Hidden Huntress by Danielle L. Jensen is a captivating sequel full of intrigue, magic, and romance. Following her escape, Cécile is tasked with uncovering secrets and finding her place in a divided world. The stakes are higher, with more complex character dynamics and twists that keep you hooked. Ideal for fantasy lovers craving a mix of action and emotion.

A highly recommended read from a trusted friend. I can see what drew her into this story but I have a hard time engaging with fiction that makes trolls a main focus. It's just pretty much the opposite of a dragon to me -- I see/hear/think there is a dragon involved in a a novel and I HAVE TO READ IT. Trolls... just are not the most alluring of the fantasy animals. That said, Jensen did a lot of work to make her version memorable. A very well-rounded fantasy romance for those that like their fantasies with trolls in them.

Unfortunately I ended up DNFing the first book in this series so I will not be reading this one and I don't want to hold onto it any longer.

I requested this one back in the day as I had every intention of reading it. However, its been years and I still haven't gotten around to it and while I feel guilty at not reviewing a book I think that I need to admit to myself that I won't be reading this one anytime soon....if at all.

This one was hard for me to get into, and I didn't manage to finish. It was somewhat of a "set it down, never got around to picking it back up again" type of thing. I would like to give it a chance again in the future though, as the writing was good and the first book in this series was amazing!

Thank you to NetGalley and Angry Robot Books for the gifted book and opportunity to read and review it prior to its publication date! This in no way affected my review, all opinions are my own.

Cecile has escaped from the troll kingdom and returned to the world above. To everyone else, it seems as if she has suffered a terrible, but ultimately explainable, delay on her journey and is now reunited with her mother, becoming an opera singer as she'd always wanted. But between performances at night, Cecile and her friends hunt for the witch Anushka, planning to put an end to her and life her curse on the trolls. Cecile has doubts, even as she continues the hunt, knowing that it's the only way to save her love but at the same time doing so will release those trolls with terrible intentions, too.


Although I was only passingly interested in the first of this series, Stolen Songbird, this second book really gripped my imagination. I'm not sure if it was the change in location, the higher stakes, or what. But Hidden Huntress avoided the dreaded second-book-slump like a champ. There was plenty of both intrigue and character moments to make the book feel balanced, and the tone and feel of the world was at once familiar and refreshing. I didn't want to leave it. Which, thankfully, I don't have to since there's one more book in this series!

(to be posted 8/23)

<em>Hidden Huntress</em> is Danielle L. Jensen's follow-up to her novel <em>Stolen Songbird</em>. In that book, human girl Cécile marries a troll prince, Tristan, in order to bring two worlds closer together, and of course they manage to fall in love despite initially finding the other horrible to look at. Now we leave the fairy-tale-like romance behind and instead we head into a mystery/intrigue story that is a little more on the dark side (perhaps more in keeping with a story of trolls?).

Cécile managed to escape at the end of the last book, after Tristan's coup against his father failed. But now she's left Tristan alone to face the wrath of the evil king. Cécile is with her mother in Trianon and the beautiful-voiced girl is singing/performing in the evenings while she works during the day to find a way to reverse the curse that has created Trollus. To do this she must find the witch that has placed the curse and then get her to un-do it. Easy, right?

What worked really well with the first book was the character-building and the character conflict. That Cécile and Tristan were likely meant for each other but couldn't (on the surface) stand one another was a fun (if not clichéd) conflict. This developed into a nice romance story (and I'm not one who usually goes in for the sort of thing). Now, Jensen reverses the idea. Instead of two characters who don't want to be together but can't avoid the union, we now get the same two characters who want to be together but are forced apart by the circumstances. Clever.

Except that it doesn't work so well.

The first conflict drew from the characters. This conflict draws from circumstances (plot) and is missing the spark that the characters created.

We do still have the wonderful world that Jensen has created, in which trolls aren't necessarily the lumpy, evil beings that most of us think of when we read the word 'troll.' We still have a head-strong girl with a beautiful voice. We still have magic and rules that accompany such magic (you can have complete control over a troll if you know his real, full name).

For these reasons it is still a moderately enjoyable read, and clearly it's a necessary read if you want to get to the third book in the trilogy. It's just that it suffers from the often-referenced second book syndrome.

Looking for a good book? Hidden Huntress by Danielle L. Jensen is the second book in her Malediction Trilogy, making it 'necessary' reading to complete the trilogy, but it doesn't hold on to the magic of the first book and moves slowly toward the next book in the series.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

It's been so long since I read the first book in this series that I have no interest in reading and reviewing this book right now. Perhaps in the future I will wish to reread the series and I will read and enjoy this book. I appreciate you accepting my request to review this book and I must apologise that I haven't reviewed it. Thank you.

I've tried a couple times to get past the first few chapters and I haven't managed it; I don't know if it's me, the pacing, or if I need to reread Stolen Songbird first. For now, this book isn't for me unfortunately. But I might try again in the future and if I do, I'll update my review.