Loved this follow-up novel as much as I loved the first book! The pacing was good and enjoyed the twists throughout. I liked the new characters that were introduced and the expansion of the world building that was started in book 1. Loved the expansion of Shelvon’s role in the story.

I received a galley of this book from NetGalley.

Glass's feminist fantasy series started off with <i>The Women's War,</i> establishing an epic fantasy world where women are chattel who are not allowed to practice magic, and if their dominant men are displeased with them in any way, women and girls can be cast off to abbeys--essentially, government-run bordellos. Within the book, an incredible, multi-generational magic effort is made to correct this gender imbalance. The repercussions of this rattle the entire world, literally and figuratively.

<i>Queen of the Unwanted</i> carries on soon after that catastrophic event (for men), following different characters around the world as they grieve, love, and scheme amid the changing order. This epic fantasy setting feels fresh, and there is absolutely nothing predictable about the plot. Usually I can guess how things will end--nope! Glass excels at deft turns of plots, and her characters are incredible. In particular, there is a vital character who is a true antagonist, seeking to undo the mighty spell that gives women more power--and I hated her and deeply sympathized with her all at once. That's good writing.

Like most books it is slow to ignite for me while we learn everyone's place and what they're here for, but once you get in you get to follow them through schemes and twist and turn in some out comes from the first book. This book is very women's rights and how they have control over their body. I would be interested to see if there is a third and how she will handle it with the ending that was given

I didn't enjoyed the first book that much, but this one was a improvement.
And I hope that there will be a third one.
I liked what the power of the main character is, and I'm interested in continuing with this series.

This book had a slower start than the first in the series, but it ended up being a slowburn that built up to a super satisfying ending. I absolutely love what the author is doing with this series and its characters.

I really love the world this series is built upon. Jenna Glass clearly spent a lot of time developing each kingdom mentioned in Queen of the Unwanted predecessor, The Women's War.

The magic system mechanics are interesting and fairly unique; I like the idea of "elements" floating around the air that are used in magic.

I also really liked the way the patriarchal system in this world is set up. Not that I liked it--it sounds fairly miserable--but I liked the way it sets up the story. There are echoes of Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale," and touches that remind me of Sherri S. Tepper's "The Gate to Women's Country" in it, without coming across as too derivative. The idea of the Abby as the place you sent unwanted women is interesting, because of course, that's where you sent your unmarried noblewomen during the Middle Ages in Europe, though there are also echoes of the 19th and early 20th century's use of State Mental Hospitals as dumping grounds for unwanted women who refused to behave themselves properly.

This sequel rounded out a lot of the small problems I had with the first one and I can't wait to see what else Jenna Glass comes up with next.

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review of the story.

I apologize to the author but I just could not get into this book. I feel the writing was stiff and it took more than two chapters to introduce the main characters.

I appreciate the opportunity to read a new author's work.

What a fitting sequel!! I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought it did a great job continuing the story. I liked all the answers we were given, it helped me enjoy what I remember of the first one even more!

I liked the fact that women were given a chance to do things for themselves and discover who they really are. Glass does a good job of world building; I just found all the politics to be boring. The men were so concerned about losing their own power and having control over women. The lord high priest was a complex character because he did care about his mistress and wanted her to be in charge of the Abby his real objective was to be in control.

This sequel was full of magic and very mesmerizing. The concept of women having control over their bodies, and frankly of others, through magic was a great idea. I didnt realize this was a sequel whe i requested the book but I went back and read the 1st book before this one. I can't wait to explore what else this author can do!

