ARC Review: The Two-Faced Queen or an amazing sequel! No second book syndrome here!

Hello people! I am so happy to finally be back with a review! I finished this book a couple of weeks ago, but due to mood and things and the unplanned hiatus, I am a bit late with the review, but… better later than never, right? Anyway, I had a great time with this book, even if I was a tad preoccupied because I always am when we talk about second book. But I shouldn’t have feared!

Thanks to NetGalley and to the Editor. I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Title: The Two-Faced Queen
Series: The Legacy of the Mercenary King #2
Author: Nick Martell
Pages: 592
Pubblication Date: March 23rd, 2021

The Hollows is gripped in unrest and on the brink of civil war as an insurgency of anarchists rise, and brother and sister vie for the throne in the second novel in the critically hailed Legacy of the Mercenary King series which Brandon Sanderson called “excellent.”
Michael Kingman thought he was going to die by the executioner’s axe, forever labeled as a traitor. Still alive, and under the protection of the Orbis Mercenary company, Michael and his family and friends are deeply involved in the seemingly rival conspiracies that are tearing The Hollows apart. With the death of the King, both the Corrupt Prince and his sister Serena are vying for the throne, while the Rebel Emperor is spreading lies amongst the people, and all of them want Michael dead. This is a story of betrayal, murder, and rebellion, and in this direct sequel to the debut novel The Kingdom of Liars, also some hope for justice.

For readers who love the intrigue and widening scope of epic fantasy like Sanderson’s Mistborn and Week’s The Black Prism, you will find your next must-read fantasy series.

Let me say this: there is something really painful in reading a book in which we have snow and cold and frigid air while, in your little corner of the real world, you sweat just for the privilege of being alive. (And no, lucky me, at the moment the weather here is not that bad, but in the days in which I was reading this book, well… It eas pretty bad!).
And sure, on one hand it was a relief to be able to imagine the cold and the snow, to feel them at least a little bit. But it wad also torture.This little reflection aside (okay, it was more me complaining about the weather than a real reflection but it is just a detail!) this is a terrific book.

I loved the first one and I was a bit scared that this one would have not meet my high expectations, but my fears were unmotivated. This book was great! And you know what is even better? That it was so captivating that I devoured it!
It is quite a chunky book, but it didn’t feel like it. It is not that it is really fast-paced, it felt more like even-paced at that, at least to me, but there is so much going on (sometimes a bit too much, if I am being completely honest) that you just don’t have time to feel bored. And you are compelled to turn page after page, because you just have to understand what is happening or you need to know what would happen next. Simply as that.

And Michael is a great narrator. Sure, he may not be the most reliable narrator out there, but I loved him more for this. And he is an amazing MC. He is young, and in this respect this is a series about growing, too. Becoming an adult, discover some hard truths and learn to assume responsibility.
And it is about making mistakes, even big, atrocious ones, and trying to make amend for that. But it is also about the importance of having other people around us, our safety net, being from family or friendship. And sometimes even people who are not really our friends can lend a hand in growing and in building our really needed net. 

And we have some interesting characters with our MC here. I am not the biggest fan of Michael’s brother, and I really hope to see less of him around, and from time to time I was really exasperated by Serena, even if I liked her, at least for the most part. She is intriguing, when she is not exasperating. And she has a ton of potential. I’d love to see the queen she would become! 
Dark is one of the most mysterious people out there. And we make some unexpected discoveries about him. And even if they help to make some light on him and his father, they rise some pretty big questions too. Because now guessing where the story would take us is even harder than before. But hey! I am not complaining here, at all. I am eager to know what would happen next and to see where the story would take us to. And I cannot wait! And there are some other pretty interesting characters in there, Dawn, The King of Stories, Oliver, Rock, just to name a few. They all are alive on these pages and they are a nice addition to the story.

And last but not least, a bit about the plot. This book is full of action, mysteries to solve, things to prove, rebellion, betrayals, twists and revelations. There is just so much going on! And sometimes it is a bit too much. Our characters have a limited amount of time to accomplish some pretty difficult tasks, namely they have a week. So you know that what you are reading is somehow a week-long thing. But sometimes it feels like weeks, at best. And this is because there is really too much going on. The good thing is that you won’t be bored, because there is always something important going on, and the author manages to keep all the balls going, he doesn’t lose some of them during the narration and all things would get a solution or something. Nothing is forgotten or dismissed. And this is good. Really. But sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming. But all in all had a great time with this second volume and I am pretty eager to read the next one!! 

So, that’s all for today! And what about you? Have you started this series? Or do you want to start it?? Let me know!!

Happy reading!
S.