The Queen's Resistance : The Queen's Rising #2 by Rebecca Ross - Book Review

Finally, Brienna is a mistress of knowledge and is settling into her role as the daughter of Davin MacQuinn, a disgraced lord who returned to Maevana to reclaim his house. Though she’d just survived a revolution, one that will finally return a queen to the throne, she faces another difficult challenge. She must prove herself trustworthy to the MacQuinns. But as Queen Isolde Kavanagh’s closest confidant, she’ll have to balance serving her father’s house as well as her country. And then there’s Cartier, a wholly separate but desirable factor in her new life.

Aodhan Morgane, formerly known as Cartier Évariste, is adjusting to the stark contrast between his pre-rebellion life in Valenia as a master of knowledge and his current one as the lord of a fallen house. During his castle’s restoration, he discovers a ten-year-old boy named Tomas, whose past and parentage are a complete mystery. So when Cartier’s former pupil Brienna is as taken with Tomas as he is, he lets his mind wander—what if he doesn’t have to raise him or his house alone?

As the Lannon trial rapidly approaches, Brienna and Cartier must put their feelings aside to concentrate on forging alliances, executing justice, and ensuring that no one interferes with the queen’s coronation. But resistance is rumbling among the old regime’s supporters, who are desperate to find a weakness in the rebels’ forces. And nothing makes a person more vulnerable than deep-seated love. 

I really liked this book, as I had the first.

The characters were all likable and well written. The plot was also well-developed and thought out, and the story line was very gripping. I especially admired the writing style of the author, as she could convey the character's emotions perfectly in simply a few lines or dialogues. I could sympathize with the situations of the protagonists because of the description of the circumstance, which made me like them, as well as the story, more.

The main character, Brienna, was smart and sensible. I liked her in the first book as well as the second. She was kind to others, and helped people in need. Cartier was likable too, as he was courteous and polite to everyone. I felt that the author could have told us more about Isolde, since Brienna and Cartier kept thinking about their friendship with her, but the readers were hardly informed of her personality. Lucas' character kept changing throughout the book and I couldn't identify any specific traits as his. 

I liked the story a lot, as the plot was complex without being confusing. There were mainly only three of four settings, of the castles of the various Lords. I found it surprising how the narration switching between Brienna and Cartier felt pleasant, since usually I don't like it when authors keep switching the point of view. After a chapter from Brienna's point of view, I felt the need to know what Cartier was thinking, and the next chapter gave me satisfaction. As opposed to most books, when a different point of view makes me feel bored or annoyed, this book kept me excited for reading the other character's thoughts.

The only part of the book which I found annoying was how they could easily recognize all the traitors just with a look at the half-moon tattoo on their wrists. If it was so easy to weed out all the people still loyal to the Lannons, what trouble did they have? Simply line up all the people they are suspicious of, take a look at their wrists, and imprison all the tattooed ones while letting the rest go free. There was also no instance when a person with the tattoo was actually a good person, and hardly anyone who was loyal to the Lannons inspite of not having the tattoo.

This book was appealing to me mainly because of the palace setting and interesting plot. I like most books which have a castle backdrop and are about royal life, though some prove to be a massive let-down. This book also had a little bit of magic, and though the powers of the queen were one of the main reasons why the people supported her rising, they weren't mentioned much in the story. Her magic also did not seem very important to the plot, as Isolde only used them when someone was injured, since they were inclined to healing.

Most books have the main character as the queen, or at least the person mentioned in the title. I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that it was not the case in this book. Brienna being the queen's advisor and Cartier her best friend, provided us enough information about her rule, while not getting too much into details. Brienna and Cartier also went on other adventures and did things beside make laws and attend court, which added to the story.

I was both sad and happy to learn that this series was a duology. I could not have waited for the third book to come out had the author left us on a cliff-hanger, but that also meant there would be no more books about Brienna and Cartier.

I would recommend this series to anyone who loves books about royals, or any other YA fantasy.