The Caged Queen (Iskari Series, book 2)

By Kristen Ciccarelli

Blurb: 
Once there were two sisters born with a bond so strong that it forged them together forever. Roa and Essie called it the hum. It was a magic they cherished—until the day a terrible accident took Essie’s life and trapped her soul in this world.

Dax—the heir to Firgaard’s throne—was responsible for the accident. Roa swore to hate him forever. But eight years later he returned, begging for her help. He was determined to dethrone his cruel father, under whose oppressive reign Roa’s people had suffered.

Roa made him a deal: she’d give him the army he needed if he made her queen. Only as queen could she save her people from Firgaard’s rule.

Then a chance arises to right every wrong—an opportunity for Roa to rid herself of this enemy king and rescue her beloved sister. During the Relinquishing, when the spirits of the dead are said to return, Roa discovers she can reclaim her sister for good.

All she has to do is kill the king.

Review: 
The Caged Queen is a second book to The Last Namsara in the Iskari Series.When I started this book, there was an immediate difference. The perspective of the first book was Asha, the sister to Dax. This book is Roa’s perspective who is the wife of Dax. I did not expect this change at all. To begin with, I didn’t like it but I did grow into this change. Although overall I would have liked to stick with Asha more. I’m hoping the next book will be Asha.

Another difference with this book was the lack of dragons in it. I was a bit disappointed by this. 

One thing I particularly loved about this book was the book itself. It had such a beautiful cover and I was glad to order the hardback from USA, so that it matches the first book of mine. I also loved the pages, when there was background story this would be on grey decorated pages and they were really pretty. My only problem with those pages was there was no page numbers. But at least the chapters were usually short.

I also appreciated in this series was the names. They were all short and easy to remember names such as Roa, Dax, Theo, Essie etc. It was a nice break from the last book I read with the easy to mix up names.

The main story of this book is that Roa’s sister Essie, had died from falling off a roof trying to help Dax. Because of this, Roa hates Dax as she thinks it was his fault. However, Essie spirit hadn’t fully crossed so she is living inside a white hawk. Roa has heard stories of a knife that can bring people back from the dead and she wants to use that on Dax. Of course though Roa is blind to the truth of everything and so things take twists and turns. I liked the overall storyline a lot, even though sometimes Roa was frustrating when she couldn’t see the truths. 

I think I would like to read more from Kristen Ciccarelli, as I love her style of writing. It’s very descriptive and reminds me a lot of Cassandra Clare; my favourite author. I look forward to the final book coming out late this year. I wonder what it will be about but most importantly will it be a new perspective or Asha’s or Roa’s or even maybe both. It’ll interest me to see where it goes.

*SPOILERS*

One of the things I appreciated in the book was how it started the same way as it ended. Dax asleep in an important meeting. The book explains that he does this to give Roa the chance to wear the crown basically. So when he’s snoring in the meeting at the end of the book, it just feels good knowing what he’s really doing. These scenes reflected how Dax was misunderstood at the beginning.

One of the characters I didn’t like was Theo, he was Roa’s original fiance. He was an aggressive man and I just didn’t picture him right for Roa. 

One of the storylines I knew Dax was being misunderstood was Lirabel’s pregnancy. It was meant to look like Dax got her pregnant. My theory was that either loved Lirabel so it would be understandable, or that someone else got her pregnant and he was just a good friend to her. It turned out to be my second guess, although I didn’t expect the father to be Roa’s brother.

My favourite scene in The Caged Queen was when Dax and Roa shared their first kiss in the library. This was a very passionate scene and it was good seeing Roa take down her walls for a moment and get carried away in the act. 

The worst scene in the book was when Roa slept with Dax to steal his key to sneak Rebekah and her men into the castle. It’s such a horrible way to betray someone and even though she decided to not kill him in the end, I’m surprised he still loved her afterwards.

Overall, as much as I enjoyed it I didn’t enjoy it as much as the previous book. I think I prefer Asha as the main character. So for this reason I’m giving it 4 stars instead of 5 like I did for the first book. I’m hoping the final book will blow me away though. I also hope she’ll write some other series too.

