A beautiful book to read!

The story flowed very naturally and was interesting and gripping. The characters were believable and I could really connect with them while reading.

This is an amazing sequel! It had me hooked right from the first chapter and I can't wait to see how the series wraps up!

What can I say? From the first sentence I was drawn into this amazing world and story and all the characters. This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I know it won’t be my last. I have to admit, I didn’t realize this was book 2 of a series when I accepted an advanced copy from the publishers on Netgalley. It didn’t matter though because the book can be read as a stand-alone and is a complete story. I loved the tale of the sky weaver and how she takes the threads of departed souls and turns them into stars.

This book tells the story of Roa and Dax, king and queen, and the struggles they both face. I particularly enjoyed the little chapters that took me back to their time together as children in the kingdom of Sky and I held my breath waiting to hear how Roa had lost her beloved sister Essie and why she blamed Dax.

The characters are well developed and the plot is great and there’s plenty of action as well as lust and love as Roa struggles with what she must do in an effort to bring back her sister and right the wrong that was done. I was rooting for Dax the whole way through the book and at times I wished Roa would tell him about Essie and what she needed to do. The character of Rebekah was very well done and I hated her. I loved the questions that parts of this story brought and the doubts that were placed in the reader.

The ending was beautifully done and the message that love is stronger than even death. This book is now among my favorite books so far this year, right up there with The Hazel Wood and To Kill a Kingdom.

I look forward to reading more books in this world and I will definitely be adding Kristen Ciccarelli to my must read authors.

Really enjoyed The Caged Queen! Great characters, engaging plot, loads to love. I feel like I need to read The Last Namsara to really get a feel for it though, as characters mentioned we’re in the first book. BUT it didn’t spoil my enjoyment at all and I tore through this one as it was a super fun read!

This is the second instalment in the high fantasy Iskari series and despite following the same set of characters as featured in the first, a different protagonist narrates this tale.

Roa is a daughter of the House of Song. Once there were two daughters but her sister Essie lost her life in a tragic accident, leaving Roa to walk the world alone. Companionship came in the unlikely form of Dax—the heir to Firgaard’s throne and her childhood playmate. She quickly realises that their alliance will be far from a simple one, with politics forming the bases for their relationship and tensions running high between their people. Roa knows, however, that appeasing the one who rules is the quickest way to deliver fair treatment to her people, but when an ancient story brings a possible solution to her predicament Roa must decide what she is willing to sacrifice for the one she loved the most.

I was initially not as engaged as with the first book in this series as I had a preference for the former female narrator. Soon, however, I found I was just as intrigued with the story-line featured here, which followed from the former but brought its own set of individual trials. Political intrigue forms the backstory for the entire series but book one's protagonist, Asha, had very different difficulties to present Roa.

I also found it interesting how differences soon appeared in the formation of side-characters, when viewed through different eyes. Roa's viewpoint meant the reader was introduced to other personality nuances that Asha had failed to notice or saw differently. Dax, in particular, was an intriguing character study. His sister, Asha, opened up one side of his personality, whilst the one he courted, Roa, saw a very different individual. This made the characters feel more authentic and brought reality to and reasons for the perspectives chosen.

My favourite aspect of this novel, however, was in how Ciccarelli interwove backstory and lore into the story-line. Many chapters ended with either a scene from the characters' childhoods or a legendary tale from the world. The narration for these segments differed and were delivered in a lyrical and charming style that likened it to classic fairy tales. These all had a reason for inclusion, as each had a bearing on the story-line and illuminated some previously unforeseen facet of the tale.

The pace built consistently during the novel but I found the beginning sequence to be a little drawn out. Once the characters reached the city I recognised, from the former series instalment, I was once again captivated and the ending delivered a bitter-sweetness that had me yearning for more, despite the tears it also delivered - both happy and sad.

This. Was. AWESOME!

