I was really excited when I saw The Queen Will Betray You available on Netgalley, as I loved the first one so much and this was a worthy sequel! I also loved that this book let other characters grow and shine, but I was a little disappointed it seemed to be at risk of losing Ama and all she has to offer. Overall though, a worthy sequel.

The best sequel to a series that I’ve read in a long time. This book hits all the boxes for YA fantasy that I like including detailed world-building, action, and romance. I think the pace of this book was better than the first with so much intrigue and politics to keep you guessing throughout the whole book!

I enjoyed getting to know many of the characters and found them to be compelling. While I don’t think Ama shined in this book, I wasn’t upset because there were characters that really had a chance to grow. I also appreciated the social commentary that was integrated in this setting that is very relatable. I would definitely recommend continuing the series because if you liked “The Princess Will Save You” then you’ll absolutely love this book!!!!!!

First off, thank you to Netgalley and Torteen for an ARC of this book, I was thrilled to receive it in exchange for my feedback.

I have been a huge fan of Henning since I read Sea Witch two summers back. Her writing style is easy to follow and she creates the most vivid worlds. This book was no exception and was the perfect continuation of this trilogy!

First off, I absolutely adore the names she used for her characters in this book (as well as the first). They are so incredibly unique and I loved being able to read and sound them all out (how nerdy, I know!). Each character fit their name so well though, and the name really gave the reader a complete picture of that person.

Having read the first book and now this book too, I love how these are similar to a Princess Bride type story, but the Princess (and her prince) are both incredibly strong and fight for what they want! I love their love and dedication to each other and how that is the only thing (besides their kingdoms) that matters to them.

I also really love the side characters that Henning gives us, and does she give us A LOT of them! Having read the first book last year I did have to do a bit of a refresher on characters and their names but it was so worth it. Each one is crucial to the story, but also have their own equally important and independent stories too!

If you haven’t read any of Sarah Henning’s books before I highly suggest you do! Start with these, start with Sea Witch or start with Throw Like a Girl because you can’t go wrong!

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher.

I really enjoyed this book more than the first. In this book, I felt the story line was alot more interesting and the parts about political alliances kept me intrigued. I do enjoy Ama and Luca as main characters, but I like a few of the side ones as well. It would be cool to see some spin off stories with them.

The way this story ends, there will definitely be a third. The author also recently released news of expanding from a duology to a trilogy. Which is good news because i feel like a lot still needs to happen.

Although this book wasn't as quick of a read as i hoped, i still enjoyed it and hope the third is just as good.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I wanted to enjoy this much more than I did, I didn't have too many high expectations seeing as the first book in the series was also a 3 star read. But, the ending of it left it at a promising point, so when I saw this ARC I decided to pick it up. The love between Luca and Amarande is still very much the main focus of the story, while they're trying to fight their own battles in the continent of The Sand and Sky. While that didn't really bother me, it got old pretty fast. I was hoping that the characters developed a bit more, and I'm pleased to say that they did. It just wasn't enough to really lure me into the story.

The title is very apt, seeing as two queens are fighting to control the continent. I just wished that the motivation for them to do so was better developed. There were flashbacks to show us why they are doing what they are doing, but they felt rushed and forced into the story overall.

Honestly, the only character that made me excited was Taillefer. Yes, he's a bad guy, but I felt like was developed so nicely and his character arc did a 180 and another 180 and it was exquisite. I also felt like there was a lot of preparation for battles that didn't really occur and it was a bit of a letdown for me personally. I am unsure if I will pick up the 3rd book once it comes out, but overall this wasn't a bad book, it just wasn't what I was expecting.

when the second parts are better than the first!

Who as I enjoyed this book, it was one plot twist after another, I didn't see anything coming from what happened! It was crazy!

On this occasion the story becomes something more intense, in the first book it focused a lot on Amarande and her love, but in this one we focus on politics and many conspiracies for power. I loved!

I don't know if there is a third party but I think I need it!

After finishing the first book, I was a bit skeptical to read this one. It's not that I didn't enjoy the first one, its that I wanted more from it.

Well, this book provided more!

This is a spoiler free and generalized review because it is an ARC review. I was provided an arc by the publisher in exchange for an honest review...so here it is!

