SOURCE: Present
TYPE: Paperback
TITLE: Hidden Huntress
AUTHOR: Danielle L. Jensen
SERIES: Stolen Songbird (#2)
PUBLISHER: Angry Robot
PAGES: 464
GENRE: Fantasy, Young Adult, Paranormal Romance
RATING: 4/5 Stars
Blurb:
Beneath the mountain, the king’s reign of tyranny is absolute; the one troll with the capacity to challenge him is imprisoned for treason. Cécile has escaped the darkness of Trollus, but she learns all too quickly that she is not beyond the reach of the king’s power. Or his manipulation.Recovered from her injuries, she now lives with her mother in Trianon and graces the opera stage every night. But by day she searches for the witch who has eluded the trolls for five hundred years. Whether she succeeds or fails, the costs to those she cares about will be high.
To find Anushka, she must delve into magic that is both dark and deadly. But the witch is a clever creature. And Cécile might not just be the hunter. She might also be the hunted…
What I Liked:
- Despite the huge amount of time between reading the first and second of the series I remembered all of the characters so well, and that's because Jensen writes such unique ones with oodles of personality. Tristan and Cécile are still a power couple for me and I loved their interactions in this book, Victoria and Vincent are the best twins ever, I loved Marcus and Pierre and Sylvie still and of course villains such as Tristan's father and Cécile's overbearing Mother were great!
- Though we didn't get to see much of Trollus in this book, I still loved Jensen's world-building skills. We got to see a lot more of Trianon this time around, and while it was not nearly as interesting (being the human world) I did still like it. The small glimpses we got made me really excited for book three even more!
- Jensen's still got it writing-wise. She drew me into the plot and filled it with plenty of intrigue and interest, though I must say this felt like a bit of a filler book. It was a nice re-introduction to the story and I liked exploring more aspects of the magic weaved into the story. There was certainly enough action not to lose me while reading, especially at the high page count.
What I Disliked:
- The most frustrating thing about this book that ensured it didn't get the five star rating that I gave 'Stolen Songbird'? I KNEW WHAT THE TWIST WOULD BE. I pretty much had Anushka's identity pegged during book one, the physical descriptors meant it wasn't exactly rocket science. I thought it would be a mid-book reveal but instead found myself getting so annoyed at Cécile's inability to see what was directly in front of her. I actually ranted about it to Mat for half an hour I got so annoyed at one point. I wish it had been revealed sooner, it made the book feel even more of a filler and was all building up to something that felt like nothing because I'd already figured it out.
- I mentioned that I loved Cécile and Tristan as a couple. Individually though, this time not so much. In book one they were sassy and sarcastic and adorable, but I found Cécile a little irritating and naive here, while Tristan brooded way too much. I loved their moments together though! I never want them split up ever again!
Overall Conclusion:
I liked this book a lot, and I definitely think it had the same charm found in book one. Sadly though, I was a little disappointed because like most second books in a trilogy this was a filler book. It's whole premise was to build up to a big reveal that most people had probably figured out, and nothing really added to the story-line other than the political intrigue sub-plot in Trollus. It was a big book to get through too, so had it not been for Jensen's wonderful writing style and personality injection, I'd most likely have been bored. It has definitely made me excited for book three though, and 'The Broken Ones' which I recently snagged on Netgalley!
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