I read this immediately after The Last Namsara (incidently, also 5 stars) and it probably helped remind me of the characters and setting but still - a fast-flowing, enchanting read that I literally raced through because I simply could not get enough. I find often with follow-on books that the next in the series is not as good as the first so it was a very pleasant surprise to find the world-building as exquisite and inviting as it's predecessor.

I expected this book to be the follow-up to The Last Namsara, and whilst it is in a way, the focus is on a different set of main characters. I have since found out the author had written this more as a companion book but it did work either way.

Focusing on Dax and Roa, I got swept away in their world - with Roa trying to save her sister and believing Dax to not be the person she expected him to be she joins forces with her old love, Theo, to right a wrong in her eyes but with twists and turns in almost every chapter I was gripped to get to the conclusion.

Not as many dragons as The Last Namsara but please do not let that put you off - I highly recommend this book which is one of my favourite reads this year and I am on tenterhooks for the next book which will be an instant buy!

I was so lucky to receive an advanced readers copy from the Orion Publishing Group on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

I LOVED the Last Namsara and as soon as I finished it I came on here to see if The Caged Queen was available and IT WAS. So exciting. I adore this world and these characters and never wanted to leave.

This started off quite rough for me. Every time I picked it up I'd lose focus halfway through a chapter and completely zone out, so it was making me feel a little slumpy. However, I persevered and I'm happy to say that it picked up after the second half and I finally got invested in the story.
I wasn't a huge fan of Roa to begin with, but as her story unfolded and the story picked up pace and got interesting, I grew to really love her.
It was a solid follow up to The Last Namsara, even if it started off a little shaky for me. But, overall I did quite enjoy it and I'm happy with the way it ended.

I'll start by saying that I very much enjoyed reading this. I do appreciate it when authors of popular books don't just write a straight sequel (which so often doesn't work as first books aren't always written to have sequels) but instead do something interesting, follow a different character or plotline. I'm seeing a lot more of it lately (along with the trend of Duologies over trilogies) and I must say I'm finding it quite refreshing. So, instead of following Asha we follow Roa, who married Asha's brother Dax to help him to secure the throne. Asha gets mentioned every now and then but the story is fully Roa's.

I don't remember much of the romance in The Last Namsara if I'm honest but this book felt incredibly romance heavy. That's neither a bad or good thing, it depends on your personal preference. For me, I thought it walked the line well of feeling very romantic without making you annoyed at the characters for ignoring the plot and/or doing things that put themselves in danger for the sake of 'love'. If you loathe romance, especially the enemies to lovers kind, then this one won't be for you, but if that's something you enjoy then I think this would be a good choice.

A far more interesting relationship that this story explores is that of Roa and her sister Essie. Since it's in the blurb I don't think it's a spoiler to say that Essie is actually dead, her soul trapped on this side of the veil (as it were). It may just have been me, but it took me a minute to grasp what this actually meant, I couldn't work out which characters were alive and which were actually birds. In fairness to Ciccarelli, I was reading this while in the middle of performing a musical in Edinburgh so that could have just been my own exhausted mind!

There wasn't quite the same shock factor as I remember there being in The Last Namsara, though the plot is still filled with twists, turns and betrayals (they were just easier to predict this time around). I was also disappointed (personal preference) by the lack of dragons - but there were some badass heroines and some exciting moments to make up for it.

Overall, I think The Last Namsara is the stronger story, but The Caged Queen was a really interesting way to develop the world and the characters and I definitely enjoyed reading it. I know there is one more book planned in this series which will hopefully draw together the threads of these two stories. My one request is that there be even more dragons, please.

My rating: 4/5 stars

I received a digital advanced review copy of this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I admit that when I first started this I missed Asha since this book focused on Roa. It is set post The Last Namsara and follows Roa and Dax as they deal with the fall out from the first book. As well as being an engrossing sequel it's also a very poignant story about dealing with loss and grief without losing yourself in the process. I liked Roa as a character, getting to know her was interesting and the old stories interspersed within the book were lovely. A very enjoyable read which I sped through.

