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Title: Lady Smoke
Author: Laura Sebastian
Sub-genre: Fantasy
I don’t know why (that’s not true, I have an inkling as to why–escapism), but I have been super into fantasy reads lately. Which is a shame because I hardly have any on my TBR (guys, I’m running short on books to read!) and I just want to gobble them all up. I read Ash Princess not too long ago, and it was one of my favorite fantasy reads in a while (though I’ve read some really good ones more recently). I was excited to see Lady Smoke out in paperback, though of course, now I just desperately want the third book, which is still only in hardcover.
In Lady Smoke, we meet back up with Theodosia (formerly known as Thora) on her aunt’s ship. Theo has escaped the Kaiser and has “kidnapped” Prinz Soren. Aunt Dragonsbane takes Theo and her band of advisers to a separate country that is basically the capital from Hunger Games. The king has generously offered to help Theo find a husband, something she doesn’t really want, but needs if she is going to build an army to take Astrea back from the Kaiser. Theo has to deal with meeting a whole bunch of random dudes (and one chick) who all want to marry her, but aren’t super appealing in the prospective husband department. But even with their general bleh-ness, when the suitors start dying off, Theo becomes concerned. Obviously. She and her friends make a plan to flee, along with a camp full of refugees, to head back to Astrea and sneak attack one of the mines (which is where people get their powers from, but also what drives them kind of crazy). The attack doesn’t pan out quite like they’d hoped, and Theo is faced with an opposition she never saw coming. Oh, and along with all that, she’s dealing with learning her own powers and figuring out a love triangle.
There were a lot of things I really liked in this sequel. The world-building is fabulous, I love Theo’s band of friends and their whole found family vibe, and in general, I like the love story. I was also very into Theo not wanting a husband because who needs one (love you babe!). I thought the meetings between Theo and the refugees were also really well done, interesting, and thought-provoking.
In general, the pacing of this book felt a little off. We spent a lot of time figuring out the suitors, and the climax felt rushed. I would have liked to see less schmoozing and more action. And while I like Theo and her chosen man (no spoilers), I thought their declaration of love came somewhat out of nowhere. There wasn’t enough romantic tension for me (I love pining). I did love the semi-cliffhanger ending, and I am definitely interested to see how this series wraps up.
Overall Rating: 4.5 stars