Rating: 4 runes out of 5 

written by Lauren

Check out my review of book 3: The Sky Weaver

The Caged Queen (Iskari Series, book 2)

By Kristen Ciccarelli

Blurb: 
Once there were two sisters born with a bond so strong that it forged them together forever. Roa and Essie called it the hum. It was a magic they cherished—until the day a terrible accident took Essie’s life and trapped her soul in this world.

Dax—the heir to Firgaard’s throne—was responsible for the accident. Roa swore to hate him forever. But eight years later he returned, begging for her help. He was determined to dethrone his cruel father, under whose oppressive reign Roa’s people had suffered.

Roa made him a deal: she’d give him the army he needed if he made her queen. Only as queen could she save her people from Firgaard’s rule.

Then a chance arises to right every wrong—an opportunity for Roa to rid herself of this enemy king and rescue her beloved sister. During the Relinquishing, when the spirits of the dead are said to return, Roa discovers she can reclaim her sister for good.

All she has to do is kill the king.

Review: 
The Caged Queen is a second book to The Last Namsara in the Iskari Series.When I started this book, there was an immediate difference. The perspective of the first book was Asha, the sister to Dax. This book is Roa’s perspective who is the wife of Dax. I did not expect this change at all. To begin with, I didn’t like it but I did grow into this change. Although overall I would have liked to stick with Asha more. I’m hoping the next book will be Asha.

Another difference with this book was the lack of dragons in it. I was a bit disappointed by this. 

One thing I particularly loved about this book was the book itself. It had such a beautiful cover and I was glad to order the hardback from USA, so that it matches the first book of mine. I also loved the pages, when there was background story this would be on grey decorated pages and they were really pretty. My only problem with those pages was there was no page numbers. But at least the chapters were usually short.

I also appreciated in this series was the names. They were all short and easy to remember names such as Roa, Dax, Theo, Essie etc. It was a nice break from the last book I read with the easy to mix up names.

The main story of this book is that Roa’s sister Essie, had died from falling off a roof trying to help Dax. Because of this, Roa hates Dax as she thinks it was his fault. However, Essie spirit hadn’t fully crossed so she is living inside a white hawk. Roa has heard stories of a knife that can bring people back from the dead and she wants to use that on Dax. Of course though Roa is blind to the truth of everything and so things take twists and turns. I liked the overall storyline a lot, even though sometimes Roa was frustrating when she couldn’t see the truths. 

I think I would like to read more from Kristen Ciccarelli, as I love her style of writing. It’s very descriptive and reminds me a lot of Cassandra Clare; my favourite author. I look forward to the final book coming out late this year. I wonder what it will be about but most importantly will it be a new perspective or Asha’s or Roa’s or even maybe both. It’ll interest me to see where it goes.

*SPOILERS*

One of the things I appreciated in the book was how it started the same way as it ended. Dax asleep in an important meeting. The book explains that he does this to give Roa the chance to wear the crown basically. So when he’s snoring in the meeting at the end of the book, it just feels good knowing what he’s really doing. These scenes reflected how Dax was misunderstood at the beginning.

One of the characters I didn’t like was Theo, he was Roa’s original fiance. He was an aggressive man and I just didn’t picture him right for Roa. 

One of the storylines I knew Dax was being misunderstood was Lirabel’s pregnancy. It was meant to look like Dax got her pregnant. My theory was that either loved Lirabel so it would be understandable, or that someone else got her pregnant and he was just a good friend to her. It turned out to be my second guess, although I didn’t expect the father to be Roa’s brother.

My favourite scene in The Caged Queen was when Dax and Roa shared their first kiss in the library. This was a very passionate scene and it was good seeing Roa take down her walls for a moment and get carried away in the act. 

The worst scene in the book was when Roa slept with Dax to steal his key to sneak Rebekah and her men into the castle. It’s such a horrible way to betray someone and even though she decided to not kill him in the end, I’m surprised he still loved her afterwards.

Overall, as much as I enjoyed it I didn’t enjoy it as much as the previous book. I think I prefer Asha as the main character. So for this reason I’m giving it 4 stars instead of 5 like I did for the first book. I’m hoping the final book will blow me away though. I also hope she’ll write some other series too.

Rating: 4 runes out of 5 

written by Lauren

Check out my review of book 3: The Sky Weaver

The Caged Queen (The Iskari Series, book 2)

By Kristen Ciccarelli

Blurb: 
Once there were two sisters born with a bond so strong that it forged them together forever. When they were angry, mirrors shattered, and when they were happy, flowers bloomed. It was a magic they cherished—until the day a terrible accident took Essie’s life and trapped her soul in this world.

