An epic continuation of the Royal Bastards series. I absolutely loved book one, so I was really looking forward to this read. So many twists and turns .... and I am so mad about that ending, but it only makes me look forward to the next instalment !

Slow to get started with everyone in Lightspire living somewhat normal lives, but the story picks up as shit hits the fan. I'm somewhere between two and three stars on this one, because it's entertaining for the most part but I'm not invested.

Unfortunately, I did not get the chance to read this ARC prior to the book's publication, but we did end up buying it for our library collection.

I loved this first installment and I can’t wait to read the rest. A like a good cast of strong characters. They each had their own voices but there wasn’t one I wanted to succeed more than the others. Great read!

After reading Royal Bastards I immediately emailed to be asked to be on City of Bastards review list because I loved it so much. I just felt like I had to know what happened – and this was at a time where a lot of the books I was reading weren’t making me feel this way.

Lightspire was main setting of this book – much different from the nomadic travelling of the first. World building was written well to make Lightspire out to be a beautiful, elegant, and magical city. You could imagine an almost elvish style kingdom at times – and it fits well in common fantasy places. This meant we’d left the ‘adventuring’ in the first book – which meant less exploration of the wider world. But despite this, the world building was just as good as the first book, just more in depth than expansive over different areas.

I felt that the magic was fleshed out in a lot more detail in City of Bastards. The first book was more action/adventure as they try to get to Lightspire, but once they got there – it seemed to shift magic fantasy into a higher gear.

The books have some great themes of each of our main characters needing to grow into adults who make their own decisions. There’s snippets of innocence and naivety from characters, and then tough lessons for them to learn – which is perfect for the older audiences of ‘YA’, whilst also being relevant to adults reading too.

There’s also some tough themes which need trigger warnings such as suicide. Good pacing throughout and it started getting more tense towards the end as even more action scenes were happening.

I’d say it’s more for people who enjoy world building, a bit of politics and schemes happening in the shadows. This is purely because it’s not as action packed as Royal Bastards.

The second book also left off making me want more – and so I am excited to read the third book too.

Positives
Magic system
Good pacing
Negatives
Only in Lightspire

Andrew is a masterful storyteller in person so if you have a chance to see an event with him, go. Unfortunately I have learned that high and epic fantasy doesn’t resonate with me. This is a case of it’s not you, it’s me.

I absolutely loved the first book in the series but I found the second book lacking. I just don't think the writing was as good.

Interesting read.  I hadn’t read the first book in the series but I was able to catch on pretty quickly

I was a huge fan of the first novel in this series, so I was really looking forward to reading City of Bastards. All of my favorite characters were back, but this time we were transported to a new world in the City of Lightspire. I loved the world building in this novel and could picture the city perfectly. It was such a fun setting and it made me really wish I was in the world with the characters. I really enjoyed Tilla's character in this novel and her always spunky attitude was back, but it was a little dampened by trying to fit into a new city. That added an extra level to her character and I enjoyed the added complexity. 

This novel was a lot of fun, fast paced, and full of twists and turns. I would highly recommend reading this novel if you enjoyed the first in the series or if you enjoy YA Fantasy novels. I would definitely read the first novel prior to picking this one up because you may be a little lost if you don't read it first. Thank you to NetGalley and Disney-Hyperion for sending this novel in exchange for an honest review. 

Rating 3.5/5

I loved this second novel from Andrew. It begins shortly after it’s predecessor ended and quickly dives into this world world and all it’s characters. It’s a fun adventure read that is great for both boys and girls.

I love th Royal Bastards Books! Fun and high energy, I recommend these books for fans of action-packed thrill rides. I’m not a huge fan of fantasy books, but City of Bastards (and the first book in the series, Royal Bastards) feel different. They are more action and less fantasy. More coming-of-age journey and less dragon. Highly recommend.

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaassssssss this book was so good. Like tame Game of Thrones, and thats not an insult. Its a good thing.

