Please note that this book is not for me - I have read the book, However I had to DNF and because i do not like to give negative reviews I will not review this book fully - there is no specific reason for not liking this book. I found it a struggle to read and did not enjoy trying to force myself to read this book.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused and thank you for the opportunity to read this book

I will not be giving feedback on this book as I couldn’t really get into it but I think others may enjoy it.

I absolutely loved this book. Especially as someone who has lost someone close to me recently I felt this book was a really good fantasy exploration of grief and what it really means to love someone. I was in tears for a lot of it, but it was a cathartic kind of sadness that I haven't felt from a book in a long time!

No longer interested in reading this book as its been too long since I read the first book. Did however give the first book five stars.

When I tried to read The Caged Queen the first time around, I DNFed it. I just couldn't get into it. But 2020 being my year of fantasy, I decided to give it another go and while I liked it better than I did the first time around, it did not live up to the beauty of its cover. I enjoyed Roa's relationship with Essie because I think that non-romantic relationships are undervalued by society so I enjoyed the sisterhood aspect. I wasn't wild about the plot but I preferred it to the story told in The Last Namsara. However, I despise love triangles in any way, shape or form so that aspect of the novel was disappointing. Additionally, the novel had YA vibes which may be why I wasn't a huge fan.

This was a real disappointment for me, having quite enjoyed the first book in the series. Unfortunately, I found this companion novel to be plagued with predictability and cliches, that made it a slog to get through. It also suffered with making changes to character behaviours that just didn't make sense or ring true. Consequently, I won't be continuing in the series.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I loved so much about the first book in this series when it came out - it was one of my absolute favourite reads of 2017. So, I had high hopes coming into The Caged Queen, but I was also nervous: that was a lot for it to live up to! Dax and Roa were both introduced as secondary characters in The Last Namsara, with Dax in particular playing a crucial role. His actions in the last few chapters of that book are now bringing out consequences. It was really interesting to see how he handled the new challenges that came to him, and how he tried desperately to balance the needs of Firgaard, and helping and appeasing his wife.

There were parts of the book where I didn't like Roa much. I could understand some of the motivations for how she was feeling, but I thought she was being a bit hard on Dax a lot of the time. Maybe that's just because we'd seen more of Dax's story and background in book one, and I was biased to see him as a 'good guy', but I found it frustrating that Roa had made firm decisions in her mind about some things and wasn't going to re-examine those.

Another thing I enjoyed (and still found frustrating to read at times) was that Dax and Roa might have a political marriage, but they're still very much relearning each other, after being close as children and then spending years apart with a lot of history and politics falling into that time apart. They also both care a lot for each other, something that's very clear to the reader, but doesn't seem quite as straightforward to the pair of them! There is the usual mixture of misunderstandings, half-confessions, and attempts at denying feelings that you often get in romance plot lines, but even anticipating how some of those issues could lead to disasters I really enjoyed reading their journey.

I'm giving The Caged Queen 8/10.

It is quite a while since I read book 1 of this trilogy, but I was able to pick up the story pretty quickly given that it focuses on a different main character. this meant that we got more backstory, which means we get to see more of the world. The ending was spectacular and now I cannot wait for the next book to find out what happens next.

So I flew through the first half of this book, excited that I found it even more enjoyable than The Last Namsara. By the second half, however, a few issues that I was unconsciously overlooking caught up with me.

First of all, I think that this book should be more clearly marketed: This is a romance with fantastical elements and a couple of dragons sprinkled on top. It is also not a direct sequel to The Last Namsara, since the main characters are different (though, in all fairness I think that was explicitly said ever since the book was announced). I think this series would be great for a fantasy rookie, because the political intrigue is there, but is in no way daunting or hard to follow, and there are some very clear elements that make this story what it is: The confused and desired protagonist, the love triangle, the baddie, the difficult choice between wants and the greater good. This book was easier for me to follow than The Last Namsara, which is why I read it in a couple of days. I enjoyed getting to know Roa and Dax, who were introduced in the first installment. The pacing was consistent and the book kept me wanting to read the next chapter, and the next, and the next, whilst offering an undercurrent of important messages such as feminism, equality and humanity.