This book series is what I would consider a true YA fantasy. Characters actually under the age of eighteen and the personalities that I believe fit very well to their age. In The Queen Will Betray You, we get to see so much more development of our two lovebirds Ama and Luca. I was so seriously happy about this because I felt that the first book really didn't make me feel any connection to either of them, but this one did! I found myself rather liking both of them and their story as they grew and adapted to the changes!

The plot, I LOVED. It wasn't cluttered within world info dumping or scenes that didn't mean anything, so I didn't find myself wishing to just get it over with. I actually wanted to keep reading and finding out what was coming next.

If you were like me and you weren't super interested after finishing the first book, PLEASE pick this one up because it is so much better and we get to know the characters so much more!

Last year, I picked up the audiobook for The Princess Will Save You on a whim. The cover was gorgeous and I just need something to play in the background as I worked on a mundane, repetitive task for work. I quickly became enamored with Sarah Henning’s retelling of The Princess Bride with a gender reversal that had me swooning. The characters who came to feel all too real as I sat for hours listening to their tale. When the end came, I immediately searched for the sequel, only to find out it wasn’t yet available. So, I marked my calendar and waited.
A few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to get an ARC through NetGalley of The Queen Will Betray You (Book 2). It was delightful to plunge back into Amarande and Luca’s lives. Henning does a magnificent job weaving a tale that both continues from where the last book left off
To get more specific here are a few of my favorite things:
-Added point of views. We get to see what is happening from so many vantage points in this sequel, which helped me to stay engaged and feel compassion toward the story’s villains. The best villains are real people with real problems, Henning nails this on the head.
-Luca’s undying devotion to Amarande. Luca’s loyalty never changes. (This isn’t much of a spoiler, I promise.) His consistency made me fall all the more in love with his character.
-Diving into morally grey areas. Whereas there was a lot of easy differences between right and wrong in the first book, we get to see Henning’s main characters make some questionable decisions and deal with characters who really sit in the in-between.
-A fast-paced story with twists and turns. Like the first book, The Queen Will Betray You had me racing to the end to figure out what happens and how Amarande and Luca would overcome the obstacles set before them. What more could you ask for than to be swept away into a story?
I was relieved to see this series will be getting one more book. I will be marking my calendar as soon as I have the release date in hand. The Princess will Save You is out now and its sequel, The Queen Will Betray You comes out July 6.

When I started in the first book, I was pretty exciting. But in the first 10 chapters I found out the writingstyl wasn't really my thing. I couldn't get into the story and it felt like there was a lot of extra information that wasn't really that important. Since I wasn't able to finish the first book, I can't really say anything about this sequel. But I hope other readers will enjoy it!

I've been looking forward to this sequel since the twist end of book one and I must say, it met and exceeded all of my expectations. It wastes no time jumping straight into the action, and each beat of the plot is paced well and has much more impact than some of the various kidnappings and capturings of the first book.

The violence and spoils of war are much more graphic and shocking this time around, and I'm glad this series isn't afraid to shy away from the harsh actions that cruel, manipulative leaders are willing to take to keep their power.

There were some amazing whammy lines in this book - especially from Taillefer, and as much as I hate to say it, I love how absolutely terrible he is. I also love that, even two books in, some characters' true intentions and alliances are unclear to us. I can't wait to learn even more about Ferdinand and Osana in future books.

Worldbuilding was definitely solidified as well. The five kingdoms and their tangled web of deceit, manipulation, and betrayal were so fun to watch unfold. I may be in the minority here, but I very much enjoy political buffoonery amongst the action and romance.

The ship tease in this book is absolutely delicious. Between Osana and Ferdinand, and Ula and Urtzi, (and did I see a hint of Amarande/Taillefer happening for a second there?) I was just overwhelmed with the amount of secretive romantic tension, which was my favorite thing about the first book.

I wish we got more time with Luca and Amarande together, and more of Luca being a leader and his own person in general. I feel like he definitely took a backseat in this book, which is a shame.

Overall, The Queen Will Betray You was a vast improvement from the first, which I still enjoyed, though not nearly as much as this one. Even though the titles of this series essentially give away the brunt of the plot, the complex characters and each step they take through their journeys to reach the slightly obvious conclusion is immensely entertaining.

This was great--even better than the first one, and I really enjoyed the first book as well! The writing is lush and immersive, the court politics are well thought out, the characters are compelling, and so many of them are raw, interesting, and rough around the edges.
I love Amarande, Luca, and was really interested in the new characters added in this rendition.
Great read!!

