Throne of a Thousand Lies by Rachel Higginson

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Title: Throne of a Thousand Lies
Author: Rachel Higginson
Series: Nine Kingdoms Trilogy #2
Published by: Indie
Release Date: September 20, 2022
Format: eARC, Kindle Book
Pages: 302
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy
Source: the author
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2022 COYER Summer
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ IndieBound ✩ Book Depository
My rating:

Blurb:

An heir to the throne . . .

Tessana Allisand might have proven that she’s the oldest living daughter of the dead king of Elysia, and that she’s the rightful heir to the Seat of Power, but that doesn’t mean she gets to be queen . . . yet. Forced to wait until her twenty-first birthday, Tess is supposed to be learning how to navigate court life and all the ways she will one day rule the realm. But circumstances and her nefarious uncle keep getting in the way of her education.

A kingdom in turmoil . . .

While Tess is pampered with the luxuries of castle life, the rest of the kingdom suffers under the oppressive thumb of the Ring of Shadows. And while no other ruler seems all that concerned with the evil rebels intent on destroying everyone and everything, Tess alone must find a way to stand up to the dark magic threatening to choke the life from her precious kingdom.

A love shaken by distance . . .

Tessana and Taelon found each other in the depths of the Blood Woods. And just like when they were children, their affection for each other saved the realm. But now, with separate kingdoms to fight for and royal duties to attend to, life is pushing them in impossibly opposite directions. Tess wants nothing more than for Taelon to be at her side. And yet, she will never ask him to leave his own kingdom for hers. Fate seems determined to keep them apart. But it was love that brought them back together. And love that will defy titles, crowns, and destiny.

My Review:

4 stars — This review is going to be a bit lacklustre and all over the place, but I’m leaving it as I wrote it after reading.

Read it while I was sick, might have affected my enjoyment because I couldn’t read it in a short period of time.

The pacing felt a little slow at times, like I was waiting for something to happen.

Some pretty big reveals in this one — enough to satisfy my hunger for answers, but still left me with lots to ruminate about.  I appreciate that, I hate when you don’t get at least some answers.  I feel like you gotta reward the reader, and then pull them into more mystery so they don’t get frustrated.

Bit repetitive at times, especially her worry over her sister.  I wasn’t sure how all that was going to go given the way the first book ended, but I was pretty happy with where it went…though I feel like I don’t have solid ground, but that could be just me.

Missed Taelon in this one — he’s there, but not nearly enough, and I will admit I’m a little worried about how all that is going to go.  In general I trust Ms. Higginson in the love department, she seems to give me what I didn’t know I needed.  But I just really loved their banter and tension, and I didn’t get nearly enough.

Similarly I missed Oliver a bit — we got more from him than Taelon, but it was a hard book because Tess has to do without these awesome people she’s come to rely on.  Reminded me of Fearless Magic, which I didn’t enjoy as much the first time, but once I knew how things ended, ended up being one of my faves.  Wonder if the same thing is happening here.

Intrigued by Caspian, as I know I’m supposed to be.  Again, trust.

Also intrigued by a few of Kat’s “brothers”, that was an intriguing little side trip.

Totally fell for a red herring or two…or maybe I just went on the journey with Tess.  I had lots of reluctance though.

Enjoyed the way the end played out.  Just wish the middle could have had a bit more oomph to it I think.