All Things Halloween Review - Traitor to the Throne

Traitor to the Throne (Rebel of the Sands, # 2)

By: Alwyn Hamilton

Publication: March 7th 2017 by Viking

518 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Magic

Source: Borrowed from the e-library

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Goodreads description--Rebel by chance. Traitor by choice.

Gunslinger Amani al'Hiza fled her dead-end hometown on the back of a mythical horse with the mysterious foreigner Jin, seeking only her own freedom. Now she’s fighting to liberate the entire desert nation of Miraji from a bloodthirsty sultan who slew his own father to capture the throne.

When Amani finds herself thrust into the epicenter of the regime—the Sultan’s palace—she’s determined to bring the tyrant down. Desperate to uncover the Sultan’s secrets by spying on his court, she tries to forget that Jin disappeared just as she was getting closest to him, and that she’s a prisoner of the enemy. But the longer she remains, the more she questions whether the Sultan is really the villain she’s been told he is, and who’s the real traitor to her sun-bleached, magic-filled homeland.

Forget everything you thought you knew about Miraji, about the rebellion, about Djinn and Jin and the Blue-Eyed Bandit. In Traitor to the Throne, the only certainty is that everything will change.

I broke my rule of only allowing 48 hours in between finishing a book and writing the review. I also finished a book and a half since finishing this one and that's another rule I have. Whoops. That being said, I'm honestly having a hard time remembering where Rebel of the Sands ended and Traitor to the Throne began. I do remember that Traitor to the Throne didn't pick up immediately where Rebel of the Sands left off. I actually appreciated this. Usually I enjoy when a book picks up immediately where the previous one left off, but I thought this was a unique approach to the story, and it actually provided some distance and conflict for Amani and Jin to overcome without having to throw in some forced conflict.

Because Traitor to the Throne picks up further in time than Rebel of the Sands ended, events have taken place that the reader doesn't get to experience first hand. Namely, Amani is injured in a mission and Jin can't handle the possibility of her dying so he goes on a mission that takes him away from her so he won't have to watch if she dies. Just when Amani and Jin reunite, Amani is whisked away to the palace where she plays spy against and hostage of the Sultan.

Trying not to give too much away but I appreciated that even though Amani might not be 100% certain of where she stands with Jin, but she knows what she feels. And I was grateful that she never really questioned her own feelings despite all of the other things that she did begin to question.

I know I'm not doing this review justice. It's been too long since I finished the book to remember all of the things that I wanted to share with you all. I do remember that there were twists and turns. I wondered how our characters were going to escape several situations where there seemed to be no out. I was anxious for Amani and Jin to reunite (again). I will say that the cliffhanger was definitely a twist, but not one that couldn't have been predicted. Still a bit heartbreaking.

Traitor to the Throne kept me digging in and wanting to read more and more. Even though Traitor to the Throne felt a bit long to me, all of the pages and information were essential to the entire story, and I'm stoked to see where the story, characters, and world go in Hero at the Fall. Traitor to the Throne gets 4 Stars. Have you read Traitor to the Throne? What did you think? Let me know!

This review is part of my All Things Halloween event--a month of paranormal, supernatural, mystery/thriller, etc reviews and books.