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adoto's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This is such a delightful series and a delightful world and I hope the author writes more. As much as I like the first book, I like this follow-up more. I didn't find the writing style as tiresome as I thought I would from the first book, and I would often read way longer than the time I'd set myself before bed. The world-building shines in this book. I would have loved to see more of Prunella and Zacharias, but this is not their story and they remained charming in every scene they were in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, and Sexism
Moderate: Violence
ijustreallyliketrees's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Racism, and Sexism
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, and Violence
achingallover's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, and Grief
Moderate: Cannibalism
strange_little_ranger's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexism
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
THE TRUE QUEEN by Zen Cho introduces Muna, a young woman venturing to foreign Britain to obtain magical help in rescuing her vanished sister.
Where SORCERER TO THE CROWN dealt specifically with racism and misogyny, THE TRUE QUEEN is more about misogyny and the particular combination of racism and xenophobia that is exoticism. I love the book's overall tone, it has relentlessly upbeat feeling, a kind of optimism borne out of either not understanding how grave the danger might be or from understanding the risks and persevering anyway. Which one is happening shifts throughout the story and from narrator to narrator as characters other than Muna briefly lend their points of view. Even though it was several chapters in before I came across characters I recognized from the first book, this upbeat style was recognizable and immediately make it clear that the books were connected. It didn't retread much ground from the first book in terms of worldbuilding, only re-explaining as much as was immediately necessary, preferring instead to focus on Muna's perspective and the parts of the setting which affected her directly. It's the same way that the worldbuilding was handled the first time around, but seeing the effect centered around a different character made it more noticeable.
As a sequel this was very self-contained. THE TRUE QUEEN is unmistakably part of the same world as SORCERER TO THE CROWN due to the tone, characters, and magic system, but as a story it didn't need the first book at all to be understood. It doesn't really wrap up anything left hanging from the first book, but it does involve characters from there in ways that advance their personal storylines. In particular I appreciate seeing a lot more of Henrietta, and some updates on Zacharias and Prunella. The main storyline follows a new character, Muna, and her story is introduced and resolved here. How this was handled as a sequel makes me think that there's room to cover a lot of kinds of characters who have been marginalized from magical society in this version of England. I also need to see more of Muna, given how the book ends. The main character, Muna, is newly introduced here. Some characters like Prunella briefly reprise their role as narrators, and everyone has distinct narrative voices while keeping an overall tone to the book that works well. Someone could absolutely read this without having read the first book, as relevant information is briefly explained. I had a gap of over a year between reading each book and while there could be more reference I'd catch if I'd read them closer together, that helps me be more sure that someone who enjoys historical fantasy could pick this up at random and have a good time.
Where SORCERER TO THE CROWN dealt specifically with racism and misogyny, THE TRUE QUEEN is more about misogyny and the particular combination of racism and xenophobia that is exoticism. I love the book's overall tone, it has relentlessly upbeat feeling, a kind of optimism borne out of either not understanding how grave the danger might be or from understanding the risks and persevering anyway. Which one is happening shifts throughout the story and from narrator to narrator as characters other than Muna briefly lend their points of view. Even though it was several chapters in before I came across characters I recognized from the first book, this upbeat style was recognizable and immediately make it clear that the books were connected. It didn't retread much ground from the first book in terms of worldbuilding, only re-explaining as much as was immediately necessary, preferring instead to focus on Muna's perspective and the parts of the setting which affected her directly. It's the same way that the worldbuilding was handled the first time around, but seeing the effect centered around a different character made it more noticeable.
As a sequel this was very self-contained. THE TRUE QUEEN is unmistakably part of the same world as SORCERER TO THE CROWN due to the tone, characters, and magic system, but as a story it didn't need the first book at all to be understood. It doesn't really wrap up anything left hanging from the first book, but it does involve characters from there in ways that advance their personal storylines. In particular I appreciate seeing a lot more of Henrietta, and some updates on Zacharias and Prunella. The main storyline follows a new character, Muna, and her story is introduced and resolved here. How this was handled as a sequel makes me think that there's room to cover a lot of kinds of characters who have been marginalized from magical society in this version of England. I also need to see more of Muna, given how the book ends. The main character, Muna, is newly introduced here. Some characters like Prunella briefly reprise their role as narrators, and everyone has distinct narrative voices while keeping an overall tone to the book that works well. Someone could absolutely read this without having read the first book, as relevant information is briefly explained. I had a gap of over a year between reading each book and while there could be more reference I'd catch if I'd read them closer together, that helps me be more sure that someone who enjoys historical fantasy could pick this up at random and have a good time.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, and Kidnapping
Minor: Death of parent
ehmannky's review
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The Sorcerer Royal series is such a delight. It's so funny and witty and charming and heartwarming and I actually can't say enough good things about these books. The True Queen is all of these things, but it's also queer, and that made me all the more pleased. I felt that at times the pacing did flag, but it wasn't ever enough to detract from my enjoyment of the rest of the book. Also, I loved seeing Zacharias and Prunella married, even as they exist mostly on the periphery of this book. I was just so happy reading this, my cheeks hurt from smiling.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, and Violence
Minor: Death
ailsaod's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Borrowed this from the library as an eBook so I had a 3 week deadline to read this. I haven't read the first book and while I feel that would have provided further context to the actions of a few characters this was fine - I understand that this book focuses on different characters and has a central plot that is not particularly connected to whatever took place in book 1.
Things got off to a bad start as I did not enjoy the first fifty to a hundred pages at all and it took me almost two weeks to get through them but then the plot takes a turn and I enjoyed it much better! The main reason for my lack of enthusiasm is that the beginning of the book has strange pacing and I really couldn't stand Sakti.
If you pick this up because of the 'fake it till you make it in magic school' element of the synopsis then you'll probably be disappointed as the book actually takes a fairly different direction (one I personally preferred but I am aware a lot of people are fond of their magic schools). This story is more focused on the central mystery surrounding our main characters, Muna and Sakti, which actually turned out to be pretty interesting.
What really redeemed this story for me was the setting: I have a massive weak spot for Regency period fantasy and the Malaysian aspects of the story were extremely interesting (though certainly not the focus of the story!) - I certainly wouldn't object to reading more Malaysian fantasy! I also really enjoyed Muna and Henny's relationship which was pretty cute and the way Henny's family problems were solved was very entertaining.
Content Warnings
Minor: Misogyny, Racism, and Sexism