3,5 stars
I had the weirdest time reading this book and it left me very unsure as to how to rate it. It was a very different book than I thought it was going to be. Regardless I enjoyed it quite a bit but I still have some bones to pick with it.

Let’s go into why I had different expectations. The first book, The Last Namsara, very much was a book that was set in a world with dragons and where our main character, Asha, had a change of heart regarding the tyrant king. This book focuses on a completely different character that we only briefly met in The Last Namsara, Roa. She married Dax, Asha’s brother and now the Dragon King, for the good of the kingdom. I knew this was more of a companion book of course, but it is also a sequel as it deals with the events after the first book. The whole setting from the first book just felt so different even though it mostly took place in the same palace. But I felt more removed. There were barely any dragons save for once at the start and a bit at the end. And I have to admit that it took me a while to place who exactly Roa and Dax were again at the start of the book.

Having said that though I can’t deny that I did enjoy reading this book. The author has a writing style that flows so incredibly well and it made me fly through the book in no time at all. Even so I felt there were a bit too much summarization in placed or discarded things that I think would have been better served to have those scenes being written out. Like the confrontation during council or Roa’s interactions with her best friend. There was certainly room enough for that. The book is more character driven and perhaps lacks a bit of action in places. Even thought I shipped the characters together from the start, there was sometimes too much focus on that. A constant undertone when other things had priority. There is also miscommunication and the male is of course a flirt of the worst variety. These things stopped me from loving this book.

I enjoyed reading this book from Roa’s point of view for the most part. She, like Asha, is not one to sit on her hands, and is a clear fighter. I did kind of get annoyed with her little whiney bits about feeling a caged queen when she was the one who offered the marriage in the first place to Dax. Dax still likes to act the underdog, but I liked the message he gave of when people think you are the fool to act like it and then play them with super strategy. And one of the things I liked from his character in the first book is that he struggled with reading, that was touched upon again. I think that can be very relatable to a group of teens who might have struggled with that as well. It is something that is rarely talked about and you are often seen as a fool like Dax if others do know.

All in all this is an enjoyable and quick read but it just can’t live up to the first book for me.

I read The Last Namsara last year and really loved it, so I had high expectations for The Caged Queen. And it didn't disappoint. Roa was a brilliant protagonist; dynamic and resourceful, and the world-building was just as rich as The Last Namsara. The plot was clever and enigmatic, and although the pacing was uneven here and there, the story captivated me from first page to last. Kristen Ciccarelli has a writing style that is so underrated in it's raw power; her voice throughout the novel is one of myth and magic and she pairs lyricism with battle when crafting her narrative. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can't wait to see what the author writes next.

When I requested this book I knew it would be good but I thought it would take me a bit of time. I knew that it wouldn't matter if I couldn't remember the first book well but I was worried it would or I'd compare it.

No worries there. I think I might have actually loved it more.

Roa was an interesting main character and one I could feel from the off. I knew that she probably misunderstood some things but I didn't care? I just told her off and moved on. I loved her and Dax together too. They'd had this long history and they were just so good.

Didn't trust Theo at all.

I liked the focus on spirits and politics in this book. There's less dragons but I actually kind of preferred that. I will say this though, how the troubles were resolved? That felt a little quick and anticlimactic. Bit it didn't stop me from loving the book.

Would definitely recommend.

I loved The last Namasara and I was eager to discover this "sequel" so when I received it on NetGalley I was a happy girl.

The author has always presented this book as a companion novel rather than a direct sequel and this is indeed the case. We find the same universe, but the main characters have changed and this second volume focuses on Roa, one of the characters who had marked me in The last Namsara. What I liked in this "sequel" is that we will discover the country of Roa and the political stakes of the kingdom. We will quickly understand that the transfer of power did not go well and that Dax and Roa are in constant danger. I liked the atmosphere of the book, we leave the dragon to have a stronger political game.