"Even the best of us are willing to lie for those we love."
"The worst of us, too."
The Princess Will Save You amazed me with how fluid you can get with both storytelling, fast pacing the plot still keeping all the action interesting and clear. Conclusion to Amarande's story we find here felt a bit different, but still kept the best values. Yet again our heroes are on the journey to fight for their homelands, and people they keep in their hearts. All secrets seem to unravel before their eyes, sometimes leaving only confusion and fear for the future, others letting them understand the past.

"If we survive, I will explain. If I die in the process, please forgive me without my answers. I have made mistakes, but I have always loved you."
Amarande still grieving her father has to face his and her own mistakes, her own blood turning on her and making her way harder than ever. Friend or foe, and many others, especially the motive of two mothers and their twisted tales made me think a lot about Avatar reading this book, and I mean it in a best way possible. If you're a fan of Ursa's episode, you'll love hearing struggles of upbringing a royal offsprings here too. Add Amarande's own voice for justice and independence, and you'll get a perfect realm story mix.

"Princess, your father saw greatness in you every day.""Of all his plans, you were his best one, and I failed you both by thinking I could repair it myself."
I loved the way Amarande&co questioned themselves every step their made on their journey, instead of being prickly proud of their heritage. It made them vulnerable yet powerful, and let me see teen-dream-team of ya in completely new light. We do have to take advice of our superiors, still making our own choices.

"Which is why we must make the first mark."
If you've loved first book, your love will last for second. If you're from the opposite camp, you should still give it a try, as here you can dive into the world of Sand and Sky and question your view on the heir apparents squad.

Dare I say it? I liked book 2, this one, better than the first book. Often sequels are a bit of a let down, but this one wasn't.

The Queen Will Betray You starts up right after the twist epilogue of The Princess Will Save You, and it's a wild ride filled with conspiracies, political intrigue, betrayals, backstabbing, and more. Also, this book provides Princess Bride references and I think they were done better here than the almost carbon-copied from Princess Bride scenes in book one.

Also, I liked the characters in this one! We have backstabbing, powerful queens, scheming kings, and a certain cunning, trickster prince (shhh Taillefer is my favorite character). Luca and Ama are still a power couple who save each other - although I still wish we got more scenes with the two of them, as they are mostly apart in this series. (Also can we have more of Ula & Urtzi, I just want them to be happy (preferably in a KISS KISS FALL IN LOVE way)). Honestly, I loved all the character dynamics in this novel!

All in all, this one expanded upon the plot set up in book one, and was a more enjoyable read. (Also there's evidently going to be a book 3 called The King Will Kill You? So, can't wait to see what shenanigans and plots follow our characters...)

Many thanks to NetGalley & Tor Teen for this eARC. I really enjoyed this novel (and getting the push I needed to finally read The Princess Will Save You).

It’s noticeable that those who love this series say in their reviews that they’ve never seen or read The Princess Bride. I think for me – a long term fan (many decades) of that film – that might why I’ve enjoyed these books but not loved them. They’re not direct retellings and everyone enjoys an easter egg or two, but they do try to redo parts of The Princess Bride which in my opinion don’t need to be redone. They even suggest that the original story was not well understood. So that grated. Basically this series does it best when its doing its own thing imo. However, I think this was a better book than the prequel. There was less fluff and more politics. It’s fast paced and fun and Luca at least, is a very likeable character.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for a free copy of the ebook ARC. It was my choice to read and review.

So, as I said in my review of book #1 (The Princess will Save you) I had seen it all over Instagram and wanted to get to it. Receiving this ARC gave me the push I needed to start the series and continue with this ebook ARC of book 2. I LOVED the first one and while many other reviewers are saying that they liked this second one even more, I actually disagree. It was still really good and I liked it a lot but I didn't connect with it as much as I did with the first one. While I could not stop listening to the first one, with this one, I found myself taking breaks and not having that urgency to read non-stop. I also was a bit disappointed with one of the twists towards the beginning because I felt like it was pretty predictable. But, there are many other twists that I did not expect, and loved all the unexpected political power shifts and schemes. Amarande continues to be awesome and I love scenes with her telling people off and some other characters by her side telling people off. The dialogue was quick and witty, especially when Tallifer would speak.