So I started reading this in June and didn't finish it until December.
Yep. It took me quite some time to get through this book. First let me say that I absolutely loved the first book so I was ready for that sequel and to continue on with these characters. But it just dragged for most of the story. It did finally pick up and become really interesting during the last 15% of the book. I wasn't interested in the plot and the characters just felt different. It was just okay. I think the first book could have been a stand alone but I still plan on continuing with the series.

I really loved the first book in this series. It was really hard to connect to this particular book. I loved the character Tillandra, but I felt this book was more disjointed. 

Thank you for the advanced copy.

the perfect second book for the series! i just love the authors writing style and this story is so fresh i love it all around

I started reading this without realizing that it was the second in a series — and while I was able to follow the plot fine, I kept thinking I was going to get a big flashback to explain some of the events and people the main characters kept referring to.

It was fine. I mean, it’s action-packed. Tilla and her friends have returned to the capital Lightspire after some serious action defeating — at least for the moment — her traitor father. (That all happened in the first book.) But they haven’t left trouble behind: More than one plot is afoot in the glittering city of magic, and while Tilla’s life is luxurious and pampered, it’s also under constant observation. When one of her friends is murdered in the room they share, Tilla gets pulled into a mystery that may be even deadlier than the one she’s just managed to escape. There’s romance (pretty standard YA stuff), violence (actually A LOT of violent violence, so be aware), and so many twists and turns that you may need a yoga session when you’re done. The author is definitely not afraid to go dark, and while some things are predictable, there are plenty of surprises. (Sometimes the surprises seem to exist just to surprise the reader with no textual logic behind them, but it certainly did keep me turning pages.)

What a fun series! I really enjoyed this sequel! This setting and the characters are fun to read about, and well written.

The world-building in this story is magnificent. I am so in with Tilla and lord does this story really progress from Royal Bastards. It was phenomenal. The action scenes were so brutal, at times they might have been a little much for me, but I think others will love them. I love how everything is so well described and honestly I've had my copy on the shelf for months now and just now got around the writing the review. I loved, loved, loved this so much!! I cannot wait to see more in the next book!

When I was first approved to read this book, I didn't know it was a sequel. So I decided to read Royal Bastards, and honestly fell in love with the story so much. Which was why I was expecting the same feeling in the second book, but... I was disappointed. The second book fell into the Second Book Syndrome and it sucks.

While in the end of the first book we had a lot of room for character growth and plot development, it felt like this was a filler book. Nothing really happened (or it took forever to happen) and the characters were just bland. But not all hope is lost - the third part of the book actually got back in place and it was pretty good! It left room for the story to take its final course and the bastards win... which is always my hope and dreams, for the underdogs to be recognized and win something (lol).

But let's talk characters:

- Tilla was... well, the worst version of Tilla. I thought we were over the point were she's selfish - she was always so courageous and helpful and considerate of others. In this book though, she became the complete opposite of herself - she made decisions that were unconsidered and she failed to recognize when her friends and closest ones were in pain. I want my Tilla back! I'm hoping the ending of this second book gave her a little nudge to grow and become something better.

- Zell and Lyriana acted more like supporting characters then ever - and that really irritates me. While Zell was just the "emotional support" that Tilla needed (whom she totally used and never really paid much attention), Lyriana was just one of those backup dancers in old tv shows - we know they're there... we just can't properly see them. And honestly she has so much potential to be more, to be better explored in the story... it just fails me to understand why she was sub-used.

- Ellarion = LOVE. He filled the void that Jax left, and he did it beautifully. His sarcasm and sassy remarks made the first 2/3 of the book better. And I consider now him a part of the bastards and I'LL PROTECT HIM WITH MY LIFE. (please don't kill him)

Even though I didn't enjoy the first 2/3 of the book, the ending honestly made it better. And it felt like none of that happened and we're still on the same fast paced book as we were on the first one. I'm eager to know what will happen with our group and specially what will happen to Miles.

After reading the first book I really had no interest in this but i gave it a shot and read about 50 pages. I just feel it.