My main pet peeve with this book was that the Roa I was introduced to in the first novel, a strong-willed, powerful and mysterious character, seemed quite different from the Roa I got to see in The Caged Queen. She reminded me of Scarlet from Caraval, which is not necessarily bad, except I expected her to be more decisive and less… childish. In the end, she didn’t make any decisions of her own accord, except everybody else thought she did (I don’t like seeing that in young adult books), she kept going wherever the wind was taking her, she didn’t know what she wanted except she wanted everything but couldn’t have it so she questioned everything and casted doubt on everyone. Once again, the lack of communication between the characters was what kept the plot going for as long as it did. Moreover, a lot of subplots that helped advance the story were thrown in the book without much of an explanation. Suspending one’s disbelief is one thing, but offering no reasoning is another.

In the end, this was another case of “I enjoyed the first half of the book a lot more than the second half”. Will I continue with the next book? Most probably. It has interesting elements and proves to be a quick enjoyable read.

When I read The Last Namsara, I was pretty sure it would be a favourite owing to the dragons alone. What I wasn’t aware of is that I’d fall head over heels for Kristen’s way of storytelling. As with The Last Namsara, The Caged Queen also brings in chapters of our main character’s background, along with some which are more like folk tales.

It’s beautiful and chapter-by-chapter you bond with this protagonist, Roa, more and more. Roa is a character we met in the first book, a “Scrublander” who helps to get Dax on the throne. It’s a companion novel so you don’t necessarily need to read the first, but I wholeheartedly recommend you do for the sake of getting to love the characters! She was headstrong and determined in The Last Namsara and we see more and more of that in The Caged Queen.

Ultimately, this story is brilliant if you’re a fan of character development. Roa might be an awesome woman in the sense she’s putting her people’s happiness before her own, but the story starts with her being so closed to the world that she can’t see what’s obvious to those closest to her.

Essie is a great side character both as a hawk and through flashbacks, her connection to Roa (called the hum) is one I’d imagine most twins might be able to relate to and just… I didn’t want anything bad to happen to her, her care for Roa is so blatant to see and it’s just an all-round beautiful bond that they share.

Now Dax, pretty much the secondary character to the story. I love Dax, he’s just so charming and you can’t help but like him. If I say more though I am at major risk of being in spoiler-territory but just read this book and find out more about him for yourself? Like please.

We also have a character called Theo… his character arc is a strange one because at first I liked him, then didn’t, then I did again.

One person I hated from the beginning though is pretty much the villain – Beka. She’s like an evil queen kind of character and honestly, it’s impossible to like her. For anything. She’s just pure evil.

It’s also a story of grief. Roa’s twin sister, Essie, died in an accident eight years’ previous and Roa is so determined to not let her go that her soul is stuck in the body of a hawk. And of course, it’s a story of love but the main emphasis is on love between family and friends.

I went into this book expecting to like it but not love it as much as The Last Namsara (literally just because of the lack of dragons) but this world is so much more than dragons and stories. It’s got magic in and places so well-described by Kristen that you feel like you’re there yourself. In essence, I’ve had to readjust how I view The Last Namsara from reading this — it isn’t the presence of dragons through which makes it a great read but instead its everything Kristen puts into it.

So, again, I did love it. And I’m so so happy that the next companion novel will be featuring Safi because she’s one of my all-time favourites! Also super happy that I’ll be meeting Kristen this month at YALC!

So this book followed Roa from the very beginning, which was great because I loved her in the first book. I actually wanted to see more of her and I got my wish. However, I didn’t realise that this book was going to change POV to Roa before reading… this made me extremely confused for a chapter or two as I couldn’t quite remember everything from The Last Namsara.

I would like to point out, this book doesn’t read too much like a sequel. I definitely think someone who hadn’t read The Last Namsara could get into this pretty easily as we are in that different POV and it seems like a completely separate storyline to Asha.

Ciccarelli’s writing style is really easy to read and you do get caught up in the book. Honestly this was a godsend as university often leaves me not wanting to read anything too complicated. Similarly to the first book, The Caged Queen utilises the world building to its advantage. With myths and legends being intertwined into the story to give a lot of depth. We visit different places, we meet new people and there’s also a lot of additional backstory for Dax, Roa and co.

The flashbacks are okay. They give a lot of depth to the relationships between our main players. However, I personally felt that these often slowed the book down a little bit. Also Roa’s sister/tragic backstory arc was… not as interesting as Asha’s arc in the first book. We’ve seen the dead sister revenge plotline a lot, with characters that turn out a lot more defiant, strong and dare I say interesting that Roa? So these flashbacks didn’t excite me too much when reading.

