Lady Smoke

Theodosia has now finally fled Kalovaxia and captivity under the vicious, cruel Kaiser. With the aid of her aunt, the notorious dreaded pirate Dragonsbane, she sails on the Smoke with her crew of friends Artemesia, Blaise and Heron, to Sta’Crivera where she is expected to find a husband and marry. This is the task of the new Queen of Astrea if she expects to gain an army that will go back with her to seek revenge on the Kaiser. Theo also has to bear the fact that they are holding Prinz Søren as prisoner (basically a bargaining chip); since he is the son of the Kaiser, and the person who dangerously holds her heart, she has to find ways to ingratiate him to those who see him as the enemy.
In Sta’Crivera they are given the royal show more treatment by their host King Etristo as she is paraded in front of suitors from lands near and far; if she marries a husband who will secure her the troops she needs, she will have to give access to the mines that hold the magical gems. But as much as Theo loves Astrea, she is torn between what is right for her people, and by what is true in her heart: staying independent and free after being held captive for so long and by not being treated like an object herself.

It has been (a bit over) a whole long year since I closed up Ash Princess and easily declared it one of my favorite YA fantasy reads. Laura Sebastian swept me away with the magic and darkness of her first book and so I was nervous and excited to read the follow up.

This has everything one could ask for in the perfect YA fantasy: excellent world-building, which keeps right on building seamlessly from the first book, also equal elements of all the right things, adventure, romance, complex relationships, friendships, treachery, and a good amount of fighting and some murder.
*Trigger warning: Theo was subjected to years of abuse at the hands of the Kaiser, and along with discussion and flashbacks for that, there is a good deal of violence involving descriptions of battles and deaths.

The underlying themes that again come through with Sebastian’s writing are those of obligation and duty, vs. fighting for your beliefs and the good of those around you. The bonds of the characters in Lady Smoke also speak to the importance of loyalty and trust. Character development is excellent, and I have come away from the second book with an even stronger attachment to Theo and the others, and a more vivid sense of the world that they live in.
Theo resists norms and also questions the Sta’Criveran’s emphasis on outward beauty; she also shows a lot of compassion to the refugees, and is frustrated by the barriers of the deeply patriarchal society she lives in. All of these elements make her and the plot highly relatable. There are also some great plot twists as the novel moves into high gear, and Theo really has to push past her grief and sadness about the past, reach a place of acceptance, and then find a lot of courage to reach her goals.

Smoke didn’t disappoint me one word, this book being even chunkier than the last one. Yet it still wasn’t long enough at 512 pages, as I never wanted to this to end. Thoroughly captivating; I can not wait for Book #3! show less

Lady Smoke continues to be an enjoyable read while still balancing heavier themes. Theo and friends are forced to accept shelter at a desert kingdom with a capital drips so much opulence and politics that I cannot help but think of Versailles. The capital is a stark contrast to the refugee camp outside its walls and brings home how society often treats refugees. The characters continue to be interesting and engaging with Theo being the star of the show with an excellent supporting cast. I enjoyed the twists throughout and that ending was fantastic. Very rude of my library to not have the final book ready for me!

After having read the first two books of this trilogy, I believe that Sebastian has fallen victim to the YA trilogy trend and is trying to drag a really great book out into three mediocre volumes. (I reserve the right to change my mind after I read volume 3 of course). Very very little actually happens in this book despite it being almost 500 pages. There are scenes after scenes of Theo meeting with potential marriage partners, many of whom will never be seen again. Now, if those scenes are funny or character building or even just beautifully written, I might be willing to overlook how they don't move the plot forward at all. But they honestly aren't. Theo continues to be a whiny, insecure child the entire book who thinks she is so show more "smart" because she is manipulating someone only to find out she's the one being manipulated.

That said, I do think there's an interesting story in here, I just wish we could get to it a lot faster! show less

This was such a disappointment. Where the first book was concise and zipped through the plot (guessing due to good editing), this book was so slow and dragged on through meaningless plot turns that you knew would go nowhere. Probably most importantly, Theo, the main character, is not likable. She uses love as manipulation; she's passive aggressive, and generally she comes across as a mean girl. Unfortunately Soren and Blaise were two-dimensional and barely showed up in this book.

This book is a lot more predictable than the first one.

- The poison thing is in-your-face obvious, I can't believe the time it took for our queen to realize it. Since the Archduke died, no, since they talked about Coltania being a scientist. It's so goddarn obvious.
- I feel like the conversations between Theo and Blaise are just fillers. It's so repetitive that I just want them to kill Blaise, just to get it over with.
- I would've liked more appearances from Empress Giosetta. Not romantic scenes, too much of that already, I don't want a harem. I would've liked her and the Archduke to join the fight against the Kalovaxians.
- Kaiser's death is shocking but unsatisfactory.

What I liked:
- Cress being more powerful than Theo. I know show more Theo's gonna be more powerful after that epilogue but I liked that Cress is more powerful at first.
- Coltania's death. I've been waiting for them to realize that she's the killer that when Theo killed her, I shouted 'FINALLY!!'.
- Dragonsbane telling Theo about her mother.

2.75 stars.

Will still read the last book.

- I'll also read a book with Artemisia as the heroine. TBH, I like her more than Theo.

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In which Theo leads her band of merry rebels into five-hundred pages of diplomacy, disillusionment, and not actually spending that much time considering husbands.

Blog Review: https://trishadoeseverythingbutstudy2.wordpress.com/2021/01/01/my-november-in-bo...

I liked it, I guess.

I wasn't particularly excited for this, because of the love triangle, and I was rightly worried. The love triangle played a pretty big role, and I still don't like Blaise. Honestly, for me, it's either Soren or no one.

Other parts of this book.....searching for a suitor was a really interesting part of this, and I loved it. Except for the deaths.Why did Hoa have to die?!?!?! Why?!!?? And the guy who she was going to marry, that brother(can't remember his name), why did he have to die!?!? Things were going perfectly alright, and then you had to go on and kill him.

Also, I loved the meeting the rebels part of this. And the show more part where Erik came back. In fact, all the scenes with Erik. And the ones with Erik and Heron. Oh God, those were the best!!! I really don't care a lot about Theo's romance at this point; I'd just like to see Heron and Erik together.

The Kaiser and the Kaiserin...what should I even say?I didn't like that the Kaiser died so...underwhelmingly. And Cress was the one to kill him. I really wanted a good scene with Theo killing him, but, well, beggars can't be choosers. (Brain: I don't think that saying was the correct usage)(Me: I don't care, it sounds nice)

About the ending I am pretty curious about what will happen to Theo, and what she will do with her powers. I also really want Soren back. So, I just really want minimum drama, and maximum badassness from the next one.

I am eager to read the next one, and I hope it doesn't have even more of that love triangle; I'm sick of it. Also, I really want Theo to come to terms with her powers, because this constant denial isn't working for me. It's pretty obvious since the first book, but still it takes her so long to accept the possibility that she might have powers. show less