A review by rosie_khan
A Kingdom for a Stage by Heidi Heilig
5.0
THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Totally going on my favorites shelf because all of Heidi Heilig's books do.
Okay, where do I even begin??? The first book, For a Muse of Fire, was an incredible story and put together in such a creative way that I adored everything about. Shadow puppeteers, blood magic and controlling souls, a country occupied by colonists, an actual family for the main character, beautifully written characters, and of course, the lush setting.
The sequel, A Kingdom for a Stage, picks up a few weeks later, and while the pacing was a little slow, I enjoyed it so much. Compared to book one, where Jetta is on the move very fast, this book takes a while to move, but we get a deeper look at important characters in that time. Speaking of characters, I thought that they seemed a little bit hard to understand. Perhaps it's realistic, but at times I couldn't tell whose side certain people were on.
But honestly, this book had it all. One of my favorite moments was
Oops, this review is very spoilery, but here is my main burning question:
In summary, my thoughts after finishing it are:
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
WHY
OH. MY GOD.
I need the third book NOW but it doesn't come out until spring break...so I guess that will be motivating me for the first half of this semester.
Heidi Heilig, if you ever read this review, thank you for these books.
Totally going on my favorites shelf because all of Heidi Heilig's books do.
Okay, where do I even begin??? The first book, For a Muse of Fire, was an incredible story and put together in such a creative way that I adored everything about. Shadow puppeteers, blood magic and controlling souls, a country occupied by colonists, an actual family for the main character, beautifully written characters, and of course, the lush setting.
The sequel, A Kingdom for a Stage, picks up a few weeks later, and while the pacing was a little slow, I enjoyed it so much. Compared to book one, where Jetta is on the move very fast, this book takes a while to move, but we get a deeper look at important characters in that time. Speaking of characters, I thought that they seemed a little bit hard to understand. Perhaps it's realistic, but at times I couldn't tell whose side certain people were on.
Spoiler
Theodora "La Fleur" Legarde was always a strange one to me, because what she said about responsibility and right was THE EPITOME of the white man's burden and she clearly had regrets about being the mastermind of so many weapons, but she's still allegiant to the Aquitans, so whose side was she on? Why did she just go along so friendly with the rebels?But honestly, this book had it all. One of my favorite moments was
Spoiler
when Cam reveals the scars on his back and explains to Jetta that the nickname "The Tiger" is "because of the stripes" and the fact that him being trans and using a binder is just casually part of his identity! I'm excited to see Camreon become king.Oops, this review is very spoilery, but here is my main burning question:
Spoiler
When Le Trepas let himself fall off the dragon and hit the ground, and Jetta immediately put the dragon's soul back into its skeleton and therefore under her control, WHY didn't Jetta dive down to Le Trepas's body and try to catch his soul right then and there, before he fled? Would the extra few seconds already have meant it was too late? I thought akela can only walk or run as fast as a living man could. Because she literally could have forced his soul into a rock or a piece of wood, and the whole MESS about Raik and Xavier's bodies going missing could have been avoided!!! I mean, Le Trepas is THE MOST DANGEROUS SOUL in the whole COUNTRY and they just left his corpse alone? When they had the chance to try and contain his fresh soul? I don't understand!In summary, my thoughts after finishing it are:
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
WHY
OH. MY GOD.
I need the third book NOW but it doesn't come out until spring break...so I guess that will be motivating me for the first half of this semester.
Heidi Heilig, if you ever read this review, thank you for these books.