Thoughts on : Lady Smoke by Lauren Sebastian
Lady Smoke by Lauren Sebastian
Genre : YA, Fantasy
Series : Ash Princess, book 2
About the Book :
Theo no longer wears a crown of ashes. She has taken back her rightful title, and a hostage–Prinz Soren. But her people remain enslaved under the Kaiser’s rule, and now she is thousands of miles away from them and her throne.
To get them back, she will need an army. Only, securing an army means she must trust the dreaded pirate Dragonsbane. And according to Dragonsbane, an army can only be produced if Theo takes a husband. Something an Astrean Queen has never done.
Theo knows that freedom comes at a price, but she is determined to find a way to save her country without losing herself.
When I read Ash Princess last year, I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed it. In many ways, this book did nothing different from other YA fantasy books published over the past few years, but something about it just clicked for me. Still, I was a bit nervous going into the second book, especially because middle books often are the weak points of trilogies.
But I was more than pleasantly surprised! While Lady Smoke had its weaknesses, it managed to expand the world in a way that was very much needed. The map at the beginning of the book felt a bit irrelevant in the first book (the places were mentioned, but we didn’t know much about them), but here the world and the cultures were much more developed. Was this the most expansive worldbuilding I’ve even seen? No, but it was enough to bring this world to life and give it a much needed depth. I really appreciated the contrast between Theo’s world and the one she visited, and the time spent at sea.
I also really enjoyed reuniting with the characters from the previous book, but I also appreciated meeting new ones, whether they were good or evil. And the love triangle works for me. I liked that Theo isn’t all consumed by thoughts about boys; she obviously has feelings about them, but her people truly are her main concern.
I think what made Lady Smoke so enjoyable, though, was the plot. It’s fast but not too fast, and the twists, while mostly predictable for me, were still a lot of fun. I enjoyed seeing the ones I predicted come true, even when Theo acted like a blind idiot (which, fortunately, wasn’t too often!) The forced wedding plot had me hesitant at first, but in the end I really enjoyed how the author used it here.
Most importantly, I thought the ending was strong. There were some good scenes there that made me want to immediately grab the next book, and it brought back some aspects of the first book (trying to keep it spoiler free here!) that I did not expect. I always enjoy being surprised!
I’ll be reading the final book really soon, and I’m really looking forward to it!