Dax—the heir to Firgaard’s throne—was responsible for the accident. Roa swore to hate him forever. But eight years later he returned, begging for her help. He was determined to dethrone his cruel father, under whose oppressive reign Roa’s people had suffered. Roa made him a deal: she’d give him the army he needed if he made her queen.

Together with Dax and his sister, Asha, Roa and her people waged war and deposed a tyrant. But now Asha is on the run, hiding from the price on her head. And Roa is an outlander queen, far from home and married to her enemy. Worst of all: Dax’s promises go unfulfilled. Roa’s people continue to suffer.

Then a chance to right every wrong arises—an opportunity for Roa to rid herself of this enemy king and rescue her beloved sister. During the Reliquishing, when the spirits of the dead are said to return, Roa can reclaim her sister for good.

All she has to do is kill the king.

Review: 
This review will be slightly different as I'm actually going to be discussing the cover of the book too. I'm slightly disappointed that it is only available in paperback in the U.K. I know Lauren ordered it from the US to get the hardback to match her FairyLoot book which I really wish I done but to be honest I'm quite happy with the paperback. The cover is so similar to the first which I like and since the paperback is almost the same size as book one which was hardback I find that more comforting. The cover is fitting for the book as it shows a person kissing a feather, which I assume is Roa kissing on her sisters feathers (Essie). This I find quite sweet because you can clearly see the love in the cover after reading the book.

The start of the book starts with a story in the past being told (the Skyweaver knife). I won't go into too much detail about it, but basically it is a knife which can be used to bring someone back if their soul hasn't crossed and the reason they died is still alive. The story is quite fitting to start off with considering the circumstances of Essie which you discover more going throughout the book. 

It then goes on to a scene where Roa and Dax are in a meeting trying to discuss the new terms that Roa wants to be put in place for the scrublanders. Which is when you discover that Dax couldn't care less and seems really laid back. But Roa is thinking now that something is in writing that he has signed to help her people, so things will be okay as he has to abide by it.

The story throughout the rest of the book is really interesting and is fast paced. There is quite a few twists that come along the way and there is a lot of betrayal that happens in the book. The betrayal and twists make it more interesting though and want to make you keep reading.

At the start of the book I didn't like Dax because I thought he was just a cheater sleeping around with every other girl, eventhough Roa said she didn't want to sleep with him ever. I still felt bad for her because she seemed to be upset with his actions, which made me think she did actually have feelings for Dax and Theo.

Later on in the book you discover more about Dax and the reason why he does these things, also you discover the true him which totally changed my opinion on him altogether. I now actually respect him and understood why he did those things, he is quite a smart guy with loads of tactics and reasons behind his actions.

Roa also changes her opinion on him and Theo which is interesting to see how this opinion changes. It also makes me feel sorry for her because she starts to feel terrible for the way she feels towards these characters.

The heartbreak within this book is quite touching and you most definitely need some tissues. I won't go into too much detail, but it is really not the heartbreak that you are expecting, for what Roa has to do and what she actually does I am amazed and quite proud that she is so strong.

The characters within this book mainly change their personalities which is good because it's like real life not one person stays the same the whole way through life with experiencing several different circumstances throughout.

For this book to be set on a different main character was really good it was different, not what I was expecting. But it was nice to see the point of view from the Queen and King's view to understand the problems that they were having to face, while trying to protect the people they loved the most.

The ending of the book I felt was perfect because all the questions I had were answered. Also to find out why the book was actually called what it was, was great it made me feel complete. So I don't really know what the third book will be about. I don't know if it will be from Roa's point of view or if it will be Asha's, but either way I'm really looking forward to the next one. I also really wonder what will happen in this last book too, as I really can't see what will happen unless it's what Asha has being doing since she went on the run.

I'd 100% recommend this book to anyone that loves adventures, twists, betrayal, old tales, sisterly love. But I'd definitely have some tissues nearby. 