After the first book in the series, I knew that this book was going to be full of twists and turns, intrigue and political secrets and schemes. I wasn't let down. Keep in mind this is part of a series, so don't just pick up this book and expect to understand what is going on. The author really deals with heavy issues of feminism and the rights of women to control their own bodies. She shows how differing the views are through the eyes of both men and women in this world she created. It's a provocative take on a hot-topic issue in this series of the Women's War

** I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review. **

Before I requested this book, I looked to see whether or not it was a book in a series. I didn't see anything on the cover or the description of the book. When I started reading it, I felt out of place like I had missed something. Did a little more digging and found out that, indeed, this was a book in a series and not the first. This is the second book in a series. I had to stop, buy, and read the first book in the series before I got to this one. The author, or probably more accurately the publisher/ marketing team should be a lot more vigilant about advertising the fact that this is a series and number the books in the series accordingly, as not to confuse anyone. If they feel that books can be considered stand alone in a series, they should advertise that, too.
When I finally got around to Queen of the Unwanted, I felt it was a pretty good sequel to the first book. The reader gets a more in-depth look at the cast of characters and the world they inhabit. The story is essentially about strong women taken a stand and rebelling in a world that doesn't appreciate them. It's thought provoking and thought it drew parallels from the real world and threw in a "What If" situation. The writing is solid, but I did find my attention waning in some parts that felt too slow or there was too much descriptive information going on. This made the pacing pretty slow in some areas and made the overall pacing unsteady. An overall decent book.

Unfortunately this is not a stand-alone book and is a part if a series in which I've not had the pleasure of reading which I did not realize when requesting to review this book. Unfortunately it would have been hard for to grasp the story, characters and concept so I have decided to not finish the book "Queen of the Unwanted" and will most likely be picked back up again in the future once I read the previous books in the series. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for taking the time to provide me an ARC of this novel.

It took me a while to get into the first book, but the Women's War totally hooked me by the end. Obviously I had to devour this one as soon as I saw it and I was not disappointed. Glass continued to surprise me with twists and turns she took with the story. I had some suspicions that certain events from the first novel weren't as they seemed and it was gratifying to see that I was both right and wrong. I'm looking forward to the next in the series!

Thanks to Del Rey and NetGalley for the eARC.

This was a delightful sequel to the first book.
I did have a bit of a difficult time remembering which characters were in which kingdoms, but overall enjoyed the growth in multiple areas.
There were ways in which Alys transition into ruling seemed to have matched Ellin's in the previous book (although with very different hurdles i.e. Ellin dealing with misogoyn while Alys is dealing with the beginnings of a country that has some struggles to survive). I found the political warfare to be far more interesting in this book. The history from the previous book made the council meetings more meaningful as you knew what had inspired certain points of view and had the chance to watch those decisions ripple out.

My biggest complaint about the book was the way Alys' half brother was handled. He, through the course of this book, has trouble reigning in his vices. That makes sense, but I still felt at times the book used his weight and alcoholism as short-hand for evil which I found to be a little bit distasteful.

I didn't realize this was the second book in a series, so, unfortunately, I did not finish this. I was too confused. Sounds like a great concept though! I'll give it 5 stars for originality.

I'm addicted, my customers are addicted and we're ready for the next now please!

This world is stunning, unique and dangerous. These women are the women we need TODAY! In OUR world!

LOVE Jenna Glass's work!

" In this feminist fantasy series, the ability to do magic has given women control over their own bodies. But as the patriarchy starts to fall, they must now learn to rule as women, not men........................................................
In this feminist fantasy series, the ability to do magic has given women control over their own bodies. But as the patriarchy starts to fall, they must now learn to rule as women, not men."

Glass deals with political schemes and intrigue while also using her voice to create a realistic world after the spell that created what some call The Blessing and others, (mostly men) call The Curse. This has given women a way to control their own bodies and because of this, their lives as well.
Deals with feminism and women's rights in the best way possible, also how men and women react to one another in this new society in which there are some places that women are leaders.
I also loved how the author touched on a womans ability to defend herself against an attacker and some important skills that should be widely known about self-defense.
This sequel has a provocative ending and I'm looking forward to the next addition to The Women's War series.

I wanted to like this book. I normally love books with female heroines and magic. However, when I requested it I didn't realize it was the second in a series and so it probably would have been beneficial for me to read the first. That being said I think this can also be read by itself. I just couldn't seem to get into this story and the characters weren't exactly likeable. It was okay, but I probably won't read it again. I'm sure there are those who would enjoy it, however I wasn't one of them.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.