If you’re coming to this book with dragons in mind then I have to disappoint. The lack of Asha does also mean there’s a distinct void of dragon content for most of the book. Actually the lack of Asha being a focus is kind of a dull point to the whole book. I’m not saying the book isn’t good, however it does feel like Asha is going off on adventures without us. And this didn’t really make for a good sequel… maybe more of a companion book alongside the series?

Overall, I enjoyed The Caged Queen as it was a nice easy fantasy read. However it didn’t live up to its predecessor and my feelings towards it may have been higher if I hadn’t read The Last Namsara first…

POSITIVES
Myths & legends entwined with worldbuilding
Writing style
NEGATIVES
Lack of dragons
Different POV was a surprise

This is the second book in a series, following on from The Last Namsara, which has quite a lot of hype on Youtube and Instagram. The is a good solid fantasy series with plenty of adventure and mythical creatures. This was an enjoyable, easy book to read.
Another great diverse YA fantasy book and recommended to any fans of the genre.

This is the second book in the Iskari series, the first of which followed Asha as she learnt to embrace her warrior nature and bond with dragons. I thought it was a great piece of YA fiction, with a powerful female protagonist, so I was excited to see where the sequel would lead. This time we follow Roa, who we see as a secondary character in the first novel, as she embraces her new role as an outlander queen to Asha’s brother Dax.

The writing has improved even more this time around, and the backstory is expanded on well, but I still felt something was missing. The Last Namsara has an ethereal nature to the writing, being interspersed with stories that were integral to the plot, but this time that element was really lacking. What we have are snippets of flashbacks instead that cut into the storytelling, slowing the (already sedate) pace and not really adding anything to the plot. I also found the plot rather predictable and boring, with more court scheming and plotting than action, in a setting that’s the same as many YA books that have come before it. The distinct lack of dragons this time around was very apparent too. They played such an integral part in the previous book that I really felt their absence.

Twinned with this was the lack of Asha’s perspective this time around. She really made The Last Namsara for me. She’s feisty, a warrior, and I felt Roa really lacked a lot of that strength, and vulnerability, that Asha has. She’s not as complex, and if I’m honest, a bit dull and underdeveloped. Her inner turmoils about Dax and her sister just weren’t interesting to me and her romance is predictable rather than exciting. There’s nothing new or unique about her, and because of this I found I generally didn’t care what happened to her in the story.

Dax by was by far my favourite character this time around. He’s politically cunning, smart, and uses what people perceive as his weaknesses against them to his own advantage. I often liked his exchanges with others because of his unpredictable nature, and I liked his own personal battles to not end up like his father. His ongoing relationship with sister Asha helps keep him from being one dimensional too, as he shows a more sensitive side when thinking of her that eludes to some deeper emotional intelligence. He’s perhaps the saving grace of the novel.

A disappointing follow up to The Last Namsara, that lacks in unique storytelling or any of the really distinct characters from the previous instalment.

3.5 stars

Roa helped Dax to de-throne his tyrannical father and now Roa rules Firgaard at Dax's side as his queen.
But Roa has married a man she hates. When they were young, an accident led to Roa's sister, Essie, dying. An accident that was all Dax's fault.
A foreign queen, Roa will have to keep her wits about her as she tries to make sure that Dax keeps his promises to help her homeland.
When Roa gets the chance to kill the king and save her sister will she take it?

I have mixed feelings about The Caged Queen - on the one hand it contained some of my favourite aspects of The Last Namsara but I found it frustrating at times.
I liked Roa, but there were times when she exasperated me.
I enjoyed getting to know more about Dax and it was good to see Asha again.
For me the plot really let the book down - I liked some parts but most of the tension/conflict could have been avoided if Roa had just TALKED to Dax. I also felt like the pacing could have been a bit better and I guessed a plot twist really early on.
I loved the stories that were scattered throughout the book.
I really liked the writing style - it held my interest and was easy to follow.

Overall this was an enjoyable read.

Book Review:

I really enjoyed the Last Namsara when I read it last year so I was, therefore, super excited when I got the opportunity to review the second book in this series (although it is a prequel series.) I really enjoyed the Caged Queen and would highly recommend. It is definitely the perfect autumnal and winter read!