As I said, Roa is one of the characters I loved in the Last Namsara. She is someone who has sacrificed herself for her people and who will have to save her sister from a curse and she will be force to make difficult choices. Her strength is in her mind, she is a heroine whom I found touching and well built. And who says Roa said Dax, he is too a great surprise. Dax learned to play the games of the court, he hides his game well and I liked to discover his hidden side. The relationship between them is electric and haunting, if you love passionate romances you will love this one.

For the rhythm of the book, it is fluid and quick to read. However, I find that there is a little less action than the first book. The universe is good and I liked to discover a new facet of this world with a new form of magic, but I regret a little the lack of presence of the dragons. The book can be read as a one-shot and if you liked the first book you will like this novel and if you like fantasy, you will like it too.

The Last Namsara was one of my five-star reviews from last year, so when I got the chance to read Kristen Ciccarelli, second book in the Iskari series The Caged Queen I jumped at the chance.



Roa and Essie are sister born with such a unique bond that connect them forever, their emotion strong enough to shatter mirrors or make flower bloom. Until one day an accident happen and unable to leave her sister Essie soul is trapped in the form of a bird.

Since that day Roa has hated the man responsible for accident, the only problem is that man is Dax the Heir to the Firgarrd's Throne. Dax comes to the House of Song the home of the most powerful family in the Scrubland, asking for help to dethrone his cruel father. The price in helping Dax is that he need to make Roa his Queen, so she can help her people and put an end to the cruel laws that punish them.

When Roa see that Dax is not up holding his side of the Roa will have to make choices that will help her people, but there is one choice she could make. A choice that would return her beloved sister back to her, but the cost would be to kill a King.



You know a book is good, when you automatically gone on the internet to find out if there are another book in this series come out. I was very happy to find out goodread, a third untitled book planned for next year. (I may have done a little happy dance when I found out, but a little sad because I've got to wait to next year.)

The book is told though Roa perspective, some chapters are told in the present and some chapter are telling us the History between Roa and Dax and the Scrublanders and the people of Firgaard. I would love to read more about Roa and Dax games playing Gods and monsters (also can someone make this game.)

I was unsure about Dax at the beginning as Roa perspective coloured my view of him, but by the end of the book he was one of my favourite characters. I would LOVE to read this story from Dax side.

There where time when their was so much was going on and the stakes where high that I had to put the book down, as my heart couldn't take it. But I couldn't put the book down for long as I need to find out what happened, so much so that I finished the book in 1 night.

I always find it harder reading books that have twins in, especially if something happened to one of them. I always end up questioning what I would do for my twin, I might not got to the lengths that Roa does for Essie, but they do have that special bond.

The Caged Queen is full of action (sandstorms, fighting, some B&E), Romance (Some Romance easier to see some aren't.) Drama, (well what do you expect when trying to overthrow Royalty).

I give this book 5 out of 5.

The Caged Queen is the sequel to The Last Namsara, but is focussed on Roa & Dax, rather than Asha & Torwin. Whilst there are far fewer dragons in this sequel, and I do love dragons, I actually felt that this book was superior to the first one. I felt more of a connection to the characters & I loved the flashbacks, which explained so much but subtly & kept the reader guessing.
This is actually one of my top reads for this year!
I read the first book last year, but because this one was focussed on different characters and develops what was a sub-plot in the first book, I didn't feel that my enjoyment of this one was diminished by having forgotten most of the events of the first book. I almost felt like this one could stand-alone, however, it is important to have read the first one, to have an understanding of the world & the events that led up to the situation Roa & Dax find themselves in for this book.
I highly recommend & will be recommending this (and the first book) to my students & young people who visit the library. I will also be recommending that my library purchase these 2 books, at least for Overdrive but preferably in hard copy!

