Crown's Shield by Frost Kay
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4.5/5
Sage has been discovered by Tehl and Sam. Despite escaping the castle, she isn't free, and she must continue to make sacrifices to ensure the safety of her family and her country. In this installment, Sage is named liaison between the rebellion and the crown. She fulfills her role as best she can until the rebellion makes a demand that changes everything...
This series has a way of drawing you in. At this point, I am totally invested in the characters and the storyline. In the first book, Sage proves herself to be a strong and independent yet reasonably kind and vulnerable person. At times, her recklessness and stubbornness are a bit irritating. In this book, we get just a few glimpses of her inner self again, and she is truly fascinating. She has a strong sense of duty, which compels her to do things - that she abhors - for the greater good. And she has talents and charisma that others are attracted to. However, in reality she is totally broken. She does not know where she belongs, and (like Sam - which is why they understand each other so well) she has been playing a role for so long that she does not even know who she really is, other than that she loves her family and her country and would do almost anything to protect them.
Some of the elements of this series are a little hard to swallow - they feel a little artificial. Sage is sort of a larger-than-life heroine who can scale buildings, manipulate people with feminine wiles, win any sword fight, and still look like a Victoria's Secret model (ok that last one might be an exaggeration). The bottom line is that she isn't a particularly nice person (not that you would expect her to be after all she's been through), yet everyone seems enamored of her. Her temper is a little too hot - she throws daggers at people with little to no provocation. I will be interested to see her character growth throughout this series. She's clearly trapped and not really handing it well.
(viewspoiler)SPOILER The major twist of this story does feel a little forced. The rebels demand that Sage marry Tehl in order to sign a peace treaty and avoid a civil war. The rebels' treatment of Sage is really just mind-boggling to me. On the one hand, they all seem to adore her. But on the other hand, they have a tendency to just exclude and use her. I am not certain why they would have thought that a marriage would be the best way to secure peace. Although, for the sake of the plot, it makes for a really great story. And the fact that Serge/Rhys suggested it and then abducted Sage at the end of the story might mean that it will be explained better later on.
I can understand why Sage would not like Tehl, although so often throughout the series I have just been saying, "Come on, girl, just give him a chance!" My prediction is that they will become good friends. They seem to actually have a little bit of fun with their charade of a marriage throughout the book, even though both would be loath to admit it. END SPOILER
I was glad to see more of Rafe in this book, as well as Sam. I am wondering where Sam's story is going to lead. Some of the revelations about him were a little shocking. Marc's presence was missed, as was Gav's to some extent. I'd love to see more of them.
I LOVED the addition of Lilja and Hayjen, though, and I am looking forward to Siren's Lure so much.
Overall, a good read. Despite the semi-questionable plot devices, the book is written really well. I am looking forward to the next one :-)
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