Overall, it was enjoyable It just didn't have the same spark as book 1 for me. This could also be because I'm an audiobook lover and the narrator of book 1 is awesome so when I read ebooks and have to do the voices in my head, it's never as good as a good narrator. I'll re-read once the audiobook comes out and maybe it will bring the magic I was missing.

This book follows the events from The Princess Will Save You, with Amarande needing to go back to Ardenia to reclaim her throne and Luca going to the Torrent to claim his heritage. They will go through many challenges and find unlikely allies as they disentangle all the history and machinations that have brought them and the continent to where they are, and as they try to unite it once again.

It's a book that foremost talks about the patriarchy and its effects, about powerful men who want to keep the status quo and badass female characters that refuse it, and even when I didn't agree with the way in which some of them rebelled, I couldn't help to feel that feminist empowerment!
It also brought back everything I loved from the first book: Friends to lovers trope and Luca! How can you not love a guy who isn't threatened by a woman who's stronger than him, and has no issue recognizing it? plus those dimples!

The story captivated me from the beginning and kept me engaged with all the twists and turns. I loved having more background story explained to us and was pleasantly surprised when the author managed to make me gasp outloud.

My only complaint? I NEED MORE! Is that a complaint or a compliment to Sarah Henning?

In short: Would I recommend you to check this duology? Always, princess.

I wasn't sure that this book series would be my cup of tea but based on the outright feminist title of the first book in the series- 'The Princess Will Save You' I absolutely had to give it a go and there was never a moment where I regretted my decision. The characters are fantastic and well constructed. As the title would lead you to believe, Princess Amarande is in fact and absolute bad ass. She is smart, fierce, loyal, dedicated to her country as well as the ones she loves and just an all around amazing strong female lead. Luca is well... Luca... I mean how can you not absolutely love him. But surprisingly enough my absolute favorite character had to be Tallifer. I will always fall for the morally grey characters with limitless wit and sarcasm and he really brought some fun to otherwise tense scenes. The worldbuilding is wonderful as is the in depth history of the realms. Its really pretty neat to have a bunch of brilliant and badass queens controlling the chess board in this story rather than being the usual side characters who are just made to sit pretty while the men play at war. Overall the is an absolutely wonderful book that I couldnt put down

honestly, after how the first book ended, i ran to read this one (luckily i got accepted to review it yay), and i was not disappointed.

theres not much i can say without providing spoiler so ill try to be general.

characterwise, i liked princess amarande in book one and i still liked her in book two. luca now, however, what a change. in book one he was just the bland guy but the character change in this sequel was to die for. i loved how he expanded more than just being a love interest. also, the villain was such a good villain.

plotwise, i enjoyed this book more than the first one, it was super fast paced and i think i finished it in around two days. this book expanded more on the world and there is still a lot more to cover on it for sure. it had a surpringsing emphasis on political intrigue, that was shocking but an amazing addition. honestly, this is the best sequel i have read in a while, and i still think there is another book coming.

my only negative is it does have a few info dumps here and there with a ton of information and not enough time to process it, but you can deal with it. its not a reason to not pick up the book.

final thoughts:

love this so much i need to pick up the sequel of sea witch that i have been putting off. i can trust sarah.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm just going to say it - I have been FREAKING out since I got this eARC and I was really excited to dive into this today. Especially after re-reading the previous book. It's safe to say that I'm still in love with all things that revolve around Luca and Ama. Seriously, the princess bride vibes were very strong for me. Heck, I was loving the little game of throne vibes too.

Even though I really liked Luca being the nobody who Ama just happen to fall in love with.. but him being a lost prince or whatever. I still ended up loving the guy either way because this book was just so freaking addicting. Definitely hard to put down.

Besides Luca and Ama, there's Tallifer. Now even though he is a villain and such - well, I still loved him. Yes, some things were a little predictable but the twists and turns definitely kept me hooked. I loved each little joke, banter, and fight. They all gave me joy and now I'm sad that the duology is over. Is it weird that I wanted this book to be even longer?

Don't get me wrong, the epilogue was freaking adorable but I just wanted more. Personally. Mostly because I didn't want the book to end - ever. So happy that I got the chance to dive into this and I look forward to diving into this once again.

This was such a good read, and a great sequel to the first instalment! I found it so easy to fall back into this world, and my love for it and the characters just got instantly reignited as I started it and made my way through the story. The writing was easy to take in, but also entertaining enough to keep me hooked.