she goes from being stuck up and spoiled in the first book to downright mature in the third installment. she’s learning show more from han: how to play 3D politics chess, how to anticipate her enemies’ next moves, how to maintain appearances. i love her more and more as the series goes on, because she is not only headstrong but deeply kind. she cares about her people, not because she’s a ruler, but because she is a person, too.

han’s development in this installment is truly remarkable. all the childishness falls away as he realizes that what he really REALLY wants might just be out of his reach forever. my absolute favorite scene in the series is when he heals raisa on the way to marisa pines camp after the assassination attempt - we see how much han has fallen for her, how desperate he is to protect the last bit of love in his life, only to have it cruelly ripped away from him when he learns her real identity. at this point, we’re three books into this connection, and it only gets more intriguing from here. we see that they love each other, but there is so much more at stake now than there was. han has to be someone else, totally transform himself to win raisa - and more importantly, to stay alive. he is a truly fascinating character that i never get tired of reading. i love his roughness, his kind heart, his strategists brain - everything about han is well thought out and perfectly executed, even all of his many imperfections.

this book brings a whole new level of intensity to an already intense series. with the death of the queen, there’s now a power vacuum in the Fells, and good GOD does everyone have an opinion about it. there are questions upon QUESTIONS that crop up in this book, and we don’t get all the answers. rather, chima takes her time setting up an unbelievably satisfying climb to the top - we don’t know where she’s taking us, but holy shit am i strapped in and READY for it.

if you didn’t think this series could get better, you’re dead wrong. chima goes above and beyond to give you little pieces of what you want, and then RIPS them away from you. such a satisfying, emotional, and incredibly visceral journey through a world that feels so real to me now. chima, THANK YOU. show less

Wow. That was intense.

This is a series I don't want to write a review about — I want to talk about. Or, more accurately, I want to hear what others have to say. I want to hear what people think about the portrayal of physical disabilities; of queerness and sexuality and sexual violence; of the use of Indians as a basis for one of the cultural groups in the story. I think there's a lot that Chima did right in portraying a diverse world, but I'm an able-bodied white woman reading the work of show more another white woman, so I'm not really the best judge. There are also some things that made me uncomfortable in terms of representation, particularly in regards to the clans, but again — white woman.

I loved this series, though. I could not put it down. Raisa is such an amazing heroine and I freaking love the fact that she's a princess who doesn't blindly accept the political necessity of an arranged marriage but doesn't run away from it either. She is a leader and I adore her for it. I love all the characters around her, and hell, I was even rooting for the romance by the end.

I feel like this is a series everyone (or at least every fantasy fan) should read. In both its strengths and its flaws, I think it would make a fantastic launching off point for a discussion on how fantasy can represent diversity. show less

where do i even start with this one … the new setting does WONDERS for these characters, and the expansion of Han’s motivations and fears in this one is amazing. he becomes so much more nuanced as he tries and tries to change, trying to adjust to the new life he’s been given (well, FORCED is more the word). he’s on multiple conflicting payrolls, constantly moving three or four steps ahead of everyone else. there is something so satisfying about his triumphs in this book: micah bayar show more gets cowed into submission multiple times, han meets raisa again (fucking finally.. but more on that later), and he’s finally being seen as a real and potential threat to his enemies.

i have to talk about how god damn annoying the travel is. WOW does it take them forever to get places in this world. it makes it more realistic, and that’s one thing about these books that is so so impressive: chima has PATIENCE. she sets up her events and plot points with the ultimate finesse, truly building suspense and anticipation for CHAPTERS. it’s actually annoying sometimes how she doesn’t give you what you want: she makes you wait for it, which is all the more satisfying. good things and bad things, i suppose.

i absolutely hate the bayar twins in this one. they’re perhaps a little lopsided as characters, because they’re stuck up and nasty and i’ve never once felt a good feeling about either of them. fiona digging han is also super weird.

amon’s plot line makes sense and is acceptable, if a little boring. he’s the ever honorable sidekick, refusing to give in to raisa even when he wants to most.

raisa comes SO far in this one. seeing her fight tooth and nail to reject her privilege and experience the realities of the world is extremely satisfying. and all the more satisfying is her reunion with han, my favorite man in the seven realms. they foil each other so well, it genuinely feels like fate - and not to mention it feels like a crossover episode.

as a second novel in the series, this performs beautifully. it asks you all the right questions: who knows what? who the fuck is crow? what is raisa going to do next? i really wish we had gotten a scene at the cadet’s ball, not even going to lie to you, but the college-town experience of this book makes a big world feel smaller and more accessible. no longer are the countries we’ve heard of distant and i’ll-defined - in this book, they come center stage in all their flaws and failures. politics becomes so much more important to us, and in turn Han, as he works to find what it is he really wants.

yes this is a romance. yes, that’s 60% of why i love it. but better than any romance plot is the driving forces of love, destiny, belonging, strength, and going after what you want. i love how much these books care about the downtrodden. yeeeees there are stereotypes but they’re stereotypes that are constantly flipped on their heads and challenged. god its a good read. it was in 2011 and it still is today. show less