Favourite Characters: Dax

Read: 01/10/18 - 07/10/18

5 stars out of 5

written by Sammie

The Caged Queen (The Iskari Series, book 2)

By Kristen Ciccarelli

Blurb: 
Once there were two sisters born with a bond so strong that it forged them together forever. When they were angry, mirrors shattered, and when they were happy, flowers bloomed. It was a magic they cherished—until the day a terrible accident took Essie’s life and trapped her soul in this world.

Dax—the heir to Firgaard’s throne—was responsible for the accident. Roa swore to hate him forever. But eight years later he returned, begging for her help. He was determined to dethrone his cruel father, under whose oppressive reign Roa’s people had suffered. Roa made him a deal: she’d give him the army he needed if he made her queen.

Together with Dax and his sister, Asha, Roa and her people waged war and deposed a tyrant. But now Asha is on the run, hiding from the price on her head. And Roa is an outlander queen, far from home and married to her enemy. Worst of all: Dax’s promises go unfulfilled. Roa’s people continue to suffer.

Then a chance to right every wrong arises—an opportunity for Roa to rid herself of this enemy king and rescue her beloved sister. During the Reliquishing, when the spirits of the dead are said to return, Roa can reclaim her sister for good.

All she has to do is kill the king.

Review: 
This review will be slightly different as I'm actually going to be discussing the cover of the book too. I'm slightly disappointed that it is only available in paperback in the U.K. I know Lauren ordered it from the US to get the hardback to match her FairyLoot book which I really wish I done but to be honest I'm quite happy with the paperback. The cover is so similar to the first which I like and since the paperback is almost the same size as book one which was hardback I find that more comforting. The cover is fitting for the book as it shows a person kissing a feather, which I assume is Roa kissing on her sisters feathers (Essie). This I find quite sweet because you can clearly see the love in the cover after reading the book.

The start of the book starts with a story in the past being told (the Skyweaver knife). I won't go into too much detail about it, but basically it is a knife which can be used to bring someone back if their soul hasn't crossed and the reason they died is still alive. The story is quite fitting to start off with considering the circumstances of Essie which you discover more going throughout the book. 

It then goes on to a scene where Roa and Dax are in a meeting trying to discuss the new terms that Roa wants to be put in place for the scrublanders. Which is when you discover that Dax couldn't care less and seems really laid back. But Roa is thinking now that something is in writing that he has signed to help her people, so things will be okay as he has to abide by it.

The story throughout the rest of the book is really interesting and is fast paced. There is quite a few twists that come along the way and there is a lot of betrayal that happens in the book. The betrayal and twists make it more interesting though and want to make you keep reading.

At the start of the book I didn't like Dax because I thought he was just a cheater sleeping around with every other girl, eventhough Roa said she didn't want to sleep with him ever. I still felt bad for her because she seemed to be upset with his actions, which made me think she did actually have feelings for Dax and Theo.

Later on in the book you discover more about Dax and the reason why he does these things, also you discover the true him which totally changed my opinion on him altogether. I now actually respect him and understood why he did those things, he is quite a smart guy with loads of tactics and reasons behind his actions.

Roa also changes her opinion on him and Theo which is interesting to see how this opinion changes. It also makes me feel sorry for her because she starts to feel terrible for the way she feels towards these characters.

The heartbreak within this book is quite touching and you most definitely need some tissues. I won't go into too much detail, but it is really not the heartbreak that you are expecting, for what Roa has to do and what she actually does I am amazed and quite proud that she is so strong.

The characters within this book mainly change their personalities which is good because it's like real life not one person stays the same the whole way through life with experiencing several different circumstances throughout.

For this book to be set on a different main character was really good it was different, not what I was expecting. But it was nice to see the point of view from the Queen and King's view to understand the problems that they were having to face, while trying to protect the people they loved the most.

The ending of the book I felt was perfect because all the questions I had were answered. Also to find out why the book was actually called what it was, was great it made me feel complete. So I don't really know what the third book will be about. I don't know if it will be from Roa's point of view or if it will be Asha's, but either way I'm really looking forward to the next one. I also really wonder what will happen in this last book too, as I really can't see what will happen unless it's what Asha has being doing since she went on the run.

I'd 100% recommend this book to anyone that loves adventures, twists, betrayal, old tales, sisterly love. But I'd definitely have some tissues nearby. 

Favourite Characters: Dax

Read: 01/10/18 - 07/10/18

5 stars out of 5

written by Sammie