Thank you to Netgalley, Orion Books and Kristen Ciccarelli for my ARC of The Caged Queen.
The Caged Queen is part of the Iskari series, which follows on from the first book The Last Namsara. However, Kristen states (and I agree) that you can read them as standalone novels or as part of the series. They do not directly follow on from one another, however I would strongly recommend reading The Last Namsara first, mostly because it's a great book but also because it does help with the world building and the who's who.
Also please note although this review is spoiler free as always; it may contain minor spoilers of The Last Namsara where needed to explain the plot.
Ok, so on to the plot. The Caged Queen focuses on Roa and Dax, the new King and Queen of Firgaard. Mostly it focuses on Roa's backstory in the scrublands. Following directly on from the events of The Last Namsara the newly weds are returning to their kingdom to set the new rules in place and ensure the sanctions from Roa's Home are removed. Joining them is Roa's sister Essie, her soul now trapped in this world following a terrible accident.

Worst of all, Roa and her new husband are not exactly happy newly weds. When Dax fails to deliver any of his promises and Roa begins to suspect him of lies and deceit, she jumps at the chance to strike a bargain which will make all of her wishes come true. Get rid of the enemy king and rescue her sister all at once. All she has to do is kill Dax.

Like the first book, this was so fast paced. 400 pages done in 3 hours. I just lost track of time as I flew through it, I was sucked right in as I was one of the characters watching the events unfold in front of my eyes. I loved it!

This is the second in the Iskari series by Kristen Ciccarrlli and after reading the Last Namsara last year this was an easy pick up for me.Though the second in a series this book could easily be read as a stand-alone as it focuses on mainly characters that had minor roles in the first book.

Roa is a great character. Independent and yet reliant at the same time. Though the story is of her and Dax, a lot of the plot is based around her relationship and love for her sister which makes for a fresh and interesting read. I love how you get to learn so much about her background in this book. It flies between past and present so you are learning information valuable to the plot the whole way through.

This book has so many twists and turns that I almost got dizzy but this added to the intensity of the plot, and it definitely keeps you reading until the final pages.

This is an easy 4/5 for me. There were times when I thought it was slightly predictable but overall a fantastic read and I will definitely be picking up the next in the series.

Oh! My! Gosh!

This book was just beautiful. I am so very grateful to Netgalley and Gollancz for approving my request. I have been slowly wilting away waiting for this magnificent book to come out and to get an arc of this is amazing. I will be publishing my review on Amazon on publication day!!!!

This book was so emotional, my heart broke in so many places in this story. Kristen Ciccarelli is a master storyteller. Reading The Caged Queen felt as though I was sitting around a campfire listening to an epic saga whilst the stars above watched and listened too. I was entranced at the mastery of the writing, the poetic, dramatic, heartfelt writing! I know I am gushing right now but I really cannot emphasise how much I loved this book. The way in which the author deals with the death of a loved one felt so real and I can honestly relate to the lengths that Roa went to in order to save her loved one. The magic and emotion that this book evokes is truly astonishing and I love the stories within the book that help to give context in such a way that adds to the mystery, magic and momentum of this fast paced fantasy. The Caged Queen had everything I wanted in a book, intrigue, rebellion, a beautiful love story, heartbreak and magic!

I do not want to give away any spoilers but this book is just........ heartbreaking. But in a good way. It's a heartbreak that is necessary in order to realise just what life and love is still out there. I enjoyed every second of this book and I honestly devoured it in a couple of hours. I didn't move from my favourite chair whilst reading this beaut of a book.

I will be adding this to my shelf come publication day and I will be recommending The Caged Queen to everyone who will listen.

A massive, golden five stars!!!!!!!

This is more of a companion continuation novel than a sequel and that really worked for me. I actually liked this even more than The Last Namsara. Roa is such a great character and while it was brilliant to see Asha and co again (especially the dragon!) this book reaches places that the first just didn’t quite. I found it faster paced and twister too which is definitely in my wheelhouse. Really enjoyed this. Is there going to be a third book?