Although I enjoyed The Last Namsara I was actually really excited due to the premise surrounded around the sisters of the story and this was ultimately what I loved the most. Seeing Roa's life in the story and the lengths that she would go to save her sister was great and I was highly invested in their story. This made the story and the plot go so quickly and I raced through the book as I wanted to know what happens next.

I also liked the relationship between Dax and Roa and it was a quite complex relationship. I loved to see it develop throughout the story as this was the lynchpin to the whole story. It was just so good.

I think that the writing in the book is also just so great. Ciccarelli can just write and that it is all I can say. Her writing is so poetic and she is just a great storyteller. The book contains breaks from the story that develops the world which the book is set and I loved these parts. Her writing definitely shines here.


On the subject of the world, I do love a world that has dragons in it and this does so bonuses all around. I feel like the dragons definitely take a back seat in the story compared to the first book but I feel like this was just another part of the world to explore.

As someone who read the Last Namsara last year, I couldn't remember any of the characters and plots but this does not make any difference in the story. It is therefore perfect for anyone!


The Verdict:

The Caged Queen is a perfect prequel to the Last Namsara with the same amazing writing and characters that we have seen before. Perfect for those who read The Last Namsara or otherwise!

One of the more splendidly written fantasy books I've read this year - fresh ideas, well-written prose, rounded characters. I throughly enjoyed the series so far, love the badass Roa and her bond with Essie. Must read.

I was really excited for this novel as I did enjoy The last Namsara and the world. This novel however, did not live up to my expectations at all. Initially, the story was interesting, loved the relationship between the sisters and the concept - and that was the highlight of the whole story for me - but beyond that, it used too many tropes that I was not a fan of, which in turn made the story so predictable. I knew the ending before I even finished the first quarter of the book!! It put a lot on the dynamics of the main protagonists and their miscommunication which is something that I truly hate in books!

I received with thanks an ARC copy of The Caged Queen from Orion Publishing Group and Netgalley.

This is my true and honest review of The Caged Queen (Iskari #2). This was published on 27th September 2018

This is the companion novel to The Last Namsara. This time we follow Roa on her quest for revenge against the man responsible for betraying her and not fulfilling a given promise. Like the last one this is a fantastical book set in a beautiful world created by the author. This time it was nice to see what would happen to Roa and her quest for revenge. As before this book has lots of twists and turns. Also loved the ongoing character development.

Would recommend if you love a good YA fantasy.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Orion Publishing Group, Gollancz and the author, Kristen Ciccarelli, for the opportunity to read a digital copy of The Caged Queen in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.
I thought this book offered a reasonably good read though I did not enjoy it as much as The Last Namsara, the first book in the Iskari series.
The storyline was well thought out and had engaging characters that made you feel a myriad of emotions. 3.5 stars.

Quick thoughts:
- I think I'm part of a very small minority here: The Caged Queen is better than its predecessor, The Last Namsara.
- For me, The Last Namsara brought nothing new to the table: headstrong, independent heroine slaying monsters who eventually learns that the true monsters aren't the ones she's slaying. Predictable. Yawn.
- On the other hand, The Caged Queen builds on a larger political narrative that explores a range of themes: power, alliances, deceit, betrayal, strategy, and manipulation. It really gave me a bit of Game of Thrones vibe that I very much liked.
- Roa isn't the stereotypically strong and kick-ass archetype that most fantasy leads (including Asha in The Last Namsara) fall under. Instead, she's a very complex, very flawed character with vulnerabilities, fears, and uncertainties. I actually liked how unsure she was of herself because it felt really honest and raw and realistic.
- While I missed the wonderful sibling relationship between Dax and Asha, I enjoyed learning about the relationship between sisters Roa and Essie.
- I was really intrigued by Essie's character! I wanted to explore her character a bit more.
- Unlike in The Last Namsara, I was heavily invested in the romance in this book!!!
- DAX IS AN ADORABLE, FLUFFY CINAMMON ROLL!!! AND I LOVE HIM!!!
- This book really manipulated the hell out of my emotions. One second, I hate Dax with every fiber of my being. And in the next second, I outright adore that little rascal.
- Sad to say, there aren't many dragons.
- But new magic system!!!
- New folklore and myths!!!
- This book leans more heavily on the love between siblings compared to romantic love, which is one of my favorite aspects!!!
- THE STORY WILL KEEP YOU GUESSING.
- The ending was so immensely satisfying. I am a happy reader.

Full review to follow!

Actual rating: 4 stars